Last year’s blog was read by thousands of people even though Archery Report was still in its infancy, so this year we are going to stepping it up a couple of notches. Read along as I attempt to tackle fitness preparation, shooting improvement, gear selection, pre-season scouting and much more.
March 18, 2010
Too early to start planning for the elk hunt this year? No way! What better time to begin the process of getting in shape, making preliminary plans for where to hunt (Colorado applications are due April 6th) and figuring out what to ask for on Father’s day that will benefit the hunt.
First and foremost this early in the year is beginning the fitness program that will carry me through the season in what I hope to be the best condition I’ve ever been in. This spring both of my sons are participating in track, one at the middle school and one at the high school. We are beginning a little competition on the 800m, 1 mile and 2 mile races. If elk hunting wasn’t a good enough reason to get into better shape, then trying to stay ahead of your kids sure is!
For this year I do not plan on dropping any weight, but rather boosting my fitness level and lowering my body fat percent. I have a set of skin calipers on their way and I’ll have to see if I’m actually brave enough to post those numbers. Then again, knowing that anyone with a computer and internet connection can see how I am progressing may actually push me harder. Through the next months I’ll be continuing with the Insanity Fitness program as well as delving into the P90X system.
There are also big plans for improving my shooting. I have always been a good shooter, but not a great shooter. Because I don’t have unlimited time to working on my shooting skills, I have decided to buckle down and follow some strict training using Larry Wise’s Core Archery book as the basis, with other input from Idiot Proof Archery by Bernie Pellerite. Watch for a new post soon as I begin tracking how Larry and Bernie’s coaching affects and hopefully improves my shooting.
April 22, 2010
My shoot improvement plan is progressing nicely an can be followed on the 300 in 300 days page. The focus on this program has been spot shooting, but I am a firm believer that by following a regimented program for target shooting promotes overall shooting improvement. Shooting paper is all about perfect repetition and ingraining the shot sequence into the subconscious to the point that thinking about the shot is no longer necessary and the conscious mind can focus on aiming. In the case of hunting, this translates into being able to focus on the animal, the distance to the animal and putting the pin in the right place. The last thing you want to worry about is setting your rhomboids in the right position as a bull elk is screaming down the hillside at you!
I’ve decided to bite the bullet, throw shame out the window and post my fitness progress in the form of body fat percent. I tried several different calculation methods which gave me percentages anywhere from 12% to almost 19%. By picking the method with the highest percent I figure I’ll have more visibility to the improvements in the numbers. Posted at the bottom of this article is the graph showing weekly measurements that will be updated periodically.
The actual working out and fitness is going well. What is more difficult for me is being more disciplined in my diet. Walking by the cupboard and resisting eating a handful of Peanut Butter Cap’n’ Crunch is tough! It’s not so much the total calories that I’m taking in that is the problem, but rather the quality of the food that I’m eating. Loosing weight is not my goal, but creating more lean muscle requires a balanced diet that reduces bad fats and sugars and increases in other areas. I’m slowly getting better, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
May 26th, 2010
Things are going well with the fitness program and I’m really settling into the groove now. I have been combining the P90X and Insanity workout programs. The weight lifting portion of P90X feels good now (I never knew there were so many varieties of push-ups and pull-ups designed to cause as much pain as possible) but I prefer the intensity of the Insanity cardio. By following the P90X calendar and substituting Insanity into the cardio days I feel that I’m getting the best of both worlds.
It’s time to start considering what equipment I’ll be using this year to hunt with. I’ve whittled the bow decision down to either my trusty Elite Envy or a new Bowtech Destroyer 350. For arrows I have been very impressed with both the PileDriver and Mayhem shafts that Carbon Express sent over for testing. Both are excellent arrows with the PileDrivers being a bit heavier and having a little more punch, and the Mayhems having better overall specs but still packing good weight and energy behind them. It will probably come down to shooting them both side by side and making a decision based on how the broadheads are flying on both of them.
I am almost certain that I will be sticking with FOBs for fletching this year. Colorado has very unpredictable weather and with the wind coming and going all the time, the FOBs perform extremely well. They drift less in the wind and fly broadheads with great accuracy. My broadhead of choice this year is going to be the NAP Razorhead as I am a big fan of one piece broadheads and their simplicity, durability and overall toughness. More on the final setup to come as it is all pulled together.
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