That can happen to anyone…
Everyone who hunts has been there at some point. The monster buck you’ve been chasing walks about of the brush into a clearing. A giant turkey gobbler makes a bee line in the direction of your calls. One moment you’re watching branches waving in the breeze and the next your heart is racing and your adrenaline in skyrocketing. This is where most mistakes happen.
By the way – Don’t let anyone tell you it doesn’t get to them. We all go through the same thing. Sure, some people feel less of a rush than others, but even the legendary Steven Rinella still gets an adrenaline rush when it’s go time.
Mistake #1 – The whisker biscuit fail
This is honestly the mistake that inspired this article. We posted a video a few weeks ago highlighting some of our adventures during opening weekend of turkey season in South Texas. Toward the tail end of the video I was seen whiffing on a gobbler with my bow, then dropping a bunch of expletives.
Immediately after the hunt I was beating myself up about rushing, not practicing enough, and taking a better shot. But when I got home and started editing the footage I noticed that my arrow was not centered in my whisker biscuit. When that gobbler snuck up on us, I was so excited and so full of adrenaline that I focused completely on the bird in the field and not on my pre-shot checklist.
How did my arrow end up out of alignment in my whisker biscuit? I forgot my bow kickstand at the house, and had to resort to leaning my rig against the side of the bow blind. This caused my arrow to shift and ultimately caused me to miss my bird.
Mistake #2 – Practice how you hunt
When you get your daily/weekly/month archery reps in, do your best to mimic the situations you’ll be hunting in. Hunting from a ground blind? Take your stool with you to the archery range. Hunting from a tree stand? Setup your stand early enough in the year that you can shoot a target from that elevated angle.
This can be a tough one, especially if you live in the city where shooting a bow in your yard is frowned upon. Maybe your local archery range is always crowded, so it means standing shots only. If you can’t fling arrows from scenarios similar to how you hunt, do your best to mentally prepare for the shot. How you sit, how you position yourself, and how you hold the bow all matter.
Mistake #3 – Clearing Obstructions
It seems pretty obvious, but this one can mean the difference between a kill and losing a wounded animal all together. Even the smallest twigs can be enough to deflect and arrow off it’s intended path. When you find and setup your spot, think about the game trails and the paths your target species might travel. Use these educated guesses and make sure you clear any potential obstructions from your “kill box”. In South Texas, hunting from a pop up bring, this means you better bring an axe and get started chopping under brush.
Mistake #4 – Using the wrong Pin
This one goes back to the adrenaline thing. Don’t get tunnel vision on your target and forget to do the little things. Make sure you’re aiming with the appropriate pin for your range. Multi-pin sights are great, but in the heat of the moment, they’ve gotten the better of some.
Mistake #5 – Drawing at the Wrong moment
Too much movement might scare off your prey. So you want to make sure you’re not having to draw and reset multiple times. Try to pick a moment when your target has its head down eating or is turned and looking away from your general direction.
With my setup for hunting whitetail, I’m usually within 20 yards of the animals. This means being incredibly still and incredibly picky about when I draw my bow. It’s a combination of waiting the target to be inside my “kill box” and waiting for it to be focused elsewhere.
Mistake #6 – Scent Control
Some people get a little carried away with the scent control thing (Beau and Kevin, I’m looking at you). In all seriousness there’s nothing wrong with that extra level of caution. At a minimum, I recommend spraying your boots at pant legs with some sort of neutralizer. This way you don’t get your people smell all over every blade of grass while on your way into your spot. But you don’t have to go crazy with sprays, shampoos, and detergents to effectively control your scent.
It can be as simple as judging the wind on the day you hunt and making sure to setup down wind of the game trail or food plot. If you’re setting up a popup or brush blind that will remain stationary for the season, do your best to get familiar with the area and its typical wind conditions. You can use this knowledge to place your blind in a spot that will face optimal wind conditions more often than not.
