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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide

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Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, and now your host,

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Speaker 1: Tony Peterson. Hey everyone, welcome to the wire to Hunt podcast,

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Speaker 1: which is brought to you by First Light. I'm your host,

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Speaker 1: Tony Peterson. Today's topic is all about building a practice regiment.

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Speaker 1: Whether you're a oh hunter, a gun hunter, or both.

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Speaker 1: This is a big ask, my friends, but I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: do it anyway. I know the turkey season is still

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Speaker 1: in full swing. I know the fishing is really good

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Speaker 1: right now. I know the kids are in baseball and

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Speaker 1: gymnastics and a bunch of other activities. I know that

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Speaker 1: dear season, even early archery season, is still you know,

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Speaker 1: months away. Gun season is further away than that. Shooting

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Speaker 1: doesn't seem to be a high priority right now, and

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Speaker 1: honestly kind of doesn't have to be a high priority.

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Speaker 1: But target practice should at least be a low priority,

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Speaker 1: because if you make it so now, you'll be well

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Speaker 1: ahead of your competition this fall, and we all want that.

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Speaker 1: There are different ways to look at target practice, depending

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Speaker 1: on what weapon you're using and what your experience level is.

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Speaker 1: Let's say the rifle hunter with forty consecutive seasons, all

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Speaker 1: with filled tags. He's in a different place than the

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Speaker 1: new bibow hunter who has yet to fill a single tag,

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Speaker 1: let alone shoot at a deer. That rifle hunter, I

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Speaker 1: don't know. He might not need to do anything more

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Speaker 1: than pull the old two seventy out of the safe

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Speaker 1: a few weeks before the season, head out to the

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Speaker 1: range and run a few shells through it to make

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Speaker 1: sure nothing has changed since last season. If the groups

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Speaker 1: are tight and the scope is on, it's back into

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Speaker 1: the safe with the gun until opening weekend. That little

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Speaker 1: effort might be good enough for someone, probably not you

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Speaker 1: or I. Reducing target practice down to a simple task

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Speaker 1: at checking your rifle zero or making sure your bow

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Speaker 1: is still on at forty yards, it's really selling the

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Speaker 1: opportunity short. The stuff is just it's not about just

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Speaker 1: whether a certain weapon in your hands at a perfectly

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Speaker 1: chosen moment can send bullets or arrows where they're supposed

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Speaker 1: to go. No, I don't want to get shitty about this,

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Speaker 1: but I'm gonna If you go to a rifle ranger

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Speaker 1: of bow range right before your state's dear season opens up,

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Speaker 1: you'll see plenty of examples of what not to do.

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget years ago being at a gun range

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Speaker 1: before Minnesota's season opened up and watching a guy introduce

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Speaker 1: his son who was twelve, to a twenty gage slug gun.

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Speaker 1: Instead of setting him up on a bench to shoot

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Speaker 1: where he would have a nice rest, the guy loaded

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Speaker 1: a couple of slugs into that shotgun, had the kids

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Speaker 1: stand and shoot off hand at a target that was

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Speaker 1: twenty yards away. The first slug hit six inches to

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Speaker 1: the left. The second slug hit farther to the left,

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Speaker 1: but to be fair, the kid didn't have hearing protection

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Speaker 1: on it was flinching like you'd probably expect him to.

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Speaker 1: After seeing the second shot, the dad took the gun

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Speaker 1: and took aim himself, again off hand and with no

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Speaker 1: hearing protection. The third hole in the target was I

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Speaker 1: don't know, about half a foot to the left, and

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Speaker 1: he said something I will never forget. He looked at

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Speaker 1: his son and he said, just remember to compensate for

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Speaker 1: that and aim about six inches to the right. Listen.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how that kid's season went, but I

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Speaker 1: can imagine. Well, that's an extreme example. I see the

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Speaker 1: bull hunter version of it every year at archery arranged

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Speaker 1: by my house, and not just with you shooters either

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Speaker 1: who have poor mentors. I once watched a full grown

