Prep now for a strong hunt

Hunting season will be here in no time, so now is the perfect time to dust off that firearm or bow in preparation for the 2023 season.

Only accurate rifles (and bows) are interesting

In a 1957 issue of American Rifleman Magazine, famed writer and marksman Col. Townsend Whelen quipped that “only accurate rifles are interesting.” Townsend argued that only those who spent the time sighting in and taking pride in their firearm — we’ll go ahead and assume he meant bows as well — produced rewarding outcomes as their skillset and marksmanship got closer to center target. Shooters who neglected firearms, on the other hand, found the road to proficiency to be long and arduous, eventually losing interest in their hobby and soon disposing of it altogether.

As hunting season approaches, let Whelen’s remark serve as a reminder that taking pride in a firearm or bow is merely the prologue to yet another edition of the hunting season. An obvious, yet important, reminder: a hunt will not end successfully if a weapon can’t deliver a bullet or arrow on target when it matters most.

"Taking the time to prepare and become a better marksman is a hallmark of an ethical hunter," said Brenda Beckley, Hunter Education administrator. "And the better marksman you become, the better your chances of successfully harvesting an animal.”

Now with the when established to get started improving aim, here’s the how.

Get in range time

Fish and Game offers several options for shooting and/or archery ranges around the state. Blacks Creek, Farragut, Nampa and Garden Valley Shooting Range are all Fish and Game-owned, public shooting ranges designed for safe firearm/bow practice by shooters of all abilities.

In the southwest, Nampa’s public facility features both an indoor and outdoor archery range, as well as an indoor air gun range. There is also the Boise River WMA archery range complete with 20 three-dimensional foam targets. In the Panhandle, there is Farragut Public Shooting Range, which also includes a 1-mile, walkthrough archery range. Several Idaho state parks, in cooperation with Fish and Game, have archery ranges with life-sized, three-dimensional targets that mimic big game animals.

There are several other shooting ranges located across the state, some of which are co-managed by Idaho Fish and Game and the Shooting Range Development Grant program. This program’s mission is to provide funds to assist organizations or agencies to establish, upgrade, expand or otherwise improve public firearms and archery ranges in Idaho.

For a more comprehensive list of shooting ranges in Idaho, go check out the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Where to Shoot webpage. This state-by-state shooting range directory lists contact information, facilities available, maps and more for each range.

Calling before is highly recommended, as hours of operation, services or shooting opportunities may change. For anyone who's never been to a public shooting range, here is a beginner’s guide to get started.

Pre-Season Prep Tips | Rifles

For rifle hunters, many shooting experts recommend setting an initial target at 25 yards to make sure to hit the paper with a new rifle, have replaced a scope or don’t know where a rifle is hitting. After shooting at that distance, move the target out to 100 yards or more to finish the sighting-in process.

Consistent accuracy is the ultimate goal when practicing shooting skills, so it’s important that hunters consider their effective shooting range and practice at all distances out to that maximum number.

It’s also important to practice from a variety of shooting positions and not just from a bench. Think about it. When that 4-point buck or 6-point bull pauses along the hillside, the luxury of a bench rest and 5 minutes of slow breathing will not be available when taking that shot.

Shooters should try to replicate the conditions they are likely to encounter in the field as closely as possible, so after a rifle is sighted in, consider doing some exercise to get the heart rate elevated and lungs working harder to mimic what shooting may feel like in the field.

“We stress in our hunter education courses that all hunters have an ethical obligation to know their personal limits and be prepared,” Beckley said. “Practicing often, at a variety of distances and from a number of different shooting positions, will help hunters prepare for a variety of situations they may encounter.”

Hot Tip: Hunters should always use the same ammunition for hunting as they did when sighting in their rifle.

Pre-Season Prep Tips | Shotguns

Don’t let the Elmer Fudd cartoons fool you — there’s a lot more to using a shotgun than just spraying a target with pellets. When it comes to preparation for wing shooting, hunters should focus on practicing different shots at different angles that may at first seem difficult.

Hot Tip: Be sure to use the same choke and shell combination planned for the hunting season. Modified chokes produce a moderately tight pattern, good for rabbits, quail and upland game birds. Full chokes have an even tighter pattern and are best suited for turkey, squirrels and other game at longer range.

Patterning a shotgun before the season is a fairly common practice with turkey hunters, but it’s something upland and migratory bird hunters should consider, too. Knowing a pattern density at given distances can help determine the effective range, and give a good idea of how a shotgun performs with a particular choke and shell combination. Every shotgun is different, and a shotgun will likely perform differently when changing either of those variables.

Pre-Season Prep Tips | Bows

By this point in the game, most archery hunters using traditional and compound bows will already be dialed in as early season and archery-only hunts kick off in late August.

But if new to the sport of bow hunting, start by visiting a local bow shop and get a bow tuned up, especially if it hasn't been shot much or at all since last fall.

After that, it’s time to get the body back into shooting shape and practice at known and unknown distances. Archery ranges with life-size, 3D targets are a good place to practice shooting and estimating distance in a field setting.

Hot Tip: Estimating distance is a lot more crucial in archery than in rifle hunting. To become proficient at gauging distances in the field, sharpen the eye by making estimates on various landmarks or 3D targets. After an assessment, whip out a trusty rangefinder and confirm just how close or far off the naked eye was.

Fish and Game has ranges at its Boise River Wildlife Management Area and Farragut Shooting Range. Or find archery ranges at some Idaho State Parks, including Hells Gate near Lewiston, Castle Rock near Albion and Dworshak near Orofino.

Remember that most ranges will not allow people to shoot broadheads, and they usually shoot differently than field tips, so resight a bow when making the switch.

So whether hauling a rifle or a recurve out into the field this hunting season, proper maintenance and preparation is a must. Be sure to brush up on marksmanship and take care of the weapon to ensure a fun, safe — and interesting — hunt.

— Idaho Department of Fish and Game