Well today was my 4th day shooting and man I'm falling in love with this sport quickly.
At 10 yard I was starting to get moderate groups, all falling within about a 10" circle. When I stepped up to 20 yards (for the first time) I missed the target at first but by the end I was at least hitting the target, so that's progress!
From the good advice on these forums I know that form is what counts, so right now I don't even really aim at any particular spot but concentrate on trying to be consistent in form. I'm just wondering though, what is the typical learning curve on a barebow? I know I've got lots of practice ahead of me - and I'm fine with that!
Every one progresses at a different rate I think. Keep close for a while working on that perfect shot. Easy to say as seeing the arch of the arrow is addicting. Enjoy your journey.
Just remember to keep working on your form to it is critical when shoot at a longer range.
That's right about form,and katman gave some good advice there.I shot a wheelie-bow for 2 years without sights before I joined the real bow club,so the switch to a recurve wasn't all that bad for me.I was hell on targets,but missed a lot of deer before remembering to pick a spot while shaking like a leaf...LOL
youll never stop getting better. it took me about a couple months or so in the summer to be able to hit consitantly where i am. just take your time and have funn. youll get better in time
steven
once your form is good, start picking spots. Then go back and fix your form, then shoot some targets(of some sort), then do it all again. You will find that you think you have the proper form until you read again what you are supposed to be feeling or doing, then you will figure it out even more...and so on, forever. So basically it is likely that you will get more and then less accurate and then more again in some sort of cycle until you quit shooting. Usually over-thinking it and shooting when you are tired are bad things. Over time your consistency should be good and maintain if you keep shooting.
Try taking just one step back at a time,and go back too starting point when needed.Starting point is where you can put all your arrows in a 4 inch circle.Forget about 10 20 30yds and think in one step at a time.
very few people I see shoot have great, even good form. Mine is good, but very consistent. So I wish it were great, but I am stuck...The consistency part allows me to hit what I want.
Keep at it and concentrate on each shot. Build your mental and muscle memory. Remember it is not the number of arrows that you shoot during one session. It is how well you shoot the few that you can accurately during that session. When you start to get tired stop shooting and this will help prevent bad habits. Mix up your shooting as you get more experience, it will build confidence. Get with a friend who is more experienced and have them critique you and video yourself shooting to evaluate your form. Keep it fun and good luck.
Once you get your form down to where your doing the same thing over and over, pick a spot (small)and practice practice practice!!!!! Good Luck with it! I wish you the best!!!!
Always liked what Ron LaClair says. " In this sport accuracy is the last thing to come, the fun part is getting there".
Accuracy - not long
Consistancy - still working on it.
Develop a specific routine that you live by for each and every shot. The more you break it down, w/i reason, the easier it becomes to identify and focus on problematic areas.
Treating each arrow as if it were your only opportunity is imperitive. The last arrow is already gone. By conciously following your defind sequence you should be able to slow down execute your form and reflect.
Having a competent mentor is invalueable.
I think the thing that helped me the most was shooting at very close range... one arrow at a time. Don't worry too much about where you shoot or your group size, just concentrate on good form. I should probably say good form with a stickbow is much different that shooting a compound so I would read some books or watch some videos to understand what good form is. Then concentrate on making each shot perfect.
I learned to shoot a stickbow in the hallway of my house, honestly from a range of about 8 feet. I shot thousands of arrows from 8 feet. Working on form and tweaking things just like Overspined said. Once I felt like I "mastered" my form I started to shoot outside... not at specific ranges shooting groups but I would go stumping. After a month or two of stumping shooting groups at 15 or 20 yards seemed easy.
This process took me a few months, I started shooting in the winter (hence the inside shooting) and by summer I was fairly confident in my shooting to about 25 yards. Later that summer I killed a pronghorn buck at about 25 yards... it works.
I know mentioning shooting styles and aiming techniques start some great debates, and that's not my intention, but G. Fred Asbell's instinctive shooting 2 book has some great info on shooting form. It helped me.
Never get frustrated with your shooting, after all there are so many factors that come in to play on major one being fatigue so if you're sore or tired and your groups are getting bad just stop and pick up shooting later!
Learning is a blast. I've been shooting a couple months, and the tough part for me is consistency. I can nail the bull, but then miss badly. Getting consistent form and cutting down on bad misses is my goal now, and I've slowed down the number and speed of my shooting sessions. Just shot last night at stuff thrown around in the yard and on a hill and it is fun (I felt like a kid and lost an arrow). I can't figure out why I never took this up sooner.
One good arrow, then a bunch more. Another good arrow, then a bunch more, and the cycle continues.
thanks for all the good tips, i'll keep them in mind as I go :thumbsup:
i finally got to the point where i can hit good with my bear kodiak. then i bought my new bow and have to mess around with that and see what works best. groups great but all to the left of where im aiming.
it can get frustrating but accuracy takes some time.
It depends on what you mean by 'accurate'-still working on it!
It's been 23 years and I still cannot brag.
753 arrows
I never did get accurate until I learned how to tune my equipment. Now a 2 1/2" circle at 20 yards is about as good as I can do.
have fun!
Its the road to fun.
What Bjorn said for me.RC
There is a difference in Consistency and Accuracy. You can always become consistent with bad form, enough that you may actually become accurate, but you will hit the wall quicker. Right now forget about accuracy and develop your form. If you do this now you'll be much happier later.
As soon as I started reaching full anchor, and holding a couple of seconds while concentrating on the "spot", my shooting took off in the right direction. I used to snap shoot and was never consistent. Olympic archery coached cured me quick. Was not allowed to release, the nock was epoxied to the string. The bow was 70" and 22# draw. I could hold it all day. Personally, I now wont hunt or shoot a bow that I cannot draw and hold at anchor for 5 seconds, or the bow is too heavy for me. I can work up to it if I need to shoot heavier.
