5 Pre-Season Bowhunting Practice Drills to Sharpen Your Shot

5 Pre-Season Bowhunting Practice Drills

If you're faced with the shot opportunity of a lifetime this fall, will you be able to put your arrow where it counts?

By Darron McDougal

A bugle erupts from the aspen grove 200 yards up the mountain. Quickly, you cut some distance before setting up. You rake a tree and bugle, and in comes the big 6x6 looking for a fight. First, you catch glimpses of his brown and tan body, and then you see polished ivory antler tips towering over the brush. As the bull approaches your 35-yard lane, your heart feels like it's in your throat while you draw your bow. A cow chirp on your mouth call stops him perfectly in the lane.

The heat of the moment overcomes you, and you rush the shot and use the wrong pins. Consequently, your arrow whizzes harmlessly beneath the bull, and the brush explodes as the bull departs painfully reminds you that in bowhunting, you must make your shot count because second chances seldom happen.  

Regardless of the species you'll be bowhunting for this fall, earning a shot opportunity can be difficult. Missing or making a poor hit is detrimental to your planning, expenses, and hard work, so dial in your archery game with these killer shooting drills.

Shoot Your Bow from Random Yardages

Most bowhunters have markers 20, 30, and 40 yards from their backyard deer or bag target. It's great to sight in your bow at even yardages, and confirming those yardages with your Halo Z1000 rangefinder is also wise. But don't limit your practice to 20, 30, and 40 yards once you're sighted in. Change things up and shoot from 17, 33, 27, 38, 24, etc. Unless you're hunting over feed or an attractant such as Evolved's Dirt Bag (where legal), your buck probably won't step out exactly 20 yards away. Prepare for all yardages to keep your brain dialed. 

Shoot Your Broadheads

Nothing builds confidence like seeing that your broadheads fly like your field points, and practicing with them before you hunt is the ethical thing to do. In addition to practicing with NAP Practice 3D Field Points, be sure to thread a broadhead into an arrow and shoot it from several distances before hunting with it you might be surprised to see that your bow needs additional tuning for your shots to hit true at farther distances. Always use care and caution while handling broadheads and use HME's  20-in-1 Wallet Multi Tool to safely tighten or loosen your broadheads. Be sure to sharpen or replace your broadhead blades after practicing.

Practice How You Hunt

Backyard practice isn't very realistic unless you wear the camo apparel you'll be hunting in, such as Muddy's TRX garments. Switching from a short-sleeve T-shirt to camo hunting apparel can impact your shooting form and accuracy. Add an awkward treestand or ground blind angle to the mix, and your shooting could change substantially. Practicing in your apparel helps you identify and work out the kinks. 

Many bowhunters who hunt with lighted nocks, such as NAP's Thunderglo Lighted Nocks, don't practice with them. Lighted nocks are slightly heavier than standard nocks and can cause your arrow trajectory to fall more rapidly, particularly at longer distances. Also, lighted nocks sometimes fit onto the bowstring differently than standard nocks, so be sure to practice with your lighted nocks.

Turn Up Your 3-D Practice

Shooting at a lifelike 3-D target is great bowhunting practice because aiming at an animal silhouette is a lot more like bowhunting than aiming at a dot or bull's-eye. But, you can take it a step further and not only shoot the target from all sorts of yardages as we discussed earlier, but also shoot the target from different angles. You never know what angle a buck or bull will give you, and it's important to know, not guess, how to aim based on the animal's angle. 

Mix in Some Cardio

Unless you have doctor's orders to avoid cardio exercises, elevating your heart rate by combining some cardio exercises with your bowhunting practice can simulate the heavier breathing you experience when a buck or bull incites an adrenaline rush. How well can you place your shot with an elevated heart rate? Many bowhunters find it much more difficult, and that is why it's great bowhunting practice.  

Drill That Critter

Bowhunting has many variables that can affect your shot. Some things you cannot control, but there is a lot you can control through careful preparation and practice. If you want to drill a buck or bull this fall, you'd best practice these five pre-season drills to sharpen up your bowhunting accuracy.