Who's shooting? Tuning? Tinkering?

[Milo]

I have two Bow Time machines. You have to have a draw board

 

[jagermeister]

Now lets see how the wife takes to the bow press that shows up on the door step. Easier to ask for forgiveness, so they say...

Now you're learning!

 

[OhioWhiteTails]

Have it sent to someone else’s house! Like mine, then I’ll “give” it to you when you guys come visit. Win/win

Call you tonight on the details... JK. I try to be somewhat honest, she can know that I bought one, the cost however doesn't necessarily need to be discussed.

 

[bowhunter1023]

As the summer winds down and game time approaches, I can't help but feel a tremendous amount of gratitude for the mentoring I've received from Milo and Brock over the years. I told my wife earlier that I missed the "cockiness" I felt tonight after I got in a rhythm. Cold shot was good, but I dialed in after a dozen shots and really started displaying the consistency that gives me the confidence I need. It's so satisfying to draw back, settle, float, and squeeze; then to watch the "mystical" flight of the arrow as it arcs across the expanse between you and the target, slamming home within a 4" circle not once, not twice, but three times in a row. This is my max yardage (45) and I don't get to this point in my archery career without the mentoring given to me by those two. Shout out to both of you guys for paying it forward and making many of us more capable, and confident archers.

Bring on Saturday!

 

[Quantum673]

Picking up a recurve this year really opened my eyes to what it takes to be a good, confident, Archer. With the compund I can wipe the dust off and go out and shoot decent. Not going to win any awards but confident in my ability to harvest a deer.

The recurve has humbled me. I won't be ready to hunt with it for maybe another year but sometimes I have that first shot that makes me smile. Tonight was one of those times. Approximately 20 yards quartering away. A little low but felt real good.

 

[brock ratcliff]

Nice shooting fellas!

 

[Bowhunter57]

Just shot a few 2018 bows last week and still prefer this one.

bowhunter1023,
Everyone has a bow that fits them and their shooting style. I'm glad you found one and hope it lasts for years to come, but when it finally does wear out, I'm sure there will be another one that will fill the shoes of the previous bow.

I purchased a Martin Cheetah in '09 that has been the "fit" for me. However, after finally replacing the strings and cables this year, I felt the need for an upgrade. I purchased an Obsession Fusion 7 that continues to impress me with its' performance. I've never shot 2" groups at 50 yards, prior to owning this bow.

Bowhunter57

 

[bowhunter1023]

If you have a TSC near you, grab some of the foam blocks they use to ship their trailers on. They make great targets. This is a Morrell Supreme Range cover with 4.5 blocks stuffed in it, with 6 more behind. My indoor range is ready for action!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Sweet set up Jesse!

 

[Jamie]

does anyone else see two bows in that picture besides me?

 

[brock ratcliff]

That one is gonna need a little whittling.

 

[bowhunter1023]

A dogwood limbed takedown would be alright!

 

[finelyshedded]

Very nice Jesse, what’s your max distance?

 

[bowhunter1023]

This was just dumb luck, but it'll look cool on the wall! 17 steps and arrows 6 & 7 for the calendar year. Flipped the target to the blank side to shoot my first 100 arrows of the year focusing on anchor point, form (particularly grip), and pulling through a surprise release. This surprised the shit out of me to say the least!

My first Robin Hood is on the left. Happened in 2005 when I was paying for lessons and learning how to shoot a back tension. I was shooting a bow I bought from Wal-Mart with a release more expensive than the bow. Tonight's is on the right, second ever, and it was delivered by a 12-year old bow that's not going anywhere anytime soon!

 

[bowhunter1023]

I've got the bug again, which is good cause I need more reps. I had a lightbulb moment this week when I remembered there's a public archery range 5 minutes from my office. Not sure what happened over the winter, but I'm shooting better than I have in a long time. First 3 groups of 3 at 40 and next 2 at 50 were all inside a coffee cup. I think I'm ready to go back to a true back tension and ramp up my training. I'd like to shoot in our local indoor league this winter. I stayed away last year due to the personalities involved, but after seeing who won and having shot with them, I'm ready to take their $ this time around.

 

[OhioWhiteTails]

I've had the bow out less than a handful of times, but when I did the arrows were finding their mark at 45 & 50 yards. I haven't at any close yardages. The last two times I only shot 3 arrows and put the bow back in the case.

