Instinctive shooting

[LostHawg]

The very first step. Get a "coach".

[Selfbowman]

Go to Spicewood Tx and get lessons from Deb!!!

[4dog]

Cant your bow a bit and get it out of your sight..look at one spot ONLY cancel out the world..let fly..oh and all the other stuff too..good luck

[jmack]

Telling you to practice practice practice is easy. Here's HOW to practice. First start with blind bale practicing. You'll need a haybale, or a target you can hang up right in front of you. Now, stand back two feet from that target/haybale, nock an arrow, grab the string, and close your eyes. You're going to shoot without looking. What you want to do is focus on your form. Feel first where the string is resting in your fingers. Is it on the tips, in a joint crease? It doesnt matter so long as it's comfortable, and more importantly, repeatable. Now draw. Use your back. You want to feel your shoulder blades pinching together. That's important, don't draw with your arms or shoulders. If you do it right, it will feel like you're pulling the bow apart. Half pushing away with the arm holding the bow, and half pulling back with the armholding the string, but the tension should always be in your back. Like a bodybuilder squeezing his shoulder blades together to show off, and stick out his massive pecs. Now feel where your fingers touch your face. Is there a finger in the corner of your mouth, maybe your thumb is tucked behind your jaw, or even might be in your ear. Doesn't matter so long as you repeat it the same way time after time. Instintive archery is about muscle memory, consistancy... Now, with eyes still closed, let your arrow fly right in front of you. Don't pop your fingers off the string, you'll just look like a bullrider. Instead, pull back a little further, until your fingers slip away from the string. Look where you shot, and retrieve your arrow. Do it again. Do it until your fingers or back just start getting sore, then stop. Fatigue kills form, and you dont want your body to learn bad habits. Do this practice for a week, and it never hurts to go back to it from time to time. Shooting practice is easier. Start at 10 feet away. With good form, draw your bow, and focus on the tiniest speck you can pick out, and shoot it. When 5 arrows touch each other, then mive back a few yds. Rinse and repeat. Keep both eyes open when picking your spot.

[Billy Shipp]

Lots of great advice here.

It's all form and concentration. If either one is missing so will the arrow.

I've been shooting longer than I care to remember. The first part of jmack's post says it all IMO.

I do a lot of blind bale shooting. I'll blind bale shoot before every practice and hunt.
If I'm going to hunt in the mornings, before I drive off I'll park my truck and use the headlights to shoot 8 or 10 times blind bale before going to my stand to solidify my form and concentration.

When you're practicing, you need to shoot at a specific spot. If you're using a 3D target, put a small piece of tape where you want to hit.....don't shoot at the whole target.
My practice target is a paper plate on a roll of hay. I don't shoot at the plate....I'll put a dime size circle on the plate and shoot at that instead of shooting at the plate itself.

Be patient and have fun. Don't over think it. Getting too serious, then frustrated takes all the fun out of it.

Most of my actual practice is out in the pasture with a Judo tip, shooting every distance imaginable. Cow patties, weeds, gopher mounds and ant hills make great targets.

[jmack]

Lol, the shooting practice part may seem off. I didn't mean to start off at 10 feet and move back every time you practice. If at first you've found that you can shoot good enough to group at 10 yds, then start the next practice at 10 yds. If you move back to 12, and cant group, then start the next practice at 10 again, and move back when you start grouping well. Eventually you'll be grouping at 20 (with lots of time invested). Alot of trad hunters don't practice much beyond 17-20 yds. I shoot some 3-d, and I'll try to practice out to 30 sometimes. You'll get comfortable enough to make fun shots out to 50 or so. When you're grouping well out to 15 - 20yds, stump shooting or 3-d becomes great practice. You'll be mixing up your yardages, and just kinda winging it.

[Limbwalker]

Step #1 - develop a consistent anchor.

In other words, TOUCH YOUR FACE.

90% of trad newbies I see have a "floating" anchor. They think they anchor, but in reality, their hand is a half inch or more from their face when the release.

Also, be sure you're shooting with the arrow under your dominant eye.

But usually, it's an anchor issue.

Also, Byron Ferguson's small book "Become the arrow" is a must-read for new traditional shooters.

John

[txchuck]

What Limbwalker said, That is real good book and themethod works.
Chuck

[garfish]

Another good book is "instinctive archery insights" by Jay Kidwell.

[MikeW]

Ya know what's nice about this place? Nobody got their panties in a wad and posted some long winded argument about there is no such thing as "Instinctive Shooting"

Wanna stay busy for a few days reading on the subject and get a headache? Search the Leatherwall for the topic.

[Mike Javi Cooper]

Ya know what's nice about this place? Nobody got their panties in a wad and posted some long winded argument about there is no such thing as "Instinctive Shooting"

Wanna stay busy for a few days reading on the subject and get a headache? Search the Leatherwall for the topic.

That one got all worn out some time ago..

[Target-panic]

Lots of good stuff shared here!!

When I first crossed over from shooting a compound, I thought about yardage. Now yardage is not a thought at all. if it does creep into my thoughts my shots go off track.
I aint a great shot, but I dont practice as much as I should either. I can laugh at myself, so its alright with me.

[Limbwalker]

Ya know what's nice about this place? Nobody got their panties in a wad and posted some long winded argument about there is no such thing as "Instinctive Shooting"

Wanna stay busy for a few days reading on the subject and get a headache? Search the Leatherwall for the topic.

Exactly why I left the leatherwall after 10+ years. Folks here are plenty helpful, and very reasonable.

[Limbwalker]

Here's something you may want to try...

I saw this idea years ago on the 'wall, and one day decided to try it and see how well it works. I'm not opposed whatsoever to putting sights on a hunting recurve. I've done it off and on for many years now.

This is probably the most clever, simple, sighting solution I've found yet though. SO simple, and adds no weight or bulk to your bow. In fact, you hardly notice it until you go to shoot. And it's entirely up to you as to whether you use it for each shot, or not!

Top stripe is 10 yards, and bottom is 20. 15, of course, is just bracketed in between.

If I want to use this "sight" I just hold the bow more vertical, and use it as a guideline for elevation. If I don't want to use it (wingshooting, quick shots on bunnies, etc.) I just cant the bow and shoot.

The white paper under clear tape shows up great in low light too.

Best of all, it cost me something like $0.01 to make! Gotta love that!

Give it a try and see if it helps you.

[MikeW]

I did that years ago but I just used a permanent marker to make dots on the belly of the riser also used straight pins with the plastic colored heads.

Don't why I don't do it anymore, visions of wanting to be like Byron Ferguson I guess.