Most bowhunters are so excited before the season starts that they practice every chance they get. However, once opening day comes and goes, practice becomes less appealing and soon all the benefit they received from months of practice begins to erode away.

Don’t let this be your pattern. Even the best habits disappear if you don’t take the time to reinforce them. Daily practice during the hunting season is the most important step you can take to maintain your form and your confidence.

The strength required to draw and aim in a relaxed and steady way is not something that’s built up naturally in our daily lives. The muscles we use in archery are not muscles we use for many other activities, so they need specialized training to stay strong. The best way to keep your shooting muscles strong is to shoot.

In the same way, the ability to focus on a small spot on the target as you aim and squeeze the trigger slowly is also an unnatural habit that requires constant reinforcement. There is no way around it, you have to practice during the season if you want to maintain your edge.

Several of my friends shoot with me during the summer as we all prepare for the season. They become darn good shots by opening day. They are using perfect form all the way through the shot. Yet, some of those same guys turn back into twitching, trigger slammers just two months later. A lack of practice has replaced all their good habits with the same old bad habits they worked so hard to break. I can’t emphasize this too much: You have to practice during the season if you hope to execute well when the shot you have waited for all year finally arrives.

As a minimum, practice enough during the season to maintain your form. That means you should make it a goal to shoot 20 to 30 perfect arrows every second or third day. Take your time and shoot each one with maximum concentration. Be realistic; wear your hunting jacket, gloves and face mask (if you use one) so you’ll be accustomed to the feel, encumbrance and sight picture that you will face under real hunting conditions.

As the weather gets colder and the clothing becomes thicker, this type of practice is even more important. Don’t try to make your practice sessions easy so you shoot well. Make them realistic so you are ready.

Shots that seemed easy during the summer may begin to seem difficult by mid-season. While practicing, mix in shots from your maximum effective range, and spend the time to troubleshoot and correct any bad habits that may creep into your form. The most common culprits of a mid-season shooting slump are trigger punching, dropping your bow arm during the shot (or right after), tension in your bow hand (or snapping it shut during the shot) and waning physical strength.

Stick with the fundamentals and be thorough. Don’t let any bad habits creep into your shooting now. If practice time is limited, don’t rush through 30 arrows; instead shoot fewer arrows but give each one of them total concentration.

PRACTICE WITH BROADHEADS

Unless you shoot mechanical broadheads and are satisfied that they fly exactly like your field points, you should do most of your in-season practice with broadheads. This will improve confidence and allow you to identify problems on the range that might not show up when shooting field points. Broadheads are more sensitive to arrow flight problems than field points. A slight change in arrow flight can have a big effect on broadhead accuracy but little effect on field point accuracy. So, be sure to use broadheads.

Many bowhunters don’t shoot their broadheads often enough during the season because they don’t have a good broadhead target. There are several closed-cell foam targets on the market; all are sturdy enough for a few shots each afternoon during the season. But few will take the abuse of extended practice sessions.

I’ve tried many broadhead targets and my personal favorite is the Block Target and 4×4 from Field Logic. Morrell also makes good broadhead targets. Both brands are portable enough for you to take the target with you in the back of your truck or car and pull it out to practice during the hunt. Even a pile of clean, packed sand will make a passable broadhead target if you have nothing else available.

BULKY CLOTHES

Thick clothing is an unfortunate reality of late fall and winter bowhunting. It produces problems that plague many bowhunters. I definitely shoot better when I’m warm and wearing thin outerwear. When I’m cold and stiff, I find it harder to relax and settle into the shot. It’s only natural to put on heavy clothing in an attempt to stay warm on days like this. However, two problems result. First, you may find that all those layers bind your arms and shoulders making it hard to reach full draw. Second, thick sleeves often find their way into the forward path of the bowstring.

Wear a thick vest to eliminate layers from your arms. That will free up your draw and help reduce bowstring interference. If you still have a problem, find an armguard. Only by practicing in your heavy clothes will you know what to expect when hunting and only then will you be fully prepared.

Simple changes can make a big difference in archery. These two basic shooting tips and two small tackle modifications will help you cut your group sizes.

