How long can you hold a bow at full draw?

[Postoaks]

How long are you comfortable holding your bow at full draw and still getting a good shot off? This is my first year bow hunting and right now I seem to start to lose some stability at about the 20-30 second mark. That seems short to me...

I understand most of the time this should not come into play since you wait to draw when the right shot presents itself.

[Mike Javi Cooper]

With a compound 2 or 3 minutes comfortably.. probably another minute with a little strain... mostly from holding the bow up.. not from holding it at full draw.. My 50 lb longbow at least a full minute at full draw.

[DrenalinJunkie]

You actually have it a little backwards........if you always wait for the perfect shot BEFORE you draw, you will miss the shot op.

Practice drawing and holding. This way, you can draw when the deer isn't right in front of you and let them walk into the shooting lane.

Personally, I have had to hold at full draw for a minute or better.

[systemnt]

no fatigue from the bow.. pretty good wall.. but arms will get tired from position..after a minute or so.. probably could fight through that for a while..

[Twztid]

Yeah Several mins for sure...

[Lady Archer]

This thread makes my shoulder hurt.

[Mayhem]

never timed myself. but my z28 seems like i could hold it forever.

[sniper steve]

You want to be able to hold at full draw for as long as humanly possible. Shooting while hunting isn't like shooting at targets. The deer isn't going to be standing broadside in front of you, waiting for you to draw and fire. Try to draw while he's in the open, looking around, and you'll get busted, and have another "I almost shot this HUGE buck" story. You wait till just before he's coming into your shooting lane, while his head is still behind a tree or brush, then you draw, and wait for him to come out and present a shot. Depending on how things go from there, you might be waiting a few minutes, or a few seconds. Like anything else, practice, practice, then practice some more, and you will get better. Seems you're on the right track, and asking the right questions. Good luck this season.

[super_dave]

bout a minute........whats more important is how slow can you draw!

[Postoaks]

bout a minute........whats more important is how slow can you draw!

This is what I have been practicing most of lately. Sitting down and drawing slow with no noise and as little as movement as possible.

Today I decided to practice holding it for awhile to see how long I could be steady and still take a shot. I thought it was too short but it could have been because I had been shooting for awhile already. Will try again in next 30 minutes or so to see the difference.

[Stoof]

My practice routine for the last couple of weeks is five arrows. One for each dot on my target. First two I try to draw the bow while sitting as slow as I can. The last three I try to hold as long as I can before letting them off. I might do this two or three times in a day But I have noticed that the longer I practice the worse my shooting gets.
With Deer, I figure the first shot is the one that matters.

[Burntorange Bowhunter]

When I drew on the buck in my avatar....he whirled and trotted about 30 yards...then turned and walked slowly back into camera view and shooting lane....I would say about 30-45 seconds I had to hold....it's on video.

[Reaper]

a while 2-3 minutes, but at the tail end of that I'd be more worried about muscle fatigue affecting my shot

[Speedgoat]

As long as ther deer is in front of me.

[Farm Boy]

This shot took about 1 minute to make, but felt like eternity.

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.co...d.php?t=217318