Living a Dream...An Interview with Dwight Schuh

Nearly 20 years ago, my bowhunting partner was hiking out of the Ruby Mountains in Nevada when he came across a lanky young man toting a good mule deer buck on his pack. This man introduced himself as Dwight Schuh, and said he had hunted that area with good success in the past. He mentioned to me that he had heard his name in the bowhunting circles, but little known to us, this same Dwight Schuh would become one of the most high profile bowhunters in the country.

I had a chance to sit down and interview Dwight during his visit to North Dakota, where he was the featured speaker for the North Dakota Bowhunters Banquet. We had met several years ago at the Dakota Classic Deer Show, but this opportunity to collect the thoughts and reflections of one of the most respected bowhunter and writer in our sport was truly a privilege.

FBO: With all the interviews you have had, you have probably been ask this question, and I'll begin with - How did you get started Bowhunting?

DS: Basically I went with a friend. I had been in the army and was home and a friend just invited me to go along. I had deer hunted with the rifle a little bit but had never bowhunted. We went over to eastern Oregon in the desert and just got into all kinds of deer like I had never seen before. I got pretty enthusiastic about it and fell in love right from the beginning. It was pretty much that initial experience...that initial exposure to bowhunting that got me started.

FBO: That leads me into my next question. You have worked with and been associated with so many prominent figures in bowhunting, whether it be writers, hunters, or other individuals. If you had to name a person who had the single most influence on your career in bowhunting, who would that person be? What influence did they give you?

DS: I would say it was Don Hummel, the friend that invited me to go bowhunting with him. Don doesn't bowhunt anymore but the fact that he had got me started bowhunting, the fact that he even took me, I would say that was biggest influence because after that I didn't need anyone to encourage me. He got me pointed in that direction; from there I pretty much took over and did what ever I needed to do. So I think he was the most influential person simply because he got me started.

I did not have any sort of mentor that took me under his wing and taught me to bowhunt. My dad certainly influenced me towards hunting as I rifle hunted with him, but he never shot a bow in his life. It was sort of a self-motivated thing when I started bowhunting. I really didn't need anybody to lead me along because I was so enthusiastic about bowhunting; you had a hard time to keep me from going.

I would also have too say MR James has had a huge influence on me, not as a bowhunter so much but as a bowhunting writer. I read Bowhunter magazine when it first came out and when I started selling articles to the magazine; MR encouraged me and help sell additional stories. He certainly had a major influence on my writing career as a bowhunting writer. As far as other people who have had a direct influence on me, there have been friends along the way and I certainly emulated some of the high profile guys like Fred Bear. It's almost clich¿o say Fred Bear influenced you because he was the most highly profile, the most visible bowhunter out there. He did all kinds of adventuresome things. He was like the Jack O'Connor of the bowhunting industry and I think he influenced a lot of people because of the sense of adventure he describes to bowhunting. When you read his stories and adventures from Alaska, Africa, India, South America and across North America, anyone having any kind of sense of adventure is going to be drawn to that. So I think of all the public figures, the high profile people, Fred Bear, just like he influenced a lot of people, certainly influenced me.

FBO: I have read so many of your stories of so many different animals that you have hunted in the past, I know in the past elk hunting and mule deer hunting have been at the top of your list. Do you have favorite animal to hunt?

FBO: I have read so many of your stories of so many different animals that you have hunted in the past, I know in the past elk hunting and mule deer hunting have been at the top of your list. Do you have favorite animal to hunt?

DS: Not really, I just like hunting. I like hunting in lots of different places. I certainly probably spent as much time elk and deer hunting as anything else. Those are the things you are going to hunt because they are close to home. One thing I would expect to do every year is to hunt elk. Come September I am planning to go elk hunting no matter what because that is one of my favorite things to do and come November I'm going to go deer hunting. In recent years, I probably hunted whitetails a lot more than I have hunted mule deer. There's nothing more that I love than hunting whitetails in November during the rut in particular. For me to say that those are favorite animals I don't think I really would because I have hunted moose quite a bit and I love hunting moose, I hunted bighorn sheep, antelope and bears a lot and really like to hunt all of these, so I really hate to pick out one and say OK that is my favorite one. There is an appeal of every animal whether its out in the desert hunting antelope or mule deer or whether it's sitting watching a rutting whitetail run under your stand or whether its bugaling in an elk or stalking a bighorns sheep. I like doing every one of them and I dream of doing every one of them every year. I just try to make the most out of the opportunity that I have at the time and enjoy it when I'm doing it.

