Are you ready for Bow season?

Opening day is just under a month away! If you haven't been practicing this summer, now is a good time to start. I'll just post a few tips for practice.



1. Practice from the seated positon. If you will be hunting from a ground blind, your shot will be much different than a typical practice session from the standing position. Practicing from the seated position will get you ready for the real deal. Keep your lower body in the same reference to the target as when standing. A swivel seat is best for the blind so we don't have to shoot from uncomfortable angles.



2. If you will hunt from elevation, practice from elevation. Luckily, I live in a single story home, so I get on the roof at about the same height as my tripod stand and shoot down at the target. I get a few comments from the neighbors about this one. Many of us tend to drop the brace arm when shooting down. This changes your anchor point, therefore changes the impact point. Practice leaning forward from the waist, leaving your brace arm perpendicular to your body. Invest in a good Angle-compensating rangefinder for accurate yardage.



3. Practice in what you will wear in the field. Wearing a facemask may affect your anchor point if using a "kisser" button. I know it's too hot now, but once it cools down, practice in your winter wear. The sleeve on your brace arm can interfere with the string path, throwing your shot off. A good ol' fashioned arm guard on the outside of the sleeve will help.



The basic principle is PRACTICE LIKE YOU HUNT! Opportuinites come too few and far between to leave a shot to chance because of lack of practice in real-life conditions.



Shoot straight, Folks, and keep me posted on your hunts!



Jackrabbit68

Very good info here JR...

Question!....do you practice the same way here using a crossbow?

RD - A crossbow is a different animal. It is archery, but the variables of traditional archery are taken out. For example, the crossbow has a solid base and is more like shooting a rifle. You can have your arms in different areas and it does not alter the "base" so the shot still goes the same place every time.



You still have to compensate for angle shooting, just like you would a rifle.



The major points for accuracy and consistency in traditional or compound bow archery are the brace arm and anchor point with the drawing arm.

What about a string and a stick, i see them just pull back and shoot not much hold,aim and shoot going on there .....old Indian style huntin and they make some deadly shots!!

That is hardcore....I haven't gotten in to that yet. From what I read, it takes some tuning of the bow, but the principles I listed still apply.

Good tips there JR, I got to give yall "string stretchers" some credit,

It takes skill and practice and dedication to hunt like that!!



And coincedently those are the same 3 reasons why I never took up Bow huntin.

Skill? Practice? Dedication? Iam not too good at that kinda stuff!! haha

Cull. I was not notorious for any of them either, but after the first bow kill, it almost became an addiction. My skill level was novice. Practice is actually pretty fun and I practice every day, even if it's just shooting 3 arrows at the target when I have 5 minutes to spare. Dedication, well.....I can just say that sometimes the bed in the morning felt too good to get out of.



I remember my first deer with a rifle and thought that was a rush. My first rifle kill was about a 140" 9 pointer, and has still been my biggest deer in 30 years. My deer with a bow was a doe and I think I was more pumped than the other one. From that point on, it has become a passion! It took a full season for that first bow kill. Got the doe on the last day. There's nothing comparable. Everyone always told me that, but I never believed them until it happened.



Sometimes I have friendly "bow poker" games with my 15-year old daughter. You put a deck of cards, spread out on your target and take turns shooting for the best 5-card hand. It's really a blast, but my ego takes a hit when my 15-year old daughter beats me.



In my opinion, any deer kill with a bow is a trophy!

Another good tip is to leave your bow handy. It doesn't take 2 minutes to do this one. Every day, just step in the back yard and shoot 1 arrow. Don't pick up your bow for several hours, or even a day. Repeat this for several days. Leave the arrows in the target and see what your group tendencies are.



Why do this? When you are practicing for extended periods, it's pretty easy to get a good group after warming up. In real hunting situations, you don't have that luxury. You may get ONE shot. It may be cold and it will likely be after you've been sitting for an hour or two.



Practice shooting when you are not warmed up and concentrate on your form. You will be able to pinpoint mistakes and eventually bring those "cold" shots down to nice tight groups.



JR68