Bowhunting sucks!

[Wetwoodshunter]

Man, had one of those days with my compound where it seemed like nothing goes right. I shot a hundred arrows in the hope of dialing in a new sight but something was going wrong with my form and I never made it past the 40 yard pin before my groups were opening up to much and inconsistently so there was no way to dial the pins in. I also did a good job at hitting my left arm with my strong a few times and have s nice welt to remind me to practice more.

I guess I'm rusty this year and should have been more focused on my shooting earlier. Anybody out there shooting their bows? What kind of drills do you do to help you practice?

[JimmyHoffa]

I always just put it away if it was an off day.  Or just play around doing something else that didn't require the same form/concentration.  Some days are like that, something unconscious that you can't figure.  Golf is kind of the same way.

[300UltraMagShooter]

If you are hitting your arm, your bow hand isn't in the correct position.  Also, I'd bet 1 million dollars you aren't relaxed enough.

Grab your bow so that your knuckles are at about a 45 degree angle and relax your grip.  Only the first two fingers should even come close to wrapping around the handle.  That will take care of you ever hitting your arm again.

Without actually firing an arrow, while aiming at your target, practice relaxing both arms and both hands.  Learn to feel the difference of how the bow naturally holds when relaxed and the torqued feeling when you are flexed/tight.  You'll quickly learn that using unneeded muscles only causes you to fight your bow instead of just holding steady and aiming while relaxed.

One last thing.  Make sure your release is short enough that when you are relaxed, you don't have to reach for the trigger.  You can not relax enough to shoot really well, if you are reaching.  You can shoot ok without doing this, but it will make your life a lot easier if you do.   

It will be a world of difference. 

[demontang]

Lots of people pull to long of a draw also. Your string slap is one of a few things. Grip and draw length seem to be the two major things. If your grouping is opening up it could be tune or from slapping the trigger.

[Karl Blanchard]

Skip to about 43 min and corey does a good job of verbally describing a proper grip as well as showing it.  We all have those days dude.  Shake it off and get back out there.  Remember to have fun too dude.

[Tbob]

I've been shooting a bunch this summer. I joined a league shoot that happens once a week and it's pretty fun competition too.. It's of course just for fun, but it gets me out there shooting. Like said above, somedays I do have an "off day" and Yep just like golf, tennis or any other sports. Just don't over think it and let it get in your head. Archery is definitely form, but also mental. Form is easy to fix for me, but the mental aspect, that can be another problem! 
  Don't forget to relax that bow arm. I've done it a time or two. I noticed after I've done it once, it swells up enough that I just stop shooting for the day. It's inevitable that I'll smack it a second time and then I'm just pissed.. It's all part of the process man. Keep at it and don't let any of it get you down.

[adamR]

You shot a hundred arrows in one session?  My arms would be dead tired if I pulled my bow back a hundred times. 

I've always been the archer that puts off shooting until August, never been proud of it I just felt like all I needed was a month and I was good.  This year I started practicing back in March and shoot about twenty arrows every night.  I've never shot so well.  My groups are tight and I'm more relaxed than I ever have been.  I guess my point is shooting a bunch of arrows right before season to catch up works but pacing yourself for months before season has worked much better.  Probably to late this year but next year force yourself to get started earlier.

[300UltraMagShooter]

Skip to about 43 min and corey does a good job of verbally describing a proper grip as well as showing it.  We all have those days dude.  Shake it off and get back out there.  Remember to have fun too dude.

man, like watching myself shoot.  i even have the same bow.
Only thing I do different is I'm now adjusting the bow grip with racquetball tape.  When I do it like he does, I feel like there is too much room between the padding in my hand and the bow.  It creates inconsistency when my hand sweats.  I'm playing with leveling the handle so that I can keep the vast majority of pressure where he does, but also keep a small amount up in the padding.  That bow is great is cool weather, but start sweating and I lose all confidence.  I'm adjusting or I'll go to another bow eventually.

[jkthomps]

Skip to about 43 min and corey does a good job of verbally describing a proper grip as well as showing it.  We all have those days dude.  Shake it off and get back out there.  Remember to have fun too dude.

This is awesome, thanks for posting it up.

[Wetwoodshunter]

The struggle is real, I believe my bow is terribly out of tune or something. I've decided to take it to a pro shop even though it's 3 hours away, and am getting new strings and a full tune to fix everything. I have shot a ton this last week and I had one day when I was on fire followed by the next day not able to hold a 6" 5-shot group at 30.

I'm a bit frustrated, if I can't figure this out in the next week I'll be hitting the woods as "The Crippler".

[Karl Blanchard]

Here is another interesting podcast on shot control.  I've talked with Joel a few times up at reds, and have also shot with Joe up there a bunch.  Joe is good friends with Joel and no doubt Joel s influence on Joe, and Joe's influence on me has strengthened my abilities as a shooter

[wannabhntr]

Just FYI, I was experiencing the same thing that your talking about. All of a sudden my groups were opening up but no consistency. I finally noticed that my peep turned. I tried adjusting my release loop to straighten it out. It worked a little but it didn't fix it completely. I then noticed that my sight picture was off. It turns out that my peep had actually moved. I took it in yesterday and had it fixed. I am now back to holding a group of four arrows that I can put one hand around. I am a very inexperienced archer and I'm sure that there are hundreds of people on year that have more knowledge than I do. It may be something to check out though. Hitting your arm with the string sounds like your gripping and locking out your elbow. Been there done that and it didn't take me long  before I wanted to fix it lol. Good luck.

[JLS]

The struggle is real, I believe my bow is terribly out of tune or something. I've decided to take it to a pro shop even though it's 3 hours away, and am getting new strings and a full tune to fix everything. I have shot a ton this last week and I had one day when I was on fire followed by the next day not able to hold a 6" 5-shot group at 30.

I'm a bit frustrated, if I can't figure this out in the next week I'll be hitting the woods as "The Crippler".

Sounds to me like you are punching the trigger on the release.

Read up on target panic, you may be in the early stages of developing it.

[Wetwoodshunter]

I hope your right. I just noticed that when I'm shooting that about every other shot I can see the inside of the left hand wall of my peep. On other shots it's clean and I'm looking straight through. So I'm assuming that my peep is slightly turning when I draw so my sight picture slightly changes.

Either way I ordered new strings and a peep installed next week at a pro shop in  Belfair. Thanks for all your guys help. After I go down there I'll follow up.

 

Just FYI, I was experiencing the same thing that your talking about. All of a sudden my groups were opening up but no consistency. I finally noticed that my peep turned. I tried adjusting my release loop to straighten it out. It worked a little but it didn't fix it completely. I then noticed that my sight picture was off. It turns out that my peep had actually moved. I took it in yesterday and had it fixed. I am now back to holding a group of four arrows that I can put one hand around. I am a very inexperienced archer and I'm sure that there are hundreds of people on year that have more knowledge than I do. It may be something to check out though. Hitting your arm with the string sounds like your gripping and locking out your elbow. Been there done that and it didn't take me long  before I wanted to fix it lol. Good luck.

[Wetwoodshunter]

So I went to Premiere Peninsula Archery and had Charles Davis work on my bow. Charles did a great job, he put a new string on my bow. Turns out my cams were both out of alignment so the bow would shoot inconsistent. With the new strings on it and in tune I shot 3 arrows so far at 30 and they were all touching.

I also had him cut and fletch me another dozen arrows and I'm almost ready to go chase some elk. Tomorrow I will dial in my pins and hopefully broadhead tune my bow. I've got all the confidence in the world back.