FBO: Of all the North American big game animals, which was the most difficult to harvest? And what would be the most difficult about that animal?

DS: For me its been bighorn sheep, I probably have spent more time hunting them for the number that I have shot more than any other animal. I think I've spent 74 days hunting bighorn sheep and I have killed one. That is a lot of time for one animal.

Accessibility is one reason of the difficulty, mainly because I've hunted in central Idaho three times and it is extremely difficult country to get into. It is very rough, timbered country and the animals are very, very hard to find once you get there. When they bed in the timber it's very hard to find them, so the simple act of finding a good ram is a daunting task. Then you have to get within bow range. I hear people say that sheep are kind of stupid, and I suppose if you are hunting in Northern British Columbia or the Northwest Territories where the rams have not seen hunters much; they probably can be pretty naive. If you are hunting in areas where they are hunted by human beings and harassed by mountain lions constantly, they can be extremely wary animals. They've got 10 power binocular vision so the potential for moving without being seen is incredible. I would give them the wariness of a mule deer but a lot better eyes. They are very difficult to hunt for that reason. Based on the number of days, they are the toughest for me to hunt, I have had pretty minor success for the time I've spent hunting them.

FBO: You have recently taken a Musk Ox, and have taken numerous species over the years. Is there one big game animal that you have not harvested that you plan hunt in the near future?

DS: I have a brown bear hunt planned. I have hunted brown bears twice but have not taken one so I'm going to try again this fall. That is the highest priority on my list. I've never hunted Sitka Blacktail deer, which is something I want to do. I never have taken a mountain caribou. I would also like to hunt bison sometime, but that is just a matter of drawing a tag in Utah. So I keep trying, so there are four species that I would like the opportunity to hunt sometime. I will hunt them.

FBO: Do feel that today's bowhunter puts too much emphasis on trophy animals?

DS: I don't know that the average hunter does. I think the average hunter is like most of us, just glad to shoot a deer and happy to put some meat in the freezer. But I think the industry perhaps emphasizes trophy hunting a bit much. A lot of the companies emphasize shooting big animals and videos make a major emphasis out of this. There is almost a sense you need to feel guilty that you shoot something less than a record book animal or a mature animal. I'm not saying that this is all bad; certainly with experience I become a little bit more selective in cases. But we have to remember we have people of all different levels of exposure to hunting. Some of us hunt 2 or 3 months out of the year; some people are lucky to get out a couple of weekends. I feel to emphasize trophy hunting above the experience takes something away. I don't see anything wrong with holding out and shooting a big animal because I want to do that as much as the next guy, but to suggest that is the only honorable thing to do I think is a mistake. A person should not feel guilty if they don't meet someone else's standards. I think a lot of the whitetail management leans toward producing and growing big whitetails. I'm not saying that is bad either but there is sort of an implicit suggestion that everybody should hold out for big animals and if you shoot bucks that are less than three years old or whatever, you're not managing your wildlife correctly. I think it is great for some kid to go out and shoot a spike if that is what he wants to shoot. I think for the weekend guy, who can't hunt two or three weeks straight in November, can get out on a weekend a shoot himself a small buck, has something he can be proud of, and he should be very happy about that. I don't think the rest of us should make him feel guilty if he does it.

FBO: What is your most satisfying accomplishment in your bowhunting career?

DS: Staying married for thirty one years. I would say that is my most satisfying accomplishment.

FBO: I recall that your wife was with you on your very first bow kill.

DS: Yes, I shot a mule deer in eastern Oregon. She helped guide me by giving me hand signals. I could point to a lot of animals that I've shot and I am proud of all of them. But I believe having a writing career and a bowhunting career and balancing that with my family life, is most satisfying thing I have done. I have seen a lot of people that haven't done that, and I think they have made a bad mistake.

FBO: You mentioned your writing career. What directed your interests in outdoor writing?

DS: I don't know, what makes some people want to be pilots or plumbers or politicians.
This is just the interest that I had. My dad took me hunting. We did a little deer hunting with the rifle but I was really a bird hunter more than anything. I loved that, so I read the outdoor magazines. I've always liked to read, so I subscribed to the outdoor magazines when I was a kid. I enjoyed them, so I suppose like everybody, I had aspirations of being an outdoor writer. I'm sure a lot of kids who have read the outdoor magazines and followed specific writers probably dream of been outdoor writers and I'm no different from any of them. I did dream of that. I think we all have specific talents, and I had the dream of being an outdoor writer, plus I think I have the innate ability to be a writer. I'm not sure that everybody does. Some of us have mechanical abilities, some have writing abilities, and whatever we are not all the same. I guess mine was for verbal skills so I was able to realize that dream and have the mentality to make it work. Its hard to say whether I'm a hunter who writes or a writer who hunts. I think my interests are about even. It was a combination of an interest in writing and my interest in hunting, so why not combine these two interests and put them to work. That is why I got into outdoor writing business.

