The Bowhunter’s Summer Prep Plan: What to Do Now to Be Ready for Opening Day

Most guys wait until August to “get ready.” They scramble to shoot, scout, and dig out gear they haven’t touched in nine months. Then opening day shows up, and they’re not ready. Shots get rushed. Gear fails. Bucks slip through cracks they didn’t know were there.

That won’t be you.

If you want to show up in September confident, dangerous, and ready to kill, summer is the time to lay the foundation. This post is your no-B.S. blueprint to get ahead now.

As a Green Beret turned bowhunter, I don’t believe in shortcuts. I believe in preparation. You probably heard me talk about this in the podcast. I am a big believer in planning and preparation.

This guide will walk you through the exact things I do each summer to prepare. Everything here is field-tested, beginner-friendly, and built for bowhunters who want to get better.

What You’ll Get in This Guide:

• How to scout bedding, food, terrain funnels, and plan wind-safe access
• Gear testing routines for real hunting conditions
• Shooting drills that match what you’ll face in the woods
• Smart trail camera setups to track early-season movement
• Physical and mental work that builds in-field confidence

1. Scout Like You Hunt

Most guys scout in the spring and think they’re good. But summer is where you confirm how deer are using terrain right now — with food growing, thermals rising, and pressure starting to build.

Here’s what to look for:

• Bedding: Find 3+ likely buck bedding areas using terrain features like points, ridges, benches, ditches, or thermal hubs. Look for shaded cover with good visual and scent advantages.
• Funnels & Access: Pick 2+ stand-worthy setups near those beds. Use terrain to your advantage, not against you. The goal is silent access with minimal wind contamination.
• Food & Water: Mark browse edges, soft mast, green plots, and small water holes. Summer deer are patternable, but only if you know where they feed and drink.
• Access Routes: Walk your entry trails now, in full gear if you can. Look for wind traps, skyline exposure, or noisy ground. Use topo lines and natural cover to your advantage.

Beginner Tip: Bedding areas usually sit on the downwind edge of terrain features like ridges or benches. Bucks use wind and thermals to monitor danger. Don’t approach these spots without a wind and access plan.

What to Avoid: Steep, open climbs, dry crunchy leaves, scent blowing uphill. And don’t scout on the same path you plan to hunt.

Pro Tip: Mark EVERYTHING in OnX (or whatever hunting app you use), not just rubs or trails, but scent cones, morning thermals, creek crossings. You’ll thank yourself come October.

Finding buck bedding can be tough if you don’t know what to look for. I’ve learned that if their a drainage or draw that can funnel air (meaning thermals), a buck will most likely either use it as a travel route or for a place to sit high enough up on the edges where it can see, have good escape routes, use the wind, and take advantage of the thermal effects of the drainage.

I purposely picked a very small point that sat between two drainages this spring in the upper 1/3rd of the mountain I was scouting. It felt like a buck bedding spot, and I found a few wind-based beds. One with hair in it still.

The lesson? Look at locations where a buck would have a terrain, wind, and thermal advantage, and you’ll find buck bedding there almost every time. It also helps if it’s pretty thick, too.

I’ve found these spots repeat across different ridges. Once you see it once, you start seeing it everywhere.

2. Put Your Gear to the Test

Too many guys “check” their gear in the garage and call it good. Don’t do that.

Test it like you’ll hunt in it:

• Clothing: Sweat in your layers. Hike hills in your early-season pants. Draw your bow fully dressed. Loud fabric? Replace it. Tight draw? Fix it.
• Stand & Saddle: Set it up. Climb it. Shoot from it. Practice transitions. If you hunt from the ground, brush in a setup, and sit for an hour. Then shoot.
• Clearance Checks: Shoot with your harness on. Shoot seated. Draw behind cover. Clear limbs and knees. Find out now what will get in your way.
• Pack & Loadout: Pack your full system. Hike with it. Set up your sticks. Break it down. Do it three times. What’s clumsy now will cost you time later. (See the gear I carry here.)
• Broadhead & Tuning: Shoot your actual hunting heads. Don’t just assume they’ll fly like your field tips. Broadhead tune = making sure they hit the same point of impact.

Beginner Tip: If your broadheads fly left of your field points, your arrow spine might be off or your rest may need tuning. Don’t panic, fix it. Learn your gear now.

Silence Matters: Kneel, shift, draw. What clicks, squeaks, or snaps? Silence it. Spray it. Tape it. Sound will get you busted faster than scent in early season.

Bonus Drill: Simulate a full mock hunt. Dress up, pack in, set up, sit for 30 minutes, then shoot. Then break it all down and hike out. That’s what a real hunt feels like. If you don’t, first hunt of the season will not be what you want it to be.

When I was a Special Forces Team Sergeant, I saw too many of my guys out on high-value targets missing essential gear, having combo issues, or they flat out just weren’t prepared.

I started a game with the guys. I started putting funny items like porn picks, a dildo we found on one target (yes, In Iraq), and a few more embarrassing items, into their gear. No one wanted to be caught out on a target with any of that stuff.

It started as a joke, but it worked. Every guy started taking his pre-combat checks seriously. Because no one wanted to be the guy who unzipped his pack mid-target and found a rubber surprise.

I still have guys talk to me about that. It’s fun to reminisce, but they also talk about the lesson they learned from it. You can throw your stuff in your pack and say you’re prepared, but are you?

3. Shoot Like It Counts

Shooting in the backyard with no pressure teaches you almost nothing. Summer is your time to simulate pressure and failure, so you can fix it.

