I shot my bow for the first time about a month ago and hadn't shot it since December. Strained my shoulder a little because I drew back wrong. Crazy how quickly you can lose that muscle memory. After a month of shooting I'm right back to normal.
Least you are starting now and not waiting till the day before season like a lot of people do. So thank you for that.
How much practice do you recommend? I get my bow back from the shop and new arrows about a week before I hunt. Some years if I am traveling I only have a couple days of shooting before I hunt. Been shooting a bow for years does not take long to get dialed back in.
Its really depends on the individual. Some people are gifted and in a few shots are good to go. Others like myself have to work at to keep that muscle memory. I try to shoot daily but work and personal reason don't always allow for that. Even worse we have far too many people that dont pick up the bow at all and just go to the stand and blame their equipment because the animal ran away. I would say if you can maintain a 6 inch or better grouping at a range them you are good for that range. So what ever amount of practice it takes to consistently do that. Is that a fair answer?
If I don't practice for about a month it takes me a day or two to get my groupings to acceptable out to 30 yards, but I need more time if I want to be consistent over 30 yards. But my uncle who hadn't shot his bow in about 3 or 4 years picked it up and was dialed right back in within 2 days. I guess it just depends on the person.