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Speaker 1: man struggle to draw his bow back and then miss

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Speaker 1: an entire four ft by four ft bail type of

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Speaker 1: target from fifteen yards away twice. This was three weeks

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Speaker 1: before the dear season opened up. Here's the thing about

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Speaker 1: target practice and getting into a shooting routine. It's just

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Speaker 1: like getting in shape or training a dog. It's not

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Speaker 1: about putting in a marathon's worth of whatever right before

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Speaker 1: the event. Shooting a thousand arrows in five days after

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Speaker 1: not shooting for nine months does not do you any good.

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Speaker 1: Just like taking a lab that hasn't seen a bumper

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Speaker 1: or been given a real command all summer and suddenly

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Speaker 1: trying to do a three hour session right before duck

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Speaker 1: season opens up. That's a little too late, my friends.

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Speaker 1: Another example, this happens with western hunts a lot. And

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Speaker 1: if you don't believe this, ask an outfitter who specializes

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Speaker 1: in elk hunting if this has ever happened to him.

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Speaker 1: When you plan to go elk hunting, especially if you

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Speaker 1: live in the Midwest or the East, the notion that

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Speaker 1: is time to get in real shape is real. It

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Speaker 1: hangs over your head, and it makes you very aware

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Speaker 1: of the time between now and the trip. A lot

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Speaker 1: of hunters put off getting into any kind of shape

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Speaker 1: until the hunt is really close, and then they decided

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Speaker 1: to run or I don't know, put a couple of

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Speaker 1: sandbags in their backpack and climb the hills by the

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Speaker 1: high school. They get injured, often slightly, but enough to

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Speaker 1: sideline their workouts, and they show up out west and

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Speaker 1: worse shape than they'd have been in if they didn't

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Speaker 1: make a hero's last attempt at getting into shape. Some

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Speaker 1: of the best things we can do for ourselves involve

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Speaker 1: long game approaches to fitness and to shooting. Now, everyone

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Speaker 1: wants to get into shape, that's fine by me, you

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Speaker 1: do you, But the shooting thing is different, because we

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Speaker 1: should all be working to be the best we can

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Speaker 1: with our chosen weapons. That means it's time to start now.

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Speaker 1: If you're not shooting already, it's time to make a

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Speaker 1: commitment to just a couple of sessions a week now.

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Speaker 1: If you're a bowl hunter, that might mean I don't know,

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Speaker 1: ten or twenty arrows a session, maybe three times a week.

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Speaker 1: That's a pretty light lift. But it's a cumulative effort

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Speaker 1: that will add up to a real level of dedication

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Speaker 1: over several months. For gun hunters, a couple of times

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Speaker 1: a week is too big of an ask and most

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Speaker 1: likely probably not really necessary. You know, you look at

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Speaker 1: the logistics of shooting and how lately just a matter

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Speaker 1: of getting any ammo in your hands. It's a different thing,

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Speaker 1: and if you can find your chosen ammo, you're gonna

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Speaker 1: try to not go broke buying it. It's not not

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Speaker 1: a great situation out there, but a once per month

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Speaker 1: session it might be doable. Half a box of shells

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Speaker 1: at a time. That's probably plenty. Season shooters could get

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Speaker 1: away with less, but newbies and anyone who is an

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Speaker 1: overly confident with a firearm could greatly benefit from the

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Speaker 1: familiarity that comes with stacking up sessions like that as

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Speaker 1: the summer leads into fall. This is important, and not

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Speaker 1: for the reason that you want to be able to

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Speaker 1: just shoot tight groups. You do want that. You want

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Speaker 1: that at tip shot distances and shot distances that are

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Speaker 1: farther than you'd likely ever taken a deer. Accuracy is important,

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Speaker 1: and the ability to use your weapon to the best

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Speaker 1: of your abilities is a worthy goal. Now here's where

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Speaker 1: things get tricky. I'm sure there are some folks listening

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Speaker 1: to this who are saying, well, hell yeah, I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: shoot more. I've got a bull range in my backyard,

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Speaker 1: or I've got the old quarry down the road to

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Speaker 1: bring my three o eight two and blast away. This

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Speaker 1: is easy and I'm going to do just that. No

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Speaker 1: others are listening and thinking, Man, this is gonna be tough.

