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Imagine a bowhunter sitting crouched in his stand for hours. His complete concentration tuned into the woods. He strains to catch a sound that will mean a whitetail buck draws near. He intently watches forest for a glimpse of whitetail. He is near the climax of his hunt. As the rack pops into view, his chest heaves and his heart starts hammering. Adrenaline courses through his body. He nocks his arrow and draws back his bowstring, saying a quick silent prayer that the arrow will hit its mark.
Now imagine the ending. If the bowhunter has been serious and has practiced with his bow so that his skill is honed to a fine edge he will be successful. If the bowhunter has just removed his bow from the mothballs for this season, then a last minute prayer probably isn't a bad idea, because he may need to supplicate the almighty to bag this buck. Don't make his mistake and rely on divine intervention or luck, when the shot of the season, or even a lifetime presents itself. Be prepared. The best way to be prepared is to practice with your bow.
Practice can be fun. Practice can be a way to whet your appetite for the actual hunting season. It can be a way to focus your thoughts on arrow release and flight so that when you are ready, in the field, to make a shot you will be able to rely upon your skill as an archer. If all your other hunting techniques are there and you are unable to hit your mark, you will never have a successful hunt and your level of frustration will be all the greater because you are seeing and missing whitetails. So grab your bow and get ready to put in some serious time practicing.
One very common mistake that many hunters make when practicing is that they use field tips when shooting practice shots. It is critical to use the broadheads that you will be using while actually hunting. This will help to eliminate discrepancies in arrow weight and balance. Practice with the same broadheads that you will use so that you may perfect your accuracy with them. You won't be landing a buck with a field tip. Make sure that if you initially practice with field tips that you switch over before hunting season for the final fine tuning.
Another thing to keep in mind is to shoot at targets that are the size of the game you are hunting. If you cannot afford free standing 3-D targets then at least try to size your target, so that you'll be familiar with how much of a target zone will present itself to you on a whitetail deer at 30 yards as opposed to an elk.
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