Good post IBM.
ORIGINAL: CBM SC
Maybe you and some others can do it Bob.......I really don't doubt it......but I don't think generally that bowhunters should practice so infrequently ! A profiecency test sounds good to me !!
As IBM pointed out though - unless the proficiency test is done on actual live deer in a real life hunting situation, what good would it really do? Sounds like the guys you know hitting deer all over the place need to rethink their shots (distance, etc.), or learn to focus. At the first sight or sound of a deer while on stand, I instinctively go into full alert in the zone mode - this stays with me all the way through the shot - concentrating on the deer and the environment in order to effectively be able to get at full draw. THEN, the focus must be dialed down - WAY down - to a puff of hair. People shoot at the whole deer - biggest mistake green bow hunters make. How is practicing all year long driving tacks or proficiency tests going to teach them to focus? That's one thing that shooting instinctively has taught me over the years - you can't shoot at the whole deer, or even the vital zone, but have to dial it WAY down to a very small puff of hair for example. That's why I shoot at 1" strips of orange tape both with my compound and recurve - to focus down, not at the whole target or even the bullseye area.
Question for you archers that shoot all year and then look down on my two week prep for season: Do you put as much time into scouting and stand placement? Is being an "archer" the majority of the hunt? More important than actually, "hunting"?