Summer Archery Tips
By: Dead Ringer
With bowhunting season fast approaching, summer is the time to start dialing in your bow and form so that you can perform during crunch time. Every good bowhunter will tell you that getting to the point of feeling confident in their abilities does not happen overnight. It takes hundreds, if not thousands, of repetitions to get to that point. Repetition also is not productive if you aren’t being consistent with your form and mechanics. Having a consistent pre shot process and form drawing back your bow to anchor is crucial to enabling yourself to shoot those tight groups you are looking for. Having a well-tuned bow is equally important, so go visit your local pro shop to get paper tuned and make sure that your bow is performing its best. With it being summer sometimes its hard to pass up fishing, boating, or barbequing for that much needed summer bow practice time. Try to work a set time into your schedule daily or a few times a week time that is strictly dedicated to perfecting your craft.
Once your equipment is tuned up and you are feeling comfortable at the range you should consider how you are going to be hunting and tailor your practice to that style. So, if you’re going to be hunting from a tree stand or a blind, set it up and take some shots from them. This will get you used to the form needed to take a shot from above or through a little gap in the blind so its second nature when you are in the moment. Also take practice shots with your stance slightly open or closed so you can practice for those short window shots where the deer seem to just appear out of thin air. Taking shots that are double the distance you would ethically want to kill the game you are chasing from so the shots feel like a walk in the park when it comes time. Additionally, the shots you may have to take are not always going to be at the even yardages you normally would practice at. Implement taking shots from uneven distances such as 13.5, 27.2 and 33.1 yards for example. This trains yourself to have confidence in using your pin gaps.
As you get a few weeks out from the season its now time to buckle down and really get ready to go. This is the time where you are going to want to practice shooting in low light, with your favorite Dead Ringer broadhead, and with the layers on that you are going to wear. Also, shoot less arrows the closer you get to opening day forcing you to really make your shots count. You can play games with your self to practice under pressure such as only shooting with one arrow and move back only after you hit the exact spot you wanted. Practice makes good but perfect practice makes perfect. Shooting 3d targets with vitals or doing tournaments such as Total Archery Challenge is great option to practice shooting under pressure and finding vitals on different sized game. Every hunter gets the dreaded target panic at some point. You can combat this without ever firing an arrow. Do drills such as drawing back and holding your pins on target until failure. By doing this for a few weeks you will be able to hold on your target for minutes, where the deer are just taking their sweet time before giving you the opportunity for a shot.