With hunting season only a few weeks away I am pretty happy with my progress so far.  I have only been shooting instinctive using my recurve since spring.  I shoot almost every day now and am switching over to using my new zwicky broadheads this week.

I practice a lot at 8-10 yards, shooting at a thumb tack I have stuck on my target.  No problem staying within 6-8 inches of the tack and more often than not I can group my arrows together quite nicely within a few inches of the tack.

Moving out to 10-15 yards my arrows stay (mostly) within the 8" circle of my thumb tack but I rarely group my arrows tightly together when shooting groups of 6.  I always manage to group a couple together just not all of them the way I do at closer distances.

15-20 yards I stump shoot quite well and can hit my target but my grouping sucks.

I feel as though I am ready to take to the woods this fall as long as I keep any shots within my 15 yard comfort zone!  I have paper tuned and my arrows (bareshaft and fletched) leave only bullet holes in the paper.  My arrows (carbons with weight tubes inside and 135 gr zwickys) weight in about 550 grains and I pull about 42lbs.

Any last minute thoughts or advice from the experts for my first fall hunt with traditional gear.  Of course (as always) the hunt and the love of the woods is my first priority, actually getting a deer is not so important to me that I will knowingly take a shot that might only wound the animal.

Pick up close and personal shots. If the deer is alert, consider passing on the shot the farther away you are out to your 15 yards. Deer are freakin' quick.

Definitely not an expert here, but as long as you don't shoot further than your rule of fifteen yards or less then should you have and encounter with a deer I think you will do just fine! Just for some encouragement the average hunting shot is between ten and fifteen yards! Happy hunting!

Keep at it, watch your form, always follow through and you'll be shooting from 20-25 in no time.  As you draw visualize the arrow hitting exactly where you're looking.

I will say this, you will know. Its like a little light bulb comes on and you will know when to shoot. I know when I started I thought like you and told myself to keep my shots real close, well when I got my first opportunity a small spike walked by in an open field. I never thought about distance or anything. I just picked a spot and let it fly. It was a perfect  shot, he only went about 25 yards and piled up. I than got down to get my arrow and walked the shot off it was 23 yds. to the arrow, so he was about 20 yards. It just felt right and I shot. Good luck and may your arrows fly true!! Remember pick a spot, I think most guys new to Trad tend to end up shooting at the whole animal instead of a small spot.(I like the crease behind the deers elbow where it meets the shoulder) Aim small, miss small. Shawn

It is very hard to explain to people but it seems when I just concentrate and shoot I group arrows very well on target.  When I think about form, anchor, back tension, etc....I miss....Still its hard to "clear the mind"

No no, you have to mix up your practice between conscious form/technique practice and then putting it all together for actual shooting practice where your mind is clear.  Most fellas do the 'conscious' type practice where they're working on technique by doing things like 'blank baling' where you are relatively close to a bag target or hay bale and you're not too worried about aiming so much as how you're pulling the string and how you're anchoring and your release etc.  once you practice ingraining how the 'right' methods feel then when you're really shooting and actually trying to hit stuff you won't have to think about it you'll just do it.  Something along those lines.  If you try to think of everything you're supposed to do all at once while you're trying to nail your spot of course you're going to get overloaded.

deer wont let you shoot groups at them...try just one arrow...it's the only one that counts

Picture your thumb tack right where you want to hit on the deer..

I would sugest maybe for the last week before season just shooting one arrow in the am or pm shooting session, mentally put yourself in a hunting situation knowing you have only one shot..

Just concentrate like you have been and you will do fine. Best of luck!

I like the way you think! and your attitude about not taking a shot that has a risk of wounding an animal is great.
Even though I practice out to 35 yards regularly I can count on one hand how many animals I have killed past 20 yards.
 Hunting is about how close you can get more so than how far you can shoot.
 I would say you are ready to go! trust your judgment and have fun!

QuoteOriginally posted by Fleatrap1:
It is very hard to explain to people but it seems when I just concentrate and shoot I group arrows very well on target.  When I think about form, anchor, back tension, etc....I miss....Still its hard to "clear the mind"

Gotta say I resemble this remark    Funny 'cause if you ask a lot of the folks I know, they'd probably tell you there's plenty of space between my ears... Ah well, sounds like you're ready to me, go have fun!

Yes, loose the group shooting mentality. Just roam around with one judo point and shoot at anything within your range one time. If you can hit it or come very close it will give you more confidence.

Thanks everybody.  I will keep at it, seems i'm headed done the right road.  We finally have some cool weather here in Illinois, hope it sticks around!