2nd Amendment

FEBRUARY 2021

www.CaprockPatriot.com

It’s Off-Season: What Now?

BY BRUCE BEAL

Archery hunting is both physically and mentally challenging. Those challenges are why we hunters love archery hunting so much and why we get so excited about hunting season. It’s also why pre-season preparation is just as, if not more, important than getting out into the woods during the season.

Occasionally dropping a target in your yard and shooting a few arrows is NOT enough! If you want your next hunting season to be the most successful ever, you’ll need to make a serious commitment to get fully prepared for the season ahead. It’s not hard. It will just require effort and consistency. And it will pay off.

Here are a few ways to take advantage of off-season preparation to make sure you, and your equipment, are in top form.

Fine-tune Your Equipment

Tuning your bow can be a tedious process, and it can be tempting to settle for “good enough.” But remember, close enough could be the difference between a great shot and a wounded animal on your next hunt.

Your gear must be dialed in. If you are uncertain, don’t be afraid to visit us to work with the pros to make the tweaks necessary to fine-tune your equipment.

Many of us hunt an entire season just to get one shot. For that one shot, I want to give myself every advantage. So, I want to be sure that my gear is perfectly set up and tuned to make that shot a great one.

Practice!

The most important tip of all is to get as much practice and experience as you can during the off-season, either in the field and on our range. Incidentally, the Archery Shack is the only indoor range in Lubbock that allows crossbows!

Focus on Form

There’s a reason Tiger Woods is so good at golf… his form. Over the years, he’s built incredible form from muscle memory. The more times you do something the right way, the better you will be and the more muscle memory you build. The same is true for archery hunting.

Every shot you take, you should be thinking about your form and making the same movements until it becomes a habit. Shooting multiple arrows a day will not only have you feeling comfortable and confident, but it will also help build strength.

Build Strength and Endurance Animals are smarter than most give them credit. How many times has a big deer just walked right into a clearing, 20 yards in front of you, with a look on their face that says, “Take your time; make your best shot”? I’m thinking… never.

Instead, their vitals are typically behind a tree or shrub, and their head is poking out all while you are drawn back just waiting for them to take one more step.

Prepare for those long holds now. When you shoot your bow each day, practice holding for up to three minutes (if you can). Pretend like it’s the real deal, pick a spot on your target and imagine like it’s the vitals. Drawback and hold, hold, hold... until you feel like you can’t any longer, and then go ahead and let it rip.

This one tip is a game-changer for your next hunt.

Add Variety

You never know when you will get your opportunity and what you will be doing at that time. You may be

SEE IT’S OFF-SEASON | PAGE 28

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FEBRUARY 2021

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2ND AMENDMENT

2021, the Year of Self-Reliance

BY REV AT SHARP SHOOTERS SAFE & GUN

Happy New Year to all of you Caprock Patriot readers. Congratulations, you’ve made it to 2021! And what a year it’s been. A political uprising, Trump has been banned from all social media platforms and has been impeached for a second time, and as of today, all 50 state capitols, as well as the nation’s capital, are preparing for the inauguration.

If you can’t tell, this article is currently being written before the fateful day. With all of these things going on in our brand new year, which comes after the chaos we all experienced from the last one, I want to begin a conversation about self-reliance.

There are several different pursuits that can be made once one begins a lifestyle of self-reliance and different levels of achievement and philosophical frameworks. What most people start to consider before even starting the lifestyle is the question, “how much is this going to cost me.” So, before we approach the categories of self-reliance and how to pursue them, let’s first address the prioritization and motivations as to why this is something we ought even to consider and to be assured that the “cost” is something we can bear.

Libertarian Congressman Thomas Massie has a short documentary on YouTube called “Off the Grid” in which a team of film crew and producers observes the Massie family lifestyle, journey, and philosophy in terms of self-reliance and independence. In this documentary, we are shown the family’s solar system. We are given the explanation that such a system allows individual and individual families the chance to be disconnected from the umbilical cord of the system or of the government.

This example is one of many that provides a keen example of possibilities and reason to retake individual power and autonomy. And as a matter of resource-based ability, self-reliance also shapes the frame of mind into one that no longer perceives self-reliance and independence as a sacrifice from the luxuries and ease of the grander system. In short, we begin to reverse engineer the perception that we are too incapable of being on our own. Once we make this realization, we begin to reawaken the dormant muscles of our own fortitude and capabilities to be our own person, to be our own families.

In conclusion, and in my opinion, we must be redirected into a journey in which we become our own selves again. We must begin the quest of self-reliance and begin to not see ourselves as subjects to a system that can’t stand on its own. We must reframe our perspective of bigger paychecks, bigger bank accounts, and grander safety nets into one of autonomy, self-reliance, and in the end, fuller freedom. Until that point, stay safe. Godspeed!

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2ND AMENDMENT

IT’S OFF-SEASON

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 crouching, kneeling, mid-step, and the list goes on. The more positions you can confidently shoot from, the better. So, add variety when you practice. Shoot at a variety of angles, shoot from a variety of distances and shoot from a variety of positions to help ensure you are best prepared.

Focus on Fitness

There will be situations where you have just climbed a hill, are huffing and puffing, and need to drawback; it’s going to happen. Prepare now by throwing on your backpack, grabbing your bow, and going for a hike. If you cannot easily access hiking areas, go for a brisk walk with your backpack on, do some air squats or burpees in between shots, do whatever you can to get your heart rate up, and strengthen your legs.

Make It a Habit

Most important… Make your off-season preparation a weekly, if not daily,

FEBRUARY 2021

habit. If you do, you will be a finetuned machine when the season starts. Your legs will be strong and able to get you where you need to go. And, when it comes time to take a shot, you will do so confidently, knowing that you have put hours of practice in, knowing that your bow is shooting straight, and knowing that you have the strength to hold that bow back as long as it takes to get a great shot.

Ask for Help!

I encourage you to stop by the Archery Shack to ask for help! Whether you have questions on equipment, form, shooting challenges, or you just want to ‘talk shop’, come visit with us. It’s our passion to help you be the best archery hunter you can be, both in the range and in the field.

Submitted by Bruce Beal, owner of the Archery Shack, Lubbock, TX. For more information, visit us online at ArcheryShackTexas.com and follow us on Facebook at @ArcheryShackTexas

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