Use a peep sight: You wouldn’t shoot a rifle without a rear sight so why shoot a bow without a peep? A peep sight produces a level of consistency that you cannot achieve using only a kisser button. A peep with a large aperture – pushing 1/4 inch in diameter – will produce plenty of visibility for hunting in low light conditions. And it will force you to use the proper anchor point, even when the shot angle is awkward – as it often is when hunting.

Shorten your release: It is a common misconception that you should always shoot an index-finger triggered release aid using the tip (or first pad) of your index finger. This is not the only way to shoot. Another way to trigger these releases is with the trigger pushing against the first joint, or even the second pad, of the index finger. Since you have less sensitivity with this part of your finger, you will not feel the trigger move as well. This promotes a smooth release with less anticipation. Ideally, the shot should take you by surprise and shortening the release’s stem is one way to help you achieve that goal while hunting.

Hold your follow-through: I have preached in this column about the need to make a surprise release while shooting a bow – and I will continue to preach – but not every bowhunter will heed the advice. If you command the release, the single most important thing you can do to greatly improve your groups is to follow through with your bow arm until the arrow hits.

The correct grip: A steady bow arm means nothing if you use a poor grip. The bow hand has to be relaxed and the pressure point between the bow’s grip and your hand has to line up perfectly with the center of the bone structure making up your forearm. If you command the release, you must also keep constant watch on your bow hand. It will be extremely tempting to close your hand at the same moment you pull the trigger – ruining accuracy.

To be truly successful as an archer and bowhunter you must learn to be surprised by the shot. Consciously triggering the shot or ‘punching’ the release is a nasty habit that will eventually cause serious shooting problems. Squeezing the trigger isn’t as hard as you may think, but you must first retrain your nervous system. Shooting with your eyes closed is the best way to make the transition.

FORGET ABOUT ACCURACY

Start by shooting close to the target with your eyes closed. Don’t worry about where the arrow hits. Spend an entire week shooting only this way – at point blank range with your eyes closed. This is the best way to become accustomed to the feel of a new release method.

When you reach full draw, put the sights on the approximate middle of the backstop (with no aiming point) and then close your eyes as you focus on squeezing the trigger while you pull through the shot with your back muscles.

Closing your eyes pays two dividends. First, it eliminates the fidgety response you get when your pin nears the aiming point. Since there is no visual feedback to worry about, you can learn to overcome this reaction very quickly. Second, closing your eyes enhances your other senses, in particular your sense of feel. Because you are not concerned about where the bow is pointing, your brain is free to focus all its attention on simply feeling the proper shot and ingraining that into your nervous system. That process occurs much faster when you have your eyes closed.

You will feel a surprise release – maybe for the first time ever. It may even startle you – your bow arm will fly forward as your release arm flies back. As you continue to practice, however, it will stop being startling and start being fun. You will begin to enjoy the feel of a pure release. You will gain confidence in your ability to perform this same method under a wider range of conditions.

After a week, shoot with your eyes open while standing close to the target with no sight and no aiming point. Slowly work your way back and introduce your sight and a very large aiming spot. Then slowly decrease the size of the target. Try to maintain the same feeling you experienced with your eyes closed. Go back to shooting with your eyes closed immediately if you catch yourself trying to time the shot or if you feel anticipation just before the release. You should soon be able to control your urge to mash the trigger much more effectively.

When bowhunters miss shots from tree stands, especially shots that are well within their effective shooting range, they usually commit one or more of several deadly shooting sins. In this month’s column, I’m going to expose these common faults and tell you how to avoid them.

APPROACH THE TARGET FROM BELOW

Many bowhunters raise their bow arm high in the air when they draw their bow and then they lower it until their sight pins are on the animal. If they are trigger-happy, the arrow is gone as soon as they see brown beyond the pins. The obvious outcome of such an approach is a high hit.

Learn to draw your bow without raising your arm to the sky. It is much better to get into the proper shooting position before the animal is even close, then point your bow arm straight at the animal as you draw back, eliminating any unnecessary game spooking movement. If you can’t do this, you are probably shooting too much draw weight.

