It's mid-August! Yeah, I know. That's crazy. It's almost bow season out here in Montana. In fact, if you have a 900 tag for antelope, you could be chasing critters already. That early bow season opened yesterday.
It used to be, I'd dig my gear out of the garage at around September 12th, a good week into bow season; I may or may not wash my camo, throw a few arrows down-range until I thought I was good out to about 25 yards, and I'd have at it. I didn't scout. I didn't compare gear to see what broad heads were best for my set-up. I didn't do squat but somehow, I'd shoot an elk. I didn't really have time to spend on practice and research and scouting given the nature of our guiding season so I was kind of hoping for the best. I knew however, my luck would run out and I would eventually have to put some time into it and some homework if I was going to fill the freezer year after year. And let me tell you, a freezer full of elk is worth a little effort.
I upgraded my bow a few years ago and was amazed at the technological advancements. I mean, I knew the bows had become faster and lighter but I had no idea they had come as far as they had. I was shooting an old XI Legend that was fast back in the early 90's but can't compare to the bows now. So I bought a used Hoyt Alpha Max. I increased my speed by a good 100 feet per second, which also increased my range. With that, I figured I needed to do some research and definitely practice more instead of just thinking I'd be able to magically shoot out to 70 yards.
In the past few years, the practice has definitely paid off. Where my top range with the XI was about 35 yards, I've shot 2 elk with the Hoyt in the 40-45 yard range and 2 over 60 yards. (BTW, the round of arrows in the target at the top was at 50.) The point here is if you can double your range, you're probably going to have many more opportunities but again, you can't just upgrade your bow and call it good. There's hours of practice on different ranges with different types of targets to get to that point. I've also researched the gear so that I know what arrows and what tips fly best out of my bow.
Scott Hirschi and I talk about this in a lot more depth on The Montana Dream Cast so check it out:
The one thing I'd like to impress on any archery hunter is to practice. Don't just shoot though. Anyone can throw a block out in the yard and get good at punching bulls but what happens when you're confronted with a real-life scenario; in the woods on uneven terrain with branches and a target that doesn't have a white circle telling you exactly where to put the pin?
Here are a few things I learned by shooting at an outdoor range with a 3D course. 1.) Terrain makes a difference. Shooting uphill is way different than flat or downhill and side hilling will definitely cause you to canter your bow and at long distances, will effect the accuracy. 2.) The arch of your arrow is way greater than you think. You'll have to lose a few arrows to fully appreciate that. Branches you don't think are in the way, are. 3.) Ranging animals in the mountains and in timber is different than standing in your yard. It's deceptive. And 4.) Habits you develop from shooting the block don't necessarily translate to shooting animals.
Let's talk about that last point. When I'm shooting at a target, I get a good group going but it's a little low and to the left. I keep shooting and keep getting the same result so what do I do? Moving the pin on my site is way more difficult than just compensating so I change where I hold the pin on the target and now I'm punching the bull every time. I call it good. All I have to do is hold a little high and to the right and I'm dead on. I get in a habit of putting that pin in the exact same spot on the block every time and I am stupid accurate. What happens though, when I change the target or now have to line up on an animal? I haven't conditioned myself to hold on a spot on the animal like I did with the block so what do you do?
Now I get it. To most you might think, "Just line it up a little high and to the right," right? Well, let's say you have that whitetail of a lifetime you're looking at through your peep and what are the chances you tell yourself to compensate? Or that 6 X 6 bull? You don't want to have to think. You want everything to be natural so do yourself a favor and practice on as many different targets, in as many different environments as you can and instead of compensating for being little off, take the time to move the pin. Trust me.
Keep 'em where they live...
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