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Speaker 1: I gotta drive forty five minutes to the rifle range,

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Speaker 1: which has gotten more expensive than ever this year, and

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Speaker 1: then I've got to burn through a couple of boxes

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Speaker 1: of amil that I really like, and then my gun

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Speaker 1: really likes, just to get better at shooting when I'm

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Speaker 1: already pretty good. Or uh, i gotta load up my

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Speaker 1: block target in the back of my truck and drive

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Speaker 1: out of town to some patch of public land where

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Speaker 1: you're kind of really not supposed to target shoot on

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Speaker 1: sort of, but no one ever really says anything. So

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Speaker 1: maybe I can swing that, but sure as hell not

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Speaker 1: three times a week for mounts. Here's the thing about

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Speaker 1: target practice. If it's not easy to come by, most

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Speaker 1: of us won't do it very often. I know this

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Speaker 1: because I live in the suburbs of the Twin Cities,

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Speaker 1: a place that is not all that conducive to just

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Speaker 1: randomly firing off weapons whenever the mood strikes. I do

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Speaker 1: have some nice neighbors who look the other way when

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Speaker 1: I'm shooting the bone in my yard, which I do

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Speaker 1: a lot, and in the years living here, I've never

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Speaker 1: had anyone say anything to me or report me to

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Speaker 1: the city for that, even though it is legal where

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Speaker 1: I live. I'm pretty sure it would be a different

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Speaker 1: story if I wanted to shoot some guns here, though,

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Speaker 1: finding a place to site in my muzzleloader or shoot

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Speaker 1: one of my dear rifles, that's a different story. It sucks.

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Speaker 1: In fact, it's one of the reasons I don't gun

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Speaker 1: hunt as much as i'd like. I used to love

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Speaker 1: muzzleoader hunting and shooting muzzleloaders and messing with guns, but

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Speaker 1: it's an expensive hassle where I live. I do have options,

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Speaker 1: but they're not great, and that keeps me from practicing

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Speaker 1: as much as I like. It also keeps me from

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Speaker 1: hunting with guns mostly, and that kind of sucks. So

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Speaker 1: believe me, guys and gals who are listening to this

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Speaker 1: I get it, it's not always easy. And really, if

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Speaker 1: you're looking to get better with a deer rifle or

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Speaker 1: even a shotgun and some slugs, you're just on your own.

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Speaker 1: You gotta find your own way to do this. With

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Speaker 1: archery tackle, finding a spot to shoot can be a

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Speaker 1: lot easier, fewer excuses. They're my archery loving friends. I

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Speaker 1: mentioned that I have some targets on the side of

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Speaker 1: my house where I can shoot, which is nice because

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Speaker 1: I can reach out to about fifty yards there. That

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Speaker 1: covers me for an awful lot of practice sessions. But

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Speaker 1: I've also got a few friends who also have targets

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Speaker 1: at their houses who don't live too far away, and

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Speaker 1: they let me shoot farther distances. And I also always, always,

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Speaker 1: always have at least one portable target in my possession,

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Speaker 1: often more than one, and if you ask my wife,

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Speaker 1: sometimes way more than my garage can reasonably hold a

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Speaker 1: portable target, one that is actually easy to throw in

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Speaker 1: the back of your truck and drive to wherever. I

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Speaker 1: really think that's a necessity. I think that is the

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Speaker 1: best way to go when you're trying to become a

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Speaker 1: better bushe because a portable target like that with bull's

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Speaker 1: eyes on it that you can set up anywhere, and

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Speaker 1: then having one three D target there's a good choice

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Speaker 1: to have. Now, those three D targets aren't quite as portable,

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Speaker 1: that's a different thing. They're often a little more expensive,

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Speaker 1: but you can do a lot with just those two targets.

