Why Your Bow-Hunting Prep Might be Lazy (And How to Fix It)

If anyone thinks a quick trip to the backyard range makes them an elite bowhunter, MeatEater’s Janis Putelis has a reality check. Archery isn’t like picking up a rifle; it demands so much repetition that, as Putelis notes, “the process of shooting becomes involuntary—something that you do without even thinking about it.” A dedicated hunter will easily shoot more arrows in a single month of prep than bullets out of their big-game rifle over the span of two years.

Getting ready for the woods is basically a mix of gear-tweaking and amateur science. First, a hunter needs to baby their equipment. Since elk tags in places like Colorado are won through sheer blood, sweat, and nine days of grueling hiking, Putelis warns, “I would hate to squander that rare opportunity due to lack of familiarity with my gear.”

To avoid gear-failure heartbreak, start with a massive batch of fresh arrows in the spring, weed out the rebels that fly sideways, and isolate their absolute best grouping squad at least 60 days before opening day. Then comes the tricky part: swapping field points for broadheads, which love to ruin a hunter’s day by flying completely differently unless your sight pins are recalibrated.

Once the rig is dialed, it’s time to trick the brain into peak hunter-mode. Forget casual backyard plinking; as the season gets close, Putelis suggests simulating actual adrenaline. This means doing a sprint or a round of jumping jacks before drawing the string, or holding the bow at full draw for two miserable minutes. Why? Because, in Putelis’s experience, “the more I visualize all this during practice, the calmer I’ll be when the moment arrives.”

Throw in some long-range practice at eighty yards to build extreme focus, a few high-pressure games with buddies for pocket change, and a rule to never make the classic mistake of putting the bow down just because opening day finally arrived. Keeping a target in the truck and staying sharp right up until the moment they step into the woods is the only real way to bring home dinner.

Good luck, and if you aren’t prepping for archery season in Montana, then you should be!