Free: Contests & Raffles.
Patience! Bowhunting has basically nothing to do with actually killing animals for the vast majority of people. You've got to be willing to not kill an animal for several years in a row to get up to the point of being an average bowhunter. Bowhunters accept that gap between kills because the reward of taking one with a bow is so fulfilling. The average success rates are what 10-15%; one deer or elk in 8-10 years gets you to average. What if you're below average: there are 1/2 the bowhunters that are below average and may only kill one animal in a lifetime. If a person is willing to accept that, then the reward is worth the wait.Just don't look at the longer seasons and think that success is much easier to obtain with a bow than a rifle.
Everything above is excellent advice. A lesson I learned involves what you shoot at for practice. There's a big difference between shooting a a wide open blue target with a bright white, yellow, or orange aiming point from a nice level flat set distance of 30 or 40 yards when your nice and calm, and shooting uphill, after running, between two brown trees at a brown aiming point that's only presenting itself for 3-5 seconds at most. I recommend going to some indoor 3-d brush shoots in the winter and shooting some 3-d courses during the summer. You'll not only be practicing your shooting, but also judging distance and learning how to pick an aiming point in the midst of a sea of brown and tan intercrossed by a jack fir branch or two. While some people may try to convince you with the stories of their incredible hunting prowess and calling skills that the elk will routinely come within twenty yards or less, turn broadside, bugle magestically, and remain in that position looking for their long lost lover while you calmly draw back and shoot through a wide open lane, this is NOT typical (though I suppose it could happen- always to someone else). After you've solidified your form, try shooting 3-d targets through brush with small openings after running in place and doing pushups until muscle failure. When I practice in the summer as soon as I pull an arrow I will sprint back to an unkown distance, do some pushups, and before my heart calms down I will draw, anchor, focus, and shoot. However, I don't recommend doing this with non-hunting neighbors watching, they tend to think of you as a wee bit odd. Good luck!
