Let's say out to 25yds. or whatever you happen to practice at.

I'll start, Since I started shooting a couple of weeks ago, I can keep 5 arrows inside of 3" at 25yds., 2 or 3 arrows will generally be touching, it all comes down to how still I can hold the bow, which I'm working on with an old Ben Pearson model 250 I've got that has very little let-off. Jay

Jay,
Sounds good to me. I normally shoot from 20yards at an orange dot that is the size of a tennis ball. 8 arrows are shot at 4 of these dots. That way I do not damage too many arrows. Frequently, I will put half the arrows in the dots with the balance just surrounding the dots.
Considering that I've been shooting for many years, I'd say you're shooting a lot better.
I have had no problem killing whitetails out to 38 yards (my longest shot), even though most were taken at the magic 20yd mark.
VH

Im right about the same as you guys 6 arrows inside 3" at 25/30 yrds. I shoot year around in hunting situations like from tree stands and sitting positions. This past year I did almost all my practice at 40 yards and then as season drew nearer I mixed yardage up and down from 15 to 40 and my groups were tighter and tighter all the time. I also started practicing shots being made within a certian time period which changed daily. I am not a great 3D archer but when I am in the field in a hunting situation I can 99% of the time pull off the shot. Im not saying that I never have lost deer but over the past 6 to 8 yrs my unrecovered deer numbers have fallen almost to nonexsistant levels. Im not getting a big head becouse I could lose one tomarrow just as easy as the next hunter but most of my screw ups since then have been dead misses. I missed a real hog just this morning on a buck that would probly gross the mid 130s. Ouch, that REALLY hurt!!!!Deer like that in MI take a long hot summer to find.

[ 10-12-2003, 07:30: Message edited by: chuckduster ]

I sometimes break a two inch balloon (I like shooting at them) at 20 yds almost every shot, then the next day I shoot all around it. Can't explain why I shoot good one day and not the next. Of course I shoot fingers. I always seem to shoot better on deer and never realize I released, Maybe because I hate flat targets.

I shoot 5-6 arrow groups in my backyard. I generally shoot 5 spot out to 25 yards, then at one target at further ranges. I do this 'cause I was getting robin hoods and spending too much on arrows. But I'm like the rest of you....about 3" at 30 yards, 4" at 40 yards, and about 5-5 1/2" at 50 yards. Pretty much 1" per 10 yards. I figure that's good enough since I won't shoot past 30 yards on deer (self imposed limit in my first year back to bowhunting in 20 years).

Joe

Boy am I glad for this topic! I was on another forum and when I told a "New Bowhunter" that he was shooting great when he posted that he was shooting 5 or 6 arrows in usually less than 1" groups at 20 yards, (6 of my 2213s measure an inch when I wrap them in a rubberband) and that I had never put 6 arrows in less than an inch at 20 yds in 30 years of shooting it was suggested by the majority that I and my equipment was defiecient in multiple areas! Anyway I am in or around 2" dots at 20 yds, usually in a 6" circle at 40 yards or very close but I still get a flyer now and then that will miss by say 6-8" which bothers me the most! It almost always misses low left.

It Depends on where I'm shooting ,what I'm shooting at ,and type of bow and arrows I am shooting.
If I shoot inside at 20 yards with a target bow and carbons using light tips I would say I can X out on every shot. I try to shoot inside bottle caps at this distance.
Now that I move out in the fields and trees and wind and stuff like that there I change allot.
I shoot from 10 yards to 80 yards. I shoot at an eight inch pie plate at 10 yards and then take it down to 5 inch at 15 yards. The 20 yard shot I always try to do the same as in doors and sometimes can do it. Then I go 25 30 35 forty all the way to eight yards.
The 5 inch target is started again at fifty yards and the eight inches is started at seventy yards.
I shoot Three arrows at all yardage's. I then shoot the same targets in no set order. I like to have someone call the target as I start my draw so I have to adjust on the fly. Please keep in mind that this is "practice" and I do not recommend shooting at these distances for most archers.
My reason for shooting like this is so that I have confidence in "the shot" when in the field as well as having the distances more or less burned into my head. You will be surprised just how easy that 20 to 30 yard shot is after shooting distances and even more so when you shoot at random. I also want to express that this shooting is not done for groupings but for hunting.
By the way as long as we talk practice I would recommend that you practice with your fingers if you use a release. You will under stand the first time you can't use the release.
Did I mention I do not group while practicing for hunting?
DOA

I personaly don't shoot "groups" I feel that shooting at a larger circle causes a larger margen for error. I shoot at 1" stick on targets used for rifle shooting , if you were to draw a circle around it , it would probably only have to be 2" accross for the 25yd range.
I usualy don't do alot of practicing at anything less than 30yds until the week before the hunt. I commonly prcatice out to 75yds , its my thinking that the better you can shoot at long range the more it helps on the short shots.

My target is the outfitter size "Block" that I painted black and I use either white or ornge stick on dots. And I'm not sure if I'm the only person that shoots their mechanical broadheads while target practicing , but I have found that they don't shoot to the exact same point of impact as field points , so the week before the season I start shooting them , then replace the blades before the hunt.

Same here. I shoot at paper targets at the shop alot they have a 50 yard indoor range and I take a paper target and turn it over and put a black circle on it with a marker I carry in my bow case. I just cant seem to shoot at 5 spots as well as a single black point or spot an inch or two in dia. Sounds weird I know.

I generally shoot the five spot because the single spot gets expensive on arrows. Indoor shooting I've shot some groups that amazed me. I shoot a Pearson Competition Spoiler 72lbs with 50% let off. Groups tend to open up a bit outdoors with broadheads. I practice with broadheads to 40 yds cause I still get good groups at that distance. It seems like the arrows really dive between 40 and 50 yds though.
I also need to move pins slightly with broadheads as they hit low and right compared to field points.

I average about 1" per 10 yards.... at 50 yards i usually average about 4" for 3 arrows.

Funny thing is, I shoot an 80 lb @ 30" Hoyt Supertec.... but I'm only 5'4

I started with 29" and worked up to 30", and it doesn't make much difference in my shooting. I partly did it just b/c people told me it couldn't be done....