Here’s how to train:

• 30 arrows/week minimum with your full hunting setup
• 10+ broadhead arrows/week — no exceptions
• Mock Scenarios: Draw from kneeling. Shoot seated. Shoot with your backpack on. Try one-arrow drills: make the first shot count, then walk away.
• Setup-Specific Shooting: Practice from your saddle, stand, blind, or behind brush. Use actual obstacles. Shoot steep. Shoot low. Shoot winded.
• Range Estimation Drills: Pick a spot, guess the yardage, then verify. Use uneven terrain. Do it cold. Your rangefinder might fail — your instinct shouldn’t.

Real Talk: In the field, you’ll be tired, out of breath, and rushed. If you can shoot accurately like that now, you’ll be lethal when it matters.

What to Avoid: Don’t only shoot from level ground. Don’t only shoot at 20 yards. Don’t always take warm-up shots.

When I hurt my right shoulder a little more than 10 years ago, I had to drop my bow and use my Grandfather’s crossbow. I went out and shot it dozens of times, but it had a serious issue with the scope that I didn’t have time to fix. It was hitting about 9 inches high.

So, instead of not hunting, I practiced with it in all types of scenarios until I was really confident with it. Opening day, I shot a doe at 25 yards. I aimed “9 inches” low, and she ran around 15-20 yards and dropped.

Now, this isn’t something I would recommend to anyone – and it’s not the smartest thing to do either, but it shows how important shooting prep is and that just standing and shooting at a 20-yard target is NOT the best way to prepare.

That hunt taught me something I still believe today: confidence comes from chaos. You’ve got to train for the bad scenarios, not just the clean ones.

Suggested Weekly Summer Shooting Plan:

• Weeks 1–2: Barebow and form work, cold starts, range estimation
• Weeks 3–4: Group tuning with broadheads, build pressure with single-arrow reps
• Weeks 5–6: Shoot from actual setups only — tree, saddle, blind, etc.
• Weeks 7–8: Run full mock hunts. Carry pack. Set up. One arrow. Real conditions.

4. Run Cameras to Learn, Not Just Watch

Trail cameras aren’t just to “see bucks.” They’re tools to teach you how deer use terrain, time, and weather.

Set cameras in:

• Bedding edge trails
• Terrain pinch points
• Creek crossings or benches
• Between feeding and bedding

Here’s what to look for:

• Time-of-day activity: Are they moving in daylight? Just after dark?
• Direction of travel: Where are they coming from? Bedding? Food?
• Weather correlation: What winds or temps bring them out?

Beginner Tip: Don’t just slap cams on bait or plots. That tells you where a deer is, not how he moves. Terrain-based cameras teach you deer behavior.

Organize Your Intel: Log each cam in OnX. Record wind, temp, moon, and movement. Build patterns, don’t just chase pictures.

I ran a trail camera on a 3-buck bachelor group for three years. In that time, I moved the camera to five different spots. I worked to pattern the deer to understand their daily movement patterns, where they bedded, and where they ate and drank.

In the group, I watched one of those bucks get really big. He was a monster. But, after three years of watching, I felt like I knew where he would be the first week of November.

I waited, I planned my access, and had my winds and thermals plotted. I hunted it on a cold November morning after waiting all season before even going near the spot, and just before first light, he was there.

I was halfway up the tree, and my bow was still on the ground, but I felt tremendous pride. Everything I learned put me there in that spot at that time, and I was probably 30-40 minutes away from it being light enough to take a shot.

I didn’t kill him that morning, but I didn’t need to. I proved to myself I could find him, get in clean, and be there before he knew it. That’s what real scouting teaches you.

5. Prep Your Body and Mind

Bowhunting isn’t a workout, but it punishes people who are unprepared.

Build real readiness:

• Weekly Rucks or Hikes: 20–40 lbs in your hunting pack. Walk hills. Carry water and gear. Your body learns what your hunt will feel like.
• Mobility & Strength: Stretch your hips, hamstrings, and shoulders. Add grip work and 1–2 strength moves (pull-ups, goblet squats).
• Mental Reps: Visualize your first hunt. Entry route. First light. Thermals. Shooting lanes. The shot. Do it over and over.
• Journal It: Track what you learn each week. Shots that went wrong. What worked in your setup. Scouting wins. It builds confidence and makes you more decisive.

Pro Tip: Confidence doesn’t come from hype, it comes from reps. Do the work now, and you’ll be calm when it matters.

I did 11.5 miles of scouting two weeks ago. I took a pack, had a water purifier, camera, and….my wife and son. I do this every year, all spring and summer long.

I’m in the gym four days a week. Deer hunting is tough, and you need to be prepared for it. Now, if you walk 400 yards and climb into a ladder stand, this might not be a big deal to you.

But if you’re a mobile hunter like me, every hunt has the potential to be an adventure race. Being physically prepared is an essential part of being a good hunter because if you are, it’s not something you’ll have to worry about when the season starts.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Not scouting in-season food or water sources
• Shooting only from flat ground
• Ignoring gear noise or scent control
• Never simulating a full mock hunt
• Only practicing with field points
• Waiting until September to move with weight
• Hanging cams only on food plots

Final Word: This Is When You Win

Most guys think bow season starts in September. It doesn’t.

It starts now, in the sweat, in the uncomfortable practice, in the quiet work nobody else sees.

If you want to walk into opening day calm, confident, and dangerous… this is where it begins. Don’t wait. Don’t guess. Prepare like it matters.

What’s Next: The Full Summer Prep Masterclass

Inside the Insider Portal, I’m building a full Season Prep strategy with visuals, topo map breakdowns, gear systems, and step-by-step plans.

You’ll get everything in this post, expanded and actionable. It’s free for Insiders.

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