[robert]

Fellas this is the best place I've found to learn, and I don't want to wear out my welcome which has been substantial. Maybe I shouldn't be posting on this main page. That having been said this is the way I've been aiming. For me twas a bit of a breakthrough but it's still not putting arrows atop one another in the bullseye.

This is how I've managed to aim with my smoothest shooting bow, my BW [email protected] Of course I've got the H.H. Big 5 [email protected] coming in just days.

I look at the bullseye and focus on it. When I look at the bullseye I also see two images of my arrow tip. I ignore the "right eye arrow tip image" and keep the left. As I come to full draw I attempt to hold that left eye arrow tip image a smidge below the bullseye at 20 yards. At the last nano second the whole damn sight picture falls apart as I come to my anchor point and the bow and arrow level out. Right then I'm kind of flying blind even though both my eyes are wide open. So my technique at this last moment of drawing is to attempt to make no changes in longitude and latitude, from what I believe was a well aimed arrow just a nano second before. Then comes the release. I can group arrows left or right or high or low but only one or two strays go into the bulleye. I am ashamed. I can say this for myself and that is I stopped shooting the fence long ago; all my arrows now at least hit the rubber block I'm shooting.

This is why I won't take a long shot at anything. I just see those masters on youtube raise that bow way above the horizon and smack down targets 100 plus yards away. I wouldn't have any idea how to do that. I remain mystefied and facinated with this. I even saw that guy on relentless pursuit do it on a muley in Canada...shooting fingers, w no sights, on a Matthews compound at 100 yards. I could barely see the muley but for the zoom lens and slo-mo. The arrow clipped that beast right in the boiler room. I would never attempt such a shot. And then there's Howard Hill. How can these guys see? What sight picture are they seeing? Help.

 

[longrifle346]

Man! That sounds like a chore! And don't pay a whole lot of attention to what somebody does long range on YouTube. You don't know how many times it was edited and face it, not one of them is gonna help drag your deer out!

You've gotta concentrate on one or the other, there's no way to focus on both. I'm no Howard Hill but my sequence is a lot less cluttered and confusing, at least to me. I gap at the bow, never could get the picture of gapping at the target, and it's a lot easier for me to see an inch at the arrow than 16 at the target. After I reach my anchor I set my gap. The focus now becomes the spot and only the spot, the arrow becomes peripheral. The point is there, I can still see it, but only to keep it lined up below the spot. Once I commit to the shot I'm concentrating only on the spot and expansion until the shot goes off....'
Aiming/ shooting is a very personal thing and what works for one may not work for another. I tried a ton of different methods before I found one that is consistent for me and this is it....but I still play around to see if something else might work better....

 

[Grantmac]

You are aiming too soon if it's happening before you reach anchor. Aim happens after anchor and before expansion.

-Grant

 

[robert]

Dear Grant,

I think you're right. What should my picture be once I arrive at my anchor point.

 

[DaveV]

Are you shooting left or right handed? If right handed, why are you ignoring your right eye?

I don't really have a dominant eye. I see both equally, so I usually close my left eye until I acquire the target, then open both for the remainder of the shot. I only lose sight of the target for two reasons: either my head is rotated such that I lose sight of the target in the frame of my glasses, or I forget to be aware of the "string blur" and it obscures my vision. Once I learned how to position the string blur to side consistently my left-right grouping improved.

(For those offering help, my neck simply doesn't rotate as freely as it did in my youth. Makes it hard when I drive too. I have to rely on side mirrors more than I should to see over my left shoulder. As far as glasses go, I can't wear contacts either, and my far sightedness means I lose sight of the arrow completely and have no clue where I'm pointing if I don't wear glasses)

 

[Grantmac]

The arrow should appear to be pointing straight towards the target with the point under the intended point of impact. How far under is determined by your face shape, arrow speed, arrow length and anchor position.

Are you shooting 3 under or split? How long can you comfortably hold your bow at anchor before shaking?

-Grant

 

[DaveV]

In my case, the arrow point is to the bottom right of the target. That's due to me not getting my eye directly over the arrow at full draw. It's something I've just learned to live with. In my case, I try to visualize drawing a dotted line from the shaft to the target. At different distances, this visualization automatically compensates for left-right errors induced by my weird head.

 

[Unkle Bond]

You are aiming too soon if it's happening before you reach anchor. Aim happens after anchor and before expansion.

-Grant

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Hello All

X2

 

[robert]

I am shooting right handed, 3 fingers under. In bow practice I know I'm now overthinking it as I put several in the dirt and a couple in the fence. I went back to my old ways to get close to the bullseye with the usual result of one in the bullseye and others close. I think I just need to practice much much more. A zillion shots you know.