Finally, if buck fever and a quick trigger finger plague you, approach the vitals from below the animal. This will insure that when you see brown beyond your pin you are looking at something that will result in a quick kill rather than back strap.

MAINTAIN YOUR ANGLES

I hope you practiced all summer by shooting with your bow arm at a 90-degree angle to your upper body. Even when shooting from a tree stand you need to try to maintain this important relationship. Bend fully at the waist to create the downward shot angle; don’t just drop your bow arm. Maintaining correct body angles will also keep your eye in the proper alignment with your sight pins so you will hit what you are aiming at.

USE THE CORRECT DISTANCE

The distance from your perch in the tree to the animal is farther than the distance from the base of the tree to the animal. Whichever distance you use, make sure you use it consistently. If you practice and sight-in by taking range readings straight to the target from your tree stand, make sure you do the same thing when hunting.

USE A PEEP SIGHT

The relationship between your eye, anchor point and sight pin has to remain constant regardless of awkward or unfamiliar shooting positions. If you aren’t practicing by the hour from tree stands (and few bowhunters are) you are probably inconsistent in this department. A peep sight will help restore this critical consistency. Choose one with a large opening to maximize the amount of light that reaches your eye in low visibility situations.

Attention to these four aspects of shooting form will help eliminate the most common miss in tree stand hunting.

I have spent my entire archery career worrying about the small differences that make one bow more accurate than another. Here is a little of what I have learned.

BRACE HEIGHT

When you shoot a bow with a brace height over 7 inches, the arrow gets off the string more quickly offering less time for your bow hand to spoil the shot. But, more importantly, the riser geometry itself is simply more stable. The grip is farther forward relative the cams and this makes the bow less sensitive to bow hand torque.

There are always tradeoffs. As a bow’s brace height goes up, its ability to store energy goes down and so does its arrow speed. But, I’m willing to give up a little speed to gain more accuracy. If you want to get some of that speed back there are plenty of lightweight carbon arrow options available.

CAM DESIGN

Highly aggressive cams accelerate an arrow more violently than the soft cams and round wheel bows of the past. When you dump that much energy into an arrow all at once, a rough release or a slight nock travel variation in the bow will destabilize the arrow more than would occur with a softer cam. This is why I don’t shoot a radical cam.

LENGTH

Unless you’re faced with cramped quarters, I recommend a moderately long bow for greater forgiveness. I’ve found that I shoot best with a bow that measures 37 to 40 inches between the axles. Anything shorter becomes slightly more critical while anything longer requires long limbs that are generally slower.

MASS WEIGHT

Being primarily a western hunter, I’m willing to trade a little forgiveness for reduced weight. I commonly hunt for up to 25 straight days in the mountains. Shaving a pound or two off the bow is a definite advantage on long stalks. If most of my hunting was done from tree stands, I’d carry a bow that weighed seven or eight pounds with accessories. Moreover, I’d use a 12 inch stabilizer to further improve forgiveness.

Given the fact that you can carry a laser rangefinder there is little need for an aggressive bow firing an arrow with a bullet flat trajectory. A bow that will shoot very accurately under the widest range of conditions is ideal. A forgiving bow, rather than a fast bow, is the best choice for most bowhunters.

One of the most important things you can do during the off-season is to get your bow sighted-in perfectly with a pin scheme that compliments the way you hunt. Now is the time to make any major changes.

SIGHT-IN DISTANCES

The number of pins you use is strictly a personal matter, as is the yardages for which you set them. Many whitetail hunters favor only one pin set at 20 yards. I think this is a mistake unless all your shots are going to be less than 25 yards. A single pin introduces too much guesswork with longer shots. One pin set for 25 yards will work well for all shots up to 30 yards. It will give you the greatest margin for error when aiming at the center of kill zone. For shots that are less than 15 yards, you must remember to aim low. Practice will quickly reveal the limitations of this pin scheme.

If you are likely to shoot past 30 yards, you need at least two pins – possibly three. Set two pins for 25 and 35 yards or three pins for 20, 30 and 40 yards. I set my pins at 20 yard increments so I have fewer pins to count and a less obstructed sight window. However, some people don’t like setting pins more than 10 yards apart because they say too much guesswork is required when gapping for between-pin distances.

