I will preface by saying that im new to this, last season was the first for me to get into the woods and hunt. Saw 3 deer, and 1 big coyote, didnt get a shot on anything but had a peacefull time in the woods.
My question is this, after watching several DVD's, and talking to many folks about trad. archery, it occurred to me that there hasnt been alot of focus or information on actual "hunting" tips/pointers. By this I mean what can be practiced and or improved on in the back yard that will directly relate to real world hunting situations?
All of the DVD's and such focus on anchor, back tention, release etc.... and I get that, I understand the basic fundamentals of getting arrows downrange on the paper, but havent heard alot about what I can be working on to increase my chances of actually killing game when that critical moment arrives.
Common sense tells me to shoot in various positions/angles that I may find myself in, but other than that what are some things I can be working on before the season is here????
Nothing beats the real thing. but practice the way you hunt if you hunt from a tree stand practice from a stand. EXPERIENCE IS A GIANT TEACHER.
Use broad-head's when practicing. Shoot at different angles & distances.
As part of My shooting session, I also practice My First Shot, Everything else is form work. Remember a lot of times You'll be sitting for hours before You may get a shot.
This is why I shoot a few arrows, leave and come back a few hours later. Do it all over again.
I shoot at different yardages, but I never shoot beyond 20 yards anymore since out in the field bowhunting, I don't take shots past 20 yards at an animal. I'm disciplined enough to wait for my shot. I also shoot from different positions. In a crouch or on one knee.
Read Your States Hunting reg's. If you can hunt ring now for small game, frogs, tree rats. Get some points and go out there. Like Earl said "Nothing beats the real thing. but practice the way you hunt"
If You can put up a tree stand in your yard, Do that.NOT in or near Your hunting area..
If you have a ladder stand and a tree in your yard, put the ladder stand in the tree. Get a 3D deer target and set it up about 20 yards away from the ladder stand. Get up on a Saturday morning and put your hunting clothes on, grab your bow, and climb into the ladder stand. Settle in for a few minutes. Now, all of a sudden, there's a "deer" about 20 yards away! You have only one shot, so make good of it. Draw your bow, pick a spot on the "deer" and let your broadhead tipped arrow fly! Hopefully, you hit the deer in the vitals. If not, live with it. Whether you hit the deer or you didn't, DO NOT shoot another arrow! This is real world practice. Get down out of the stand, retrieve your arrow, and go about your everyday business. Now, when you get the chance, go somewhere else and practice on your form, etc.
When evening comes, go back to the ladder stand and repeat the process all over again. Remember, you only get ONE shot at the deer target from the ladder stand. Don't cheat by shooting two or more arrows from the stand when practicing real world hunting like this. This method will teach you how to focus and make a good shot when you know all you're gonna get is that one shot. Rarely do we get more than one shot at a deer when hunting with the bow.
All great advice above. I have to add try practicing with your hunting clothes on, it'll be way different vs. a t-shirt.
Thanks guys, ive already learned several things in the few moments this post has been up.
I will also add if my stalking skills were better I would have killed or at least got a shot off on a nice buck and that coyote last year. Was within about 10 yards of the buck but he saw me first and bolted, amazing how you can be creeping through the woods with your "game" face on and NOT EVEN SEE the dang deer at that distance! That was an eye opener (literally) for me.
On the coyote i heard something across the creek (I was on 1 bank, he was on the other) I turned and he was within 15 yards at a very slow trot, by the time I decided to draw (less than a second) he turned and trotted off in the thick brush, gone.
So I realize that patience is a must, but also at times it seems that a split second decision is required.... guess thats where the experience kicks in as well.
Like Earl said,experience is "HUGE".Trying to remain calm and focused and put the arrow where it needs to go is the hardest part,for me.Ditto the "practice the way you hunt" and keep you're broadheads sharp.Good luck!
Like Earl said,experience is "HUGE".Trying to remain calm and focused and put the arrow where it needs to go is the hardest part,for me.Ditto the "practice the way you hunt" and keep you're broadheads sharp.Good luck!
If you can, try and shoot one arrow only-maybe 2 hours apart. Make the shot perfect-form, pick a tiny spot (single straw on a bale is good). If you have a cat study the stalking skills-no, I'm not kidding! Have fun.
Hunt the Wind!!! Carry a compas and mark a bearing of the last place you could see your arrowed animal. If you are in a tree everything looks different when you get down and things get confusing.Carry paper towel or toilet paper for marking blood.Mostly as most people said Have fun.
