The End of One Season is the Beginning of a New Season

The End of One Season is the Beginning of a New Season

By Troy Hoepker

Each spring as the last of the year’s hunting seasons wind down, I’m always saddened at the thought of not taking the field again for several agonizing months over the long, hot summer. Gone are the days of cool breezes bringing migrating geese, the chill of fall felt from the treestand and the yellow grasses hiding ringnecks within. It’d be easy to drift off into a secluded depression fueled by hunting dvd’s, the outdoor channel and deer jerky. But instead of hiding in a dark room for four months it may just be the perfect time to begin the steps that can lead to improved success for the next hunting season!

I’m always telling my son that the off-season is the best time to get a step ahead on the competition with his baseball and basketball endeavors. I’m lucky enough to get to coach youth baseball in the springtime and last year had a concerned mother approach me with a question. She asked why her son just didn’t seem to be on par with the other kid’s improvement from the previous year? I didn’t have the heart to side step the question, instead choosing to ask her a question that I already knew the answer to. I asked her if he had picked up a baseball glove since the last day of the previous season? Her answer was no. I could tell it as a baseball coach. Hard work put into the off-season pays dividends once the season starts and the same is true with hunting. Improving your personal skills with practice, advanced scouting, improving habitat, gaining land access or improving equipment are things that can improve your success rate once fall comes and you hit the field once again. Here are a few things you can do this off-season to make a big difference from day one afield.

Scouting
Possibly the biggest game changer you can do in the off-season is scouting. Getting to know where deer are hanging out, where their food sources are, travel routes and bedding areas are, can help once fall comes around. You’ll find new, promising stand locations and ambush points. Spending some time glassing from afar, running multiple game cameras and talking to landowners can put you ahead of the game. Running a trail camera throughout the entire year lets you locate target bucks and watch antler growth. Plus they are a lot of fun and give us something outdoor related to do in the off-season. Cameras give us a great idea of how often an animal is using the area or passing through. They also let us know what other species of animals are in the area that we never knew were there previously. Animal food sources and travel routes will change as crops come out and the weather turns colder so moving cameras and adjusting scouting techniques from summer to fall is important.

It’s also a good time to get your feet on the ground and explore all areas of your hunting area. Get on the computer in your downtime and scan aerial maps of all the areas you hunt to find good spots to hunt from.

Practice ,Practice, Practice
Just like a pitcher trying to hit the strike zone or a basketball player trying to sink 3-pointers, the more practice you get in, the better shot you’ll be able to instinctively make on an animal at the moment of truth. You’ll gain a better confidence in your equipment and yourself using it. Repetition of the proper forms of shooting with a bow or a firearm during practice time builds a foundation that will instinctively be correct when shooting at a game animal leading to better shots. Now is the time to increase the range of your shots as well. Practicing with that 40 yard pin on our peep sight or getting better at long range rifle work can score us the kill on that animal that stubbornly stayed just barely out of range last season.

With a bow in particular, practicing different shot angles and at elevation is important. There’s nothing worse than wounding an animal that gets away especially when we know in the back of our mind that lack of practice might have led to a poorly placed shot. Sending bullets downrange at varying distances familiarizes us with how the bullet is affected by varying wind speeds and wind angles as well as elevation and bullet drop. The more familiar you are with your rifle’s capabilities going into hunting season the deadlier you are.

If you’re a wing shooter than staying in practice by shooting clay during the summer is a fun way to stay sharp on moving targets. If there is one thing that requires steady practice to remain consistent it’s shooting moving targets in the air.

Remember those little mistakes your gundog made last season? Now you have all off-season to train and correct his bad habits. A better dog will make your hunts even more enjoyable and the extra time spent training will increase the bond between you and your dog.

