How many arrows do you shoot in a day to get ready for the season?

[furiouzgeorge]

Obviously you should shoot as much and as often as you need to maintain an accurate shot. But I'm curious what you veteran bow-hunters typically send down range in a practice session. I'm not sure if there's a difference between Trad and Modern bows but I'm shooting a traditional recurve. Yesterday I shot well over 100 arrows trying to perfect my release (well, honestly to CORRECT my release). I didn't feel it at the time but I woke up this morning and I feel REALLY locked up. Gonna shoot a few arrows to loosen and work those specific muscle groups, but I'd like to know if 100 or more arrows is typical. Thanks!

[dreamunelk]

Unless you are shooting competition you do not need to be able to shoot a bunch of arrows.  Throughout the course of the week I  may shoot 3 arrow or a few dozen a day.  Some weeks I may only shoot once.  Also depends on if I am shooting my compound or long bow.  Important thing is that your arrow go where they are suppose to go. 

I would say you over did it.  Because you are working on form you should shoot a few arrows.  Take a brake and shoot again.  This time of year I am focused on form.  I set my bow outside in the morning (weekends) and take a few shots when I feel like it.  When working on form it is easy to develop more bad habits.  Either from overdoing it or frustration. 

While you hear lots of thoughts on this I say that if you grab your bow and put three arrows exactly where you wanted them to go with in your normal hunting range your are good.  Set your bow down and come back later and do it again.  If things are going well start shooting from kneeling or standing on your roof or what ever you can think of that will simulate possible hunting situations.

If you are having form issues it is a whole different discussion.  Again taking a few shots and concentrating on form will help keep you from making things worse. 

[lokidog]

Not enough.....

[whack em]

I shoot a few a day, with an emphasis on form first and accuracy second.  Biggest thing for me is to try not to overdue it.  I've noticed that if I do shoot quite a bit at a time, I have the tendency to go back to a bad habit.  A tip I could offer is that you have to realize some days you're on and some days you may not be.  Recognize those days that you're not and don't get frustrated, just put the bow down.  When it comes to fine tuning form, I've gone as far as videoing me shoot from a couple of angles.  I've gone a step further and made note of what I experienced in that shot so that I could correlate that to the video and make comparison / tweaking.  I like to do the same thing as mentioned earlier of shooting sporadically throughout the day.  I notice that though I love to fling arrows, I personally am more accurate when I'm shooting "cold".  Maybe because I'm mentally going through my "checklist".  Just my two cents. 

[sirfunkeybut]

I shoot until I start to feel my muscles get weak, after that ill tend to shoot poorly and feel the need to adjust my sight when in fact it was sighted in when I started. about 20 shots a day for a couple months leading into season, then once season has started I shoot a couple a day to make sure nothing was jarred out of place

[turkeyfeather]

I shoot no more than a 2-3 arrows a day. I figure I am only gonna get a shot or two hunting. So I am only gonna take a couple at home and make sure they count.

[furiouzgeorge]

Thanks for the advice folks. I definitely realize now that I over did it. I'll scale WAY back on the number of arrows but increase how often I do. Maybe a couple times a day, cold like was mentioned above. Because I'm new to archery I'm going to keep shooting more than most might. The majority of bow hunters here probably have years of experience and a lot of good technique to fall back on, I on the other hand do not. So I think I'll shoot 10-20 a set and just make sure not to get myself worn out and start developing bad habits. Thanks again!

[Johnb317]

About 6 a day.... I practice quick target acquisition and release as well as holding for 60 seconds and more.  (it happens)
I also shoot while on my knees, and from a seated position trying to duplicate what i may need to do in the field.

[bobcat]

Here's a similar thread I started a few weeks ago:

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,122647.msg1620598.html#msg1620598

[npaull]

I think it makes a difference too if you're shooting trad or compound. Stability and consistency are much harder to achieve with a trad bow, and one of the most important things to attain them is to have the muscles very well conditioned. I try and shoot a lot in the off-season to keep up my strength. I only shoot 55# but it's plenty at full draw. I want to be as powerful and steady when I draw that bow as I can. I agree sometimes it's probably good to shoot small numbers of arrows, but I think you should shoot as much as you can, as often as you can, as long as you aren't injuring yourself or forcing yourself into bad form. You only achieve good form with repetition.

[furiouzgeorge]

Bobcat, thanks for pointing me in the direction of that thread!

Npaull, I'm definitely going to focus on building up the muscles I need to effectively use my bow. I'll be doing the 'shoot every other day' model and do a little more than recommended to build up muscle, while making sure to focus on good form. I had some really encouraging groupings last night, especially after putting a larger bullet point on my arrow. I think I have a bit more arrow tuning to do.

[ZB-ARCHERY]

I try to shoot about 20 or so arrows every few days and that number really depends on how I'm shooting. If I'm shooting good groups ill shoot only one or two sets of 4 arrows. If I'm not shooting great shoot around 40 or so. As long as you feel the days shots were quality ones there is no point and getting tired and using bad form.

[PolarBear]

Usually less that 10-12.  Why mess with perfection?   

[ouchfoss]

I am one of those people who never gets around to doing a ton of shooting/practicing in the offseason so I have made it a habit the last few years to start shooting around June or early July and get a good week or two of shooting upwards of 50 shots every day to really strengthen my muscles and work on form without taking any shot over 20 yards. After a few weeks of that I will work on accuracy and when I am shooting good and feeling confident about where my arrow goes, I will shoot longer distances and no more than two or three arrows at a time every other day until season starts. Its a real confidence booster when you do the "cold shoot" at just some random time of the day and you nail that quarter sized spot you were aiming for on a second or third pin shot and then you call it good for the day. 

[Rainier10]

For me 15-20 is good but I shoot a compound, traditional might be different.  The first one each day is most important to hit accurately, that should give you an idea of what your shot at an animal is going to be like.