I agree with what others are saying in regaurds to practice. You have to be able to know what the limits are of your bow and being able to hit the mark concistantly. One of the things I had found harder to get used to is judging the distance. As I hunt from the ground and not from a tree stand. If in a tree stand you can mark certain distances but stalking from the ground is a different ball game all together.

For as far as scouting I do most of mine 1 week ahead of deer hunting. The reason is that the deer start moving more up here. The bucks are normally starting the pre rut shortly into the season, as well as the food sources are changing on them. So scouting now wouldn't do me alot of good. Camo is also something that you need to plan on in order to hind yourself as well as scent cover.. Good Luck..