Pre-Season Bow Checklist: How to Get Your Hunting Bow Ready

Personally, I like doing all of this about a month before the season starts. That gives me enough time to fix something if I find an issue and then put enough arrows through the bow afterward to rebuild confidence.

If you're already inside that window, don't skip it. Better late than never.

Watch: Pre-Season Hunting Bow Checklist

Step 1: Inspect the Entire Bow

Start by physically going through the entire system.

Check the Hardware

Confirm your mods, rest, sight, quiver and accessories are secure. Look for movement, rattles or anything that seems different from the last time you checked the bow.

One thing I want to stress: do not blindly over-tighten hardware.

If you over-tighten something and strip it out, now you've created a much bigger problem. Save yourself the headache.

Loose hardware is one of the most common pre-season issues we see here at Extreme Outfitters. Sometimes the first clue is nothing more than a rattle after the shot.

Don't ignore it.

Inspect the Strings and Cables

The next thing everybody looks at this time of year is strings and cables.

But a string looking used and a string actually needing replacement are not necessarily the same thing.

Personally, I like replacing my own strings every two to three years, but condition matters more than the calendar.

What I'm really looking for is:

• Serving separation around the cams
• Center-serving wear
• Excessive string stretch
• The bow no longer staying in time
• A tune that keeps changing
• Unexpected draw-weight loss
• Obvious strand damage or excessive wear

A lot of customers assume they automatically need new strings before every season.

Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't.

Minor fuzz by itself isn't necessarily the end of the world. Stretch, timing issues, tune changes and obvious damage concern me a lot more than a little cosmetic fuzz.

For a deeper breakdown, read our guide to when bow strings should be replaced .

Inspect the D-Loop

Look for excessive wear or fraying on the D-loop.

A lot of hunters have been shooting heavily all summer—at least I hope you have—and sometimes the D-loop simply gets worn out.

Replacing it before the season is a cheap way to buy a little more confidence.

The last thing you want is the D-loop breaking at full draw or wearing enough that it slips through the release. We've seen both happen.

Check Peep Sight Orientation

Confirm your peep sight naturally lines up with your eye at full draw.

If you're like me and a little lazy, maybe the peep has twisted slightly and you just straighten it before the shot.

That's just me. I don't encourage that.

Before the season, get it corrected so it naturally comes back into position at full draw.

Excessive peep twist can also be another sign that the strings have stretched or are getting toward the end of their life.

Step 2: Confirm the Bow Is Still Tuned

Everything can look perfect mechanically and the bow can still have a tuning problem.

Once the inspection is done, I like putting my hunting bow back through paper.

That lets us verify how the arrow is coming off the string and look for unexpected tears that weren't there before.

Potential causes can include timing, center shot, arrow setup or, in more serious cases, something like a limb issue.

For a hunting bow, I personally recommend checking the tune at least once a year at a bare minimum. I usually do mine more than that.

It gives me peace of mind and confidence in the setup.

Timing and center shot issues are both common pre-season corrections.

Diagnose the system before you start making random adjustments.

Recheck the Bow Sight

Once I know the bow itself is mechanically sound and tuned correctly, I want to make sure the bow sight is still doing exactly what I think it's doing.

Recheck:

• Sight mounting hardware
• Sight level
• First, second and third axis
• Zero
• Sight marks

This is especially important if the bow has been transported, bumped, the sight has been removed, or you've made adjustments during the summer.

If the third axis is wrong and you're shooting at steep angles, that can create left or right misses even though the sight appears fine on flat ground.

It's worth checking your sight axes a couple times a year.

Step 3: Verify the Actual Hunting Setup

Even if everything we've checked so far is perfect, I still don't call the bow hunt-ready yet.

Now we need to screw on the actual broadhead and see what happens downrange.

Your hunting setup is never confirmed until the hunting arrows are tested.

And when I say hunting arrows, I mean the broadhead you're actually going to hunt with.

Mechanical or fixed—it doesn't matter.

Verify them.

Sacrifice a broadhead if you need to. Put it on the hunting arrow, shoot it and confirm the flight before opening day.

Why I Broadhead Test at 50–60 Yards

My personal process is to shoot broadheads out to about 50 or 60 yards.

That does not mean I'm telling you to shoot a deer at 60 yards.

I'm shooting at that distance because distance exposes small inconsistencies.

A small flight problem that is hard to see at 20 yards may be much easier to identify at 50.

What If Your Broadheads Don't Hit With Your Field Points?

This is where people really start going off the deep end.

They start moving things, chasing adjustments and blaming components before figuring out what actually caused the problem.

There's an order I want to work through:

1. Check the Bow

Confirm the bow itself is set up and tuned correctly.

Check timing, center shot and what the arrow is doing through paper with a field point.

Do not broadhead tune around a bow that is not properly tuned.

2. Check the Arrow

Confirm the arrow is appropriate for the bow and application.

That includes correct spine, arrow length and the front-end components you're running.

Do not try to tune around an incorrectly spined arrow. You're going to create problems.

If you're not sure whether the arrow is correctly spined, see our Arrow Spine Selection Guide .

3. Check the Shooter

Yes—you.

Grip pressure, facial pressure and inconsistencies in the release can all affect what happens downrange.

Broadheads may expose inconsistencies that field points hide.

4. Then Check the Broadhead

Once the bow, arrow and shooter are accounted for, then determine whether additional broadhead tuning is needed.

What Can You Check Yourself?

A large percentage of this can be inspected at home.

But checking something and knowing how to properly correct it are two completely different things.

Most bowhunters can safely check:

• Loose hardware
• D-loop wear
• Obvious string wear
• Peep twist
• Sight hardware
• Arrow condition
• Broadhead flight
• Sight zero

But if you're dealing with timing corrections, center shot problems, string replacement or something that requires equipment or knowledge you don't have, get it in front of a competent bow tech.

Know what you can safely inspect and know when you're beyond your comfort level.

Get rid of the ego and take it to the shop.

These guys do it every day. That's what they're there for.

Bottom Line

Pre-season bow prep doesn't need to be complicated.

You're trying to eliminate surprises.

Inspect the bow. Confirm the tune. Verify the hunting setup.

Personally, I like doing this about a month before season so I have time to fix something and shoot the bow afterward.

But if you're already closer than that, don't skip it.

Better late than never.

And if you find something you can't confidently diagnose or correct yourself, get the bow in front of a competent bow tech before you hunt.