How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I am asked this question by some of our viewers, and would like to hear what the bow hunters of this website have to say, your information will help shape and form a segment on bow hunting! Should you go out and shoot your bow a week before the season begins or several months, thanks for your help..

Dr. Mike

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

If you ask me........and you have.:D

You should NEVER stop shooting your bow. Shoot year round even if its just a few arrows a week in the deep offseason. Shooting a bow is NOTHING like shooting a rifle. Good shooting depends upon repeatable form, muscle tone and famiarity with your equipment above and beyond any gun hunting, that only comes with many hours behind the string.
We as archers also need to learn range estimation, shooting from heights, tuning proper gear selection and so on and so on.......
The above average archer can and will be able to pull it together with minimal prep time before a hunt......sort of like riding a bike, but the true ARCHERS wouldn' t dream of picking the bow up a week before the season starts.
The average archer to beginner should begin WELL in advance of the season since they by definition need the most work.

And almost as important as preseason shooting practice is IN SEASON shooting practice. Too many guys forget to keep sharp after opening day........shoot a few arrows before or after each hunt and on off days and you won' t lose that edge.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

Matt summed it up pretty well, I think every one handles it differently, I like Matt feel there is a difference between between a true archer and an archer/hunter. I view myself as halfway between the two, I really back off on my practice once the season ends, I still shoot some throughout the year, but not a lot, just enough to keep the muscle tone up and the form close. About a month before the beginning of the season is when I make every effort to practice daily and really tweak my equipment in at 20 yards from about a 10 foot elevation, half way between a tree stand and the ground. Usually I have my set of " hunting" arrows identified in 2 weeks and have the bow dead on the money at 20 yards. At this point I set my " hunting" arrows aside and start to work at different yardages and how high or low depending upon range to hold my 20 yard pin. I shoot single pin and in no time I can be dead on out to 30 yards with a single pin, it does take some serious practice I' ll admit to shoot single pin, but the faster/flatter your bow shoots the easier it is to do.

To me the most important shot taken in every practice session is the first one!!!! That tells me how well I am really doing. If I am not where I want to be with that first shot I know it will be a long practice session, if it is on, it will be a normal to short session.

BTW to me dead-on is a 2 inch or less group at 20 yards.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I practice off and on year round.My brotherinlaw has a balcony about 12ft. High we practice off of it most of the time.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I shoot year round, 300 league all winter and spring, then 3-D all summer, and whenever I can around home. I keep three or four 3-D targets set up at all times in my yard and even a treestand a lot of the time, and practice often. In my opinion you cant practice too much.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

Ditto on what Matt said


There is no such thing as an off season[:o][:-].

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RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

You have to shoot at least some, some guys shoot tons. It is dependant upon hte individual. I could probably catch a lot of flack for how little shoot. BUT I can hit what I shoot at, so what' s it matter if it takes me 3 sessions the couple weeks before the season, or 1000' s of arrows all summer. It doesn' t matter how much it takes, just that you get to the required proficiency level.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I agree with Matt for the most part, I shoot all year long this helps to keep my muscles in shape, my form correct and gives me relaxation and peace of mind. I suggest to any bowhunter the more you shoot the better prepared you become for that big moment.:)

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I also reccomend shooting year round. But for those of you who don' t, at least start 6 weeks early and shoot alot, unil you have 100% confidence in your rig and your 100% kill range. Then you must keep shooting during the season!! Its very easy for something to get knocked out of kilter, you don' t want to find that out with a deer in front of you!!

Good Luck!

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I started getting in to bowhunting big this year I practice every other day trying to get ready for sept. 13th (opening day:D). I feel I owe it the the deer to make sure I can make the kill as quick as possible. Therefore I practice.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

Year round here too. The more familiar and confident you are w/ your equiptment the better off you are. I actually heard a " Pro shop" staff member at a Large outdoor retailer tell a buyer that if he were to buy the sights w/ his new bow that there was no need to shoot until a week b4 season. I couldn' t believe it??!!! I talked to the gentleman buyer shortly after and convinced him other wise!!! The set up may not change but YOU more than likely will. That and this helps to prevent injuries when the weather turns cold. I think that practice with any choice of weapon is a neccesity not a choice!! You owe it to yourself and the game you persue. Besides with the right company it can be fun and quite challenging. There aren' t many sports that don' t require some type of practice and I' m positive this isn' t one either!! Just my two cents

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I shoot my bow just a few days before the season starts.

I started shooting when i was 8 years old I think shooting to much is bad if you can group then in the middle dont keep shooting every day or every other day.

just make sure your bow is still on target and go hunting.;)

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I feel the same way as some of the other guys on here do. If more people were to feel this way then we' d hear " I hit one too far back and can' t find it, what do I do?" A whole lot less. Those people who don' t practice are the ones who think that if they can group pie plates size at 20 yards then they are good enough and then they try a 30-40 yard hail mary shot.

I just might miss archery season this year because I suffered a back injury and haven' t shot but a few times since December. I have 2 weeks till the opener and if I can' t hit a dime at 20 then I won' t go.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

If the weather is tollerable I' m out there!
Good weather I' m shooting everyday Minimum 20 arrows at different yardages. I really never count
When the weather gets really Cold I try to get out once a week with the same amount of shots
AL

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

ummm..... yeah in my opinion if you haven' t been shooting half the summer...and haven' t improved your form and accuracy....you haven' t been shooting enough....but i' m just a begginner whos relearning things from a couple years ago...so it wasn' t that hard for me...but i did realize how important it is to practice way more than you think you need to...last year i missed 4 deer in 3 days...that definately taught me the importance of practice wiht a bow....

