Setting Up a Recurve

[DaWiz9578]

now i gone done did it

 

[Allegheny Tom]

I guess what I was trying to say most of all is for a beginning recurve/longbow archer "aiming" in some shape or form may be an easier way to get a good effective group around 20 yds and under until muscle memory/mental focus develops. I'm speaking for myself but after trying aiming for awhile the 20 yd groups and under are much more repeatable. I guess once a person gets it, it's like throwing wadded up paper into the trash from a few feet away without much thought. Just different ideas to try! What works for one may not work for the next but at least there's plenty of methods out there to try! Maybe try to "aim instinctively"?

I was not disagreeing with you. I was pointing out what works best for me. So much of this stuff is mental and specific to the individual shooter. Each guy has to figure out what works best with their particular combination of mind and body. For me, body (my form) is more important than aiming. Some guys seem to be able to walk and chew gum...I don't seem to be able to do that very well. I have to concentrate on one thing or the other. I do believe that form is more important than aiming. If form is sloppy, then arrows will never group, regardless of the aiming method. I discovered that once I stopped "aiming", my form improved and my groups got better.

And regardless of which method works best for a shooter, starting off by shooting extremely close to the target seems to be the best approach.
I think the shooter should resist the desire to get back to 20 yards. I don't think very many new trad shooters can, or should, shoot more than 15 yards or so. That extra 5 yards seems to make a huge difference in groups. I'm not sure if its an aiming thing, or form, or concentration, but once I get past about 17 yards, the quality of my groups start to degrade. 20 yards is my cut-off point for shooting at deer. 12 to 16 yards is slam dunk territory so I try to set my trees so the shots will be in that range. Which, to me, is one of the biggest challenges to deer hunting with trad gear.
Finding a tree that works (not too close, not too far, good access, good cover, etc, etc, etc, and on and on) is really difficult. I can spend an hour during winter scouting looking at 3 or for trees in a location trying to figure out which one will work. The "perfect" tree seldom exists. Being limited to short range shots is the deal breaker in many cases. But it's all part of the game. I love the strategizing. I will never resort to relaxing my standards on gear in order to fill a tag. It's my job to get it done with the gear I choose.

Bow hunting is all about getting close and making an ethical shot.
Archery is all about seeing how far away from the bullseye you can get and still hit it.

 

[Allegheny Tom]

now i gone done did it

Not at all.
Just a friendly discussion.
Nobody is right or wrong here.

 

[MN_Bowhunter4]

This is all incredibly helpful! I've set the target at 5-7 yards to start and really don't care about stretching things off initially. I'm going to try a few of these shooting techniques yet today and see what feels best to me. Keep 'em coming!!

 

[Allegheny Tom]

This is all incredibly helpful! I've set the target at 5-7 yards to start and really don't care about stretching things off initially. I'm going to try a few of these shooting techniques yet today and see what feels best to me. Keep 'em coming!!

Extreme close range shooting with your eyes closed is another technique than helps develop shooting form.
Closed eyes help you concentrate strictly on form.
Even well practiced veterans do it occasionally.

 

[DaWiz9578]

Did some youtube searching. Wish I could find them all, but man youtube has a lot of great resources, almost too many that it can be overwhelming. Like everyone said above, everyone can shoot differently, but I believe the most effective take away from everyone is a repeatable process as we talked about yesterday. And this isnt just to you @MN_Bowhunter4 , but for anyone in the future that may search this subject.....even though I never seem to be able to find what Im looking for by searching saddlehunter.

Archery Form -01- The Wedge

ArcheryWinchester.comThis is a video I prepared for several Latin Countries when I was the coach of the Guatemalan Archery Team. It describes the basic form ...

youtu.be

Also as stated above, at first stay close
- close yardage
- work on form or your repeatable process (dont worry about where the arrow is hitting in relation to where you are aiming, you can adjust that once youre consistently hitting "off"). As mentioned above, close your eyes or do what they call blank bailing to focus on form. Also frequently let down if it does not feel right. Consider every bad shot as youre getting worse (lose $1), and every good shot as youre improving (get $1). Letting down and readjusting is free. In the beginning youll go into debt a bit (dont actually keep track), but keep in mind youll have to pay it all back so dont get careless....Im still paying my "mortgage".
- Once your form is down (repeatable impact) you can start to figure out where you start your process (elevation) in relation to your intended target to get the arrow where you need (whether you string walk or gap shoot). If your windage is off it is either in your (improper) release or bow/arrow tuning.
- When you start to dial in where you start your process you can shoot different yardages and start messing with your aiming process (gap or string walking). You may have to dig into your bow/arrow tuning at this point and youll have to do some more googlin. Fair warning, I can get some really tight groups up to 12-15 yards and I havent done squat in regards to bow/arrow tuning on my recurve and Ive shot from 100 - 265 grain field tips with the same spine arrow, FORM IS SO CRITICAL. Speaking of bow/arrow tuning....

https://youtu.be/HsQDsuqVZq8