My last shot of the day smacked the target, a 10-ring at 30 yards. At that point, I was feeling pretty good about my compound bow setup and my ability to shoot it. I had practiced hard all summer with good results, as was displayed with the 10-ring shot. It hadn’t been all too uncommon to 10-ring the target at further distances, either; so my confidence going into the season was high. Maybe too high.
Weeks into the season, I finally got my chance at a mature buck; to my great surprise and disappointment, my arrow did not quite find its mark, and the buck got away. I was stunned at the fact that, after so much practice, I had managed to perform so poorly. It didn’t make sense to me – how in the world could I have shot so well earlier in the year, only to seemingly lose that ability a few weeks later?
In hindsight, my problem was simple – I did not continue shooting the bow into the season. Sure, up to the point I stopped practicing, I was ready for shot opportunities out to 50 yards – maybe even more. But the very day I stopped practicing on a regular basis was the same day that my shooting abilities began declining. This theory was verified later when I target practiced. Somehow or another, my shots at 20 and 30 yards were off, even though none of the sight pins had been adjusted, and I had not tangibly changed my shooting form.
It doesn’t seem possible that such changes can occur, but I am here to let you know that it happens whether you like it or not. Obviously, avoiding this state is paramount to your success, but just how do you go about avoiding it? One simple thing – keep practicing into the season.
Although it may seem like this is a miniscule adjustment, it is the adjustment necessary to maintain your shooting skills. When you continue practicing even after the season opens, you essentially never lose any of your skills – in fact, you build upon them. The reverse of this? You begin to lose them. In addition to this, over time your body makes slight adjustments to how you operate; and when you’re shooting a compound bow, slight adjustments are amplified, simply due to the nature of shooting this type of bow. And if nothing else, there is no better way to gain confidence in your shooting abilities than to affirm them right before you go hunting.
Is practicing into the season crucial to your success? Maybe not. It’s never a bad idea, though. You may not need to continue practicing on such a regular basis to be successful. But if you’ve had shooting problems as the season has progressed, set aside time during season to practice. More often than not, the gains will outweigh the losses.