Main Discussion Area > Shooting and Hunting
Please Correct My Anchor Position
paulsemp:
I am by no means the best out there but I like to try to hold my bow a bit on a angle when I shoot. I have never had any luck shooting my bow vertically. ( I can not tell but it looks that way in the pic). I like one up two down. Also unlike compound shooting I do not hold my anchor point. As soon as i hit it ,I release. Like everyone else said, start at 5 yards and do not move back until you master it. Also the more bows you make the more you realize everyone is different! I think most of the reason I am not a good shot is I never stay with one, always looking to shoot my next one!
Ifrit617:
I second what JW said... Do not compare shooting a self bow to shooting a compound.... They are completely different! It sounds like your accuracy woes are caused by focusing on he tip of your arrow... don't! Focus on your target only, then release.. And practice, practice, practice!
Jon
H Rhodes:
I shot compound bows about twenty years ago, but I never used a bow sight or peep tubes, pins or any of that stuff, so it made my transition much easier. That said, i still have to say that shooting a long bow is a much different activity.... Someone mentioned canting the bow a little.... I started shooting much straighter after I started canting the bow. I shoot one over and two under and knock point is my thumb knuckle under my cheekbone, which puts my middle finger close to the corner of my mouth. Everyone has a different take on what it takes to put an arrow on target. For me, it has to be trying to become a consistent machine that does the same thing everytime. Like a golfer with a grooved swing or big league pitcher's wind up and throw. Add in the variables that hunting throws at you and a complicated routine just won't get it. After a few thousand million hundred shots.... muscle memory will take over the draw and release of an arrow. Accuracy is what I have to concentrate on. If you have spent much time shooting a rifle or pistol with iron sights, you learn that you focus on the front sight. You see it clearly. Your target somewhat hazy. Your rear sight hazy. But that front sight is clear as a bell... You can only see one part of your sight picture absolutely clear. Take that info to a longbow..... This is my way of doing it and it works for me... See the target, focus on the absolute smallest part of what you want to hit and try to burn a hole in it with your eyes. When I draw, there is a somewhat blurry vision of the arrow coming back to full draw and pointing at my target. Both eyes are open. See target clear. My bow is canted enough and my anchor is below my eye enough that I see the arrow come back and go forward on the release... The arrow is blurry... like the rear sight of pistol. I think of my arrow as riding on a kind of rail between my eyes and the target.... The rythym is what I strive for... a half a second at full draw and will it to the bullseye with a good smooth release.... If one misses... I tell myself it was a freak accident, a bad release, or some other deviation from what I usually do. It is a bow and not a laser guided space age weapon. I can group in a place as big as my hand out to about 25 yards - and I have huge hands... lol. straight enough for hunting though. Sorry to ramble, but I hope this helps.
JW_Halverson:
--- Quote from: hrhodes on March 12, 2012, 10:09:15 am --- It is a bow and not a laser guided space age weapon. I can group in a place as big as my hand out to about 25 yards - and I have huge hands... lol. straight enough for hunting though.
--- End quote ---
That's something the spot shooters have the hardest time wrapping their heads around. If you can perforate a paper plate on a hay bale all day long from every distance and angle that your mind can imagine, you are plenty good enough to hunt. I got friends that strive for 1 hole at 100 yds with their rifles, when I want to hit something the size of an orange at the same range with my rifle. The difference when shooting deer at 100 yds is dead vs dead. I practice shooting from al kinds of kneeling positions, standing up and leaning against a tree, shooting uphill and down, thru bushes, everything but hanging from my ankles, while the spot shooters practice from a bench. I'll be field dressing my deer while they are still looking for a bench to shoot from!!
Guns and bows are apples and oranges. But the philosophy between stick bows and wheel bows carries over. While you are practicing your archery, aim for the smallest possible grouping of arrows you can get, but just before hunting season shoot paper plates and celebrate everything that hits paper!
PAHunter:
Thanks everyone! All of your advice is helping tremendously! I went stump shooting with Hickory Bill and did better than I thought I would (better than ever before) while trying instinctive shooting. For now I'm going 3 fingers under and thumb knuckle under my chin because that aligns the arrow with my eye best and I shoot straight. From there I just need to get the distance right.
hrhodes, really summed up my goal of getting consistent. That is key at so many sports (I golfed as well). It matters more that you are consistent than if you have textbook form. I want a solid and comfortable shooting position that I can replicate. Then it should just be a matter of practice and paitence. Bill suggested only practing with my hunting bow for a few months before season, so I don't screw myself up shooting several different bows. That sounds like good advice to me as well.
I'll let you guys know how my arrows are flying after a few practice sessions. Thanks again for your suggestions, they are much appreciated!
Rob
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