Practice Like a Deer Hunter, Not a Target Shooter

I was banking on them skirting the top. What I didn’t expect was for a solid eight-pointer to cruise in from above me and then bust his way through the brush to my right. If you’ve never taken an off-side shot from a tree saddle, this might be hard to grasp. Trust me on this, it’s awkward. It’s also nerve-wracking when you have to make it happen in a matter of a few seconds.

The blood trail wasn’t as short as I hoped, but I did manage to kill that deer. I also realized something that made me ashamed, which was that was the first time I had ever taken that type of shot from my saddle. I hadn’t practiced it a single time, which was a mistake I vowed not to make again. It was stupid, but we often do a lot of stupid things when it comes to archery practice.

A more recent example to further drive this point home occurred last fall while I was hunting public land whitetails with Steve Rinella. It was Steve’s first whitetail bow hunt from a treestand in a long time, and when a good Sooner State buck wandered in to scrounge around for acorns and persimmons, he set his 20-yard pin just above the buck’s heart and made the shot.

When we replayed the footage, we all declared that the buck would be dead within 100 yards or so. It felt like celebration time, until we made it 100 yards down the blood trail. Then 200, and then 500. When the blood went from spilled paint to pin pricks, our little crew got real quiet and hyper-focused. It was a couple hours later when we found the buck still alive but struggling. He had covered over 1,000 yards.

Steve’s shot placement would have been ideal from the ground. From 20 feet up in a tree, it was way too low. This is a common mistake bowhunters make, mostly because they never practice for it. Yet, we almost all know we will take elevated shots all season long.

Make Realistic Practice Easy

Most people will never target practice with their hunting duds on, especially in the summer. Just as most people will never set up a treestand to practice so they can practice from an elevated position. The truth about practicing like a hunter is that you have to make it easy on yourself.

One of the things I’ve started doing is saddling up about two feet off the ground. With a few targets spread around, this is an easy way to practice from the actual setup I’ll be hunting from this fall (even if I’m still basically at ground level). Add in a bino harness, and you have the makings for at least a partially realistic practice session. This has been huge for developing confidence while shooting from a saddle, but also understanding how to maneuver into shot position. Plus, it takes very little extra effort.

If you can set up a stand or at least throw on an early-season jacket with your bino harness, you’re ahead of most hunters. Figure out a way to make practicing for real-world shots as easy as possible.

Maybe you can practice elevated shots from your deck or a friend’s deck? Maybe you have a spot where you can safely shoot uphill or downhill? The goal doesn’t have to be to exactly mimic your hunting setups in a practice setting, but instead to mix up your target shooting to involve elements of hunting type shots.

Mix It Up More

Everyone’s situation is different, but there are little things you can do to make your target practice sessions more valuable. Let’s say you only have a 30-yard-and-under spot to practice, and you can’t get fancy with gear or elevation.

Can you break off a limb from the maple tree in your yard and poke it into the ground in front of your target? Now, you have to thread the needle to some extent. I know that sounds dumb but think about your shots on deer. How often do they stand in the wide open and present a full broadside shot to you?

Even when they pose up in a September soybean field, they often don’t do that. When they come browsing through the woods at first light, they rarely do. You almost always have to pick a lane and then factor in some element of nature to shoot around or through. You can practice this at home, and you should. This teaches you how to think past the obstruction to execute a good shot. If you think that’s not valuable, keep hunting. Eventually, you’ll talk yourself into a thread-the-needle shot on a live deer.

Of course, you can also sit, kneel, shoot from a blind chair, or wait until it’s windy, rainy, or about to be dark. The thing to think about here is that it’s great to get really proficient at shooting tight groups in ideal conditions, but that’s just the start.

You should also try to shoot those tight groups when you mix up the program and add in variables that are going to be a part of your hunts this season. Not only does this make target practice sessions more fun, but it also prepares you for real-world shots in a way that is undeniably valuable.

For more summer shooting info, check out these articles: Develop A Shooter’s Foundation Before Leveling Up Your Archery Practice, To Fill More Deer Tags, Keep Your Whitetail Bow As Simple As Possible, and How Self-Awareness Can Make You A Better Bow Shot On Whitetails.