Most of us were taught growing up that practice makes perfect. For most things in life that is pretty sound advice, but when it comes to bowhunting, not all practice is equal.

There was a time, not too long ago, when archery practice consisted of a couple of square bales of straw and a paper plate or pie pan. We would strategically place our bales safely in the yard, attach our target, and proceed to step off twenty yards to begin a marathon practice session. Standing in perfect form, we would launch arrow after arrow into our bales, occasionally moving forwards or backwards to shoot at distances equal to those of the pins on our sights. This would go on until our arms got tired or we finally had a group that we were proud of. For many archers today, the quality of the targets has greatly improved, but the routine remains the same.

Don't get me wrong - there is absolutely nothing wrong with this type of practice. In fact it is an excellent way to solidify one's form and to train the muscles so that the shooting routine becomes second nature. It should be a part of every archer's practice schedule. When it comes to preparing oneself for bowhunting, though, this type of practice has its limitations. The biggest being that it fails to cover many of the shooting variables that can come into play under actual hunting conditions. Only when we recognize how these variables can effect our shot, can we effectively work them into our practice routine. And with practice come preparedness and confidence to make that shot-of-a-lifetime when it comes our way.

It was 80 degrees outside and it felt like 100 plus on the inside of the blind. Due to the temperature being so hot on the inside of the blind we decided to leave the shoot through netting up to let a little more air circulate into the blind.

I had been seeing a small group of hogs at this location on a regular basis and they always came in early. I was hoping to put an end to us baking in the blind early by sticking one of those pigs.

The usual group of porkers that normally came in early consisted of three young pigs, a 150 plus pound sow, and a young boar. The young pigs were probably the sow's last litter but they were definitely old enough to survive on their own.

By Bill Troubridge, Excalibur Crossbow

The early morning mist drifted through the paper bark swamp giving their twisted trunks a hint of surreal menace. Incessant and raucous calls of the cockatoos echoed through the foliage as Ted and I stalked slowly and quietly, working our way along the reedbeds of Ferris swamp in search of wild hogs. "This sure isn't anything like Kansas, Toto" I thought to myself as I moved along . I was right, it was actually the wildest of outback areas in Australia, the Holroyd river basin on the Cape York Peninsula. We were hunting with crossbows for wild boar and scrub bulls with Greg Harrold of Far Out Safaris within a few miles of the continents most northerly point. Each day we would see hundreds of the long legged feral hogs that inhabit this dry, dusty environment. Occasionally big boars would be among them, and we were now stalking in search of them through my favorite hunting ground on the largest swamp for miles. Dark shadows would occasionally flit through the mist, sows and piglets busy with their early morning rituals, but these weren't our target. We were hoping to catch up with one of the long tusked boars that inhabit these remote wetlands.