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Speaker 1: But having a portable target is the most important part. Now,

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Speaker 1: you can also get creative too, because it's the repetition

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Speaker 1: of the shot sequence and the comfort and familiarity that

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Speaker 1: goes along with it that often means the difference between

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Speaker 1: totally flaming out on a buck or hitting them in

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Speaker 1: the crease right behind the shoulder. Some folks practice in

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Speaker 1: their garage, others in their basement. I do this every winner,

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Speaker 1: usually when I'm setting up a new bow or getting

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Speaker 1: ready for turkey season and I don't want to stand

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Speaker 1: outside and freeze my giblets off. Now, an eight yard

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Speaker 1: shot isn't really going to make you the next Levi Morgan,

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Speaker 1: but it will help you execute a shot well. If

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Speaker 1: you choose a small enough aiming point, it will help

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Speaker 1: you with your accuracy as well. It will also help

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Speaker 1: you with your overall muscle memory, and that's really important.

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Speaker 1: That's the thing we don't talk about much, but shooting

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Speaker 1: a bow requires a little bit of muscle. The problem

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Speaker 1: is that most of us can draw our bows and

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Speaker 1: shoot without thinking about the physical exertion. Now, if you

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Speaker 1: can't do that, your bows probably set way too heavy

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Speaker 1: on a straw weight. You need to lower it back down.

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Speaker 1: But if you can, and you should be able to,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't really mean much. What you want to be

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Speaker 1: able to do is slowly draw your bow straight back

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Speaker 1: to your face, without skying your bow arm or grunting

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Speaker 1: like a will to beast giving birth, or even showing

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Speaker 1: just the little, slightest bit of struggle. Slow deliberate movements

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Speaker 1: are the telltale signs of a functional strength. I think

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Speaker 1: about it this way. One of the ways to get

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Speaker 1: your heart rate up and work on your balance and

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Speaker 1: leg strength is by doing box jumps. For those of

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Speaker 1: you who don't know what they are, it's when you

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Speaker 1: jump up on a box or some other box like

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Speaker 1: object you might find out your gym. That's a good

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Speaker 1: move for folks looking to get into shape, but a

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Speaker 1: really good test for your balance and your leg strength

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Speaker 1: is not jumping up on a box, but slowly stepping

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Speaker 1: down off a box. Anyone who can real, slowly, calmly,

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Speaker 1: and deliberately step down from a box has their legs,

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Speaker 1: strength and overall balance game on point. If this sounds weird,

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Speaker 1: imagine going elk hunting with sixty pounds on your back.

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Speaker 1: Going up hill sucks, but it's easy to balance yourself

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Speaker 1: well easier than going downhill a lot of times anyway.

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Speaker 1: The fall injuries that happen in the mountains often occur

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Speaker 1: not when you're busting your butt to get up hill,

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Speaker 1: but when you have to go back down and don't

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Speaker 1: have the leg and core strength to manage the controlled

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Speaker 1: descent of those downhill steps. In a roundabout way, this

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Speaker 1: is like drawing a bow. You want strength and the

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Speaker 1: control that comes with it. This results from drawing a

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Speaker 1: bow consistently for months and months and years. It's the

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Speaker 1: difference between making a subtle, deliberate movement when the deer

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Speaker 1: closed versus tipping your hand at them by making a

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Speaker 1: herky jerky movement to get your bow back. And it's

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Speaker 1: the difference between staying calm and in the aiming game

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Speaker 1: when you draw but don't have to get immediately settled

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Speaker 1: with your opinion release. This is a big one, my friends,

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Speaker 1: how often have you had this happen or heard someone

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Speaker 1: tell a story about drawing on a buck, only to

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Speaker 1: have him stop for an extra minute or two. Here's

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Speaker 1: the secret, that extra minute or two is probably more

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Speaker 1: like fifteen or twenty seconds. I've shot enough white Tales

