Next week this time many of his will be sitting up in a tree or in a ground blind waiting with the nervous edge of it being the first of many days in the woods. If you're like me, opening day can be full of blunders and bloopers to start the day, as it has been a while since you did all these things. I think my most common mistakes are either forgetting something, or dropping things out of my tree first thing in the morning. After that the pure excitement of being back out in the woods settles in and I find myself relaxing and enjoying the great outdoors.
Over the next six days I will be shooting my bow some more, this time with broadheads to insure everything shoots the same and I am as accurate with them as I am with field tips. Over this coming holiday weekend I will be putting a plan together and selecting my opening day trees locations. This will mean some hard choices for me this year, as I not only have to pick where I will be hunting, but which tree I will be hunting out of. I always pick not only backup areas to hunt just in case the area I plan to hunt is "full" when I get there. Always have a backup plan! I also select backup trees, as fairly often I have gone to walk into my tree and found someone either in it, or very close by and I had to change my plan. Well I always like to have a plan, a backup tree that will work in the same wind that is somewhat close by. Of course if you don't have a tree in the same area, you will need a backup location close by that you can use , as morning hunts are the worst for this since many times you are working with limited time between when you get to your spot and when legal shooting light comes.
I will also be setting up my treestand in the backyard and testing it out and gathering all my gear that lives in it. I.E. my pull rope, safe rope, and I almost always keep an extra strap in case one were to break or something were to happen. I will also be getting my safety harness out and checking it to make sure it is in good working order. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT if your harness shows any signs of wear, or seems are pulling apart or anything you need to replace it! I do know that many manufactures backup their products and will replace safety harnesses that are showing wear if it was NOT caused by anything you did to it.
ALSO IF YOU HAVE EVER FALLEN OUT OF A TREE WITH YOUR SAFETY HARNESS ON AND IT CAUGHT YOU REPLACE IT!! Many of the safety harnesses say on their tag should you fall please contact us afterward and we will replace the harnesses as many of them are made to only sustain one fall. Whether the manufacture will replace it or not, you should always replace your harnesses after a fall, no question. Why take a chance with something that has one purpose to save your life?
The last thing I will be doing this weekend is making sure my early season clothes, boots, treestand, bow, and release are all scent free! Very important this time of year since the deer haven't really had a lot of humans in the woods for 6 months, they pick up odd smells real quick!
Well , the next six days will go by fast, even more so with this being a holiday weekend and many people are enjoying their last weekend away for the summer. As you can tell I am home this weekend prepping for next Friday 🙂
Have a safe and enjoyable weekend everyone!
If your home and getting ready for archery season like me, leave us a comment with what you are doing this weekend!
