Successful Hunters do two things very well:
First, they understand the principles of hunting that can make them professional in the field
Second, they put 100% of their effort into learning how to shoot accurately.
But you are wondering: how can I find and learn all the principles which can make you instantly a better hunter?
Well, I am going to make it easy for you…
Here are all the principles which you should learn to make yourself a better hunter.
Are you ready?
Let’s go…
Pro Tip: If you are using the Hang-ON tree stand or ladder tree stand—Make sure to inspect the stands every single time before getting on them.
1: Little Bit Walk and Too Much Looking
When you are working to become a better hunter, it is very important to learn how to observe nature than shooting itself.
During the hunt, your focus should be on “little bit of movement and too much on the lookout”.
It’s also referred to as the still-hunting: Hunter is looking for its prey from distance, making slow movements, trying not to crunch those leaves, finding the signs of living things especially observing animal footprints…
Still hunting is the key to success and it’s not very difficult to learn.
Here’s what to Do: After every 5 steps take 20 seconds observation pause when you are deep in the field.
This way you should be covering 200 yards within an Hour and chances of finding your prey will be 40x than normal walking, it’s a tried and tested method.
2: Travel with Necessary Things for lasting long
Along with archery equipment, the best way for a hunter to travel is to make sure that the food is enough for at least 5 days and you should have a repair kit – to come in handy if your archery equipment is broken.
Here’s my Shoulder Bag checklist: Canned milk, tea, coffee, sugar, rice, dried food, cornmeal, dried fruit, baking powder mixture, flour, little bacon, seasoning, and butter. The total weight should be less than 10 pounds. Also, make sure the arrow-repairing kit, best rangefinder and Hunting knife is in your shoulder hunting backpack.
If you have a dog, make sure he’s carrying his dry meal in a little bag on his back. Also, load your quiver with at least 2 dozen arrows, and finally don’t forget your bow.
If you are interested, We also discussed the archery safety rules here.
3: Practice on Squirrels before Hunting Big Game
If you are new to archery + hunting and hesitating to go for the big game, then believe me hunting squirrels is the best way to start.
Also, if you already hunt some big game animals but often miss or not confident enough while shooting, try shooting squirrels.
These forest squirrels are not the same as you see in your neighborhood, stealing grains and eating with their hands on the way.
Forest squirrels are fast and can hear your footsteps even from the distance. So, it’s very challenging to shoot squirrels accurately.
There is no better training than shooting the alerted Squirrel with a well-placed headshot. In Fact, this is how I trained myself before starting the deer hunting.
4: Don’t Poison your Arrows
Many people think the arrow is not good enough to cause death so they use the poison.
But we after various studies and practical experiments found out that poisoning your arrow is unsportsmanlike and useless, really!
If you are not an expert at it, the poison can affect the meat as well which you are going to eat later. Also, it creates a lot of unnecessary mess to deal with…
The best way to kill animals quickly is to use the clean knife-blades for your broadheads and to learn the art of well-placed headshots (which you can learn by practicing on quick small game animals)
5: Learn Best Striking Distance & don’t lose your Prey
The striking distance varies for every animal but you could say archer’s minimum striking distance is 100 yards and maximum striking distance is 20 yards.
Yes, for small animals it lies between 20 to 40 yards and for the big game, it lies between 80 to 100 yards. It depends on the animal’s nature and prevalence of hunters as well.
Quail and Rabbits will allow a man to reach them within the 20 or 30 yards. It is a fair distance for shooting small animals. Most small games, especially rabbits, have enough curiosity to stand after their first startling retreat. Beneath a bush or clump of weeds they squat and watch on the qui vive.
Black Deer & Big Game usually permit the hunter to reach them within 60 or 70 yards, but you need to be careful enough with crunching leaves or making some other kind of sounds with anything because deer’s an alert animal and can hear you from distance.
6: Learn where to Look for Deer and Shoot them
It is surprising that even in this day of civilization you can still find the deer within 40 miles from our largest cities in California.
Well, if you are from another part of the world the key thing to remember is that you should look for the forest regions that are most primeval for finding your deer prey.
And the favorite time for finding deer is the dawn and sunset.
During sunset, professional hunters rise from their sleeping bags and go for the trail after a cup of their favorite coffee.
While finding deer, You should move with the wind and take advantage of every bit of cover. You should observe every shadow and advance while hearing every woodland sound.
If you see the deer first you should become an immovable object, then slowly crouch and start advancing to your favorite spot, clear your eyes and calm your nerves for the supreme effort. Draw your bow slowly and shoot the sharpened arrow.
After taking the shot, you should still be in an immovable position and continue to hear with your straining ears. Give the wounded deer time to lie down and die, then trail and find it.
7: Only Use Dogs for Trailing Wounded Animals
You should remember that we need the nose of the dog and not its legs.
Especially in the deer hunting your dog should be restricted to only trail the wounded deer. You should never use the dog to run after the wounded animal.
It’s proved that no dog is capable of trailing all the animals, so you need to go for the specialists (only the species of dogs that are capable of getting the job done). A good deer dog should never taste the deer and lion meat nor follow its tracks.
If you trained a dog to track the raccoons it should leave the rabbits alone. The job of your dog should be to point the prey and not follow the animal unless it’s wounded.