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Hey all, I just got my first bow, an OMP Mountaineer at 35#. I'm practicing with it at fairly short distances out to about 15yds but was curious as to what I should be expecting in terms of groups and accuracy. Also what sort of distances should I be moving my practice out to? It's only been a couple of weeks so I want to avoid making any silly mistakes. K | ||
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At 15 yards, you should be stacking six arrows into less than a two inch circle, with many broken nocks and cut fletching. I typically dial in a bow at ten yard, then back up to twenty and resight the pin to shoot accurately at the twenty yard distance. And at twenty yards, I expect two to three inch accuracy. Then I back up to thirty yards and do the same. At that range, I expect again, two to three inch accuracy. And then I move back to forty yards and shoot some more. At forty yards, I want all six of my arrows inside of a four inch circle. I rarely practiced beyond that forty yard mark because I refuse to shoot an animal beyond that range. I have practiced out to sixty yards and grouped all six arrows inside a six inch circle... | |||
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Thanks shof My previous message was wrong place!! I need to finish setting up the bow and get a heap more practice. It a all good fun though. | |||
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Well, I've been shooting a bow for a whole 3 weeks. I'm getting groups with 5-8 arrows averaging 7" at 15yds, but when I concentrate and consciously focus on the form I have shot good 4"-5" groups. The strange thing is that I am trying to understand the lack of aiming that comes with shooting intuitively and I suppose it is like a shotgun. Sometimes I focus on a point on the target and drill it and sometimes I focus on a point and shoot a great group 10" above it!! The odd flier I am living with at the moment until I understand all the stuff I need to do to get consistent. All advice is gratefully received. My plan is to try and take a Portuguese stag this year with my bow if I can get proficient enough, so I have a long way to go!! Thanks again, K | |||
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The first advice I give to new archers is to limit how many arrows you shoot in a practice session. Shoot maybe 20-30 shots, then pack it up for the day, or at least a few hours. This is tough to do since you are out with your new toy, but... Tired muscles will lead to poor form and bad habits. Little things you do when fresh will change as you tire. In particular your grip will change as will your steadiness when at full draw. As for yardage, many recurve shooters stick to a 30 yard max. Some stretch it to 40. With your current draw weight, 20-25 is about it for a large animal. Bumping up to 50# gets you to 30 yards. Speaking of accuracy, you should be able to hit a pie plate at your max yardage with the first shot. You'll get one try at an animal. Keep at it, archery is a worthy challenge. Jeremy | |||
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K Tell us more about your bow. Is it a compound or a recurve. Does it have a pin type sight? Are you shooting fingers or with a release? DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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Hiya, I'm shooting a takedown recurve. It is the OMP Mountaineer. It has no sight and I'm just trying to learn to shoot instinctively. Actually today I felt more coming together, and impact is getting more predictable. I was getting good groups but point of impact bay have been ten inches high. I redid my nocking point and now have butter accuracy. I was also experimenting with anchor points, and am now finding something that feels natural at full draw. I gonna head out to shoot a few arrows in a bit so I will try and take some pics. I'm loving the whole process of learning a new shooting discipline. All suggestions gratefully received. K | |||
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If you can read G. Fred Asbell on instinctive shooting. I concur with Farbedo on limiting practice and focusing on form. I've been shooting longbows and recurves for years but have to "start over" due to long breaks for work. After a while you will build good form that will translate to different positions and even moving targets. Muscle memory is the key. Just make sure your muscles remember proper form, anchor, and release. I only offer this as I did it wrong for longer than I care to admit. You are also starting with a light bow and that's great. I often have to back up to a light bow to rebuild my muscles and form. Get it right with that bow before you move up in poundage. There a number of things to study such as arrow weight, tuning, etc... but just have fun. The addiction will take over and you'll pick up all the details. Enjoy. Never do something once you're not willing to do the rest of your life. Always hold the door for the other guy. My African friends understand the world in a way I can only dream of. | |||