Practice alot using the "one arrow" method. By only shooting one arrow and retrieving it each time forces you to concentrate better on each shot. Shoot each shot from a different distance or angle. Practice with purpose, you should notice a quick improvement in your shooting...this system has work well for both my practice partner and myself.10-15 minutes a day should suffice...remember practice does not make perfect....PERFECT practice make perfect...make that your mindset and you'll do well...good luck...john
RC can you elaborate? "Carry paper towel or toilet paper for marking blood"
thanks all!
Not sure what R.C. meant but I use toilet paper for the blood trail and it biodegrades in one or two rains and doesn't ugly up the woods with plastic flagging and of course the real reason for its use also comes in handy.Shoot another arrow after the game runs off at the same spot makes finding hair or blood easier when you get to the ground if hunting in a tree.Kip
This last week I was practicing on gophers, or what is called the Richardson Ground Squirrel here in Montana.
If you can hit those, or sometimes just barrely missing them, you will get your much larger game like whitetail, elk and moose.
3 of those little raskels got the shaft. :archer:
Figure out your maximum effective range (farthest distance you can keep arrows in the kill zone with your broadheads) and NEVER take a shot at an animal beyond that distance, ever. Rule #1
The backyard practicing is good for your form.The plan is to practice a lot so everything becomes secondnature.When that big buck steps in front of you,all you have to do is pick a spot focus,and shoot. GOOD LUCK.
The picking a spot can't be emphasized enough. If you've done your back yard practice and have your form down so your anchor and your head position and your bow arm are things you DON'T have to think about then it becomes just a matter of picking the spot and the arrow will go there. Your muscle memory and mind will take care of the rest.
I learned this the hard way last year. My first year hunting only trad. I missed the first 5 deer I shot at! Some of them so far off that the deer just wandered over to the arrow and sniffed it! :mad: I "thought" I was picking a spot. I sure remember looking at the front shoulder elbow and the line of changing fur color from white belly hair to tan side hair but I sure as hell wasn't picking that spot. I was just looking at it.
I didn't figure out what spot I was picking until I shot at a big doe a couple of months into season and HIT her! Right in the neck, just below the jaw. I felt sicker than I've ever been watching her run off with that arrow flapping around in her neck. Luckily, The broadhead cut the cartoid and she went down in a hundred yards, blood trail a blind man could follow but I finally figured out that I was LOOKING at the deers head while drawing! Not the SPOT. Just the head, making sure they weren't looking at ME!
It didn't sink in, what I was doing wrong for several more months. You can search under my user name and see all the whining I did last year about how I can't hit anything with this stupid bow. I'm gonna buy a compound and fix all my problems...
Late last year. Dec. 2 if I remember right. I had a little 6 point come in. I watched him come in from about 200 yards out. At 50 yards I concentrated on nothing but behind the shoulder. I was so intensely focused on just that point of the elbow, I don't remember anything else. Just that Tiny, Tiny spot. I couldn't tell you which way he was looking, How far away he was. Wether his head was up or down. I was just seeing that one tiny spot behind his elbow. I honestly don't remember even drawing but I do remember seeing, and hearing the arrow hit. Exactly, were I was looking!
I've tried to describe the feeling to many folks and have failed miserably. Best I can describe is when your NOT picking a spot, yours eyes are WIDE open. Like your excited or suprised and you just have to get an arrow in this deer.
When you pick a spot.At least for me. Your eyes are squinted down. extremely focused. Nothing but that patch of hair matters. Your arrow goes there. I,m still failing miserably to describe it. .....
I'm no expert by any means so take what I've offered with a grain of salt. I still don't have it figured out for sure. Hell. I missed a pig last night! I did pick a spot but I did NOT bend at the waist and shot right over her.
But thats my take. Pick a spot and drag your deer to the house.
Good luck!
In addition to all the practice that is required, scout your hunting area thoroughly. You need to locate your stand where the deer naturally want to go, and you must hunt the wind. Above all, be patient. Be still and quiet. Set up your shot carefully and pick your spot. Repeat, pick your spot.
Slow down, most of us walk way too fast when hunting on the ground. As a recovering rifle hunter, I've learned this the hard way. Most the other stuff has been covered!
Get a 3D deer target. Really helps familiarize your self with picking a spot on the real thing.
Learn to picka spot as mentioned. Acouple ways to practice this is, one when watching a hunting show, pick a spot as if you were the camrea. This aslo helps with angles. Two is pick a spot on everything. especially animals. Our eyes are trained to see the whole picture. When you drive by and see an animal, pick a spot on the animal, don't just look at the whole animal. I live on a farm, and the cattle are fed right by where I shoot. I constantly pick a spot on the cows. They are angus, so pure black, this aslo helps in picking a spot.
