Chapter 7: Advanced Hunting Techniques
Practice Shooting

Practice makes perfect in bowhunting. Prior to the start of the bowhunting season, you should practice with your bow and equipment so that you become a skillful shooter. Practice from different angles and distances to increase your skills and raise your confidence. Shooting practice has many benefits:

• Develops skills necessary to place the arrow in the vital organs
• Establishes your personal maximum effective range
• Familiarizes you with your equipment
• Increases confidence
• Prepares you to shoot from different angles
• Builds upper body strength

Judging Distance from a Tree Stand When Bowhunting

When judging distance from a tree stand, use the horizontal distance, not the greater diagonal distance. In this diagram you should aim for 13 yards, not 15 yards. To calculate the horizontal distance from a tree stand to a target (a), with “b” being the height of your tree stand and “c” being the diagonal distance to a target (you can establish this number using a range finder), use this simple formula:

A bow should never be "dry fired." Releasing a string without an arrow nocked transfers energy back to the limbs instead of the arrow. The bow can fly apart, injuring anyone nearby.