Pennsylvania Game News - January 2021 - 9

" I had to quickly regroup through all
that, try to stay one step ahead of him and
hope he would step in that opening, and
still be in my 20-yard maximum range, "
Cory said.
The buck stopped before reaching
the opening, then continued. And when
it resumed walking, it was clear that the
panicked, emotional teeter-totter Cory
had been riding had taken its toll. He
attempted to draw his bow, but struggled
to get the string back.
" It was like I was powerless, " he said.
Shakily mustering all the strength he
could, the string hit its anchor as the buck
stopped in an opening at 18 yards. The
arrow flew, but the brown fletchings that
camouflage Cory's arrows made it hard to
track its flight or tell if he'd hit the buck.
" And the only thing I heard was a 'soft'
sound, " Cory said. " And I still can see
those horns, running straight down over
the mountain. That is when I truly realized
the sheer size of him, unlike anything I'd
ever seen. "
If Cory thought the emotion he'd felt
to that point would be all he'd feel, he'd
soon learn otherwise. He hung up his bow
and, trembling, grabbed hold of the tree,
thinking of his wife and that at least she'd
know where he was if he collapsed on the
platform. As he began to calm, that soft
sound he'd heard kept replaying in his
head. It sounded like a hit, he thought.
But by the time he'd lowered his bow
and placed knee-high boots on the ground,
doubt had crept in. Maybe it was the
sound of the arrow hitting dirt.
" It's crazy how the mind works, or at
least mine did in that situation; you always
fear the worst, and I did, " he said. " I was
almost sure I'd missed. "
Reluctantly, Cory walked to the site
of the shot.
" I was scared to death to go look; my
JANUARY 2021

Traditional Archer
Cory Gulvas hunted for 20 years with a compound
bow. But in July 2012, when he uncased his compound to start practicing for the coming season, the
routine had grown stale. Practice seemed more like
work; it wasn't fun like it used to be. And sticking to
his preseason routine took discipline.
After bow season came and went that year, Cory
went over to his folks' house on Thanksgiving Day.
His brother Cody was there in the backyard, shooting their dad's old 1968 recurve. Cory joined in, and
hadn't had so much fun shooting a bow in a long time.
" Cody was basically flinging arrows with that old
bow so I went up and joined him and from that point
on, it just snowballed, " he said.
Cory hunted with a traditional bow for the first
time in 2013, missing a possible 120-inch 8-point at
12 yards with a recurve he'd later realize was too
heavy for him to draw and consistently hit the mark.
" A big mistake most make when starting in to
traditional archery is to 'overbow' themselves, and
that is exactly what I did. "
But he soon contacted some top traditional shooters - Mitch Miller and Mark Lynde - who helped to
guide him.
" Those guys have helped me tremendously over
the years and I'm so thankful, not only for their
friendship, but their willingness to help me, " he said.
Cory began shooting competitively in 2017 and
won the International Bowhunting Organization's
(IBO) World Championship in the Recurve Unaided
Division that same year. He won his second IBO world
title in 2019, this time in the Recurve Division, which
requires shooters to use less-advanced equipment
and limited technique.
Cory said traditional gear has taught him what
bowhunting really is all about.
" It's about getting close, and that's the real challenge, " he said.
And it's awfully fun to watch that arrow fly.
While Cory owns several bows, the one he used
to harvest his buck has a metal riser, made by Gillo
archery, with Uukha limbs attached. He chose to hunt
with a metal riser this year because it can be tuned
easily and fewer weather-related problems arise.
" I don't want to have to worry about hunting in
rainy or wet conditions and from what I've found,
a metal riser is less affected by those conditions as
compared to wood, " he said.
His bow measures 68 inches long and pulls 43
pounds at his 29-inch draw. The bow is longer than
what many traditional hunters prefer, but Cory said
the longer bow is more forgiving to shoot, which leads
to higher accuracy, and that he's never had a problem
with its length while hunting.
Shooting carbon arrows with feather fletchings,
the setup proved perfect on the early October evening when his magnificent buck stopped in the open
within bow range.

Pennsylvania Game News - January 2021

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