How many arrows do you need to shoot before you believe you are ready to hunt? I believe that there are two parts to shooting. Physical and mental. I believe that the mental part is overlooked by many. I read a study (don't remember where) that stated that three groups of people were tested on shooting a basketball. One group then didn't practice at all. one group spent a set amout of time practing (visualizing) shooting in their minds. The last group actually shot hoops. All 3 groups were tested again and the group that did nothing showed no improvement. The other 2 groups improved the same! Part of my practice (which I don't practice much) includes the mental aspect. I visualize the shot and Believe it will go there. I only practice enough to get the physical part in condition.
Well Darwin... I believe you are correct and would like to add... Remembering back to those moments of the kill and all the adrenaline that some never take into account, your mind is powerful - grasshopper, and you need to use it properly. Just don't hang yourself! I mean, leaving yourself without proper mental preparation! I just started physically shooting on Friday. However, I have been killing (in my mind) all year long...
Honestly, and hopefully without sounding arrogant, I really need very little practice to get ready for hunting conditions. Last year I bet I only put in 50 arrows of practice with the hunting rig before season opened. I'll probably shoot a lot more than that this year, but only because I enjoy shooting and just haven't made the time over the last few months. I've put in so many thousands of arrows of practice and hours of work with a professional coach for competitive venues of archery, that I honestly think I can put in a single half hour session before season opens, and be confident out to 40 yards to hunt. I have the mental part down, and despite my lack of practice this year, still have my shot execution stuck in muscle memory. It's all there still. 99% of hunting situtations will present me with a shot at well under 25 yards, at a target the size of a grapefruit. If it were to be longer than that and I didn't feel right about the shot (face it, you know 99% of the time your gonna miss before you drop the string), I know I have the discipline to let it down, it's no different than letting down on a target/3D course when you don't feel right about the shot. With that said, if I were to train for a larger tournament, I'd put in a LOT more work than that and would likely start months in advance. Shooting for x rings at unmarked distances out to 50 yards, or shooting for a perfect score indoors is a whole different game though.
Started shooting last week - much earlier than the past few seasons. I'd love to shoot more - but work and 3 little ones waiting for "daddy" after work puts a crimp on it. Last year I picked my bow up 10 days before season - was good to 40 that first night, put broadheads on and shot everyday leading up to season. Could hit a tennis ball at 20 and 30 with broadheads...for deer hunting in my area (all treestand shots only clear out to 25 yards)...I had all the confidence I needed. Again - I visualize with the best of them...mentally prepare all year. I even draw with no bow in the house and visualize the kill...This is my 10th season with the same bow - same setup...nothing ever changes...it's going to be hard to ever buy another one. When the kids are old enough to shoot...I'm sure I'll get back to shooting more because I do enjoy it (unless it's 90+ degrees and humid)
How many arrows? I dunno.. don't think of practicing quite the same way as most do. Like your second paragraph states though.. I practice the physical (muscle memory) and mental game more than the arrow count. I started this type of practicing about 3 years ago after a very interesting article I read in one of the major hunting publications about an old school fella who teaches here in Illinois to shoot the bow. He once taught Olympic shooters years ago.. I forget his name. Of course I tweaked the routine a bit for my liking.. but it has been without question the signal greatest routine I've ever done.. yet. I'm always open to others. I simply practice from about 5 yards away in my garage. I practice on the mechanics of drawing a bow.. and the mental game by shooting ONLY at a 3-D target of a buck. I shoot 1 arrow and 1 arrow only at a time.. to represent real hunting.. as multiple arrows in any target may cause (often will) one to aim at an arrow and not the animal. I do this about 2-3 times per week.. about 8-15 arrows at a time usually beginning in July.. although I'm late this year due to personal reasons. The MOST intriguing thing about this practice system is actually what happened to me last season. My then 3-D target was shot at so much.. arrows were strting to go through about the location of the mid-lung. So I drew a black circle several inches back so I would get no "rogue" arrows. I began to shoot at that circle all late summer. Interestingly enough.. both deer I shot last season were hit in the exact same place.. the same place as that drawn in circle on my 3-D target.. just behind the liver.. and just into the guts of a whitetail. Now.. the first buck I shot was quartering away.. and I actually remember thinking about that shot.. it was a killer.. the buck went 40 yards and fell. The second buck.. captured on film was complete muscle memory and mental memory.. I shot that buck perfect to where I had been practicing all summer before. Up and down was perfect but it was that damn drawn-in circle again.. many of us know what happened with him.. How bout that. Needless to say I purchased a new 3-D target for this fall and am practicing just as always. A complete practice of muscle memory and the mental aspect of real world shooting at a buck. Wow.. this may have been my longest post EVER.
