I currently live in the Northeast and predominately hunt a handful of private lots in the Southern Tier of New York. The end of September is one of my favorite times of the year. Throughout the summer, I have been accumulating new gear, practicing with my Matthews Outback, prepping my hunting areas and pumping myself up for the archery season opener in early October.
It is absolutely critical to become not only familiar with your equipment, but to have muscle memory and natural instinct with every item you own. We’re talking clear fundamentals of archery hunting–practice, practice, practice! Practice with your hunting apparel on, from a tree stand, at different/funky distances and under a time slot. When I was in college, I barely practiced with my bow. I thought, hell I will shoot a few arrows and be ready to go when a big buck comes out. That hungover attitude cost me two of the biggest bucks I have ever encountered, watching my arrows go flat under within 30 yards. This could have been easily avoided if I got up in my climber and practiced shooting down.
You know this, it’s simple. Get out and practice. Make a contest of it with your friends, barter for lunch for the most bullseyes and long shots. Introduce non s hooters to the sport so you can add another colleague and brush up your skills at the same time. The video above is from this past weekend, when I took my buddies, my fiance and sister out to shoot. We had a blast and continued to fine tune our equipment.
Green Lake Chronicles 