It’s Crunch Time—Make Sure Your Hunting Clothing, Weapons, and Skills are Ready
In Quebec and part of Ontario, archery season is right around the corner—but are you ready for it? We see people scrambling last minute to get everything in order. Don’t be that person! If your hunting gear has been left untouched since you hung it up after last year’s season, then you still have a lot of preparations to make. If you plan on being ready to hunt this season, then don’t put it off another day. Now is the best time to start getting ready, and you’ll thank us when bow-hunting season begins and you’re at the top of your game.
Gather the Essentials
It’s been a while since the last time you hunted with a bow, and time has seen your supplies scattered. Between reorganizing the garage or basement, spring cleaning, and simply forgetting where you left that one piece of hunting clothing, finding and collecting it all can be a task—but very much worth it. Treat it as though you are hunting tomorrow morning: do you have everything you need, ready to go? What condition is your hunting gear in? What needs to be replaced, and what needs some love? Figure that out now, and you’ll have plenty of time to replace and repair things.
Dynamic Practice
Did you practice your archery as much as you said you would between seasons? That’s okay, you’re only human. Get out there and take some shots. But if you want to really be ready, don’t just do the basic point-and-shoot target practice. Take advantage of low-light or foggy conditions to add an extra challenge, and increase the distance you shoot from. Focus on careful, precise shots—quality over quantity.
To take practice to the next level, get up in a tree with all your hunting clothing on and all the gear you plan to carry. This gives you a better feel for the actual conditions you’ll hunt in, and provides an opportunity to discover anything that needs adjusting before you get out there for the real deal.
Know the Land
Like everything else on this list, if you leave this for too long, you’ll be at less than your best when it comes to the hunt, and may find some unfortunate surprises you weren’t prepared for. Make sure you know the area you plan to hunt in, and observe the habits of the animals inhabiting it. If you have trail cams, there’s no time like the present to set them up and see what they can tell you.
After all, you can have the most perfectly tuned hunting gear, and the nicest hunting clothes, but at the end of the day, your greatest tool is being ready for anything.