FBO: Did you dream one day of being the editor of Bowhunter magazine?

DS: No, because it was not something I ever thought would be possible. My dream was to be a freelance writer and be successful at that. I realize that dream, I did it. So that is really as far as my vision went. I never said to myself, "I want to be the editor of a bowhunter publication," it just came along sort of gratuitously. It's the culmination of everything I have worked for, for thirty years. It was the perfect ending to my dream I guess you would say, but that is not what I set out to do; I set out to be a freelance writer.

FBO: You have authored several books and thousands of articles. I'm a mule deer hunter, so to me your book, Hunting Open Country Mule Deer, is great. Also your book on elk hunting is great at getting you fired up for the fall elk hunt.

If you had to recommend one book to a novice bowhunter, which would it be?

DS: If you are talking about building a passion for the sport then the book, Hunting with a Bow and Arrow, by Saxton Pope would be good because that would build some passion, that would make you excited about going hunting. But it is not going to teach anything about modern bowhunting. You need to follow that up with materials that will build your skills and get you the technical knowledge to hunt competently. It would be very difficult for me to say OK this is the book that you need to do that. I could cite one of my own books, such as Bowhunter's Encyclopedia, which I think would be helpful but would be egotistical on my part. But there are so many other materials out there now, including tons of videos. If a person is not a reader they can get videos and learn all the basics you need to know. Those were not available when I started bowhunting; they are sort of new on the scene. The resources that are available now, all the bowhunter magazines, of course Bowhunter is the only one that is worth reading. (Chuckle) There are all kinds of good material in all of these magazines; the amounts of resources that are available today are mind-boggling. You are not going to build your bowhunting on one book. Certainly I have read Fred Bear's book, Fred Bear's Field Notes. That is going to get you excited about bowhunting, either that or it will discourage you totally because so many of his trips were survival ordeals more that anything. But I read those and think wow; I've got to do that. His trips up on the Little Delta River in Alaska, those kinds of things excited me about bowhunting.

FBO: Where do think the future of bowhunting is headed?

DS: I think potentially it is very bright, because bowhunting is something that can be done in the confines of civilization pretty easily because it very controlled. You can shoot a bow and arrow in the middle of the city limits or wherever and there is no real danger. It's not obtrusive so you can be hunting in somebody's backyard and not disturbing them. I think bowhunting fits in real well with the urbanization of America. The successful suburban/urban bowhunting programs bear that out. I also think shooting a bow and arrow is a lot of fun, so it's the kind of thing a lot of people could be interested in and participate in. Bows and arrows don't have the sort of intimidating character that guns do. So I think the bow and arrow can be accepted by a lot of people and be accepted by society more easily than guns. I think that the bow is politically correct or socially acceptable, and so it has a bright future in that point of view. I think it is accessible to a lot of people and I think that the concept that there is a challenge to it and it has the right combination of difficulty and potential success, doesn't make it an impossible dream. If you work at it a little bit, you will get something. Obviously there is a lot of opportunity because the seasons are very, very generous. It gets lots of people participating and gives then time in the field. If we can with stand the attacks from people who don't understand hunting or don't like bowhunting and want it outlawed, I think overall the future of bowhunting is bright.

Dwight's travels have taken him from Alaska to Africa, to the northern reaches of the Canadian provinces, to the deserts of Mexico. His bowhunting career has flourished from his countless articles and numerous books and his current status as hunting editor of the top bowhunting magazine, Bowhunter, is a true testament for his passion for the sport. We congratulate Dwight on his successes and thank him for sharing his wealth of bowhunting knowledge with us.

Photos from top to bottom: 1) Dwight Schuh, the Editor of Bowhunter Magazine. 2) A trophy elk harvested by Dwight Schuh. 3) Dwight Schuh harvested this Dall Sheep with his archery equipment. 4) Dwight Schuh harvested this Musk Ox in 2001. 5) Wayne Muth, the author/interviewer is also a dedicated bowhunter who strives to give back to the sport. He is also a field staff person and writer for Fishing Buddy Outdoors.