G. Fred Asbell..bending knees..Why?

[Ray Lyon]

Hmmmm, I'm going to go out on a limb a little bit here and disagree about roving being the best practice.

 I think the better form of practice is shooting a 3-D course at unknown distances. I realize the unknown distance part is significant portion of the "roving" aspect, however when I hear of guys going "roving" through the woods (and I used to do it quite a bit), it was typically picking out small targets, often with a unique feature that draws your concentration. "Let's shoot that red leaf over there. Let's see who's closest to the black spot on that stump. Let's see who can hit that little clump of grass accross the gully." Aim small, hit small comes to mind. Yet when that deer walks in front of you, it doesn't have that little aiming spot to concentrate on. When you walk through a 3-D course at unknown distances, you have to work on both distance estimation and concetrating on picking a spot on a large target that may not have any unique "aiming" points; just like the real thing.

Anyway, I think that roving is very good practice. I'm just saying I don't feel it's the "best" for the above reason.

[Shawn Leonard]

Ray, deer do have that little spot for me. It is the crease where the upper leg joint(second elbow?) meets the body, pretty easy to pick out. 3-D targets are good as long as you do not shoot for score, but a true killing shot. The vitals on most of them are placed lousy. Shawn

[Ray Lyon]

Shawn, my first deer was shot using that crease as an aiming point. Fortunately she was broadside and low elevation, so this was a good angle. Do you aim there for treestand shots quartering away? I like the 3-D courses with the elevated platforms (and usually there are two targets at different ranges and positions so you only climb the steps once) so that I can practice different entry/aiming points. I totally agree that shooting for score on some of the 3-D targets is not the best guage of a killing shot on the real thing. Often times there is some "spirited" debate with my buddies and I on certain shots during our trips through the 3-D course!    

Of course there is always discussion about shot placement at the Shrewhaven Lodge buck pole each fall, since there is usually 6-10 deer hanging on the pole, we get to talk about shot placement and how far a deer went, ect.

[Bible5]

Wow ! FIVE pages!  Anyways I liked the video "Instinctive Shooting" by Asbell. It's well done, alot of it like he's teaching a class to three guys. He seems like a really nice guy. He's got a really cool Teepee in his yard that my daughter thought was soo cool. The video is $30 from from 3Rivers and I really can't recomend it for that amount of money. Personaly I keep returning to Paul Brunners video on Instinctive Shooting. I found it the most helpful and resonably priced, it helped me alot. I just wish he would make a new updated and expanded version.

[Rod Parsons]

I think it was Gary Player who went on record as saying "The more I practice the luckier I get " when a spectator commented that he had made a lucky shot.
Sure, find what works for you and stick with it, but be prepared to take it out and polish it from time to time. You might even want to learn how to fix it if it get's broke, but this can be dangerous territory.
Some folks get so hung up on fixing it that they keep on fiddling with it when it ain't broke and even sometimes excuse their own shortcomings by claiming that it needs fixing when there ain't much wrong with it.
Then again, it's only human nature to look out for a better one, even when the one you got works fine...
Rod.  :-)

[SteveMcD]

Man.. I really enjoyed reading this thread. It is great! I do agree with what Tom L. states all along. You must find what works for you! This is what makes trad archery so personal. There are the basics with everyone's own certain uniqueness regarding form. I too, don't understand why G. Fred gets such a rap all the time. His advice has helped many folk along the way. I don't bend at the knees - can't. But I do hold to anchor as Fred would and has adviced. Forgive me, but I am a point of aim shooter, but that doesn't mean I do everything that Byron Ferguson says either. We all have to try, experiment and practice form and adapt to what works best for us individually. If I tried to shoot 100% the way a certain writer says.. this is how it's done.. I would have been driven to unstringing my bow and using it as a javelin long ago!!!!!!! Thanks everyone.. great thread. Enjoyed everyone's insights.

[Rod Parsons]

Some years ago I was trying to teach a right handed archer to line up his shot a little better and at some point asked him to close his left eye.
I asked him what exactly he could then see. "Bugger all!" he replied.
When I enquired why this was so, he smiled and took out his glass right eye.
Talk about the teacher taught...
Rod :-)