PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH - As an avid archery hunter and tournament competitor, I sling my share of arrows down range in practices sessions.
For the competition season, I practice under the same exact conditions that I will encounter in tournaments since it’s relatively easy to duplicate those conditions because of the controlled environment. I shoot indoors at a constant distance with good lighting. The only distractions I really have
are the other shooters on the line with me and my anxiety. Sometimes anxiety wins.
For those who do not compete in archery tournaments, practice primarily consists of shooting their bows in the backyard during the summer to get ready for the upcoming archery season. Practice sessions for most archery
hunters consist of shooting their bows at known distances of 20, 30, and perhaps 40 yards on relatively flat terrain in good weather conditions. The only variable to contend with might be a slight breeze.
But to become a better archery hunter, you must practice under the conditions you expect to encounter once the season opens. While some archery hunters will take this into consideration and shoot at varying distances, a vast majority of them do not practice the situations they may be in when it’s crunch time.
Let’s be realistic, very few hunting opportunities present themselves where the hunter is on the same horizontal plane as the deer, the sun is directly overhead, the wind is calm, the hunter is standing upright in a relaxed position, and the deer is completely relaxed and standing broadside. It’s more likely that the hunter is elevated above the deer, it’s not high noon so we have slanting shadows to contend with, there’s some kind of breeze
blowing that hardly stays consistent, we’re usually in some position in our stand that does not promote ideal shooting posture, and the deer is a little nervous and at some angle. Now throw your excited state of mind and
body into the mix and we have the recipe for a blown shot because we haven’t practiced for the situation.
Practicing everyday (or almost everyday) can soon become boring and we quickly begin to lose our concentration and get sloppy with our shooting form. Worse, we might not practice as much as we should. By throwing some real-life hunting situations into our practice sessions, we accomplish two things. Our practice sessions become less repetitive and we can experience some of those situations we might be in once on the stand.
The most important thing I believe archery hunters MUST practice is shooting from an elevated position because of how the arrow travels when
shooting upwards or downwards (please see blog from 4/22/09). If you don’t
practice anything else, practice this!
But throw in those other scenarios I described above. Shoot at different times of the day, especially in low-light conditions. Practice when the wind is blowing at varying speeds and directions. There’s always that one little branch that you missed while grooming your stand site so practice shooting slightly hunched over or twisted a little bit. Even practice
sitting down on a chair…a time might come in your stand when you’ll have to shoot from this position. Practice in weather conditions that are not ideal
such as a light drizzle. And try to find a practice location other than your backyard if possible.
There’s also one other thing you should experience. When we’re practicing, most of us usually take as much time as we need to come to full draw, aim, and release. Sometimes, we don’t get that luxury in real-life hunting situations because you never know when that deer is going to take his next step or bound away. We have to get that arrow into him. So try this the next time you dig out your bow…practice coming to a full draw, aiming, and releasing…all within 4 to 5 seconds! Trust me, you will eventually experience this on the stand.
Once last thing to consider…practice in the clothes that you will be wearing in the stand. This includes everything from a jacket for late season hunting to the camo net you might be wearing over your face and gloves. The kisser button and release WILL feel different with those things on.
Most professional sports teams have exhibition or pre-season games so they can get a true feeling of how the actual game will be. We as archery hunters should be no different. Practice diligently on your shooting form but play those pre-season games so that when it’s game time and your turn
to drop back and throw that pass over the middle, your “receiver” won’t know what hit him.
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