Compound Bow Practice

The greatest compound bow shooters out there were never always that great, but they all had one thing is common. They all made sure to practice. I do not believe that practice makes perfect, but practice can make you exponentially better at whatever it is that you do. This concept is expressly noted when practicing with your archery bow. Below are a few of the things that you should make sure to do when you practice so that you can perform at the best of your abilities when you are out in the field. I practice for bowhunting, but you can be certain that these would work equally as well if you were practicing for target archery.

Practice How You Play

I started practicing with my gear on a few years back because I noticed that something was off when I would hit the field for my hunt. Something was off and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I checked the cam timing on my compound bow, and I realized that everything was good. The only thing that had changed, was the fact that I was shooting in different clothes. Lo and behold, everything improved when I started practicing in the clothes that I was hunting in. I got a few funny looks when I first started, but those looks went away when I was the only one to putting meat in my freezer.

Don't Soften Your Shots

When most of us practice we want to relax and have fun while we are doing so. The thing about this scenario is that it does not benefit us in the end. If you are practicing for an archery shoot then shooting dead-ahead might workout great for you because that is the only type of shooting that you will practice. If you plan on bow hunting, then you need to give yourself different looks. When was the last time that a buck lined up perfectly in front of you? The answer is probably never. You will need to get proficient with your angled shots, and you definitely have to become proficient shooting around branches, shrubs, etc.

Put Your Money Where your Mouth Is

You can either do this literally or figuratively. I started out placing small 5 dollar bets among my buddies when we would practice together. Then it worked its way up to lunches/dinners as we progressively got better. You would be surprised how much a favorable outcome can make you work that much harder than you normally would. If this type of wager is not your cup of tea, then I would also suggest that you look into smaller shooting tournaments. I had a good friend of mine that would go to 3D tournaments with his PSE target compound bow as his form of practice before the season was set to start. I have found both methods to be a great addition to your practice regimen, because they force you to practice harder and think more about how you are practicing. There are many other practicing tips, but these are the 3 simplest fixes that I have found that work for me. As mentioned earlier, I started these as a way to prepare myself for bow hunting season. It was during this time that I would also do all of the various spot checks on my compound bow. Everything did not come at once. It was a slow process that led me to this protocol for practice that I use.