I know what your thinking, it is only July and this guy is talking about the Archery season. What you might not realize is that it comes faster than you think and if you are not prepared for it you could find yourself going home empty handed or even worse, tracking a wounded deer that you got a bad hit on.

In Connecticut the Archery season start in mid September and goes right on through till the end of the year. So there is plenty of chances to fill a tag if you have done your homework and practiced as much as possible.

I don’t bowhunt anymore due to a shoulder injury but when I did I shot all the time and was confident in my equipment and my ability as an archer to harvest my game. Why was I confident in my ability, well I will tell you. Archery hunting is the most demanding sport of hunting in my opinion because of many reasons. You need to tone your muscles to shooting a bow, you need to be able to judge distance better than say a rifle hunter, you need to be more stealthy and quiet than a gun hunter, you need to be more scent free as well because bowhunting is the up close and personal way to hunt deer and any other game for that matter so you need to be as scent free as possible. It is harder to shoot an animal that is within 10 or 20 yards of your position than it is to shoot an animal that is 100 or even 200 yards from your position.

Practicing is the most important part of shooting a bow and arrow. You need to know your equipment and you need to know your limitations. When I did shoot bow and arrow I practiced and shot all the time, I shot so much that at any given time I could hit a dime at 20 yards and not think twice about. How did I get that good, well I found an indoor archery range near home and before I knew it I was entered in a shooting league, actually it was 3 different leagues. No matter though whether it is one or three leagues it was good to do. I found that it helped in toning my muscles and between talking to the other shooters and getting to know my equipment I became a better archer. We owe it to the game we hunt so we can harvest them in the most humane way possible.

Now I know some people don’t have a lot of time like I had back then but you need to realize that if you don’t do a certain amount of practice that your muscles get weak and your ability to shoot constantly the same way will be effected. Repeatability is the key word, you find a way that makes you shoot the way you want and you stick to it, you do the same thing every time you pull that string back. Another way to practice is that you shoot in different positions. You never know when you are going to get caught by surprise, either sitting down in your tree stand and realizing you have a deer 10 yards away and you can’t stand up ( I speak from experience ) or a deer comes into your area but comes in on the opposite side of the tree where the only shot you have is bending over and crouched like you were frozen in a half seated position ( again I speak from experience ). So practice, practice from a seated position, standing position, kneeing position, sitting and twisted to shoot behind you position, shoot uphill and downhill, shoot through small openings like for example, take a 5 gallon plastic can and cut the bottom off so you can see through it. Put it 10, 15 or even 20 yards away with some brush around it and practice shooting through it without hitting it. That will perfect your accuracy.

Last but not least, don’t expect yourself to shoot constantly for a while and take a break before the season starts. You need to keep shooting right up to opening day and even after, during the season if possible. I am not saying you need to shoot 50 arrows a day but, at least 2 or 3 maybe even 5 say at lunch or even after supper. It doesn’t take much for your muscles to get relaxed and when that happens it is hard to get them back to shooting form. So I hope some of what I said helps and remember to practice because it is not everyone who can shoot a bow and harvest a deer.

Enjoy the sport of Archery Hunting and Good Luck

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