BOW ACCURACY

BY DARRON MCDOUGAL

How many shooting-improvement articles have you read? Probably dozens. Most cover equipment, shooting form, muscle mechanics, and release operation. They’re excellent topics, and I’ve written my share of articles on them; however, I believe many more drills contribute to bowhunting accuracy than these controlled-environment exercises.

Ordinary backyard practice benefits shooting form and muscle memory but doesn’t replicate what you’ll encounter while hunting. In fact, it’s far from the real thing, and your backyard shooting form doesn’t automatically carry to the treestand either.

Bowhunting involves various uncontrollable factors, and if you’re serious about becoming deadlier than ever, you must prepare for them. Let’s review several down-and-dirty exercises you can implement to make your preseason practice more like bowhunting.

THREAD THE NEEDLE

Uncluttered bowhunting shot opportunities are rare. Brush, limbs and other obstacles often obstruct your view of the target to some extent. This inevitably flusters unprepared bowhunters at crunch time, and they blow the shot. They haven’t practiced such scenarios, and the fear of missing prompts a dark outcome. I’ve heard numerous accounts where bowhunters thought they could thread their arrow through limbs but center-punched one instead. In fact, limbs have robbed me of a few trophies.