Gaining New Permission
Summer is probably the best time of year to ask permission to hunt properties that you’ve always wanted to and also to check in with landowners that currently let you hunt. It’s always a good idea to see those that let you hunt face to face from time to time and if you’ve been a stranger to that person than you are letting things slip away. They appreciate knowing that you are still involved and that you are thankful for the opportunity to hunt their ground. They also like to hear how your season went and what things you were seeing out there. Don’t be afraid to ask them if there is anything you can do for them during the summer in return for the opportunity to hunt. When a landowner knows you’re willing to fix fence, help work cattle, or do some maintenance around their farm they are willing to let you hunt for a long time. When asking someone new if you can hunt, it’s always better to go see them when you aren’t actively hunting that day. When you show up on someone’s doorstep dressed in full camouflage asking to hunt right at that moment it turns some people off. By stopping by in the off-season you show that you have put some thought into your intention of asking in the most respectful manner possible. Besides, when hunting season rolls around, it’s nice not having to worry about securing permission when you could be using that valuable time hunting. A little time devoted to meeting new people and securing new lands leads to a big payoff later on.

Equipment Updating and Maintenance
After the smoke has left the barrels for the season it’s time for a little tender loving care for all of your guns and hunting equipment. Make sure all your guns are clean and lightly oiled before storing them away for the summer. Any moisture or fouling can lead to problems by next fall that will be a nasty surprise when you unzip the gun case for the first time to go hunting. Look over everything closely for any signs of damage or wear from the season so you can address the issues now. Check scopes to make sure they are still holding their zero and that all the base screws and ring screws and tight and secure.

Summer makes a great time for upgrading equipment like a new bow, a new scope or a different gunstock or trigger. Heck even a whole new gun! There’s no better time than now to add new toys to your collection and get out there and get comfortable with them.

Bowstrings should be examined along with the rest of the bow as well because now is the time to find any problems should you have to replace anything. Before the seasons starts, examine tree-straps on your treestands for safety.

Build a Hunting Blind

One great summertime project is to construct a hunting blind while you have the time before the upcoming season. It’s a fun project and the sky is the limit on how fancy you want to make it. Portable or stationary, elaborate or bare bones, a few hunting blinds spread around the properties you hunt provide warmth, concealment and comfort and you’ll be happy you took the time to do it. A blind doesn’t always need to be a building either. You can look for great spots overlooking good hunting areas and build up a natural blind out of downed logs, sticks and brush to conceal yourself behind. This time of year is a good time to build these areas so you aren’t disturbing the wildlife later on during the hunting season.

Loading Bullets, Shells and Testing
My favorite time of year to experiment with new bullets, shells or broadheads would be during spring and summer. If you load your own ammo there’s no better time to research different loads and work up a few batches. Each load with a different charge, burn rate, bullet weight or characteristic will shoot differently out of a gun. Finding the most accurate load will improve your rifle’s performance. If you don’t reload now is a good time to get into it and learn a new trade. Even testing different factory ammo can produce better results. Patterning different shotgun loads to see which is best for your shotgun is another testing that can be done. You may find something that patterns better than what you’ve been using. Checking out the performance of different broadheads may improve upon what you already have.

Improving Habitat
If you’re lucky enough to own your own piece of hunting ground paradise the spring and summer months are the perfect time to put into action any plans for improving the habitat on your land. Whether it’s planting food plots, clear-cutting some travel lanes, enrolling ground into CRP or into the wetlands reserve program, or planting trees, there’s tons of stuff you can do to increase the amount of game that enters your hunting ground. You can always find ways to increase nesting grounds, bedding habitat, food sources and weather shelters on your land. It’s enjoyable to get out there and put in some hard work and then get to see it all pay off when hunting season comes. Even if you do not own ground yourself, sometimes there are ways to improve the habitat where you do hunt. Landowners are sometimes interested in hearing your thoughts and some landowners are open to renting a few acres to you for a food plot.

Staying In Shape
This might be the most challenging thing to work on of all. Motivating yourself to get into better shape physically before the next hunting season rolls around. If you devote some time each day to running, walking, weights or cardio workouts, those hills you walk up and down next fall bird hunting won’t seem quite so steep. You’ll feel like hunting longer each day with more energy and dragging that deer out of a deep ditch won’t be as hard.

Plan A Hunting Trip
What better time than summer to get the logistics of an out of state fall hunting trip all planned out. If there’s a trip you’ve always wanted to make to hunt somewhere different there’s plenty of time now to find an outfitter, find lodging, or research the best areas for a do-it-yourself style hunt. A trip like this takes time to plan and prepare for and the best time to do it is while it’s not hunting season. You’ll have all summer to make everything perfect for when the day finally arrives to leave. Plus it’ll give you something to get excited about during the summer months!