With the New Year beginning tomorrow, the question of what resolution to make (if you are planning to make one) is here.

Going to the gym more and eating a healthier diet are probably the two most common resolutions. However, as we go farther into the year, many resolutions end up getting abandoned. If you are a hunter, here are some resolutions that are easy to stick to and will greatly help your fall hunting seasons.

Practice more. Whether you are a bird hunter, a deer hunter, or both, getting out and shooting more in the off season will help you once the fall comes around.

Archery hunters can join leagues in the winter months when outdoors practice is not feasible. When shooting in a league, you can meet other archers and can see a wide variety of equipment. Seeing others shooting might also help an archer with a form problem or question.

Once the weather breaks and the snow leaves, you can go back to shooting in the yard. To add more difficulty to season preparations, go to a 3D shoot. The 30- or 40-target courses will have a variety of targets and shot angles so that the archer must think about their shot placement more than shooting at a foam block in their yard. With more time spent shooting, the greater the archer’s confidence will be and it can help them add distance to their comfortable shooting range.

For bird hunters, shooting at moving targets is the closest thing to shooting at actual flying birds. A handheld clay pigeon thrower is the most basic way to get a moving target to shoot a shotgun at. They are inexpensive but it can take a little practice to perfect the throwing motion without breaking the pigeon.

A small target thrower that gets staked into the ground can be purchased for under a hundred dollars. These throwers allow for varied launching angles, which result in different clay pigeon speeds and flight curves. Some models even allow for stacked pairs, which is when two clay pigeons are launched at the same time. Waterfowl hunters can practice shooting from layout blinds by having someone operating the thrower behind them and them popping up to shoot as the pigeon is flying away from them. Just like 3D shoots can help archers, going to a gun club to shoot trap, skeet, or sporting clays can help wingshooters.

While rifle shooting does not necessarily require the practice that archery or wingshooting require, practice is still beneficial. Shooters can practice shooting from the different shooting positions (i.e. sitting, prone, offhand) and at different distances. In addition to trying different scenarios, you can try experimenting with other types of ammunition to see if there is another round that might shoot better in your firearm.

Try something new. There likely is something out there in terms of equipment or technique, that you have been curious about. This year make it your goal to try it out.

A common problem that new, and some experienced, turkey hunters have is operating a diaphragm call. This call is used by pressing it against the roof of the mouth with the tongue and then forcing air over the reeds of the call to produce the sounds of a turkey.

Being able to call without moving your hands allows you to stay still and have your hands on your firearm as a tom closes the distance to shooting range. Get a head start on turkey season and buy a couple diaphragm calls now. This will let you try to learn how to use the calls before turkey season arrives.

This was the first fall where crossbows were legal to use during regular archery season for everyone (who has passed Bowhunter Education). If you are interested in using a crossbow, go to a local archery store and check them out. Many will let you test fire them before you buy so you can pick the one that feels the best to you. You also have until the fall to take a Bowhunter Education course if you haven’t already so that you can buy your archery license for the 2026 season.

After hearing about it on a podcast, I ordered a pair of First Lite merino wool long john pants with zippered legs at the end of summer. They have zippers that run from hip to ankle on both legs along with a velcro tab on the waistline. They proved to be a great purchase, in my mind at least. A few of the places I deer hunt require a medium-length hike in to the stand that always seems to be uphill. I have struggled to avoid overheating on the hike in years past when wearing base layers under my pants. Now I put the long johns in by pack and once I get to the stand, I can put them on without having to take by boots off.