Quarantined? Use Your Time to Prep for the Hunting Season

Here are a few quick tips to keep your hunting season prep on point:

Focus on Positive Mental Attitude

Every successful hunting season starts with a positive mental attitude. Backcountry hunts come with obstacles, physical challenges and tough terrain. This requires determination and a mindset made for success. The world is full of challenges at the moment and there’s no better time to begin working through adversity.

Focus on positivity and build a daily schedule that includes exercise, healthy eating and tasks that keep you busy, productive and happy. Read and research the history and biology of the species you plan to target and pour over maps of the terrain to get yourself excited about the hunt ahead. Develop positive affirmations and mantras and push back against boredom and negativity by preparing yourself for the hunt of a lifetime.

Prep Your Gear

We’ve written about pre-season gear prep in the past but it’s easy to brush off when you are busy with work and life events. If you are quarantined or isolated at home, there really is no excuse now. When things return to normal, there is a good chance that a rush of work and activity will take over our lives as we all play a big game of catch-up. Don’t wait until the last minute to get your gear in order, especially when you have downtime.

Clean your firearms, replace bowstrings, do a scent free wash on hunting clothes and store them in containers, organize and assess your pack and generally get your gear ready for the training season and the hunt itself. Test and consider replacing your boots while leaving a nice break-in period as well.

Train Physically

It’s time to get physical, even when the gyms are closed. Hit the trails if they are open, go for a run and train right at home with bodyweight exercises. Pushups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, plyometric movements like box jumps and long stretching sessions are all easy to perform right in your home. Lookup HIIT workouts using bodyweight only exercises and complete them in your backyard, garage or right in the living room. Keep on training for the mountains while waiting out the quarantine period.

Social Distance and Hit Your Targets

Are you shooting several times each week? Archery hunters should capitalize on this time period and really get their equipment dialed. Practice shooting like crazy and mix things up by shooting from awkward positions and difficult angles. You can pass hours each day while having a blast sending arrows at your targets.

Rifle hunters will find indoor ranges closed and many outdoor ranges will also close down. Luckily, shooting a rifle is the ultimate practice in social distancing and hunters with access to public lands and safe shooting areas can still get plenty of field time. When you can’t be outside, visualize the shots and practice your setups and shooting positions in the home.

Stay busy, stay safe and focus on the hunting season ahead!