The Night Before Bowhunting Opener

You're covered in goose bumps, your heart is pounding and your eyes are bulging out of their sockets. Right now you're trying to fall asleep the night before the long awaited opening of bowhunting season and running through your mind is a mental checklist of 'Did I forget this, did I remember that?

Every person who has experienced this sensation the night before the seasons opening, knows exactly how this feels and has yet to find a cure. You also know, precisely, that you will forget something in your mad rush out of the house in the early morning hours. Once you've made it to your stand, it's too late to go back and if it's an important piece of equipment (YOUR BOW), then the your first day of hunting this season is already over.

First and foremost make sure you have fuel in your vehicle. Before going to bed, drive up to your local filling station and fill your gas tank, do so without wearing your hunting clothes. I know it's difficult to not wear them twenty four hours a day, but, the deer you're hunting are quite adamant about remaining far away from things that smell like they're about to explode. This same theory applies if you think you are going to get fuel in the morning hours on your way to the stand. Don't forget, one of the key factors to successful bowhunting is to eliminate as much foreign scent from yourself as possible.

Now that you know you're actually going to be able to make it to your stand it's time to double check that all of your equipment is packed in your vehicle and ready to go. Oh, almost forgot. You did hang your tree stand, or placed your ground blind, already ... correct? If not, you're one behind the eight ball and should have done this well in advance of tomorrow morning's hunt. Well, throw it in the truck and be prepared to scare the deer with all that noise you'll be making in the morning.