For a few thousand years, there were no shelves cut into bows. Archers shot off their hands. Then there were very narrow shelves with a leather wedge glued to the side of the handle with no side plate.

 

Now, with the advent of epoxies, super glues and and catalytic resins came the laminated bow handle. Shelves were cut deeper. Advertising became King by telling folks their 50# bow design was so powerful it needed 75# spined shafts. All marketing, IMHO.  

 

The closer a bow is to being center shot, the easier it is to shoot. You must have some dedication to the sport to accurately shoot a true longbow.

Again, just my own opinion......

Here is a group I have shot with my New C&N.  The range is 10-35 yards.  Here is the kicker, there has been zero tuning done yet, and after shooting my BH tipped Firs, there won't be.  This thing is already dialed in for me.

But here is a story behind the group.  first off the arrows are 2016 at 29", a couple 2018 at 29" a 60-65 POC at 29" and a  55-60 POC at 29".  I shoot split vision so I have a "pre determined gap"  That is the intro.  I am going to do a write up on how I shoot.

Ok. So first off I know that my group is not going to win the Olympics or anything, which Im not  shooting for anyways.  I look for hunting size groups at all ranges.  

With my Trophy LB and the my C&N, I can not keep my arrow directly under my impact point because of the shelve (assumption) but that does not matter, my point is somewhere around 4 " or so to the right of my impact point.  Now if anyone of you are familiar with Jimmy Blackmon, he explains this the best but Ill give you my mediocre run down.  

At 10 yds my gap is around 15" or so, ( i don't measure with a rule, just hand widths)  15 yds is about 17 or so 20 yes is about 22 or so yards.  So on my Big Buck target (between 10-30 yards)if I float my point over the "G" on big buck my arrows will land in the kill zone every time if I do my part on the bow arm and release.  Now this is not an exact science because I don't focus on pointing the tip on the 'G" I can just tell thru split vision that its there.  

on rabbits, turkeys and other smaller game I just kinda know what that zone looks like so I pick a point 3-4" to the right of where I want to hit and around 20" below impact point.  After doing this enough I just kinda know what to do.  

On stumpshooting when I pick a target my bow arm just kinda knows where to go and I double check with split vision that my point is where I want it.  I do not hold at anchor for 3 seconds or anything, but there is a definite pause at anchor.  The pause is my quick check for windage and sight picture and away the bow goes.

Now, whenever I get a new bow or arrows. The fist thing I do is put a piece of blue painters tape at the bottom of my target.  I shoot 2 arrows at 10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,and 50 yards, by floating my tip over the blue tape.  At this point I make  a mental note of how high my impact point is.  From here I figure out where the majority of the arrows fall into a 4-6" group. So for the C&N its 10-30 or so yards.  say thats 20", and that will put the arrows on or +/- 2-3" of the 11 ring.  I will now from here on out, hold a gap of 20" for every shot in those ranges.  And after a little bit of shooting there is no thinking involved its just natural for the bow arm to go where it needs to go.  I never fully rely on my gap, as I phase it out.  But I feel it helps me with adjusting to every new bow.  

Now at any 3D i go to or hunting situation, I know my secondary point is around mid shin on a deer, 3-4 " to the right.  This allows my 100% confidence and zero second guessing.  Sorry if that was clear as mud, but explaining it does not come easy to me.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jimmyblackmon

this is jimmy explaining it, but he is a WAY better shot than I, but he takes it more serious too.  I have a more laid back approach.  Jimmys the man!!!

Oh, and here is how I figured this out.  I tried doing gap shooting, but could not get into all the measurements, and then I started freaking my self out when Id get to an unknown range.  I would start wondering where is x" how do i know this is X", what range am I at, how many inches for this yards etc.  it was too difficult for me.  
But after shooting for a while I noticed that it looked like my arrow was in the same spot all the time from 10-30 or so yards.  So I started experimenting by putting the blue tape on my target and Id float it as I explained earlier, and once i realized all my ranges where holding roughly the same gap the entire system clicked for me and it has been heaven since  

So If this kind of shooting intimidates you or you think its too technical, just try the simplified version like i have to use with my simple brain and you will then understand why Howard Hill said it was the fastest most accurate method for shooting  in a hunting situation.

Posting this for Louis Lucido

What a teenie doe ..... NOT!


Nice deer Louis!

Bud

NICE doe Louis! Congrats

Very nice doe!!    

Wow what a deer, congrats!

Nice deer.

Great picture too !

Thanks Brian.  That video was very helpful.  Jimmy explained arrow trajectory very well and backed it up with actual shooting which was nice.

I love how everyone on this site is truly committed to helping others become better archers!

Congrats on that "Little doe"        

QuoteOriginally posted by Ralphie:
Posting this for Louis Lucido

 

Oh My! The venison horse!    

Mr. Lucido we need to know the details of this hunt.  Stand, still hunt, equipment, etc.  My friend that is a great trophy right there.

Thanks Guy for all the kind words! that is a doe that I shot on private land , this time . I shot her with a shrew Hill I got from Ron in August . 43 pounds @ 27 inches and 66 inches long .that was my 30th white tail with traditional Equipment and Wood Arrows , and I thank God for all of them! I Love Howard Hill , and have tried to get and study all the info I can about Him .this started my Love for the Longbow!I have never met a bad traditional person yet , you guy's have the Love for doing the Hard Way !! Louie Lucido   Gen27: 3

well, last night Mr. Nate's Sunset Hill longbow did it again.  that along with the help and advice of others here.  this was classic Howard Hill style at work.  I stalked her from 100 yards out, got within, 30 yards and brought the bow up and shot, quick and acurate.  She went 50 yards.  I have been a strong believer in Hill heads and loved Ace broadheads.  On her I used a simmons landshark, wow, the bloodtrail was like someone spilled a paint can of blood. [/url] [/IMG]

Nice shot!

For those that don't know Louis, he's 4' tall and is 10' behind that doe!  It dressed at 60#!    

   

Nice one Louis!