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After the season By the time winter gets a good hold and the deer seasons have all closed, most bowhunters are ready for a break. After all, especially in the south, the liberal and sometimes long archery seasons can wear even the most hard-core bowhunter down. When the time comes to "hang it up" for the year there are a few things it would pay to remember. First, archery is a skill, a skill that can degrade over time if not used. Try not to be a "bow shooter" and put your bow up until next season. Strive to be a "bow hunter" and take yourself a much-deserved break, then get right back at it. A proficient bowhunter has honed their shooting abilities to the point that they can do much more than hit the proverbial "pie plate". (I am still looking for those deer that run around with white pie plates stuck over the vitals...) Check your equipment out from A thru Z before taking a break. On your bow look over the following.
Once you have taken a month or two off it's time to take your archery to the next level. It is shocking how fast your muscles can become out of shape when you're not shooting your bow on a regular basis. That said, try to shoot monthly to keep yourself in top form. If you take some time off and find your bow uncomfortable to draw, lower the draw weight a few pounds and let your body re-condition itself. Once spring rolls around and the weather is a little more in your favor, try shooting a little 3D. 3D shooting is one of the best ways to prepare yourself for hunting. It helps your yardage estimation more than you can ever believe. If shooting a 3D course with other shooters is not your cup of tea you can just as easily set up your own course. Insure when setting your course up that you tailor it to suit your specific needs. If you're a tree stand hunter set up some tree stand stations so you can practice shooting from an elevated position. Remember though if you decide to climb to shoot, always wear a fall restraint device. Since it's the off season and you have a little time to play with your setup here are seven things you can do to effectively and inexpensively attain better accuracy prior to next bow season. Practice all year First and foremost in gaining better accuracy out of your bow is practice. A large majority of bow hunters only practice a couple months a year. Even though the couple months may seem adequate, you might be surprised what a consistent practice schedule will do for your shooting ability. Even if you only shoot a couple times a week all year it will show come archery season. I personally shoot one arrow twelve times at least three times a week all year long. Tailor a schedule to fit your lifestyle and stick with it, you won't regret it. Peep Sight Most archers today use some form of a peep sight. If you don't already, give one a try. The peep gives you a couple of very distinct things. First, it gives you a sight picture that you can repeat time and time again with practice. Second, the peep, when aligned with your natural anchor point, forces you to but your head in the same spot on the string every time. There are basically two types of peep sights available, one is self-aligning and the other has a short rubber tube that attached to the bow. A word of advice on the peeps with the rubber tube, rather than attaching the tube to the limb with a long tube, attach it to the cable of your bow with about a four inch tube, This will keep the noise to a minimum. Sights One can't say enough about getting the best sight available. I have found that if you shoot a peep sight it's good to get a sight with a round aperture. The round peep sight hole and the round sight aperture together facilitate better sight alignment thus helping your constancy. Basically there are three traits to look for in a good bow sight. First is durability. There are plenty of good sights on the market but the best ones are constructed 100% of metal. Metal won't bend or break under extreme hunting conditions. Additionally, a metal sight is much less likely to have stripped adjustment screws than their plastic cousins. Second is visibility. Since most hunting is under low light conditions find the best fiber optics available. Remember what shows up real nice and bright in the pro shop won't always show up at dusk or dawn. Find one that works for you. Be aware that lighted sight pins, though legal in some areas are not legal for anything you might want to enter in the P&Y record book. Third is adjustability. The option to be able to fine-tune your sight is always a big plus. The better sights are set up to adjust for windage, elevation and a third axis for tuning your sight to your shooting style. A final note on sight is pin size. A majority of hunting sights have .029 diameter pins. Try dropping to a .019 pin and watch your groups shrink. The smaller pin size lets you focus on a smaller spot (Aim small miss small). The downside is at times the smaller pins are a bit harder to see. Release A release aid is nearly a must for shooting today's shorter compounds. When a bow is shorter than about 38 inches finger pinch becomes a problem. If you want to try a release aid there are a couple of key things to consider. First, never buy a release that you can't test fire or because your buddy uses it. All releases, like all bowhunters, are not created equal. What works for me might not be worth a plug nickel for you. Also, release aids are like cars. You're going to get what you pay for so buy the best you can afford. Second is trigger adjustment. Make sure you get a release with a screw to adjust the trigger tension. Set yours not only where it feels right but where you can achieve a clean consistent release every time Follow through If you don't have good form you won't have good accuracy. The most important part of good form is total follow through. This means you do not drop your bow arm until the arrow hits the target. In a perfect world you should strive to see the arrow impact while still staring at your sight pin. When you drop your bow arm you negatively effect arrow flight. You also lose accuracy when you try to raise your head up off the string to "peek" at the arrow in flight. Draw weight Draw weight is probably the single most important factor in getting the most out of your bow. A good majority of bow hunters are pulling too much weight and not shooting to their fullest potential. Now, generally speaking, a bow will perform its best with the limb bolts bottomed out. That said, don't crank your 70 pound limbs all the way down unless you can actually draw 70 pounds. Drawing excessive weight can not only cause injuries but it causes you to move more in the draw cycle. If you can't smoothly come to full draw without raising your bow above your shoulder you're pulling too much weight. Find your comfortable weight and shoot there. If you want to shoot more just add a turn to those limb bolts once a month. If you practice all year you will be shooting the heavier weights and won't even notice. Open your hand Ever notice how some people really squeeze the grip when shooting? Relaxing your hand is the cheapest thing you can do to improve your accuracy. When a right handed person "chokes" the bow they torque it to the right. This can cause your point of impact to always be to the right. How much depends on how hard you grip the bow. Left-handed folks are the opposite. If you have a fear of dropping your bow buy a wrist sling. *Troy Basso is a freelance writer and instructor for the National Bowhunter Education Program. |
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