Dale Valade
The draw results are out — if you’ll be hunting there’s no time to waste.
All of the great professional athletes became great by mastering the fundamentals of their respective sports. Likewise, hunters must have their own winning pregame preparations. Physical fitness goes without saying, and practice is pivotal. Whether a novice or a veteran, some preparation with focus on fundamentals will greatly increase your chances for success in the field.
Hiking in the hills is an activity that we as a society seem to find the exception rather than the rule. If you don’t regularly engage in some sort of PT, please start doing so immediately. One of the recurring complaints I hear from informal surveys of guides and outfitters alike is the poor physical condition of their clients.
Being so winded as to put themselves in danger of medical emergency, too out of breath to make their shot when game presents itself and being too worn out to aid with field dressing and extraction are chief among these complaints.
Rather than worrying about how to whittle 10 ounces off of your hunting rifle and gear, it would go farther to lose 10 pounds off of your posterior.
Check your gear. Now is the time to see if the batteries in your rangefinder need replaced. Check to see if the action screws on your rifle and corresponding scope mounts and rings have remained torqued to specifications. Spec on gun screws is NOT the same as the lug nuts on your Ford F-150; please don’t strip them out from overtightening.
After you’ve checked everything out, it’s time to get to the range.
Regardless of our skill levels, we need to practice shooting with the weapon and load we plan to use on our hunt. Dumping four different brands of cartridges into your magazine and printing a shotgun-like pattern onto a Keystone Light beer box at 25 yards is simply not a course for success.
Once you have properly zeroed off of a solid bench rest, practice from field positions as much as possible. If you plan to use a bipod or tripod, practice deploying it on uneven ground, getting into position and taking shots.
Scouting is always time well spent. Get out your binoculars or spotting scope and hit the hills. Learning the routines of the animals and hotspots they frequent will give you a leg up come opening day.
It’s good to have a plan for extraction and, more importantly, where you will hang it to cool out. I have heard that Russell’s Custom Meats is once again taking game animals, but if they run out of space, you will need a backup plan.
Proper preparation prevents poor performance, as the saying goes. Here’s to everyone having a satisfying and successful hunting season!
What are some of your pregame preparations? Write to us at shootingthebreezebme@gmail.com and check us out on Facebook!
Dale Valade is a local country gent with a love for the outdoors, handloading, hunting and shooting.
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