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

You guys say, you let up on practice after the season. OK, we' ve got the early bow season (Oct 1st - Dec 6th), then the antlerless season (mid Jan), then spring turkey (Arpil & May), then the 3-d season starts. Oh yeah, we' ve got coyote season all year long. I don' t see a off season. ;) Just my 02' s worth. The point is I love shooting ' My Favorite Martin' and I do all the time. I carry it with me in my truck with a cheap block target. Sometimes I work split shifts where I' m off for 2 or 3 hours in the afternoons. I take my bow and target out to this park and practice in between shifts. I shoot 60 or 70 arrows a day usually. For me, it' s relaxing. It' s my time to escape the stress of my job.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I never have been able to figure out why so many people avoid shooting their bows until bow season is upon them. They all seem to want to know what the absolute minimum amount of practice time they MUST put into shooting before going hunting.

If they hate shooting a bow that much, why in the world do they feel compelled to go hunting with a bow?

There is no off season. In Texas we' ve got deer and turkey in the fall, small game hunting all winter (squirrels year round in many places), spring turkey, bowfishing for carp and gar, wild pigs year round.... not to mention 3D, field archery and FITA tournaments. I don' t have to get ready for bow season because I' m ALWAYS shooting, ALWAYS ready to hunt something. Of course, I simply enjoy shooting a bow and would shoot arrows even if there was no such thing as bowhunting.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I shoot because I love to shoot.....I am outside shooting as soon as the weather breaks from winter (march/april). Not only am I strengthing my muscles, but I am practicing so when season opens, I am confident, and shooting a bow is second-nature. I don' t have to worry about making a good shot... I KNOW I will make a good shot. It boils down to preperation; it always does.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

You should shoot enough that when the situation presents itself in the field everything will automatically go on auto pilot and you wont have to think to much about the shot, just the target. For some more seasoned archers it may only take a month of good practice before the season but for most to keep this skill honed requires consistant practice on a more frequent basis. For me, 3 months of practice before season and a few arrows a day during season keeps me sharp.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

I shoot once or twice a month, January till July. August and September, I shoot 3 or 4 days a week. During the bow season, I turn the outside light on and shoot one arrow off my back deck at a 3d before I go hunting. If that one shot feels good and hits on, I take off for the woods. If it doesn' t feel good, I shoot some more until it does.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

As said above :

Practice does not make perfect..........

Perfect practice makes perfect. You can only be fully confident when drawing on a deer when you have spent your time practing and know in your heart that you hit what you aim at at the distance you are shooting. I also would ask this of a bowhunter - why spend the money on a tree stand, camo clothing, scents, accesories, a bow, arrows, your tag, gas, etc, etc.... and not KNOW you can hit your target.

You can only KNOW you are going to hit the mark when you practice a lot period.

I admit I did not practice all year because I had an injury to my knuckle ( I cut the bone with a chopsaw ) and its still bothering me......
I shot all this weekend at 40 yards.... best group - 5 arrows, 3 inches... worst group, 5 arrows 8 inches..... mainly cause I was getting tired from shooting so much

Here is something I try to do as much as possible. I walk out in my back yard right before i go to work and shoot one arrow - ONLY ONE....... every morning... at 30 yards, and make it count. When you nail it every morning you are at the point you want to be - confident, and able..........
As also mentioned above - equipment comes into play. I am a pretty good ' natural' - I mean shooting a bow always came pretty easy to me.... however I had a fit this year because of my equipment. I had string stretch one.... and a contact problem.... Lets say I went out and only shot a few arrows and though ' ok - I hit ok,I am ready to deer hunt' well then when you shoot at a deer you find out the hard way your bow was not tuned well enough because your arrow windplanes downwards and slaps the ground...... My point again is you will only have FULL confidence when you know you can walk out - at any time, and drill a bullseye - period. When you can do that it also calms you down greatly because you know to say to yourself when drawn on the deer ' relax, center the pin, ok no torque, theres the spot, and watch the arrow fly' I have a quick mental list like that i run through on each shot - it takes 2-3 seconds and it works for me.....

Just my 2 cents.......

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

Being able to hit a bullseye, and being prepared to hunt are different things in my opinion. You may be able to hit the bullseye your first time out, but IMO that does not make you prepared for the hunt. It is more a state of mind, and running through your pre-shot routine over and over again that prepare you for the moment of truth.

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RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

And if you wait to the last minute and find out you need repairs, you' re at the tail end of a very LONG line of other guys that have done the same thing. All the shops are backlogged this time of year because of that very thing. You might not even get to see your bow again until after opening day.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

ossy - you are right there also and thats a good point. Thats why I have my mental shot checklist I mentioned to help me mentaly prepare and focus on the shot - a good shot, not a chance shot, one that will quickly harvest the animal in your sights... so good point.

I think everyone summed up the anser - yes you need to practice.

1. You should start early - if not all year
2. Be familiar with your equipment
3. Know your true limitations


All of these will require practice - lots of it.

RE: How important is it to pratice shooting your bow, before you hunt?
 

Which is another reason to shoot alot. You get tired of paying someone else to serve a string or do a minor repair and learn to do it yourself. Case in point: I took my NBEF bowhunter education class for Alaska last weekend. I had to get up Sat. morning at 5:30am to drive 120 miles to take it. The last shot on my Friday night session resulted in a blown center serving. Every guy I shoot with would have hung it up and rescheduled his class so he could get his bow fixed by the shop. Nope, I have FORCED myself to learn how to fix things. I reserved the string and tested the setup by my truck lights at 10pm. I aced my shooting portion of the class (it really wasn' t too tough) and feel more like a true archer because I can deal with the repairs myself.

Like Arthur, there is stuff for me to shoot year round. I never really put the bow away anymore, and neither do my kids.

I am an archer first and a bowhunter as an extension of that.