Last year as only my second year bowhunting was a good year for a lot of different reasons. Shot my first deer with bow, and had the biggest buck I've ever seen in person in spitting range. However, like most hunters deer season never really ends for me and after waterfowl I plan on transitioning right in to shed hunting, post season scouting, and plans for both habitat and hunting strategy improvements. With that said please comment tips and tricks you feel helps in both categories to improve overall bowhunting success. Thanks and God Bless!
This is honestly one of the best videos i have came across to help my accuracy. I dont have taget panic, but in the winter time when the sun sets sooner. I dont have as much time to practice. so on the days i cant shoot. i do a modified version of this. and it has helped me to a stage of accuracy i didnt know i could even get to. I go in my garage and hold on a dot at about 10 yards. the dot is about 1/2" as soon as i drift off the dot i bring my bow down, wait 30 seconds, and do it again for about 10-12 times. I started with a 2" orange target dot, and cut it down smaller and smaller as i get steadier and steadier. I thank my ability to shoot good groups at 100 yards to levi morgan. what a great guy. I hope this helps you. im not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for
Scout with a purpose. I've been guilty of this and trying to improve this year. Too many times I wonder around the woods seeing a lot of sign but never really scouting for future hunts. If you run into a lot of sign, try breaking everything down and picking specific trees to hunt.
I agree with all of the above, but wanted to add fitness & trapping to this thread. Keeping the body in shape, is keeping the mind clear. During hunting season my gym routine goes right out the door, because of limited time. Getting back into that routine is tough, but a necessity. I spend each Sunday practicing at my local archery shop and spend as much time as possible scouting, shed hunting and looking for new deer patterns & public land to hunt on. In my neck of the woods, trapping coyotes are important prior to the season to give deer the best opportunity for survival and give me the best opportunity at harvesting mature deer in future.
A lot of peoples scouting consists of finding trails and areas that deer have fed, thats a good starting point but you need to keep looking till you find where they bed. Also when scouting and finding where deer are feeding in the winter this does not mean the deer will be feeding there in the fall. It isn't good enough to find a grove of oak trees you need to figure out what kind of oaks they are. In the beginning of a bow hunting career it is better to divide your shooting and scouting 50-50 you can be accurate out to 100 yards but if there isn't a deer around accuracy is pointless. Early on when I started bowhunting I knew some guys that always shot a mature buck with their bow year in and year out. I gave a guy permission to hunt my place and noted where he put stands up, and then I asked why those locations. It takes a lot of trial and error but you can learn to identify the spot within the spot, a mentor or a friend can accelerate the learning curve.
Hopefully you took mental note of everything you observed during season and will see while shed hunting (if you do). Apply all that to anyplace you can imagine it'll be useful to improve food plots, stand sites, developing bedding cover, anti-public screening, mineral sites, etc... Plan and alter things accordingly and get it done ASAP. It's better to push your work than to have it pushing you.
Everything I do with my bow in the off season is still done within the context of hunting in order to improve. I practice my form and close up shooting in my basement at about 10 yards. I go to 3d shoots and practice outside in the summer with the exact same setup and at same distances that I hunt. I don't practice at 80 yards in order to make a 40 yard shot easier. I practice at 40 yards and make my target smaller. This makes a 6 inch vital area seem like the side of the barn and also helps to keep the real world distance judging skills sharp.
I shoot 4 days a week, just a few, maybe 3 to 6 shots a day, all with broadheads. first shot is from 40 yards. I pull the arrow, then go to 30, then 20, then back to 40. if I hit the 2 inch bull from a station I quit that station for the day. By pulling the arrow after each shot, I have to evaluate each shot individually which adds focus and some pressure. also, I use the rhinehart 18 target so it's a little smaller target and less room for error. I passed on a great buck that was 5 yards past my comfort level last fall and will be better prepared this year. so my advice is shoot broadheads often and focus on each shot as if it is the only one.
Shoot your bow year round. Shoot at different distances. Include broadheads in your shooting session. Learn how to tune your bow and keep it in tune. I try to shoot daily even if it is a dozen or less shots. Service and maintain your treestands, groundblinds. Anything battery operated and not in use, remove batteries to avoid leakage and damage. Start scouting and getting permission to hunt from property owners. Lastly just have fun doing it.
As said scout and practice. I like to get out after a snow and follow fresh tracks. It's a great way to see how and where deer in you area move.
This is a post everyone should take notice of. Especially the part about servicing and maintaining tree stands. As well as taking the batteries out of your cameras, they will leak and get damaged.
Offseason tips There are a lot of things to do in the offseason.. from scouting, to taking care of equipment, buying equipment, IDing problems,.. I actually just did a whole series on it. Check out this video and some of our social media stuff, I think it will help you! Deer hunting: Make next season great-now! - YouTube
