Anyone shoot a compound barebow (no sights)?

[TxAg]

I've killed plenty of animals with and without sight, with and without wheels. I prefer to hunt trad, but that's just my choice.
To the question asked. My first compound was shot with fingers and no sites. It was very accurate and I would mind doing it again. Most people who do not shoot traditional equipment,they just do not have the time to do the practice it takes to become proficient at it or they are just lazy As long as you are shooting to your limitations, it is just as good as a compound.

Thanks Ron. I don't have any desire to switch from my longbows, but I pull light weight. I was just thinking out loud last night.... if I ever want to hunt something truly large, I'd have to do it with a compound. My shoulder can't handle the heavy trad weights. If I ever shoot a compound again, I think it sounds fun to do it as "bare" as possible and use a really heavy arrow.

[denimdeerslayer]

I killed my first deer at 13 in the seventies with a 45# recurve and got my first compound around '81. I never had sights on a bow till '94. I killed lots deer shooting instinct with a finger tab. Also lots of birds, squirrels, rabbits. This is where you have to practice a lot. I would mark my broadheads with the arrow I tuned them with since I was using the tip of the arrow as a reference point to aim they all had to be the exact same. Since I got a bow with sights I shoot like a gun, only practice right before I go hunting.

[Johnny quest]

Guys who shoot without a sight with a coumpound usually use a gap method of some sort. It s actually a better method for quick shots and low light situations. You have to be serious about it and the guys who do are bad arses.IMO Especially traditional !!

[AtTheWall]

I shot the first - third generation compounds with fingers and no sights for literally 25 years. I also have a 42" ATA single CAM bow, that shoots 315 fps, fingers and no sight now for bow fishing. Pull the bow fishing gear off, stick a normal graphite arrow on her, and she's still golden to 30 yards easily - instinctive for me.

The modern compounds, starting at 37" or less, are too tight in the valley anymore to really get a good finger hold on the string without a lot of pinch. To be good with a wheel bow, shooting instinctively, you need 40 - 45 ATA to really ease the hold with fingers.

Using a release, I can shoot my Hoyts without sights instinctively out to 30 yards with better accuracy than any of my stick bows. I used to practice shooting without my sight, pulling it off the riser and shooting with a release to cover night hunts for hogs, spot & stalk. I don't recommend using fingers on these newer\shorter ATA bows since the finger pinch will play havoc on consistency between shots, not counting the pain at full draw on the fingers. Using a release, it's a piece of cake and a back tension release is perfect for shooting instinctively. It places your fingers up in the same area of your cheek in the same manner as holding with fingers. I use a Carter Chocolate Addiction when I shoot instinctively with my Hoyt Ultratec (37" ATA).


My last instinctive, no sight with compound kill was a 150 lb boar at 34 yards at night, in South Texas. Hog ran about 30 yards and piled up with holes in both lungs. I was using my Jennings PWC 42" ATA compound for that kill, fingers with no release and no sights.

If you bowfish, many prefer to shoot this way with compound gear. Using that logic, and a decent long ATA compound bow, it's easy enough to get the groove on without sights. I find it very fun myself and it's good practice to shoot this way, if you want to spot & stalk hogs at night.

[SwampRabbit]

I don't think one should because you owe it to the animal to take it as human as possibly and there is no way anyone can shoot as good instinctive as with a sight,especially at distance.

Say WHAT??!!!??? That is just crazy talk. And I suppose you should only use a gun then? With a certain scope, and the most damaging caliber?

[AtTheWall]

I don't think one should because you owe it to the animal to take it as human as possibly and there is no way anyone can shoot as good instinctive as with a sight,especially at distance. The all mighty uncle Ted shot instinctive for years and then went to sights and said himself that it made him a much better archer. It's just like those people that nap their own broad heads. There is no way a napped heads better than a modern broad head, you can argue all day at how sharp they are but they can't come close to holding up to a modern BH.

Sure with shots over 20 - 25 yards but shots inside of 20 yards, do you have a pin for exact shot placement at 10 - 15 yards? If you don't, then you are also simply holding low to cover where you think the true pin\peep to target impact point really is.

If the bow is setup 20 - 30 - 40 - 50, with 10 yard increments, you then are forced to gap shoot distances between these ranges. At this point, each shot is then a guess between the pins, on where the arrow truly will impact.

Sure you have pins that let you know, you may be in a general aiming zone but, what if you don't use a rangefinder and or have the distance off a bit? Target at 32 yards and you use the 20 pin and or 40 pin? Then using this logic, everyone then must use a range finder as well, and or have preset distance known, well before hand, to cover that moment if and whe that critter shows up at 27.3 yards so you can adjust your pin aim accordingly. If you guess the range and opt to use the 30 pin, holding that dead on to the boiler room, you may hit the void high, and that animal is gone. Couple that with a whitetails instinct to lower it's body during the sound wave of string release, the aiming point is then moving lower even more, even though you thought 30, it was standing 27.5 and at the string release, the animal drops another 4 inches.....DOH, over the back and or void shot..using pins!

Shooting instinctively, you really don't need to know the range and or distance. As it is with a pitcher throwing a fast ball into the catcher's mitt, it's all through practice and muscle memory to make the pitch accurately. Same with traditional and or compounds shot instinctively, practice - lots of practice, with years of experience shooting can and will make anyone very precise with shots out to their comfort range. Some can drill the 10 ring at 10 yards and others out to 20 - 30 yards. Those that shoot instinctive know when they are out of their comfort zone and this also goes in hand with those with sights as well. The ranges between the two are wide, comfort zone wise, but form and practice tightens it all up considerably.

Watch Byron Ferguson shoot for an example of keen instinctive accuracy. At ranges out to 100 yards.....he doesn't need sights, it's INSTINCTIVE.

Shooting asprins tossed into the air....you can't do that with sights....Byron can, instinctively...as one of the dozens of shooting examples.

[Txjourneyman]

Byron is a bad ***!

[Mike Murphey]

Not all bowhunters/archers that shoot without sights use a gap method, you really need to know what you are talking about before making statements like that. I know allot of folks that shoot totally instinctive, (including myself) but when we hunt most of us don't shoot over 20 yards. We feel that bowhunting is still a close in sport. Each person needs to know their limitations.

[sharkhunter]

I shot instinctive for years and killed a "ton" of animals that someone shooting sights would not even have had a chance to shoot. In a hunting situation under 30yrds I was deadly. Back then I shot 7 days a week and put in the time to get that good. I shot totally instinctive. As life's priorities changed I'm lucky to shoot once a week. I went to sights because of that reason.