When you shoot how do you guys practice? At the moment I go out and shoot at my max distance ,25 yards, and shoot four arrows at time for about a half an hour. Just before and during the season I’ll do ladders, so I shoot one at 20, another at 15 and a third at 10. Pull my arrows then work my way up 10-20. And I’ll do that for about a half an hour. I’d like to see if there a smarter way that gives me more reps without wearing out my shoulder. Thanks all
I have been bowhunting for 50 years now---because I have a lot of experience and have bow sited in exactly as I wish I go out shoot 1 arrow---20 yards--get arrow--shoot it at 30 yards I am done, you get 1 shot at a deer ! make it good
I once read an article that in the months leading up to season it is good to practice with a variety of different scenarios to get to where you can feel comfortable with all different kinds of shots. Then, a week before opener, take one shot a day to prepare yourself for only getting to take one shot in the field... Helped me last year to do this.
i think it all depends on why you are practicing? if your trying to imitate a hunting scenario as close as possible then get layered up like your going to be in the stand, get your bow ready, arrow on your rest, release on your wrist or string, run until you get your heart rate elevated as high as possible, do 10 push ups, pick up your bow, take one deep breath and drop the string. see where that gets ya! move back do it all again and shoot from a seated position. try to imitate the situation you might be in. if your hunting from a ground blind. get a piece of plywood, cut a window in it, put a chair behind it and do all above and shoot through the window. I love to shoot archery so I come up with different ways to shoot. I still can't control myself in the stand when that mature whitetail is working to me though!
Shoot around stuff and people. I go to the public range and shoot just so there are things happening around me while I am shooting. At home I might set my target in the brush or put something by it. I shoot from my stands or out of my blind to know the "feel ". I bow fish and it is good practice and some days shoot so much I can not lift my arms the next day. Great fun!
All from an elevated posistion I shoot five arrows one in the bull and four in the outside corners 20,30,40 and shoot farther at the target than my live deer max for me it has been 40 yds so I shoot at least on set at 50 yds and one set at 60. I can hold a 6 inch group or better on a good day at 60 but I stick with the 40 for deer. I do agree with the shoot one pull and then shoot again program
I shoot an indoor 3d league once a week during the winter, I practice at home at least 4 times a week, more in the spring and summer. Most of the year, I shoot 50 and 60 yard groups. At that distance, it becomes pretty obvious when I’m not holding good form. I go through my shot sequence every time. (1.)I get my grip (2.)Draw and put knuckle behind ear lobe, then lower it just a bit. (3) extend bow arm as far as possible. (4) tuck chin (5) relax release hand shoulder and tighten lats up (6) float pin (7) pull through. I’m not saying this should be anybody’s shot sequence but it’s what I have to tell myself. I do, however, think you should have your own shot sequence and go through it every time you shoot an arrow. That way, in the treestand, you’ll almost subconsciously go through it. If I’m not shooting good groups at 60 yards, I take a look at each part of the sequence and figure out why I’m not shooting as well as I know I’m capable of. I also spend a lot of time with out the bow just guessing distance. That’s where I struggled in outdoor 3d stuff last year. The neighbors probably think I’m bat **** crazy staring at a target from different distances lol. Closer to deer season, I’ll put up a hang on in the yard and shoot from the tree stand and have somebody move the target around and pull arrows. Yes, even then I shoot 60 yards, bc it will show me what I’m doing wrong. I’d shoot 80 if I had a slider. For a long time, i didn’t have correct form. After I was done hunting this year, I sought out some advise from Nuts&Bolts over at archery talk. I would have rather worked with somebody face to face, but couldn’t find anybody locally. He got me lined out through emails and pics.
Thanks for all the tips! I got a shot sequence down but I haven’t tried heating up and running them shooting. The couple times I saw a deer I felt myself slow down and get quiet even though I felt really alert (if that makes sense) so I figured I’d be ok when the moment came but I’ll the running and shooting all the same. I thought about shooting in my backyard from my tree stand but I was afraid I’d scare the neighbors, heck with it I’ll try that too. Thanks again ya’ll for your help!
Aim small miss small... with any "modern bow (anything less than 10 yrs old)" and a decent archer, it should be relatively easy to achieve "archer's minute of angle - 1" groups per 10yds away from target after some decent practice... In reality, with a "modern bow" shooting anything more than 35-40#'s your first pin should be set at 15-18 yrds, if you're shooting a 50-60+ lb's bow, that first pin should be based on the a ballistics of your arrow... Most of my set-up's are based on a 29" DL at 58 - 65# and the first pin is set at 22 - 25 yds. depending on the speed of the set-up and the weight of the arrow... For a good "learning experiment, shot one arrow starting at 10 yds, and every 2 yds out to 20 yds and see the variance in POI (point of impact) it will help you learn how to really apply ballistics to your archery shooting... I've done out to 60 yd's before, using the same aimpoint, until off the target, then re-adjust... Having shot for nearly 30 years, having shot out to distances of 80yds when I was good, you need to learn to appreciate your bow's "ballistic performance" and then adjust your pins accordingly.
I'm older and started bow hunting later in life. I have sketchy shoulders from years of lifting and my other new hobby (thrash metal guitar). I shoot every day in season but no more than four arrows. I simulate hunting situations in terms of drawing the bow slowly, tipping at the waist slowly, breathing quietly and holding a drawn bow for a bit. I also shoot from an elevated platform. I shoot at a 3D deer target at 20 yards and at a broadhead block at 30. My goal is to shoot deer and pigs 20 yards or less. Most importantly, I review web site info on a deer or pigs vitals every other week.
