First thing we need to do is get in shape and get our archery muscles back. If your first day of the hunt is in September you had better start working on getting ready in July. Walking is a good way to get in shape and improve your endurance. Start taking walks up and down hills if possible. When you’re walking take your rangefinder and practice estimating yardage. This will serve to improve your success while hunting and your strength.
For your shooting, make yourself shoot at least 20 or more shots every other day. Building archery muscles is just like working out in the gym. You would not work the same muscle group two days in a row. Start out with a lighter weight than what you will be shooting to hunt with. After shooting the first week, start adding weight little by little, as you think you can handle it without hurting yourself. If you are going to be hunting with a new bow this year, the practicing will be good for getting the bow all stretched in and tuned well. You should practice with tips that are the same weight as your broadheads, so that all you have to do is tune your broadheads when it’s time to go hunting. (Tuning your broadheads and setting up your bow is easy and can be seen in the Mathews CD “Making the Shot” which comes with every new Mathews bow or can be purchased through your dealer.)To make your practice more enjoyable and to help you learn the proper shot placement, thereby, improving your chances of harvesting an animal, practice on the animal target that you will be hunting. If you are going to be hunting for deer it may be a good idea to do most of your practicing on a deer target. Try shooting from different angles and distances.
