A Bad Year Requires New Practice Methods

In North Carolina the 2018 Big Game Fall Season is coming to an end.  There are a few more weeks of rifle season and depending on what region I am hunting in, does are legal to harvest but in my primary hunting spot it has gone back to antlered deer only for the remainder of the season.  So far, my only harvest this year has been a small buck and I am eager to fill one more tag with a larger buck (we are allowed two). If all goes well and time permits, I will try for a doe from one of my smaller hunting areas in a different region where either sex is legal until January 1 (we are allowed 4).  North Carolina also has a Urban Deer Hunter Program where a city may elect to allow hunting for an additional week within its city limits, I am lucky enough to have a small property available to me in one of those cities and it may be scouted should my freezer have more room.  Three deer seems to be a good number for feeding my wife and I throughout the year with a venison meal almost weekly (or one large dish that lasts a week).

With that said, how did I get here?  How is it the middle of December and I have spent many hours in the woods mostly with a bow in my hand, had many opportunities, yet I only have one deer to show for it.

Going back to the beginning of the season, my marksmanship with the bow was great but only in ideal situations.  I practiced almost daily but with my usual routine of walking to a few predetermined locations in my yard from 20 to 50 yards, firing a number of rounds and then hanging the bow back up.  The shots were good, anyone of them would be right in the bread basket yet I had a number of shots this season that missed the mark on that were all in my range . I have determined why and will outline how I have changed my practice routine.

1: Increase Arrow Speed

If you can make your bow shoot at its maximum designed speed and the draw weight and let of weight is acceptable to you, get it there.  More arrow speed will mean less drop and better kill force but make sure your arrows and target can handle your bows maximum speed.  With my current revised set up I set my top pin for pretty much 20 yards through 40 yards.  This is normally the only bow shots I will take at a deer. With this set up I know that at 20 yards I hold my pin on the bottom of the deer's chest when it is broadside and that I hold dead center at 40 yards.  With my new set up the drop from 20 to 40 yards is only about 6 inches so there is no need to set up 3 pins and clutter up my view ring since I'm not shooting competitively.  If you are not comfortable with this, check with your bow tech.

2: Add a chair. 

Rather than taking all my shots standing with my feet shoulder width apart with one foot forward, I have added taking shots from a seated position.  This adds a practice shot that mimics a time when a shot presents itself and you can't stand without startling your prey.  Do this from the same ranges you shoot standing but add additional shot to your sides when you have to twist your body and work your bow over rails you may have on your stand.

3: Add an obstacle or two.  

I have had shots present themselves directly behind my deer stand and rather than take the chance that the deer will make its way in front of me, I decided to contort my body around the tree my stand is in for a 30 yard shot.  I can mimic this in my yard with a tree or corner of my garage as an obstacle that I must bend and contort around.  Place a chair against the tree or building and get up like you would on a stand with very little foot maneuverability and practice shooting at 160 to 180 degrees. Be sure to let people around you know so they don't walk out unknowing into a shot path since you are mostly hidden from view behind the tree or corner.  This type of shot requires you to draw straight forward and then spin at full draw.  I have tried to draw contorted around a tree and about ripped my long bicep tendon off, so drawing straight forward and turning is best for me.

4: Create a narrow shooting lane or window.

Place two items on either side of your target at different ranges that create a very narrow shooting window.  I will take my trash and recycle cans out and place them beside the shooting lane to create a narrow window I can shoot through.  If you are a steady hand, it can be fun to see how small of a window you can shoot through.  You can even bridge the trash cans with something across them so you are shooting both between and under something, similar to what the forest offers you from branches growing every which way.

5: Create Cramped Conditions

You can also put something over your head to imitate a branch that is above you when a shot presents itself.  If you can't do this, practice in crouched leaned over positions.  I added this one because earlier this year I missed a decent buck when a tree limb on the side of my stand forced me to lean forward for a shot and I caught my bowstring on my fall harness. This pulled the string off my bow and sent the buck bounding off into the woods.

6: Shoot below you.

Add shots that are under you from 3 to 5 yards out.  I have missed this shot and watched the arrow drive into the ground just over the deer's back.  I have had friends that miss this shot, one friend even shot an arrow into the floor of the stand he was in.  This shot isn't one that many people practice, because they think it will never be that close or that easy.  The best way to practice this shot is to set up a stand in your yard or get on your roof (be careful and use a fall arrest system) and have a buddy to retrieve arrows and move your target around.  This way you can learn the proper placement of your pin with the shot so close a pin won't work.

7: Practice judging distance.  

When I get in a stand I like to make imaginary circles for distance.  I will pick a tree 20 yards out, verify the distance with a range finder, and make a imaginary circle around me with my eyes, then stepping out to 30, then 40.  Then I will go through a scenario of likely shot locations and how it plays out with my imaginary circles so I can have predetermined pin choices for different locations.

I practice in my yard by placing my target at random locations and walking around judging the distance to it then verifying with my range finder, then shooting it.



8: Practice Angle Shots

Practice your drop angle shots and learn the correct pin placement for a shot that is lower than where you are shooting from.  Most bow hunters know that, at inclines and declines, the arrow shoots flatter and will require a pin be placed lower on the target.  At short distanced this is minimal but will increase at longer more steep shots.

A quick example: Lets say you are in your treestand on a hillside and a buck walks out 30 yards away from you.  He is also down the hill making him about 30 feet (10 yards) below you. Shooting for 30 yards may send your arrow over his back.  The flatness of the declined shot is increased and therefore you must aim low.   An easy way to adjust would be to imagine line going straight out from your arrow horizontal to "level" ground and another line ascending straight up from the buck and the distance from you to where those lines meet would be the proper distance you should aim for.  This example would be about 28 yards, which is small, but worth noting.

An extreme example would be if the buck is under you at 5 yards out yet you are 20 feet up on a steep hillside putting the buck 28 feet below you.  Your range finder would read 10 or 11 yards but the shot would really for 5 Yards.  Learning where to place your top pin in these situations is critical for success.

These items may be helpful in creating real world situations and problems that can ruin all the hard work invested in getting a deer in your comfortable shooting range.  These items all are a result of failure I have had while hunting and by both admitting them and practicing for them, I hope to have a better year next season.

Let me know if you would add more to this, I need all the help I can get!