Getting Ready
Pre-Season Preparation Checklist: What to Do Before You Step Into the Field
Fall is here, which means the best time to prepare was a few weeks ago, and the second best time is today. A good hunt rarely starts on opening morning.
It starts in the garage, at the range, and on the map. The hunters who fill tags consistently aren't luckier — they're the ones who handled the boring stuff before the season ever opened. Run through this checklist and opening morning becomes the easy part.
Paperwork and regulations
Confirm your license, tags, and any required permits or hunter education documentation. Then re-read this season's regulations for your unit — don't go off last year's memory. Dates, legal methods, and unit boundaries change, and "I didn't know" has never talked anyone out of a ticket.
Know the land access rules for where you'll hunt, and get permission in writing where needed. A handshake is fine until it isn't. Save digital copies of everything on your phone and keep the paper originals somewhere they won't get soaked. And study your unit boundaries before you're standing on one — a mapping app with offline landownership layers is worth every penny when the line between public and private is a fence post in the dark.
Gear check
Test your headlamp, batteries, and GPS or phone navigation. Inspect straps, harnesses, and stand hardware for wear — replace anything questionable. A frayed strap is cheap to replace in September and expensive to discover in November.
Restock your first-aid kit and check expiration dates. Make sure your clothing fits and works with your layering plan — try it all on together, not piece by piece, and sit in it the way you'll sit on stand. If you changed anything since last season, shoot your bow or rifle with the new setup; a new release, rest, or scope mount can shift your point of impact. And wash your hunting clothes scent-free now, not the night before.
Skills and fitness
Practice shooting from realistic positions, not just the bench. Kneeling, leaning around a tree, shooting slightly uphill or downhill — that's what the field actually looks like. Know your effective range and stay inside it. Be honest about that number; a miss at the range is free, but a miss in the field costs an animal.
Build up your pack-hauling and hiking endurance gradually. Start with day hikes, add weight, add elevation. The goal isn't to be an elite athlete — it's to still be steady and clear-headed when you've been climbing for two hours and the shot finally presents itself. And review your shot placement knowledge before season so you're ready for an ethical, clean harvest when the moment is measured in seconds.
Scouting and planning
Scout your area for sign, access routes, and bedding or feeding patterns. Look for the fresh stuff — tracks, rubs, droppings, trails worn into the grass — and figure out how you'll get in and out without educating every animal in the drainage. Always have a plan B spot for when pressure, weather, or other hunters blow up plan A.
Leave a trip plan with someone: where you're going, when you'll be back, and what to do if you're not. No exceptions on solo hunts. And plan your field dressing, cooling, and transport before you need them — game bags packed, cooler and ice ready, your processor's number saved in your phone. A downed animal in warm weather is a race against the clock, and you don't want to be figuring out logistics with a deer on the ground.
The day-before routine
Pack the at least on day before, check the weather, charge everything, and get real sleep. Lay out your clothes, set two alarms, and put your license and tags with your keys so you can't leave without them. Tired hunters make mistakes — the kind that cost tags, or worse.
Preparation takes the stress out of the season and lets you focus on the hunt itself. Do the work now, and opening morning you get to just hunt.
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