The 'DEAD SHOT' Strategies For Your Summer Bow Hunting Training Routine

Objectives For Summer Training:

Strength, stamina, and accuracy. Accuracy is key to an ethical shot and a successful hunt. Being physically fit, shooting a perfectly tuned bow, is the textbook recipe for success. 

With opening day being less than three months away in several states, now is the time to make sure your bow hunting equipment is up to par and to start physically training for the season. There is no worse feeling than not having the confidence that you and your equipment is prepared on opening day.

The goal for any good summer practice routine should be to increase strength, stamina, and of course, accuracy!

Accuracy is important because when we are accurate with our shots, we have a more successful and more ETHICAL hunt. When we take a shot, our accuracy determines in most cases whether or not the animal suffers, if we are successful in putting meat in the fridge, and if we land a fatal blow instead of chasing a blood trail around with an injured animal. 

It truly is our responsibility to hunt well and unleash arrows that come from a trained and prepared hunter!

Strength and stamina come from physical preparations. This 'physical' part of summer bow training should strive to hit three goals: To gain strength, to improve shooting technique by rehearsing proper bow form, and to enhance accuracy.

Problems with your form need to be discovered and addressed during the off season practice time. It should be the foundation of your practice. Consider this your most effective tool in bringing home more meat when you bow hunt! 

Deliberate, methodical muscle memory will serve you well when it's time to let the arrows fly.

Many of the common issues found in some of the most experienced bow hunters form would include the torquing of the bow, proper 'punching' of the release trigger, dropping your bow arm, improperly seating the bow grip in the 'V' of the hand, and not allowing the bow to roll forward in the same movement when you take the shot.

Give lots of attention to your shooting form. If shooting 'True' is difficult and you don't have someone to critique you, you can use a video camera or even your smart phone to video tape yourself shooting. Get a behind-side view, and use a lighted nock (Buy Here) to see the flight of your arrow and the placement on the target. 

Some smart phones even have a 'slow-motion' setting that will allow hyper-detailed view of hand, arm, and finger placement.

Getting Stronger and Improving Your Form

A good archer will focus on particular muscle groups as they train. The upper back, the latissimus dorsi muscle, The posterior deltoid muscle, the lower traps, the wrists, and of course, the ab muscles for a strong core and solid stability. All of these have the utmost importance in your archery game.

For instance, a weak back can cause heavy strain on the rotator cuff when shooting a bow. A weak core will give you a nagging back ache. Practicing with poor posture combined with weak muscles will cause joint pain and stress. The overuse of the joints will at some point likely cause some serious joint inflammation and even injuries.

HINT:  If you're going to Improve the range of motion in your joints, you must choose the tempo of your workouts wisely. An overused muscle can result in exhaustion and pain.

There are several exercises to strengthen and develop the muscles important to archery; these exercises can be done without having to join a gym and with minimal time involved.

Physical training should start well before ever drawing a bow for the first time in practice. This is recommended for heavier draw weights that an out of practice archer cannot comfortably pull after storing the bow since last season. An exercise that is recommended for working the deltoid, triceps, biceps and the latissimus dorsi is the push-up.

An upright reverse pushup will strengthen and stretch the upper back and latissimus dorsi muscles and the pectoral muscles. This upright reverse push-up can be performed by standing in a corner, facing the wall and placing the right hand at shoulder height about 10” from the corner and the left hand in the same manner on the left wall. Lean into the corner as if you plan to touch your nose in the corner. Slowly press and hold.

The muscles you feel stretching and the muscles that you feel scrunching together are the same muscles used in archery, and more so, for a back tension release.

Don't let the workouts get long and boring! There are SO MANY variations of exercises available to help strengthen and develop those 'hunting muscles' that we discussed earlier as being helpful in improving the performance of archers.

Don't have a gym membership? NO PROBLEM- you don't need one. 

No time to work out? That's what you think... these workouts can increase performance with a small, '10 minutes a day' workout that will rock your archer cred FAST!