I am shooting well at Twenty. great grouping. I need to learn how to judge how to shoot at other distances. say 22. is there an equation of some sort to calculate.
Every bow is different from draw weights to arrow weight. No formula other than experience thru practice, a range finder wouldn't hurt either.
Equation is Patience + Practice = Perfection. You have to find what works for you. I can shoot up to 25ish yards using my first pin and group it. I can group using second pin up to 30. Anything more and I'm not so great as I can't see it, lol. Also, second getting a range finder. You'll realize you aren't great at judging distance rather quickly.
Like he said. With practice you will be able to judge where to put the pin over time. Bowtech invasion CX maxima 350 React 5 Reaper 2 inch
I did purchase one. And love it. Since I am a newby,( with a bow) I fear missing vitals. Thank you Sota
Well, thanks to you as well! I am putting in my time for sure! I had hoped there would be a way to add half inch per yard (example) on target. That's what I am currently working on. Want to be accurate.
Take rangefinder and walk the yard street woods and guess how far then hit it with the rangefinder. One you will be shocked how off you are two after doing it for a while you start to get better. Like the others said practice is what it is all about.
Practice+practice+persistence=Better,not perfect.The more you practice ranging/shooting the better you will become at doing it.
There is no set equation, far to many variables. all you can do is practice and learn your bow and your shooting. Put a horizontal line across the upper 1/3 of your target. Go to 22, 24, 26, 28 yards and shoot a couple arrows each time using your 20 yard pin on the line. this will show you how low the arrows will fall. than do it again trying to aim high the proper amount for each range and see if you can put all the arrows on the line.
The absolute best thing you can do is learn where the bow hits at various odd yardages. Shoot at 22, 24, 25, etc with your 20 yard pin. You'll probably be surprised that the impact point is really not a great deal different, especially with modern bows and arrows. For example, my bow is awfully close out to 27 or so yards with the 20 pin. Same out to about 35 with the 30. I truly believe a lot of folks worry too much about hunting accuracy. What I mean is this. A deer's vitals are pretty big when you stop to think about it. Pie plate sized. So, two or three inches of drop from 20-30 is not going to take the arrow out of the kill zone provided you make a good shot in the first place. This is completely opposite if you're talking about target accuracy, where an inch drop can take you out of a small 10 ring. So what this means is get familiar with how far your arrow drops at the in between distances. You might find you don't need a pin or two and still cover the deers vitals out to 40 yards. For example, I currently shoot three pins at 20- 30- 40. However, after this season, I will be working on setting it up as a two pin deal, one at 22 or 23 yards, another at 32-33 yards. Anything inside of 30 gets the top pin, anything outside of it gets the bottom pin. It simplifies and cleans up the site picture and limits any confusion.
It is simple. It is just a fuzz over 20 yds and just little less than 30 yds. I know it isn't that easy. I shoot a single pin. I try to get it set to where I "hope" the deer are going to come from and then go from there. It is really about practice and knowing your equipment. There is no substitute for practice in this case.
with a 20 and 30 yard pin set, with todays bow speeds the drop from 20-30 yards is only 7-10 inches depending on how heavy yer arrows are and what pounds the bow is set at... for a 15 yard shot just shoot half way between the pins.. ya will be with in a inch or two of right... well within the vitals... 22 yard shot... upper 1/4 of between the 2 pins... still within an inch or two of perfect and well within the vitals...
Put big flat rocks around your stand at set yardages 20,30, etc. and there you go. Also, for the person with no rangefinder, sight your bow in to the number of footsteps, i.e. 20 paces, 30, paces etc. not yardage. That way you can go anywhere, step off the yardage to certain objects and get up in the tree. For gap shooting i.e. 22, or 25. Practice. But, half way between 20-30 is usually 25 and that is close enough! Even for a guy who shoots 290 grain broad heads and 670 grain arrows.....
Missed a monster 10pt on my 3rd every bow hunt because I thought rangefinders were overrated.. Bought a rangefinder that afternoon
I feel your pain. I quickly learned I was not good at judging distance when a buck comes in on a strange travel route that I wasn't anticipating. I was thankful for a clean miss.
Lani, welcome to the forum. As others have suggested, an investment in a range finder will be well worth it. My suggestion would be to get one that has is backlit. That way when you get to your stand in the morning and you want to check distances you can easily see the readings. Practice guessing will help, but I have seen way to many people "guestimate" the distance and be off by over 10 yards, which can be the difference between killing and wounding.
I forgot to talk about the ranging portion. Seriously get yourself a decent rangefinder. Do not worry so much about the ones with the angle compensation. Honestly, I use a simple Nikon rangefinder without it and have ranged and shot objects around my tree for years and I can't see any major difference at 20ft up in a tree. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Trust me, you have way too much going through your head when Mr. Big walks into range. The last thing you want to do is split hairs on range. As I said, most modern compounds shoot plenty fast enough and the difference between 20 and 30 yards is so close that a yard or three mistake will not usually end in a miss unless you completely botch the shot. With that said, simplify your ranging. Find everything in all directions around your stand that is 30 yards away and memorize those objects you ranged. Then, when a deer does come in to range, you know within a yard or two how close or far he is based on that 30 yard marker. Its a good idea to also know what your longest shot distance is, say 40 yards, and what that looks like in relation to your 30 yard measurements with the rangefinder. Practice a lot with the rangefinder. Even if the deer is not one you want to take, guess the range and then hit it with the rangefinder. Do the same with rocks, trees, etc., as you sit in the stand. You'll quickly get your bearings and be able to easily make good guesses on the yardage. Also, be very careful of terrain differences, etc. Ive been amazed some times how close of far something is when it appears entirely something different.
I use a fixed single pin. dead on about 27 steps' little high at 20 and little low at 30. my bow is sighted in by step's and I know my bow same bow for 6 years. I aim for range though rather not shoot over 30 farthest i've shot is 35 steps. when I set my stand which is random day to day I step off 20 and 30 steps make a mental not of tree brush etc... maybe even break over a small limb for reference and have never had any problem getting an arrow through the vital's. good luck is alot of good advice on here for ya
Arrow weight and draw weight have no direct translation to arrow drop. A heavy arrow will fall the same as a light arrow. Both of the factors you mentioned do effect the arrow's velocity, which is what translates to less drop over a certain range. The faster it goes, the less travel time, the less time it has to drop. I also don't understand your logic on a 20/30 pin setup but then using halfway between those pins for a 15 yard shot.