Question/thoughts/opinions: Historically, I've shot a hell of a lot more arrows than three per session but I see no need to keep shooting and get fatigued. Do I keep shooting these 3 arrows periodically or ramp up the arrows down range? If it aint broke don't fix it, right? Any of you guys keep your practice sessions short as possible. I would have thought with the gap in shooting, I would need to build up some lost muscle memory...

 

[bowhunter1023]

There will be differing perspectives on this, but I'll make this analogy: Steph Curry didn't become an elite 3-point shooter by shooting 3 shots a session. Closer to home? John Dudley doesn't become a multi-time national and world champion 3 arrows at a time. Let's say you shoot 100 days a year. That's 300 arrows. But what if you shot a dozen arrows each time? That's 4xs the reps, which is 4xs the opportunity to get better.

I shoot until I'm tired. Usually that's 12-15 arrows a session and I treat each one like a "cold shot", meaning I'm not rushing and essentially shooting 12-15 single shots despite shooting 3 arrow groups. By the time season rolls around, I'll be ready to shoot a full 300 round, which is 60 shots.

Let me ask you this: Is 3 iterations a sufficient sample size to say something is not broke? What if arrow #4 is a punch and exposes some lingering target panic? It's easy to do something right a few times. It's entirely different to do time and time and time again. I respect your perspective, but disagree that it's an appropriate approach. As a lifelong athlete, "repping" is deeply engrained in me and without it, I lack the necessary confidence in my abilities. Confidence being a whole different topic...

 

[OhioWhiteTails]

I'm 100% with you Jesse. The reason I bring this up is that this is the first time I got the bow out in the spring after not shooting for nearly 4 months and it was like I didn't miss a day. I have always had to tighten my groups back up to above acceptable levels. A few seasons I have developed target panic out of the blue and it took time to get back to stacking sticks. I'm not sure if this was from shooting fatigued and picked up some bad habits or what. I do know that it cost me some confidence while heading into the woods. Not exactly a great feeling. So I was more so seeing if any other members have kept there sessions short and kept tight groups throughout the season doing so. I suppose I just need to know when to put the bow away before this happens.

On your 3 iterations question; i had unprotected sex with my wife twice and now have two daughters. That was enough for me to figure out it wasn't broke...

 

[Sgt Fury]

When I used to go to competitive shoots in the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s, I would practice everyday for at least an hour, most times 2-3. We had a group of guys that would go to shoots every Sunday in NJ, PA, MD and Delaware. We had a tri-county league in NJ that had 5 different clubs that would host shoots. Each shoot was 28 targets, 4 arrows at each, for a total of 112 shots....plus your practice shots before the shoot. Perfect score is 560. At my peak, I was shooting 554-558 consistently. When I stopped shooting November to February for hunting season, my scores dropped to the low 530’s when I started again in March. Shooting everyday and 4-6 hours on the weekends, it would take me until June before getting back to top form. Like 1023 said, if you want to get better, you’ve got to put in the time practicing. In the beginning you don’t want to practice too long because your muscles aren’t used to it and you’ll begin “collapsing” at the time of release. You need to maintain good form, and you’ll reach a point when you’ll know what you did wrong at release without even seeing where your arrow hit....and you’ll also know when your release was perfect and the arrow will be in the bullseye. Best two things I can recommend besides practice time, is shooting the target at close range with your eyes closed while concentrating on nothing but your form, and learning to hold your pin on the target until you hear the arrows impact. Hope this helps.

 

[Sgt Fury]

I'm 100% with you Jesse. The reason I bring this up is that this is the first time I got the bow out in the spring after not shooting for nearly 4 months and it was like I didn't miss a day. I have always had to tighten my groups back up to above acceptable levels. A few seasons I have developed target panic out of the blue and it took time to get back to stacking sticks. I'm not sure if this was from shooting fatigued and picked up some bad habits or what. I do know that it cost me some confidence while heading into the woods. Not exactly a great feeling. So I was more so seeing if any other members have kept there sessions short and kept tight groups throughout the season doing so. I suppose I just need to know when to put the bow away before this happens.

Anyone who shoots for any amount of time sooner or later will develop target panic. Happens when you start to worry about where your arrow is going to hit and not thinking about your form. Shooting at a close target with your eyes closed will help immensely.