I do the same thing and typically just before the season starts, say about 2-weeks, I do this ritual at night or 1st thing in the AM to train my eyes to focus better during the low light "magical twilight killing time"...
I believe that always ready for the season to start because i shoot all year long and i am always small game hunting with my bow to tune my skills.
Insightfull post Mike. Me I practice 1 arrow at a time on the 3-D. On the dot target I shoot 5 at the 5 dots. I keep my mechanics the same on either target and when I feel myself slipping I stop shooting and go get a beer.
As as has been mentioned many times, shooting a compound bow under target practice conditions on flat ground is not too difficult. One needs to shoot enough in his first couple of years to get good solid mechanics as his shooting foundation. After many years of shooting a compound, I don't need to shoot too many arrows to stay proficient under these conditions. I do however need to practice shooting uphill, downhill, from my knees and leaning around a tree in order to go into the Western States with confidence that I am prepared for elk or muleys. For whitetails, I need to practice from elevated areas and with gloves and facegear on. Too many people (at least that I know) only practice in comfort on level ground and then wonder why they always shoot high from hunting out of a tree.
Mike, there is a lot of good info in your post. As weird as it may sound to a lot of guys, 90% of my practice for target oriented stuff is exactly like this. I learned this from my coach when I was still really focused on target oriented stuff. I do it at 10 yards in my basement. It allows me to focus on setup of the shot correctly, using the right muscles, and burning that perfect shot feeling into muscle memory. I don't have to worry about if I'm going to hit the x-ring (or vitals in a hunters case) at that distance, I know I'm going to hit it, and without that mental burden..........you can instead focus on making the perfect shot. It helps you focus on the process, not the results. If you focus on process, the results will just happen, and when you need to just put it all on auto pilot in the field, you can just let go and let your subconcious drive. When you practice this way, and then actually go to real distances, you also know what it's like to smoke the middle out of the target this way, and can easily visualize it and have confidence that it will happen, becaue you have done it so many times. Good stuff.
I need practice b/c my mechanics are probably not all that good. I did not have anyone to show me how to shoot a bow when I first started shooting 10 years ago. I have to practice over and over to become good at it. As long as I consistenly shoot from month to month, I do not generally encounter any shooting consistency issues. I become anal the month leading into the hunting season and practice from all possible positions. Am I a great shooter b/c of my practice? No. I am an average shot that can make it count in the moment of truth because I have confidence.
Great post!!! The way I look at it is just like being in Law enforcement they say when all h@ll breaks lose and the bullets start flying and your addrenalin kicks in you fall back on your training or mechanics more or less. So I shoot all year and then when there is only two weeks left till season opens I go out before I leave for work in the morning and I shoot 1 arrow and that is it, I leave it right in my target so I have to think about that 1 shot all day. Then I shoot 1 arrow before I go to bed so I have to think about that shot you get the picture.. That way when it all goes down and the addrenalin kicks in you are in robot mode I call it.. Walt
To be ready for the type of deer hunting I do, I really don’t need much practice at all. Over 90% of my shots are probably between 8 & 17 yds. On years that I elk hunt & want to be prepared for a 50 yard shot, I will spend some more time shooting. But I’m still not shooting daily or tons of arrows. Now with my trad bow, I need a good bit more. My shooting sessions are rarely very long, but I try to shoot every other day at least as the season nears.
The mental game is always the biggest challange with me. I tend to try to over think everything way to much. I use to get to the range and start shooting away at 20 now I go straight for the 40 and attempt to have my first shot of the day the best shot. Sure I wont shoot a deer at 40 but I believe this helps so much at the closer ranges and when I only get that 1 shot at a deer.
I don't look at it as have to or need to practice, I like to shoot my bow, I enjoy it and everything that goes along with it, thats why I shoot my bow year round!
i shot my bow for the first time in 9 months, over the weekend. I kept every shot within a softball at 30yds, which is sufficient for my purposes. No doubt, i'll still get the shakes when it comes time to the moment of truth.
