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Main Boards => The Shooters FORM Board => Topic started by: Scott J. Williams on November 07, 2007, 02:06:00 PM
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This is a question I have been dying to ask you gap shooters. Let me begin by saying that I shot that way for a short time before I moved on to others.
How long did it take for you to hammer out your gap, or split vision to the point that you felt ready to hunt, or compete?
I think this would be very helpful to others who are not yet set on a method of shooting. Please take the time to explain your technique in detail, thanks.
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I would guess it took about 6 months of shooting literally every day for my style to evolve and become a consistent method. Much of this was done at a target 15' away, concentrating on form, release, and follow through. I borrowed from both gap & instinctive, and as time passed it has evolved into primarily a gap method...
I shoot with my bow very slightly canted. As I address the target I bring my bow arm up and allow my shoulder mounted computer to select the approximate elevation for the distance. As I come to full draw I consciously refine the elevation and gap. I hold for approximately 3-5 seconds, shifting my focus from the arrow/gap to the specific spot I intend to hit on the target. Now I'm only peripherally aware of the arrow and my focus is on the target. In this 3-5 second period, I'm making final subtle subconscious adjustments to my hold. When it feels right I release and follow through. I can usually call the shot the moment the arrow leaves the bow.
This description makes it sound more complicated that it is. In actual practice it's very smooth and reasonably fast to execute.
As an aside I killed a doe roughly 4 weeks after I picked a recurve again. Looking back now, I can see it was not skill, but plain old fashioned luck that placed that broadhead through that doe's heart...
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Scot,
For me it's been an on going thing for the last 30 odd years.
Since you mentioned split vision and that's what probably sums up my way of aiming,"I'll explain it like this.
I understand the basic math of real gap shooting but I've never been good enough at it to be a real gap shooter.
What I'm doing during back yard practice is recognising the gap by just seeing it.
I don't think about the inches,I just see the arrow in relation to my target and take the shot.
Now,when it comes to hunting shots or competition,I don't see the arrow at all but I'm still as accurate as during practice.
I feel the reason for this ,is that I've programed my minds eye to recognise the sight picture without "needing" to see the arrow.
When I first realised I was doing this,it messed with my head a bit but in the end I decided to just go with the flow,and now when the pressure is on I just concentrate on form and maintaining my full visual focus on my target.
Having said all that,I was hunting rabbits the first week I picked up a stickbow and deer within six months.
Always using this method but only putting it into words in fairly resent times.
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In the several weeks since I posted the above, I learned Rod Jenkin's Gap Method and have become a full blown card carrying Gap Shooter.
The main difference is that I now set a specific gap based on the bow/arrow combo's trajectory, based on the measured mid-point trajectory between the near and far zero gap sight pictures.