Ambidextrous bow shooting?

[mjbskwim]

ambidextrous Riiiiight

OK My hunting season ended a couple weeks ago when I discovered my shoulder doesn't like holding a bow up any more.
But I had too much fun chasing deer to just quit archery.
So my question is,how hard would it be to re-train myself to shoot left handed?
I have heard of right handed guys shooting lefty because that was their dominant eye.
What do you think?

[Button Nubbs]

i think i tried to shoot lefty one time and it left a golf ball under the skin of my forearm. never again!

[YellowDog]

I would say you could do it if you are willing to practice it a lot to develope the muscle memory and build the muscles that are used in you "weaker" arm.  I am left eye dominant but grew up shooting, writing, throwing, batting, etc. right handed.  When I started archery I realized that the eye dominance thing was a bigger issue than anything else I have done right handed.  I originally had a right handed bow and swapped it for a lefty.  I have shot my brother's right handed bow and I can do it but it just doesn't quite feel as natural.  That being said, shooting right handed forces me to concentrate that much more and I am every bit as accurate it just doesn't quite feel as natural.  If you can get your hands on a bow configured for your "un-natural" hand and try it for a while you will probably be able to tell if it is in the cards pretty quickly.  I know that if I tore up my left shoulder or arm, I would be able to switch to a right handed bow with some practice.  You probably could switch too but it might now ever feel completely right.

[mjbskwim]

I'm making a long bow,lefty for my Grand son,so I'll give it a try.

 

[Machias]

It's not NEARLY as hard as you think.  I have been left eye dominant my whole life.  I've shot right handed for over 30 years.  When I switched to a traditional bow this year I went all in and got Ernie to make me a left handed bow.  It was a very easy transition for me to make.

[sakoshooter]

I'm left eye dominant. Shoot a bow right handed. Gun either handed. 
I have shot a bow left handed and I think if you're serious, you'll find it's a piece of cake.

[YellowDog]

Again, I agree with the last couple of posts but my point was that it is pretty easy to switch if you are switching TO your dominant eye.  If you are switching AWAY FROM your dominant eye it can be done but will take a little more practice.  Archery hunting can require insticts to kick in and it can take some work to change your natural instict to use your dominant eye if that is what you are trying to do. Good luck, I'm sure you will make it work.

[krout81]

Practice makes perfect.  My Mother is Left handed and when they moved she left her bow in the shed.  I pulled it out one day and to be honest it really wasnt that hard.  I just took everything I already did and Reversed it.  The hardest part was making sure I didnt wack my right forearm.  :-)  YOU CAN DO IT  ALL SEASON LONGGGGGG

[bullrider97]

No problem with lots of practice. As stated in the previous posts, if you're serious you can do it. I can shoot my rifle and handgun just as well left handed because I practice that way, and now am sometimes more accurate left handed because I concentrate more.

Just depends on how much time you put into it. By the way, I may be in the same boat as you soon enough. I was shooting a lot this year and aggravated a high school wrestling injury, so I may be switching to left handed as well.

Good luck.

[Special T]

Like others i'm L eye dominate R handed.... I shoot left... My wife shoots R... The only thing that i would add to what others have said is that start shooting a light poundage... I can shoot my wifes alpine micro 30lb, but its pretty hard to shoot my bro-in-laws Mathews at 60lb... 

[mjbskwim]

IU'll start with the bow I'm making for my Grandson and work into a higher poundage.

It will be interesting.I don't think I am either eye dominant,so I may get a break on that part.

Thanks for the responses.

[YellowDog]

I think you have to have one eye that is dominant because your brain requires it.  If you do things with both hands/eyes you can confuse your brain and get to the point where the eye dominance issue is not as profound as it is with most people but there is some level of eye dominance in everyone, I believe. 

[stickbow9]

I started with traditional using both eyes open on the target. I am left I dominate shooting left handed, however when I shoot compound I can shoot right handed as I close the left eye to view through the peep with right. If you are shooting recurve or longbow, or even shooting compound without the sights, it might not be as hard as you would think if you truly don't favor one eye over the other. Good luck to you. My friend is trying to convince me to convert to right handed compound so I will be going through same efforts as you.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I'm left eye dominant. Shoot a bow right handed. Gun either handed. 
I have shot a bow left handed and I think if you're serious, you'll find it's a piece of cake.

Same here, I own a couple bows that shoot off either side of shelf, and I practice shooting either hand, lots of fun with Trad equipment, not sure if I could do it with a c-pound w/o a lot of strength training to get it over peak......
Some very reputable Bowhunters, (I am sure you have heard of Fred Bear and Glenn StCharles to name 2), shoot cross dominant and are/were very successful.

[Button Nubbs]

I tried to shoot a lefty compound once I'm right handed right eye dominant. It was about the most awkward thing ever and gave me the worst string slap of my life! Never again!