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Speaker 1: on film over the years to constantly be reminded of

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Speaker 1: how much time gets deluded when you're trying to keep

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Speaker 1: your ship together on a good one. It's amazing to

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Speaker 1: me how often I'll think that an encounter lasted a

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Speaker 1: minute when it was four, Or how often I thought

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Speaker 1: I was at full draw for a minute or two

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Speaker 1: when the real tailor the tape was telling me that

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Speaker 1: it was twenty seconds. It's always a shorter amount of

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Speaker 1: time spend it full draw than I think it to be,

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Speaker 1: And I bet that happens with you. Sometimes. There's also

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Speaker 1: an intangible with this line of thought that involves focus.

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Speaker 1: We only have so many seconds in our brain where

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Speaker 1: we can do a task like aiming a bow or

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Speaker 1: I'd have to guess aiming a rifle before things start

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Speaker 1: to delaminate a little bit. Now, this is something that

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Speaker 1: can be trained and should be trained, and the best

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Speaker 1: way to do that is you guessed it. Shoot more.

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Speaker 1: Shoot to work on your accuracy, but to also develop

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Speaker 1: your muscle memory. Shoot more to get your brain in

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Speaker 1: the spot where it's comfortable, taking time with the process

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Speaker 1: and not as likely to summon up some real panic

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Speaker 1: when you least need it. Frequency and quality of practice

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Speaker 1: sessions is something that we can all control that matters

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Speaker 1: because we choose to engage in a passion where so

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Speaker 1: much of our success and enjoyment hinges on things way

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Speaker 1: way out of our control. The other hunters out there

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Speaker 1: and the decisions they make, the deer themselves and the

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Speaker 1: decisions they make, the weather, the coyotes, that you name it.

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Speaker 1: There's an awful lot of stuff that can conspire against

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Speaker 1: your success in any given season or any given sit

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Speaker 1: But you can control whether you can hit what you're

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Speaker 1: aiming at and whether you feel confident about that, which

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Speaker 1: is at least as important as actually being accurate. They

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Speaker 1: go hand in hand, and it's pretty hard to assign

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Speaker 1: a higher value on one or the other because they

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Speaker 1: all contribute to the same end goal. So here it is.

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Speaker 1: Here is my final plea to you. Think about how

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Speaker 1: much you shoot, if it's enough where you feel really

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Speaker 1: confident going into each season. Carry on, you don't need

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Speaker 1: my help. You're doing well. But if it's not, or

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Speaker 1: you find yourself feeling a little guilt as the summer

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Speaker 1: progresses and you think to yourself, I better get out

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Speaker 1: and fling a few more arrows or some lead, because

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Speaker 1: fall will be here before I know it. Then you

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Speaker 1: might want to take a long look at your practice

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Speaker 1: routine and try to just bump up the frequency a

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Speaker 1: little bit more. Figure out how to do that, how

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Speaker 1: to make target shooting an easier proposition, and then try

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Speaker 1: to work it into just a doable routine. I promise you,

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Speaker 1: even though it might feel like a pain in the

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Speaker 1: ask that isn't quite necessary yet, it will absolutely, with

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Speaker 1: out a doubt, feel worth it when you're heading out

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Speaker 1: for your first sit, or better yet, the first time

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Speaker 1: this fall, when you look down the trailer see a

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Speaker 1: good buck working his way towards your setup. That's it

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Speaker 1: for this week. I'm Tony Peterson. This has been the

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Speaker 1: Wire to Hunt Foundations podcast, which is brought to you

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Speaker 1: by First Light. As always, thank you so much for listening,

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Speaker 1: and if you haven't scratched the white tail itch enough

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Speaker 1: this week, head on over to our wire to Hunt

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Speaker 1: YouTube channel to check out our latest how to videos

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Speaker 1: or visit them. Eatater dot com, slash wired to read

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Speaker 1: articles from Mark myself and a host of other white

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Speaker 1: tail killers