I still don't do it enough, but it helps.
Hunt groundhogs. If you can kill them you can hunt anything.
I carry toilet paper in my right cargo pocket when I`m hunting on foot. Things happen real fast sometime and gets confusing at time to trail. When I get lucky enough to sneak within range and get a shot . I watch the animal leave and take a compass bearing of the last place I saw and heard it. Keep in mind I hunt thick places and usually can`t see very far. If your in wide open country this may not help. ..When the animal is gone and all is quiet I take a piece of paper out and put it where I`m standing. I walk to where the animal was standing at the shot and drop a piece. Then I go back to where I was standing at the shot. Follow my compass bearing to where I last saw the animal and drop a piece of paper. I look for blood there. Usually I find blood there and take up the trail if the sign and hit looks good.In hot weather this little bit of a jump in bloodtrailing can save time that a critter needs to be on ice.I also got a bearing where I last heard the animal I`ll go to that spot and walk the bearing . Often you`ll see the critter there. I don`t wander around there for fear of messing up the blood but often will cut blood here as well and save more time. The Compass thing I give credit to Mr. Womack. The man has forgot more than most seasoned bowhunters know ...me included.Its very rare I leave the truck without two. One around my neck and one in my pocket.Using this method I probably end up bloodtrailing 2 of 10 critters I shoot. Usually walk to them running a compass bearing.RC
I can't believe nobody has posted stump shooting and roving. I stump shoot all the time. This helps me in judging distance in the woods cause it's alot different than in the yard. It also helps to put you in different positions for the shot and helps you to focus on a spot.
All advice that has been given is very good especially the stump shooting; know your limits and stay within those limits; you are also doing the right thing by asking "how"; there are MANY experienced hunters here on this forum and they sure don't mind helping those who ask;
I hope you have a great season and please feel free to ask any questions...... :campfire:
Practice as much as you can with the broadhead you are going to hunt with, and don't practice shooting groups especially with broadheads.
Of course the #1 recipe for bagging a deer is to put yourself within your effective range of at least one deer you want during the season. Knowing your hunting area, having stands in proper places, and then getting in and out of them without alerting the herd are all important. After that I think competence with your equipment is key. Today, in fact I began stepping a bit closer to my 3-D targets as I start to eliminate the competition-type shots in favor of bow range only and ethical angle shots. This is a huge difference by the way between my return to recurves and my compound bow. With my compound I would still be shooting 50-60 yards on targets and almost never shooting closer than 30 yards even though 95% of my bowrange shots are less than 20 yards and I've never shot past 33 yards in 45 years of bowhunting. I can't do this with my recurve. I have to really foccus on the real-world ranges and angles. It takes far too many shots at longer ranges to program my eye for those. I make sure when I tune my target arrows (field tips) that they also shoot broadheads in the same place. I only shoot a broadhead pointed arrow now abot once or twice a week because I know they shoot like my field tips and the broadheads are tough on targets and arrows. While I have many up and down shots on my 3-D trail, this week I will build an elevated platform on my deck so I can shoot over the rails (didn't need to do this with my compund). I will place 2-3 targets at 10, 15, and 20 yards from this deck location. The shot will be from about 14-20 feet (my yard is sloped down). When I awake every morning I will warm up my muscles with a String Bow or isometrics (2-3 minutes) and then shoot one arrow at each target from the deck to track my effectiveness. I'll shoot more shots after these 1st ones to perfect my technique. But that first arrow is KEY! I'll make sure some of my shots are taken while sitting. I'll also put up my blind and shoot from it since I intend to share time in tree stands and a ground blind for the first time this deer season. Shooting through the windows of a blind, especially with traditional, sightless equipment, can be very different. I need to practice it to be confident.
One more thing. Today, on my trail I began repositioned myself for every shot to make sure I only took shot angles that I would take while hunting. No quartering towards me, no super hard going away shots. No need to practice a shot I won't take. I don't even want that "sight picture" in my mind.
practice slow so your bodie gets good muscle memory from nocking while not looking to drawing to anchor to realse and follow threw dont rush the shot it will help a lot pluss every thing up top
I walk with a judo arrow and pretend each shot is at an alert animal. I raise and draw the bow very slowly, as though the target might see me. Each shot is different, and I choose some shots that are "junky" so that I have to pick a path between the obstructions for the arrow to follow.