Don’t let your shooting skills slip over summer
We’re halfway through July already, and there are a lot of adages that get uttered in a lot of places about this time of year. I don’t want to repeat them but it is time to start getting ready for the fall in between the summertime activities.
The bear hunters don’t start first but they started getting ready before the first of July if they hunt with dogs. The bear dog guys started their baits before the month began. If you plan to hunt over bait you probably should have started your baits by now too, and if anyone tells you now would be a good time to at least start that would be wise advice.
Everyone else should and could take a page from the bear dog hunters. If you hunt doves, geese, early teal, that season starts before the bear hunters. Grouse season starts just a week after the bear hunters. And archery deer just after the bear hunters, the same day as grouse.
An avid shooting instructor and hunter has for years stated that anyone who hunts waterfowl and upland game of any sort should shoot about 500 rounds of clay targets between the first of July and the first of September. His reasoning is that, other than professional hunting guides, everyone else has these things called jobs and most likely family obligations. Only the luckiest hunters get to hunt more than a couple weekends and maybe one week a season. So, with limited time to do the things we enjoy the most, we want to be at our best.
He said “I don’t want to be missing birds because opening day is the first time I’ve shot at in 10 or 11 months.” He also states that shooting clays is fun. He doesn’t care what clay game you shoot, just shoot.
The same could be said for archery and firearm big game hunters. Slinging a number of arrows earlier than a week before you hit the stand will increase your confidence and proficiency, and will over time put at least a couple more big bucks on the meat pole over a lifetime of hunting.
A good place to do that is 3-D Archery night at the Abbotsford Sportsmen’s Club on Thursday evenings. A few rounds of 3-D will increase your confidence to take some longer shots.
If you never practice a 30- or 40-yard shot you will never have the confidence to ethically take a 40-yard shot on a buck of a lifetime. No one wants to wound an animal with a poor shot. Practice increases profi ciency and that increases confi dence. We all know this. But there’s something else you might not consider: shooting 3-D is fun. Whether you do it by yourself or with a partner or group of friends, it’s enjoyable. The range at the club is fogged for insects, the multiple targets from ground and elevated platforms are already set up for you. A whole summer of shooting will cost you less than a target for shooting at home. It’s even less if you just get to shoot two or three times. And if you are planning on hunting bear with bow I would think you would want to be as prepared as possible considering how long you wait for a tag in Wisconsin and how much money you spend on an out of state hunt.
The same applies with a shotgun for winged critters. Maybe you just head out to South Dakota for five days of pheasant hunting. The last thing you want to do is miss more birds than you hit, especially if your hunting buddy has a quick wit — and most hunting buddies seem to fall into that category when someone is missing shots.
There are several places you can shoot trap in the area, like Sparky’s Sports Shop. Skeet can be shot on Monday evenings at the club, MRC North of Medford has sporting clays on Wednesday evenings and a few Saturdays this summer.
Missing an elk, or moose, or deer of a lifetime on a Western hunt because you haven’t shot a rifle since last gun deer season won’t be fun either. And missing because you never practiced shooting over a hundred yards won’t put a happy spin on the trip either. People hunting Alaska will be hunting before the end of August.
And this year just getting a box of ammo to sight in is no small thing. You need to plan for that too.
Have fun out there.
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CHUCK K OLAR LOCAL O UTDOORSMAN
