A little off topic, but how did Art and others shoot 3/4 under without snap on nocks? Thumb on the nock?

I started split but with a very high anchor. Years later I had to start shooting with glasses and had to lower my anchor by a lot. I had a lot of trouble.

I tried 3 under and never went back. It's easier to make a tab for 3 under too.

Quote from: TRich on August 16, 2025, 11:50:16 AMA little off topic, but how did Art and others shoot 3/4 under without snap on nocks? Thumb on the nock?

You don't need a "snap on nock " per se to shoot under.  You would just need the nock to fit snuggly and not pop off, I.e.  cutting the nock to tight fit the string/serving,  or serving a string to the correct fatness to hold the nock tightly..........either approach would make for a tight fitting nock not easily inclined to come off when shot 2 or 3 or 4 under.

3 under looks terrible, feels worse. I tried it a couple dozen times. And Still, it feels bad. Butif it works for you, good!

I'm 59, been shooting split finger since about 8. I'll never win a match. But I can kill deer.
 
At this point, I'm going to split finger it from here on out.

On another subject...I don't like to see the 3 under/fixed gap/point aiming, passionately promoted on the intertube to new hunters as the best and only way to shoot. While archery has all types of shooters and many may like that style. It's not the only way.


For me, the escape to less technical and more fluid side of things keeps me happy. Point and shoot, kill deer.

Quote from: Tedd on August 22, 2025, 09:38:08 PMOn another subject...I don't like to see the 3 under/fixed gap/point aiming, passionately promoted on the intertube to new hunters as the best and only way to shoot. While archery has all types of shooters and many may like that style. It's not the only way.


For me, the escape to less technical and more fluid side of things keeps me happy. Point and shoot, kill deer.

I could not agree more.  I like the control of split also for hunting.  Try to shoot reverse cant with 3under.  Bad things can happen in hunting situations when the arrow is allowed to do its own thing.  I also don't need to stress about 2 nock points..the perfect nock fit, etc.

Quote from: TRich on August 16, 2025, 11:50:16 AMA little off topic, but how did Art and others shoot 3/4 under without snap on nocks? Thumb on the nock?

Not sure I read all there books and seen Art's Alaskan movie they never went to detail, they killed a bunch of lions in Africa

On various podcasts, I've heard it said recently that "...the majority of trad shooters are shooting 3-under these days." 

I've no reason to doubt that, nor to criticize it.  I am 54 and have shot split-finger since I was a kid.  I tried 3-under a couple times but not enough to really give it a go or let it start feeling natural.  I tend to be a loner, so I don't know what others are doing.

I think there's an angle here, where the folks who are doing the podcasts and getting onto social media are part of a more vocal sub-culture that also tends toward shooting 3-under.  In other words... the split-finger shooters could be the majority but if they're not at the shoots, and making videos and podcasts and social media posts, then they are a silent majority.  No big deal either way, but I tend to think this.

Quote from: Burnsie on August 12, 2025, 02:16:24 PMAnyone try shooting two under and dropping the ring finger. Seems like you could get the advantage of having the arrow under your eye without all the extra tension of all three fingers low on the string?  Would have the same tension under the arrow as shooting split, but without the top finger. 
I believe Dan Toelke promotes shooting two finger - but split.  I've tried that and it is fine, but I'm just too set in my ways and stick with regular split.

You could shoot split finger, middle finger anchor and have the arrow in the same place as 3 under. The release I believe is more fluid using a pointer finger anchor

On another note and no hard fact here but observations at least in these parts... most older long time shooters are using split finger. The newer shooters it seems are more toward 3 under. Anyone else see that?

I started split finger 30 years ago.  Thought it was the only way.  I tried 3 under and it was just better for me.  Now, I'm at a fixed crawl and that's even better. 

Bowguy.  That's my observation as swell.  3-under has been around a long time, but it wasn't as popular years ago, and it's mostly older guys who have stuck with it.  Though not all, of course. 

In my (very) limited experience, I started off 3U and got into fixed crawl, super high anchors, etc. it was a fast way to almost always hit basketball sized targets within 20ish yards. When I stopped overanalyzing everything and off the Internet I ended up shooting split and anchor where it gave me a smooth release. My arrow flight beyond 20 improved a lot and it took more practice but I gained better precision overall. I now feel comfortable small game over a much broader range of distances. Before I felt limited to large game within 20 and an arrowhead is a large front sight post to be precise enough for a groundhogs noggin at about any distance.

Overall for me I wanted better overall arrow flight, a quiet shot, and to be able to hit smaller and farther targets. Hitting a basketball under 20 yards with 3U and fixed or high anchor was a fast track, just not what I wanted in the long term. Just my opinion and to each his own, I can see the appeal for sure!