My hunting offseason goals
It is now the end of February. Most hunting seasons in the states have come to a close. The long summer wait has arrived, giving you time to reflect on your season. All your successes and failures should play a large roll in your preparation for the upcoming season.
Every year I pick three thinks I work on to improve my hunting game. Of course there are more things to work on, but if I perfect these three things I will be much better off than focusing on eight or nine different things and only becoming decent at those aspects. Years previous I have worked on things like stretching out my max distance. They say that your "in the moment" hunting shot is like shooting half of your longest practicing distance. So if you practice at 80 yards your effective distance will be somewhere around 40 yards. I like to practice out past 100 yards, I would never shoot that far in the field but that would allow my effective distance to be around the 50 to 60 yard mark.
The first two focuses I have this year are, focusing on my fitness and nutrition. I'm very active in the weight room as it is, but never hurts to be even more rock solid when I'm at full draw on a big Montana Whitetail for two minutes! I always put a lot of time and attention into my shoulders and back, doing things like rows and vertical dumbbell rows on a bench. Pull ups have also proved extremely helpful in this area for me. Reverse Fly's are one of my favorites, it doesn't take much weight to set those back and shoulder muscles on fire.
As a former wrestler I've found nutrition is very important aspect of staying mentally sharp. Ill admit I'm not the healthiest eater in the woods. Numerous times I've brought a bunch of Little Debbie's into the back country elk hunting and called it good! Although those little cakes and brownies are as good as they get, I don't think they provide your body with the necessary fuel needed to be hiking mountains all day! No matter what they leave me with a nasty feeling in my gut from all those sugars and chemicals. Not only does it affect you physical health but your mental as well. Your brain becomes irrational and makes slightly off split second decisions. Like forcing a shot on a big bull elk, your nerves are already going wild so why have more odds working against you when it comes to that animal of a lifetime. So next time I head into the hills I hope to have my pack full of protein like peanut butter sandwich or something with some meat on it!
The third thing I have my focus on right now is finding a good fixed blade broad head. I shot expendables for a few years going after elk, whitetail, and antelope here in Montana. Admittedly I do have some good success stories with them. I found some animals that if shot with a fixed blade I may not of had the cutting surface to find them. Next to the positive of a large cutting surface, they shoot like an absolute dart. I was always very confident in their accuracy. But there are a lot of things that rub me the wrong way about them too. Especially on Elk, you don't get the penetration you would with a fixed blade. With the blades expanding when in contact with the animal, there is a lot of penetration lost with the moving blades.
My dad lives and dies by the NAP Thunderhead 3 blade broad heads. They are tough as nails and fly rather well for a fixed blade. He's punched them through bone and hide into the dirt and never had as much as a slight dulling to the blade has occurred. Those are a head that are definitely on my radar. I love trying out different broad heads to see how they fly, and how hard hitting they are. Hopefully ill have my choice made by antelope season this August!
Reflect on your past season, pick out the things you do good, and the things you could do better. Take only a few of your biggest tests to focus on. Hunting is a life long sport meant to teach and encourage. So have fun in the process. Learning how to be successful in the outdoors will help you evolve as a person. Mentally prepare yourself for the task at hand, carry it out, and reap the rewards of your hard work come this fall.
As a former wrestler I've found nutrition is very important aspect of staying mentally sharp. Ill admit I'm not the healthiest eater in the woods. Numerous times I've brought a bunch of Little Debbie's into the back country elk hunting and called it good! Although those little cakes and brownies are as good as they get, I don't think they provide your body with the necessary fuel needed to be hiking mountains all day! No matter what they leave me with a nasty feeling in my gut from all those sugars and chemicals. Not only does it affect you physical health but your mental as well. Your brain becomes irrational and makes slightly off split second decisions. Like forcing a shot on a big bull elk, your nerves are already going wild so why have more odds working against you when it comes to that animal of a lifetime. So next time I head into the hills I hope to have my pack full of protein like peanut butter sandwich or something with some meat on it!
The third thing I have my focus on right now is finding a good fixed blade broad head. I shot expendables for a few years going after elk, whitetail, and antelope here in Montana. Admittedly I do have some good success stories with them. I found some animals that if shot with a fixed blade I may not of had the cutting surface to find them. Next to the positive of a large cutting surface, they shoot like an absolute dart. I was always very confident in their accuracy. But there are a lot of things that rub me the wrong way about them too. Especially on Elk, you don't get the penetration you would with a fixed blade. With the blades expanding when in contact with the animal, there is a lot of penetration lost with the moving blades.
My dad lives and dies by the NAP Thunderhead 3 blade broad heads. They are tough as nails and fly rather well for a fixed blade. He's punched them through bone and hide into the dirt and never had as much as a slight dulling to the blade has occurred. Those are a head that are definitely on my radar. I love trying out different broad heads to see how they fly, and how hard hitting they are. Hopefully ill have my choice made by antelope season this August!
Reflect on your past season, pick out the things you do good, and the things you could do better. Take only a few of your biggest tests to focus on. Hunting is a life long sport meant to teach and encourage. So have fun in the process. Learning how to be successful in the outdoors will help you evolve as a person. Mentally prepare yourself for the task at hand, carry it out, and reap the rewards of your hard work come this fall.
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