Practicing for bowhunting and target shooting are two different things. Remind your customers to consider the conditions of hunting and share a few tips for when they’re shooting this summer, and into the fall hunting seasons.
It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when practicing archery. It becomes habit for many to stand at even intervals of 20, 30 or 40 yards, in the same location, taking the same shot in the same stance. This repetition will indeed improve your shooting accuracy and there is a time and place for it, but it’s not always the best way to practice for real-world hunting scenarios.
In this video shared by Trophy Ridge, Aaron Warbritton from The Hunting Public shares a few practical tips to help you and your customers get ready for the upcoming season.
The first thing Warbritton touches on is getting his bow sighted in and his shooting form dialed long before season starts, and once it arrives his practice mindset changes to as if he is shooting at an animal.
“If you have a big buck coming into your setup, you’re not going to get five or six practice shots before he gets there,” he says. “You get one opportunity most times and you have to make good on that.”
So instead of shooting multiple arrows, Warbritton takes one shot before the hunt to make sure the bow sights are still on and that his bow is still functioning as it should. With that one shot, he envisions it’s the one chance he will get at an animal and concentrates on making it count.
Another piece of sound advice he adds is to take that practice shot with the broadhead you plan to use while hunting to ensure the exact setup you’ll be relying on in the woods is performing as it should.
The next tip, and one this author thinks is extremely important, is practice being precise in a quick manner. Draw back, find your anchor point, find your spot on the target and release.
“If you get stuck in a situation where you have to draw and you only have a couple seconds to make good on your opportunity, you need to be prepared for that mentally,” Warbritton says. “And you can do that right in your yard by adjusting a few of your practice techniques.”
Another tip to add that wasn’t mentioned specifically but depicted during some of the shooting clips, is practicing from different stances. As any hunter knows, the shot your presented is very often not how it was drawn up in your head forcing you to adjust your position in a treestand or ground blind.
Prepare for any situation during the off season and polish those stances during season prior to your hunt. If you know you’re going to be ground hunting, practice from a kneeling or sitting position. If hunting from a tree, train from elevation.
Share these tips with customers as they are purchasing equipment for the season and getting their bows tuned and chances are they will remember the sound advice and come back to show you when it pays off.
