Get Ready for Opening Day Now!

“Success is where opportunity and preparation meet” - Bobby Unser.

What a great quote, and when it comes to bowhunting nothing could be truer. There is a ton of being in the right place at the right time in the bowhunting world but being 100% confident in our abilities and our equipment is up to us. Waiting until a week before a hunting trip or the night before deer hunting to sight in our bow and go over our arrows and broadheads is a recipe for failure when an opportunity presents itself. I have compiled a list of 5 things you should do before August rolls around.

1) Change your Bow String and Cables

Unless you just bought a new bow this year I would recommend you change your string and cables and make sure they are the best you can afford. Strings and cables are the most important part of any bow set-up, if they are not 100 percent perfect nothing else on your bow is really going to matter. Make sure you get this done by July at the latest, you don’t want to be settling in new strings a week before you are leaving for elk hunting. New bowstrings need at least 100-200 shots ran through them to allow the strings to settle into place. After those shots we can begin fine-tuning everything else on the bow. When new strings and cables are installed your bow should be check for timing, correct brace height, axle to axle length, and paper tuned. Checking all these measurements now will save us some hassle when we are fine tuning down the road.

2) Tune up your arrows

Arrows are just as important as our strings and cables, again this is an area where you really want to buy the best you can afford. If you aren’t buying a fresh dozen for the fall season then we want to inspect and repair the arrows we have. Take all your arrows and inspect them for damage and spin them to check straightness. If you notice any wobble on the arrows, especially at the back end near the nock, remove them from your arrow set for hunting. Once you put a broadhead on your arrow that wobble will cause major tuning issues that will leave you very frustrated. The nock ends of your arrows take a lot of abuse throughout the shooting season and should be replaced prior to tuning your broadheads. If we look after and check our arrows regularly we will have an easier timing tuning our bows later.

3) Tune up your broadheads

Now that we have our bows and arrows in the best condition possible we can start to tune our  broadheads for hunting. This process involves shooting both broadheads and practice field points to compare the impact point of each head. We then make adjustments to our bows or arrows to try and get the broadheads and practice points to group in the same place. This process can take some time and can be very frustrating but there are things we can do to make it a little easier. First off make sure you have completed the previous two items from this list so you know your equipment is in good working order and set-up correctly. Secondly make sure the broadheads you chose to use make sense for the set-up you have. If you try and use long and wide two blade broadheads on a carbon arrow travelling over 280 fps you are more than likely going to have tuning problems. Speed bows tend to tune easier with expandable broadheads or compact fixed blades. Also consider the size and type of fletching you are using. High profile vanes like Bohning Blazers or AAE Max Hunters are designed to spin quicker and stabilize broadheads better than traditional 4” Vanes. Now that we have determined our setup is correct for us we can begin making adjustments to our bows to get those broadheads and practice points grouping together.

4) Change up your practice routine

If you spend all your time shooting at your bag at 20 yards you will be really good at shooting a bag at 20 yards but not much else. Shots in hunting situations are always different, shot angle, lighting conditions, animal alertness, clothing that you're wearing, and your state of mind are always in a different combination. While we can’t guarantee we are prepared for every scenario we can get ourselves prepared by always changing our shots and practice routines. Shoot at known and unknown distances and get used to judging distance very quickly. I like taking multiple targets of different shapes and sizes and setting them up at different distances and angles in the bush of in a field. Shoot one arrow at each target and learn to adjust quickly for different angles and shot presentations. Practice with your hunting clothes on to see if any part of your gear is interfering with your shot. I personally can never find a good anchor with a facemask on so I lean towards using neck gaiters and face paint to repeat my regular practice anchor. Learn to shoot your in-between distances, rarely do deer stand at 20, 30, or 40 yards on the number, we almost are always shooting somewhere in between. Make sure you take your time to learn how much high or low your bow shoots at these in-between distances and make some notes and then practice at 23, 25, 28, 33, 37 yards etc. A good place to go test these skills is at a local 3D shoot. Archery clubs put on these amazing events and they are great for building confidence with your hunting bow. Remember June, July , and August are the months we have to be constantly shooting our bows and building confidence with them. Shots need to be almost automatic once hunting season rolls around.

5) Gear Inventory

If you’re like me most of your gear goes into storage once November finishes and isn’t taken out again until July or August of the following year. Now is the time to through all that gear piece by piece and check to see what is worn out and what needs to be repaired. Things like treestand straps and trail camera batteries should be replaced pretty frequently, I often forget that a squirrel’s favourite food is treestand seats. Think back over the previous season and try to remember any situations where you though a certain item might be handy. Maybe you wish you had an extendable tree saw like a  Hooeyman to cut down hard to reach branches. Maybe you want to try an  Ozonics scent control unit to keep the deer from smelling you. It’s time to replace or repair what you have and purchase any new items you want to try this fall. Scrambling to buy new items or fix old items at the last minute can be stressful on your mind and your wallet.

So take out your bow, dust off your gear, and start getting yourself ready for your best season yet.

Good luck and shoot straight!