Newbie needs advice...

[kingfish007]

To begin with, Howdy!
I've been lurking for a while, but just recently started posting (I didn't know what to ask before!).

Well, I am fairly new to this traditional thing, only been shooting about 6 months total - and only about a week since I had some back issues. Now I need some advise.

I'm shootin a 50# @28" PSE Kingfisher recurve with a plastic "flipper" rest.
I am trying to tune the bow with 29" Easton 2117 aluminum arrows/ plastic vanes(they were the lightest spine weight available @ Academy by my house). My draw length is about 27-1/2". Target distance is ~10 yards.
I don't sight with the arrow, I try to just focus on the target

I started with 125g points, but they were too light. 200g seemed to fly a lot better, but I seemed to shoot about 6" high most of the time.

So I tried some 250g points, and right away it seemed better, but by the time I flung 30 or so, my groups were high again!!
Hopefully I am doing something obvious.

I would like to get rid of the elevated rest, and shoot lighter spined arrows (like XX75 500's) off the shelf and with feathers (the arrows make a slight screech on the rest when I draw back now). What would that affect as far as elevation??

Like I said, I don't know much about this stuff, but I hope to hunt with this thing this season. I wanted to last year, but I decided to stick with my rifle till I got better.

Thanks for any input, you guys rock!

[BmacBmac1]

Sorry, I cant offer ya any advise but WELCOME!

[stick'um]

I think to shoot instinctive you need to get your arrow as close to your hand as possible so when your brain points you finger at the target your arrow is not to far above that point. That could be your shooting high issue. I would dump the rest a go to the shelf.
Just my 2 cents.

And welcome to the sight,neighbor

[LONGBOWFANATIC02]

You can slightly raise and lower you nocking point to adjust for shooting high and low. If you are shooting high than slightly and I mean slightly raise the nocking point little by little until you get to where you want to be, just be sure that you dont move it too much and cause the arrows to porpus (sp?). Hope this helps a little, and normally shooting vanes off of a stickbow requires a slightly higher knocking point.

[Ol Man]

My take on this is... without seeing you shoot _ I would first off suspect an anchor problem. Shooting off a shelf or the plastic rest usually isn't the answer to this problem.
The squeaking you are hearing is from the rest being new and the fact of the aluminum arrows themselves. If you want put some moleskin on the plastic rest (even the end cut from a band-aid will work for a bit)- this will get rid of that. The 2117's are spined stiff for this bow weight - but, you can get good flight as you said by adding a lot of weight up front.

Expecting to be consistent at this point in time in your shooting I would say is expecting too much from yourself. You need to get someone to help you with your form first, then get settled in with the bow - then comes accuracy and consistent groups.

Oh ya.... WELCOME!

[kingfish007]

Thanks for the help fellers, I appreciate it.

I think I'll just concentrate more on my form, and not worry so much about groups just yet.
Still think I'm gonna try a weaker arrow w/ 125g points off the shelf. I just want this to be simple as possible.

I got this bow in a garage sale last Sept. for $25, it looked brand new. All I did was buy a new fast flight string for it. Shoots pretty good, compared to the others I have shot (none!).
I love the custom wood bows, but this one'll have to do until I convince myself(wife) that I'm gonna stick with this traditional stuff.

Thanks again!!

[duck'n]

One thing to check when you move to shooting off the shelf is the shelf itself. If it is flat and not radiused (curved) you will need to make a high point for the arrow to rest on. This can be very simple such as a short section of match stick or WD40 plastic tube. Cut the length the same as the width of your shelf and place it at the point directly above the throat of the grip (deepest point of the grip). Cover it in velcro (fuzzy side) or moleskin. Then put a small triangular shape piece of velcro/moleskin on the riser side above this high point and you will be set. I am really thinking my old PSE had a flat shelf. Nothing wrong with that bow by the way, my buddy still shoots my old one and loves it. Good luck and welcome to the fire!

[stan]

Let me add another "welcome" to the screen. I'm afraid I'm a "nubbin' buck" too, when it comes to traditional, so will sit back and wait on the experts.

[brent hill]

How much are you are you shooting at each practice session. When I shoot too much, I start to drop my elbow on my drawing arm and this will affect your up and down. Shoot a light weight bow with the arrow that shoots the best -for now- and focus on form. Adcock has a great article on bare shafting and you should read it to solve the spine and tuning questions. But your ability to effectively bare shaft and tune depends on your ability to shoot consistent. Get a shaft that is as close to your required spine and just shoot 3 to 10 arrows a day, not more, to work on your form. Start at 8, 12 and 15 yards and just learn that form without feeling like you have to shoot 30 plus yards or 30 plus arrows. After a month or two when you get more consistent, try bare shafting again. Then your form and shooting will get better and then try bare shafting again 6 months later to see if that improves. I didn't hunt with my stick for two years and only after a pig the first years and 3 dry years later did I consistently take animals with my curve. It taks time. You should also join a local club that has trad shooters. They can help with your form and you can try out their arrows and bows without shelling out large amounts of cash on test shafts and such. I'm in denton tx north of dallas with the Denton County Archers. If your live near or arein the area, give me a call. Just don't get discouraged. You will have days where you are on fire and can't miss. (this summer I took 3 animals in South Africa with my widow) You will also have days that you wonder why you ever picked up that **** stick. (The next deer season after africa, I promptly missed a deer and made a bad shot on a doe that was not recovered.) Its tough but if you stick with it, it will get in your blood. 940-367-1820 Brent Hill

[kingfish007]

Ol Man was on the money!

I concentrated on my anchor point, and things are lookin better. Seems that I tend to grip the string inconsistently (I read this in another thread - made me think about it). Sometimes with fingers straight out towards my face and tight, sometimes curled around the string and tight, and sometimes curled and loose. I anchor my middle finger @ corner of my mouth, 3-under.

My groups are still somewhat erratic, but not consistently up and left. More like consistently all over!

Thanks for the help, I'm sure I'll be askin for more!

[Ol Man]

A deep hook on the string will help you a lot at this point. Grip the string in the crease of the first part of your fingers. Curl your fingers into your hand and you will see that there is a hook shape at the first joints of your fingers. This deep hook will give you a good start for hitting your anchor consistently. If you have your thumb curled under it becomes another anchor point as well as the middle finger in the corner of the mouth. Tuck the joint of your thumb in to your jawbone..it should fit in there nicely. Hope this helps a bit - remember to bring the string to you not you going to the string as this will cause very erratic shooting.

[152 Sumo]

Ol Man was on the money!

I concentrated on my anchor point, and things are lookin better. Seems that I tend to grip the string inconsistently (I read this in another thread - made me think about it). Sometimes with fingers straight out towards my face and tight, sometimes curled around the string and tight, and sometimes curled and loose. I anchor my middle finger @ corner of my mouth, 3-under.

My groups are still somewhat erratic, but not consistently up and left. More like consistently all over!

Thanks for the help, I'm sure I'll be askin for more!

Ol Man helped me with my anchor as well and my shooting improved dramatically. I still have trouble, but the good part is I am starting to learn what made a particular shot go bad. Today for example, I was shooting up close. I was aiming at one of the little dots on the bag target. One shot didn't feel good, but the impact was dead center where I was aiming. The arrow didn't fly to straight either. Rather than being satisfied that I hit dead center, I realized that it wasnt a good shot and started to think about making the next shot better with form, not only where the arrow hits.