A moveable pin sight with a three-pin sight head (instead of a single pin) is another good option. Leave the slide set at the shortest range setting while waiting or stalking. If the animal is at some in-between range for which you have no pin, and if you have plenty of time, you can move the sight to the exact range and aim dead on.

HOW TO SET THE PINS

Many bowhunters make the mistake of sighting-in their bows too quickly. In my experience, it takes several days of regular shooting before you know your pins are properly set. Variations in shooting form can occur and they must be averaged over time or you will chase your mistakes back and forth across the target. Look for the center of each group and after several groups you’ll see a trend developing. Move your pins accordingly: up if you are hitting high, left if you are hitting left, etc.

You usually only get one shot at an animal and you get no warm up shots. So theoretically you should be sighting in your bow for your first shot only. If your impact point tends to change as you warm up, keep your sight set for that first arrow.

Anytime you change your sight picture you need many weeks of practice to make the new look and method instinctive. Make these important changes now so you are ready to go by hunting season.

As a bowhunter, you have two reasons to scrutinize how you draw your bow. First, you should make every effort to reduce game-spooking motion. Second, you should strive to use the proper form so that when you hit full draw you are in the best position to make an accurate shot.

DON’T SPOOK THEM

Game animals have tremendous peripheral vision. For example, a whitetail deer has 320 degrees of visual coverage. You won’t get away with extra movement when attempting to draw your bow.

If you must reach your bow arm skyward in order to draw your bow, your draw weight is too high or you have learned bad habits on the practice range. Use the same draw sequence on the range that you would use if a buck were standing 20 yards away – point the bow straight at the target and draw the string straight back.

PROPER FORM STARTS BEFORE YOU DRAW

Any time you have to hand control of the draw force from one muscle group to another you introduce the possibility of an incomplete hand-off that will result in inconsistent shooting. Since you want your back muscles to hold the string at full draw, engage them fully in the process of drawing the string. Your shoulders will also carry some of the weight. Don’t try to draw the string with the muscles of your arm. You want these to remain as relaxed as possible throughout the shot.

I see many novice bowhunters re-grip their bows once they get to full draw. This is a big mistake. The only way you can be sure your grip is the same on every shot is to take the correct grip before you start to draw and then maintain it until the arrow is gone.

Repositioning major joints is another mistake. For example, don’t draw with the elbow of your release arm low and then raise it at full draw. Don’t draw with the shoulder of your bow arm high and then try to lower it at full draw. Instead, achieve the proper form right from the beginning of the draw and maintain it all the way through the shot.

The shot starts with the draw. Get started correctly and you will have the best opportunity for an accurate shot.

Take a paper airplane and bend the nose to the left. When you throw it, you know it’s going to veer left. To make it fly straight again, the nose must be perfectly lined up with the rest of the airplane. Hunting arrows work the same way. If the broadhead isn’t well constructed, or is pointed slightly to the side because of a bad insert, the arrow will veer off-line.

To make sure that every arrow in your quiver hits the same exact spot, you have to be extremely precise when aligning all the components. Of course, your shafts need to be straight. For this reason, it’s best to save a few new shafts for hunting season. With today’s press-in nock systems, the nock is rarely a concern. However, as mentioned, the broadhead and insert are the real troublemakers.

The best way to check head alignment is with a special fixture. You can easily make your own by taking a medium-sized cardboard box and notching out two opposing sides (about a foot apart) so you can rest the arrow in the notches.

As you slowly turn the arrow, compare the tip of the broadhead to some kind of grounded reference point. A pencil mark on the back of a ruler or board works fine. The tip of the broadhead has to remain perfectly in place relative to the reference point as the arrow turns. If it ascribes even a small circle, set it aside.