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Jeff, Thanks for the pointers. It is strange how when the shot is a good one I know it instinctively and when it is a rubbish one then I tend to know before the release. I have been studying the form and am finding how weight distribution affects impact, draw length and even two or three finger release, as well as elbow position. I'm getting arrows hitting each other, and yesterday I stripped my first fletching!! but most of all it is all a lot of fun. I think I am finally starting to get a "feel" for the right shot, and will read the material you mention. I also ordered a 20lb bow for my wife to use. I may well practice with that too in order to build the correct style with less muscle fatigue. I definitely find a strong relationship to instinctive shot gunning and that is helping a lot. Thanks again for all the suggestions, Kiri | |||
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OK I'm getting the addiction now!!! I have the target set up in the garden about fifteen paces from my office, so two or three times a day I am heading down to fling some arrows. I'm taking the forum advice and limiting my arrows per session to three lots of eight. It's a light bow and I'm fairly large so I don't find that tiring. I just shot two groups like this consecutively and decided to put the bow down and head back to work, but I'm really happy that I can see some progress. Sadly my garden is not big enough for the 30yrad range, but I think I can squeeze it to 20yds which will be fine for now. why did I wait until I was nearly 40 years old to take this up?!?!?!? Here's some pics:    | |||
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Well done. That small white dot is a good target and helps you to focus on a point. Groups are great-better than mine would be. Keep it up. One warning. You're beginning to tear fletching and break nocks. Rainy days are great for building your own arrows. The addiction will continue. Never do something once you're not willing to do the rest of your life. Always hold the door for the other guy. My African friends understand the world in a way I can only dream of. | |||
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Well done mate. Those are some nice groups. You also took the challenging route starting with a recurve. I also like to practice at longer ranges, which makes 20/30 yard shots feel a lot easier. Bet you are getting excited about skewering a stag at 20 paces! We should do a summertime archery meet up if you're about. | |||
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Hey boggy, Definitely could get together to fling some arrows about. I'm looking at a local club to also get some tuition. The shooting isn't always that good I can assure you. Still a long way from being happy to take on game but definitely feeling the excitement. What species you after in Africa this year? K | |||
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Seriuosly - anything that stands broadside at (ideally) 25 yards or less. | |||
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That's my kind of hunting. Walk out and see what turns up. We just got into Dumfries to try and shoot a few more roe. Gimme a call next week as I reckon we are due a catch up. K | |||
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Nice groups Fallow Buck! JCHB | |||
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FB, now you're cooking! Instinctive shooting doesn't mean you can do it instinctively...you have to work at it. When I was in my teens, I shot my Bear Kodiak Magnum probably an hour every day. You can get scary good shooting that often. I used to line tennis balls up at my feet, kick them one at a time, and try to shoot them as they shot across the lawn. Any kind of game you can invent makes it more interesting than just shooting at paper. The more you shoot, the better your "instinctive" shooting becomes. Hey, where is that old Kodiak Magnum? Maybe I'll head over for a new string and some tennis balls :-) | |||
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FWIW - I shot with and against G. Fred many times in the "old" days, 20/25years ago. Not meant as a slam of G. Fred, but he was one of the worst "instinctive" shooters I ever ran across. Always amazed me that he had such a big following. Hang in there Fallow, try and get some coaching if possible but just be careful who it is. Some "experts" can do you more harm than good. Larry Sellers SCI(International)Life Member Sabatti 'trash' 9.3 x 74R Double Shooter R8 Blaser DRSS
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Larry, That's the first I've heard that. I guess I was lucky in that I just read the book and never met him. Interesting experience. I guess I'm the same way when it comes to many of the dog training books out there. Regardless, appreciate that insight. Jeff Never do something once you're not willing to do the rest of your life. Always hold the door for the other guy. My African friends understand the world in a way I can only dream of. | |||
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Thanks Biebs, The tennis ball thing sounds cool!!! I've been in Scotland hunting roe and goats so I haven't picked up the bow for a week. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get back in the sadddle. Btw. I got two strings with the bow. One is twisted and one has several filaments. What's the difference? K | |||
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There are many materials and methods used in making bowstrings. Not to worry...when it starts to look frayed, change it. Let them stretch for a number of shots before you set your nocking point, as they'll stretch a bit initially. | |||
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