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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: zwickey2bl on August 16, 2018, 01:06:01 PM

Title: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: zwickey2bl on August 16, 2018, 01:06:01 PM
Been making up some new arrows in preparation for an elk hunt. My shafts are ash, 60# spine, cut to 29.5" nock to bop. Shooting a H-H Big Five that draws 58# at 28.5". I'm shooting consistently left about 4" at 20 yards. Still mentally/visually correcting for the heavier shafts (was shooting POC), but the 4" left thing is consistent. What do you think? Over-spined? Something else? Help me. :)
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: Roy from Pa on August 16, 2018, 01:08:44 PM
What weight points?
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: joebuck on August 16, 2018, 01:24:59 PM
increase your side pressure plate thickness.  Try like a toothpick. Get that arrow to "bend" around the riser to start parodox more to right......is one suggestion if you dont want to monkey with arrow pt weight
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: jess stuart on August 16, 2018, 04:24:04 PM
Make sure you are getting your anchor into your face fully.  I have trouble anchoring to far from my face at time making my arrows go to the left.  A general rule. shooting left arrows are stiff.
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: BAK on August 16, 2018, 06:13:54 PM
Sure sounds like too stiff arrow shafts.  Try adding point weight to see what happens.  Be extreme as it will tell you much quicker than just playing with a few grains at a time.  If they are too stiff, building out the shelf side plate will just make it worse.

:coffee:
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: zwickey2bl on August 16, 2018, 10:19:22 PM
Thanks guys. Gives me a couple of things to try. Have to scrap around and see if I've got some heavier glue on field points. I'm shooting 125 grain right now. But mybroadheads are 125s, too, so if a heavier point helps, what can I do to add weight to my blades?
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: C. Johnson on August 16, 2018, 10:27:48 PM
Make sure you're not death gripping the bow.  When I shoot a heavier bow I have a bad habit of doing that and my arrows go way left.
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: zwickey2bl on August 16, 2018, 10:35:17 PM
I've always gripped a longbow pretty firmly, but I'll try loosening up a bit. Be great if it is as simple as that.
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: Don Stokes on August 16, 2018, 10:37:38 PM
If they're too stiff, heavier points should help by putting a little more bend in the shaft. I'd try joebuck's suggestion too- easy enough to check, and I've had that help some situations.
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: Bowguy67 on August 17, 2018, 05:16:32 AM
I'd start where Jess said. If you're consistently left check your form first. If that's good than check the arrows
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: the rifleman on August 17, 2018, 08:18:38 AM
Stop!  Before you make changes to equipment-- point weight, sideplate etc., Reconfirm all elements of your form.  You can verify by shooting your old arrows along with the new ones.  Most of my rights and lefts are form issues.  Once you've confirmed no form issues, then is the time to begin tuning.  If you do need to tune to move them to the right, try increasing the brace height first.
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: rraming on August 17, 2018, 04:03:31 PM
may seem odd but if I use a really light grip on my recurve widows, they go left every time. I thought if you plucked a little, it goes left and maybe looking up too fast, stiff arrow goes left and aiming left goes left :biglaugh:
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: Jim Casto Jr on August 18, 2018, 08:18:35 AM
Even a grossly out-of-spine arrow will fly down the middle--bare shafts are a different story. :)

I'd suggest you have an alignment issue.

Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: Hud on August 18, 2018, 10:59:51 AM
When I have a question about left, right, high, low. I usually start close to the target with either a vertical line, or cross on paper. You can bare shaft and compare the same arrows with fletch, and field points or broadheads. The only difference is what you shoot into.  Straw bales have grain and can produce questionable results.