If, after testing all your arrows, you have enough straight ones for hunting, you’re all set. If not, you’ll need to do a little more work. Swap out your broadheads with a few others to make sure the head isn’t causing the problem. If it is, it’s time to invest in some new broadheads (I’ve had great luck with Rocky Mountain Broadheads. There are several other quality brands as well.) If not, the problem is with your inserts. You can either fine-tune their alignment by heating the end of the arrow with a torch and repositioning the insert (assuming hot melt glue was used to install them), or you can simply replace them with inserts of better quality. Aluminum inserts from Easton and composite inserts from Arizona Archery Enterprises have worked well for me.

By combining a well-tuned bow with perfectly tuned arrows, you will enjoy pinpoint accuracy with almost any well-made broadhead, even at relatively high arrow speeds.

Controlling string stretch, peep sight rotation and serving separation are important goals when setting up a bow. You may choose to make your own strings some day, but short of that, if you want a string that doesn’t change throughout the season, you should take the following four steps to fine-tune the one that came with your bow. (Make sure your bowstring is made from a non-stretch material. There are a few good ones on the market. I have had great luck with BCY string material.)

First, shoot the bow 300 to 500 times until the string stretches and seats fully. Most of the total stretch over the string’s lifetime will occur in these first several hundred shots. You may even choose to let the bow sit out on a hot sunny day just to make sure that all the wax in the string cooks out and it reaches its full length.

Second, remove the serving and then take the string off the bow. To the best of your ability, try to separate the strands until you’ve identified the very center of the string. You will see this most clearly near the end serving. When the string was made it was a full loop that was served together at the ends to produce the string. Finding the center will help you place your peep sight in a way that reduces rotation. Place a twist tie in the middle of the string close to where you’d like your peep to serve as an indicator.

Third, twist the string. The top custom string makers recommend a full twist per inch of string length to produce the greatest stability. Twisting the string will also help keep your peep sight in position by preventing it from moving up and down the string.

Fourth, put the string back on the bow and apply new center serving. Use a very durable serving thread (I use BCY’s Halo). It’s important that you wrap the serving in the same direction as the twists in the string. That way you make the bundle tighter, minimize serving separation and reducing peep rotation.

Finally, apply the serving very tightly. This will assure that it doesn’t slip. I even use smaller diameter serving thread and double serve my strings to assure that the serving won’t separate, but that may be overkill for most archers.

Shoot the bow a few times to set everything and then install your peep sight right in the middle of the string. If the peep isn’t coming back properly, twist one end of the string a half-turn at a time until the peep is acting better.

Your string may well be the most important accessory on your bow. If you take care of it, it will take care of you.

Short bows have become increasingly popular during the past few years. They’ve got their place. When hunting in ground blinds or when tucked into tight quarters in a tree stand their compact dimensions help to keep the limbs clear of obstacles. Also, when you wear heavy clothing, the more acute string angle of these bows helps to keep it away from clothing as well as the binoculars hanging from your neck.

While these bows have much to offer, I personally don’t prefer to shoot a super-short bow. The shortest bow I shoot is Hoyt’s 36 inch VorTec. To handle the micro bows as accurately as longer models you need to maintain excellent form, a few aspects of which are especially critical.

If you’ve ever shot a slingshot you know that your pressure point on the grip is critical to consistency. Being off by a small amount creates poor accuracy. The same is true of short bows. How you take your grip and the way you apply pressure with your bow hand (high wrist vs. low wrist) has to be exactly the same on every shot. Pay particular attention to this aspect of your pre-shot routine and you’ll become more consistent when shooting a short bow.

Many bowhunters prefer to touch their nose to the string at full draw to form a secondary anchor point. When you try to do this with a super short bow, the acute string angle will force you to either draw the bow past your normal anchor point or tip your head unnaturally to meet the string. It is possible, when shooting such a bow, that you won’t be able use your nose as a secondary anchor point. Be aware of this fact and keep an open mind when establishing a new set of full draw checkpoints.

Some short bows have a low brace height, aggressive cams and high letoff. These elements comprise the recipe for disaster: difficult shooting that makes consistent accuracy under demanding hunting conditions all but impossible. When choosing a short bow, steer clear of these unforgiving design elements. A short bow with a moderate cam, 65% letoff and a brace height over 7 inches can be shot nearly as accurately as a bow 6 to 8 inches longer.