Practicing part of being a good hunter

I like to hunt be it with a rifle a pistol a knife a blow gun a David sling a atlatl a spear slingshot or a bow the best way to become good or even great is to practice and how to take criticism or to critique your self to understand why it's not working or why it works the way it does and not get mad I have seen people get mad throw things kick dirt and none of it helps do here is 8 shots from my recurve bow at 18 and 15 yards not my tightest group but plenty good enough for hunting

 

Pretty tight grouping. Practice makes perfect.

 

It's said that world ranking athletes practice and train...not so as to get their skills right.....but so as not to let their skills get it wrong when they are needed at the critical moment.

There is certainly satisfaction to be gained by noticing the arc of steady improvement as a result of committed practice. Improving mastery is very satisfying.

 

I have noticed that here in New England it seems to be the custom to buy a box of 20 rounds for dad's old 30-30, shoot 3 to "sight it in" take 10 rounds with you to hunt, and have a box of ammo last 4 or 5 years, that there is a lot of complaining about the ones that got away. Buy a license, drive 70 miles to a strange woods, wander around for 6 hours in the woods once a year, don't target shoot or get to know the woods, and complain about the hunting being no good and how it was so much better in dad's time. Neglecting to mentioned that their dad practiced shooting and shot the deer on his own land and that he had probably watched it grow up for the last 4 years.

 

It ain't only in N.E. Every place I've ever hunted has their share of Joe Six Packs.

 

Practice is important for sure. You owe it to the game to kill them clean. Good grouping , love instinct shooting. Wish I had my eyes back.

 

This guy always comes to mind when I look at Idiots hunting. He leaves a stone broad head in a deer by using a weak bow . Most any modern bow would have killed this deer. So not only practice but equipment as well. Know your weapon and what it will do before subjecting an animal to it.

 

This guy was on Naked and Afraid twice. LOL.

 

Looked like he hit it pretty far back.

 

The shot was a bit back and high but my crossbow with an expandable spitfire would have passed through and bled that deer out inside of 100 yards with the same hit. Stupidity, poor equipment and lack of practice all lead to these types of wounding and or lost animals. Deer probably died of infection two weeks later.

 

It didn't appear to have much of a tip on the arrow any way.

 

I would never try what that dude did. Made zero sense. All the dramatic music the suspense and all, the deer walks out into the lane and he sticks it with that weakly tossed stick. He should get slapped for even trying it. Look at the arrow close as he draws it. Its not straight, it has bumps and crap on it. How accurate could it have been? Even with enough practice there is no guarantee it flies straight. Practice makes perfect but you need to use equipment that will do the job as well.

 

Made all the sense in the world if you are just looking for your 15 minutes of fame at the expense of an innocent creature. This kind of stuff makes my blood boil. As I sit here posting to the entire innerweb I will say I would gladly shoot that asshat and those like him before shooting a deer.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a hunter and I have no issue with harvesting game in a humane manner. That was not humane. Wounding an animal and when they escape you insure it of a slow death just because you are too self absorbed to give a $h!t?
Turn and face the ditch please..

 

No matter the method, I was taught by my father to harvest game in a humane manner. My Dad was a big dude at 6 foot 4 inches and about 240 pounds. We kept hounds and he hunted most everything. I was taught to shoot at age 8 with a daisy bb gun. I was given a .22 rifle and a .410 shotgun at 14. I had my first deer rifle right after that. I didnt start bow hunting until I turned 25. I saw it as a way to hunt deer for more than 14 days per year. I learned the hard way that weak bows were not going to put food on the table. I was very lucky on my first two deer kills with a cheap take down Bear 76er recurve. If I had not known the land I would have lost both of them. Once I started using modern compound bows I never looked back. More power, pass through shots, equal more blood for tracking. Even then I still lost 4 deer in almost 40 years of hunting. Three with a bow and one with a 30-06 rifle. One of those deer made me give up using a bow with no sights. I had my eyes checked and discovered I had diabetes. I had to go to all scoped weapons or quit hunting altogether. Since then I have a scoped Thompson center rifle. Killed a couple deer with it. None lost. I shoot a scoped Wicked Ridge crossbow. Killed a bunch of deer with it. None lost. Back in the game with practice and better equipment. The two go hand in hand.

 

I was told by my Father that professionals trained until they were sure that every shot they made was next to perfect, those not doing it for a living only trained until they could make a perfect shot. If you have to live by your shooting, the difference might be noticeable. JMHO.

 

An amateur trains until he gets it right. A professional trains UNTIL HE CANT GET IT WRONG. A special forces guy told me that once. He was the best I ever saw.

 

Things are a lot like they used to be than they are now.

 

I found a archery range in Oakland california and went practicing .
I thought i was doing pretty good @ 20 yards ,till some kids came in and had grouping that arrows were in the bulls eye touching .
Nothing like kids to show you up.
I just spent my remaining time watching and learning.