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Sight picture and anchor point

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Black Moshannon:
I am suspending my hunting until I get this ironed out and perfected. Does anyone anchor on the side of the face rather than directly under the eye? I'm a right handed shooter. Up till now I have pre-aimed the arrow with a set bow arm, then drawn to the corner of mouth with a totally vertical bow. Everything was in line with the arrow under my eye. The vertical alignment took care of windage for the most part. I then focused on target center, held full draw for a couple seconds, and released. I used mostly instinct to get the elevation right. So the shot was somewhat instinctive. I decided to make some changes, since I wanted to use the gap to aim after achieving full draw. I learned that the corner of mouth anchor point was not ideal for this since it puts the arrow point a little too low, making aiming difficult, since the gaps are large. So I tried a higher anchor point, but still under my eye. I use split finger. The new anchor point was with index finger just under eye. It didn't seem comfortable or consistent. I don't want to give up split finger. It seems like everyone is doing the three under method, from all the internet resources I was looking into.

So I decided to try anchoring on my cheekbone, just outside of the line of sight. The shot method involves me pre-aiming just as I did before, with the bow arm set out and pointing the arrow at what looks like the right gap. I then draw and anchor middle and index fingers to the cheekbone, with the drawing hand tucked against the face. I make sure the draw is locked in with good back tension holding it. Now the sight picture is different though. The arrow comes across from right to left, with the tip of the arrow oriented to the left. It looks odd compared to the old sight picture. I still hold the bow vertical. I place the arrow tip under the target at the right gap, then I release. The draw length was the same as my old style so that worked out. I noticed my windage was affected though. My arrows were hitting right a lot of the time. I was able to correct this by tilting my face to the left instead of leaning it into the string and over the arrow, as I used to do. I think my whole alignment had to be different to accommodate this style.

Apparently Joel Turner of Shot IQ shoots with a thumb ring and he anchors on the side of his face as well. He described this sight picture in a Youtube video he did with Clay Hayes. This is the only resource I have found describing someone shooting this way. I know that normally, English longbow/warbow shooters draw to the side of their face, but normally they don't hold long and I've heard their shots are made instinctively. Is it reasonable to gap shoot while anchoring on the side of my face? Things I know work for me so far: vertical bow. pre-aim with set bow arm. split finger. A consistent pause and hold at the end of draw to allow aiming. The anchor point is up in the air.

Morgan:
I believe that it is a linear thing,  if you are using the point of the arrow to aim with, the nock has to be in line with eye and point in order to not have to make Windage adjustments. The most accurately I can shoot is three under with middle finger on eye tooth and fletching just touching my nose. When this happens, everything is lined up for me. Split or three under, if you’re eye isn’t over the nock sighting down the shaft, I think you’ll have to figure out your windage hold as well as elevation gap for your chosen anchor in order to have repeatable accuracy.

Pappy:
I anchor middle finger in the corner of my mouth, I am not a tube shooter or point of aim shooter so no need to anchor right under my eye. :)
 Pappy

Pat B:
Like Pappy I also draw to the corner of my mouth but I don't even consider the arrow but concentrate of where it will go. With a lot of practice that muscle memory and hand/eye coordination gets it there. I consider my style as instinctive.

Black Moshannon:
I've tried to make instinctive work for me, I read the G. Fred Asbell books and worked on technique. Once my form was down my shooting got a lot better. I've had those moments where I directed my eyes right in the center and hit a quarter sized spot, but I just can't make that happen with consistency. On a nice day I might go outside and hit the target over and over, but on a cold day or if I'm tired or its a little dark or any other number of setbacks, its always a question if I'm going to hit the mark. It seemed like i do better if I use the exact same bow and arrow together. Problem is I do like to shoot with several different of my bows which vary up to ten pounds difference and the arrows, while they are all the same length, they vary in weight. I also noticed on the longer shots like out to twenty five to forty yards, I was using the arrow to aim and line up the shot. I would like to use the arrow to aim all the time since it takes away the question of am I doing the right thing. Im not saying I think instinctive is bad but I'm just not one of those people who can do that. I need something solid to lean on like a reference point. Today I tried a couple things. I brought the anchor point in just a little bit so my middle finger is just under my eye, on the cheekbone. The arrow is still not aligned under my eye, but I've found that as soon as I start anchoring up my face away from the corner of the mouth, the angle changes and the arrow is no longer aligned under my eye. Maybe this is my facial shape. So to deal with this I tried to open up my posture so I am more perpendicular to the target and instead of closing my left eye, i left it open. This seemed to make the difference and I stopped having problems with windage. I was able to make this high anchor point feel very comfortable and natural and for the first time today, I was shooting between ten and thirty five yards and I was able to control the shot and correct by moving the arrow tip up or down in the sight picture. Hitting the mark didn't come as a pleasant surprise or thrill like with instinctive but instead felt like a result of changing where I was aiming the point. I do like this control.

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