If your checking form and arrows because you are not sure, use a vertical line, stand close 10 -15 ft and see what you find. Aim at the vertical line.
If it is a tuning problem then refer to the following, from Elite Arrows:

http://elitearrows.com/proper-arrow/
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: JRY309 on August 18, 2018, 11:27:35 AM
My experience with my Hill is they require a weaker spine then you might think.They  are not even close to center,usally around 3/16" to 1/4" off center.They are to stiff,I would try a weaker spine or heavier point.You could try canting the bow more to see if your arrows move to the right?I find that can help if I'm shooting too stiff a spine arrow with a longbow cut far off center.
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: pavan on August 18, 2018, 03:26:18 PM
Like what was previously stated, if you have arrows that do not shoot left compare them in flight.  A bow that is not center shot can have a different reaction to arrow spine than a takedown recurve.  The cant of the bow, the grip, the archer peeking to watch an arrow fly can change the head position.  It could also be that his first arrows were flying to the right and he adapted to them, so now the new heavier arrows seem to be going left.   If the arrows are very stiff, often they can be heard clipping the bow. Perhaps a bit more brace height can show an improvement.
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: WESTBROOK on August 18, 2018, 08:52:43 PM
Quote from: pavan on August 18, 2018, 03:26:18 PM
.... Perhaps a bit more brace height can show an improvement.

Kind of what I was thinking. A 60# Ash shaft wont fly exactly like a 60# POC. The hardwood shafts flex a little slower, so.....try a little higher brace height....maybe a 1/4".
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: Roy from Pa on August 18, 2018, 09:20:49 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSJ6-HjPMTM&t=34s
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: pavan on August 18, 2018, 10:04:33 PM
Because of the shaft weight differences from ash to poc to carbon what works for a bare shaft carbon out of a inside of center recurve, often does not apply to the outside of center longbow with a hardwood arrow or often even to the poc.   
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: trad_bowhunter1965 on August 19, 2018, 09:39:42 AM
There two things you can do to see if your arrow is to stiff first and easiest is take some dental floss wrap it around where your nock if on your string it just take 1 or 2 wraps. This will weaken the spine of your arrow and it should move your arrow group to the right. if this works just replace your serving with a little thicker serving thread. If you still hit left your arrow might be hitting your bow. The second is to get foot powder and spray your arrow to see if your arrow is hitting your bow. 
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: Sam McMichael on August 19, 2018, 02:12:50 PM
All of my HHA bows like arrows weaker than you might think. I would start out by checking for spine problems.
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: Colin06 on August 19, 2018, 02:30:31 PM
I have noticed that if I crank the top of my bow just a little to the right instead of to about 2o'clock position, my arrows go left as well. When you shoot with your bow cranked over to one side or the other, it alters the dynamic spine of the arrows which can result in arrows behaving as if they are too stiff or too weak in spine
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: pavan on August 19, 2018, 03:54:13 PM
4" left is not much.  I never read if they were flying clean or flying loggy.   A slow recovering shaft on a non-center shot bow can have more contact regardless of spine.  The first thing an arrow does on release, with a non-center shot bow, is flex into the bowstring path.  With a slower recovering arrow there is more bend into the bow and sometimes more contact as it goes around the bow.  When an under spined arrow breaks on a longbow, it usually breaks against the belly of the bow, that is a lot of contact. (Some say it is the rolling action of the the finger release, I have seen the same reaction with a caliper release in slow motion video, taken on my own yard.)   Canting may change things some, mostly just the visual.  Arrow maker Bob often refers to checking to a straight vertical line on the target, a friend came up with a one step up from that test.  A bright yellow stretch line from the top center of the target, nail in my garage, down the 5 foot slope of my backyard, to the 22 yard curb, then stand in the middle of the roading lining his arrow to the string with his natural cant.  He was attempting to find where his secondary aiming point would visually land, but it was a great tool to check for arrow  drift. 
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: gregg dudley on August 20, 2018, 01:39:01 PM
If you feel like you are properly tuned up, check your form.  I have a bad habit of overdrawing and then settling down into my anchor.  If I start shooting left, I am usually overdrawing the bow slightly and turning my head back to the string rather than keeping my head straight and pulling straight back to the corner of my mouth.  Any little thing in your form can change things up...
Title: Re: Help with shooting consistently left
Post by: dragonheart on August 20, 2018, 02:01:50 PM
PM sent