How to get in archery hunting shape...

I'm still new to archery hunting, but I am familiar with being in the mountains and what is required.  I have found as I have begun the process of getting into archery, there are several areas where I am lacking.  The first area I need to be focusing on is my core.  I have always been week in the stomach, back and chest.  This is an area I am still working on figuring out a good exercise regime, but in the research I have done, good old fashioned pushups, front crunches, and back crunches seem to be best.  I am giving it a go by starting with 25 pushups, 50 front crunches, and 50 back crunches a day.  I hope to be able to work up to doing 100 of each in a day.  In addition I have a target set up in my basement where I shoot daily.  The target is just in a storage room where I only have 5 yards to shoot, but this will at least build the strength necessary to be able to draw and hold steady so that I can shoot accurately.  Basically the goal with this is muscle memory.

The other area to focus on for me is getting mountain legs and lungs.  I am fairly in shape when it comes to running long distance on flat ground, but when it comes to stairs/steep mountains I run out of breath quickly.  In addition, when it comes to hunting season, I will be carrying a heavy backpack as well as my bow.  I discovered a quick way for me to simulate these scenarios in my regular morning workouts.  The target I use for shooting in my basement is a bag target from Scheels (similar to this).  Using a couple of bungee cords, I was able to strap this target to my backpacking backpack.  I then go to the hill that's about 1 mile from my house and hike up the hill carrying this backpack with the target attached.  In addition to helping me get in shape for mountainous terrain carrying a backpack, this also happens to be in an area where I can carry my bow and do some field shooting.  I hope this provides a better simulation for the shooting conditions when I am in an actual hunt, while also getting me in shape.  It doesn't seem like much I am sure, but after only a week or so of these workouts I am already starting to notice a difference in my level of tiredness during my workout.  As I continue to progress I'm sure my workouts will change, but for now I feel like I am making a good start.

Improving My Accuracy

I found this video the other day that I thought had some good tips for helping me to get started shooting accurately.  I've only tried it for a few days, but I've already found a few things that I really like from this video.  The first thing that helped me was to make sure that the sight pins are positioned in the same place every time when looking through the peep sight.  Prior to this video I thought the best way to shoot was to try and center the sight pin in the peep sight opening.  By positioning the sight with a consistent location and then moving the whole bow to center the current sight pin on the target I am able to get a much more consistent shot.  The second thing that has already helped me is the suggestion to find a consistent anchor point between my head and my draw hand that I get to by moving the bow to my head instead of my head to my bow.  From these two tips I have been able to shoot much more consistently.  I still have a long way to go to create solid habits and shoot accurately from longer distances.  Using this video, I feel like I am able to be more aware of how different things I do during my pull, hold and release affect my shot.  I will continue to monitor and improve my shot, and with the help of this video I feel like I have the tools available to me to be ready by fall.  Thanks Sean.

It Starts

I am a 28 year old PhD student at the University of Utah. I recently bought a bow and look forward to the opportunity to go bow hunting for my first time this fall. Since the age of 12 I have been hunting with a rifle which mostly consisted of going to the same place every year and hoping to scare something up that was within shooting range. My purpose in hunting is mostly about enjoying the outdoors and filling the freezer with meat for the year. I enjoy seeing wildlife in their natural habitat and understand that it is my duty to protect the environment and not allow the life of an animal be wasted. My goal then will not be to harvest the largest animal out there, but to be able to learn how to harvest legally whatever I am able to get closest to. If that happens to be a trophy animal, then even better.

 My experience in shooting a bow is minimal. I have participated in some archery shooting in Boy Scout camps, but otherwise had no experience prior to picking up a bow a couple of weeks ago. Starting out for me, I think the most important thing to being prepared is some basic strength training and repetitions with a bow. To this end I made sure to buy a bow well before the season and start practicing. I am generally fit, but found out quickly that the muscles used for pulling back a bow are different muscles than I regularly use. When I bought my bow I was able to get it back with some effort at 58 pounds, but I found my bow arm shoulder started to feel sore after just a few shots. Fearing injury, I have recently reduced my draw weight to 50 pounds while I strengthen and stabilize my shoulder. Through some strength training and repetition I hope to be able to hunt at or near 60 pounds by August.

I plan to post regular updates on my progress in getting prepared. I will be addressing things such as strength training, sight setting, scouting, etc. as I learn and try out different methods myself. My focus for now will be on getting ready for the 2013 deer hunt in Utah, but may also include elk.

 Now for my first progress report. As mentioned before, my bow arm has been getting sore after just a few shots. The last few days I have spent some time at the gym trying to strengthen my shoulder. My first day at the gym included 2 sets of using a pulley machine to first pull 60 pounds down to the back of my shoulders 10 times and then to the front of my shoulders 10 times. I also did 2 sets of 10 on each arm of basically a lawn mower pull at 50 pounds and 10 shoulder presses using a pulley machine at 60 pounds. I finished the workout by doing 10 minutes of arm cycling. Today I spent some time in the pool swimming 600 yards while alternating between front crawl and back crawl every 50 yards. If anyone out there has any recommendations for building shoulder strength and preventing injury feel free to share.