Try it, it may work for you too.
Being accurate and consistent with form is a never ending procedure when shooting trad gear.If you dont continually focus(mentally and physically) on the basics of form and release you will never be accurate.They go hand in hand and are as important in the shooting relationship as the bow and arrow are.When you become one with the mind, body and bow thats when you start to get accurate, and you must practice to maintain that state.JMHO :thumbsup: :campfire:
You can get accurate at this?
I shot a lot of arrows before I found out (on here)that the bow has to be tuned and then the arrows tuned to that tuned bow and even then "something" happens and you're searching again.
So, as above, it NEVER ends. We're bound to shoot continuously, consistently and with total concentration. The 3 C's.
Fortunately that arrow arching in there is great for the spirit. Nothing is easy.
I'll let you know when I do!!!
I'm just reaching my 4th year and have kept a journal of the process and it's simply amazing the changes both significant and not that you may go through, at least I did. I have shot nearly every day and the modifications now are more subtle but they continue to occur. As I shoot at animals however it has become more automatic with all those adjustments becoming just part of the natural process. Ain't it fun!
This accuracy thing is very interesting because it means so many different things. I started before the compound was around. It took me five seasons to kill a deer and during that time I didn't even know there was such a thing as archery shoots. After my first kill I killed a deer every year with no problem and learned about the archery shoot gigs. I quickly discovered I wasn't very accurate but I still killed my deer. Now, 40 yrs. later I can win trophies using 70+# hunting bows and shooting from the compound stakes at 3-D shoots and still kill my deer. Am I more accurate? Yes, at targets but really not much different at shooting game.
Three steps forward, two steps back - slow progress over years.
What has helped me most are the videos of the shooting form of fellow Tradgangers (http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=17). I watch how they shoot, then record myself and compare what I'm doing to what they do. The shooters' forum on this site has been helpful too.
It doesn't take long to develop good accuracy at close ranges, further ranges have taken me many years. I used to shoot compounds with a front sight only and a long draw to hit anchor. When I switched to bare bow I shot instinctively and progress was slow. I shot for several years and thought maybe I would never shoot past 15 yrds. A couple of years ago I watched Byron Ferguson and switched to the Howard Hill style of gap shooting and dialed in further. Rod Jenkin's style filled in the missing pieces and now I shoot pretty confidently out to 35yrds and get better everyday. Consistency in form is critical regardless of shooting style, but I also needed visual aid when aiming. I think had I started that way I could have achieved respectable accuracy in a year or so.
About 45 years and I have good and bad days. :thumbsup:
Here's an exercise for you:
Which of these bowhunters is more accurate?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/Stumpkiller/Bowhunting/Consistant.jpg)
The second bowhunter kills 10 deer while the first only seven.
And the beauty of bowhunting (as opposed to target archery) is that it is fine and acceptable to get closer to your target any time you wish.
I shoot everyday thats the only way I know to improve.
QuoteOriginally posted by Friend:
....
Having a competent mentor is invalueable.
That helped me more than anything.Having someone there that was familiar with form and what to look for in good shooting technique was invauable to me becoming a better archer.
There was a point where I just didn't see any improvement but after a while things came together.
Regular blank bailing and practice will help the most.Don't try to move too far out as you're starting,basically don't try on another set of britches till you're ready for them.Otherwise it can be more fustrating....and you'll waste lots of time looking for lost arrows.
As a side note...and merely my opinion...thank you for not taking up trad shooting a month before season and heading out with the bow to hunt.I see folks doing it all the time.Absolutely not a good idea. :thumbsup:
15+ years and getting better. One of the biggest hurdles to get over is learning what you are doing wrong. Consistency comes only after you idenify how to fix your common flaws,accuracy will follow. Everyone's learning curve is different but, most will agree that improving your accuracy will become a obsession.
When ever my accuracy falls off, or hits a plateau, I go back to working on form at very short range. Lots of good advice here...but that's what is so cool about this board!!
(Needless to say, I work go back to working on form a LOT!) :( :D
I find it funny that certain people get their name on a technique. Its not a bad thing! Dont get me wrong.
But say.."Byron's" technique of gap shooting. He was smart enough to write a book on it..as was Howard, but its been used for thousands of years! My friends and I used gap methods when we were just kids, self taught. Years later we looked at the book and we thought, WE should have wrote this book. But then another crowd was doing it long before us! And so on.
This is not negative in any way, I think more of us should make the effort to write down our experiences and share with the public. With forums like this, traditional archery has its best chance ever to thrive and improve.
when you get confident enough to hunt.
I'll let you know.
Stay in close like others have said already, but don't move back further than you can keep a tight group say 12yds?
(Having a well tuned bow helps)
When i first started shooting a recurve all the time in 92, i practiced every evening for hours at a time and i would stay in close say 10yds. I wouldn't stop till i could put 6 arrows inside a skoal can. It took a few days, but i'd do it over and over again once i started getting them all inside it.
Shooting well up close builds confidence.
I didn't read all the way through so not sure if it's been said already. You are fortunate to just be starting since you haven't picked up any bad habits. Focus on form and study Terry's clock on form. With perfect form the accuracy will come naturally. I wish I would've started out that way since I'm still working on perfecting my form and getting rid of bad habits that I picked up when I started out.
Concentrate on form, Nip bad habits like target panic in the butt :deadhorse: before they get imbedded in the brain"ask me how I know"
That's a great post Stumpkiller :thumbsup:
When I first started I found shooting hedge balls and apples from a tree made you focus better. This made me improve more than anything. I also like to stick a balloon on my 3D targets to make me focus.
20 + years
Around 25yrs and still learning. And I hope there's many more years to come.