# Anyone shoot instinctive with fingers and a compound bow?



## BowHunter6666

Does anybody shoot without sights instinctively with a compound bow? If so would you share your shooting style and effective range what kind of bow your shooting?


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## Limey

I shoot my Conquest in 3D tournaments instinctively.

I anchor just under my eye as this gives me a natural feel for the trajectory. I only started shooting like this 2 months ago but I have a reasonable feel for it although unless I am carefull I loose my line slightly to the right.:darkbeer:


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## indy

*have shot bowhunter with a compound (instinctive) for a number of years and always gapped by using the riser,after a while you get to know roughly some of the distances and begin to know where on the riser that shot falls in, some people use there arrow as point of aim depends on what you feel happy with,i normally anchor with my finger just touching the side of my lip,it works for me as i would imagine limeys method works for him , bowhunter is quite popular over here with a lot of brit archers who shoot under the nfas which is all unmarked over various distances, depending on the course setters, but distances can vary anything from about 6 feet in front of you to 60 yards away which i have had a go at from time to time , as limey must have done also. great fun. :smile: *


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## ia bhtr

*used to*

actually got pretty good , 3 under , index knuckle on my cheek bone , cock feather tucked in nicely to the tip of my nose , thumb running down my jaw bone....... really positive 3 point repeatable anchor .......the tip of the arrow was in my line of sight , but I didnt consciously use it for aiming ( altho it was in the aiming picture ) shot scores good enough to win or place in fingers/pins & release /pins, at 3Ds ..... about a year later , still dont know how or why or ?????????? but I got TP ..... baaaaaaddddddddd , that was around 1990 and I have overcome 75% of it , but if I am shooting a wrist strap release ..... its dangerous to stand very close to me , no matter how hard I work on it ....... its actually a lot better if I put the brain ( what little is left of it ) into neutral or auto pilot , works great until I start thinking again  ....... wish the TP hadnt started , barebow was the most fun I ever had shooting a bow ...........


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## mnjeff

*instinctive*

I shot that way of and on in my 24 years of shooting. In 2005 shoot 3 deer that way. put sights on to compete because no barebow shooters left around me anymore.


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## ranger774

*Still some left.*

There are still a few of us left. Have been shooting that way for over 50 years, and maybe to old to change, however I did get a new release and may try it on the Martin P3 that I have ordered. But I did alright with fingers and the demo model at the shop.:shade:


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## rodhurr

*Still works for some!!!!!!*

I have over the years shot both instinctive and sighted. I have been caught out with a deer at around ten meters and not being able to draw on him with all the sighted gear. Got pretty good without sight and won the National champs back in 95. My method was a gap shooting although not always conscious of doing so. Same as you throw a rock
Have returned to this method of shooting as it is how it should be. Takes a bit more practice and you must shoot more often.
All the best


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## BowHunter6666

Id love to shoot instinctive with finger off my Bowtech Pro40 but it seems I get worse arrow flight from a newer bow then I do with an older style wheel bow. I shoot with a deeper style hook almost to my second knuckle and I put my thumb on the side of the nock. I anchor by the side of my eye I learned this style from watching Dan Fitzgerald shoot.

Do you know why I get worse performance from a modern bow then an old wheel bow? And should I shoot with loose fingers and back tension or tense fingers?


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## indy

*bowhunter do you use a peep sight? a couple of my friends who shoot the same style swears by them ,personally i cannot get on with them and chose not to use one as they make me squint to much,for want of a better word, lol. when shooting a compound off your fingers its always going to be a bit of a challange,unless you make the clean release which is somewhat a bit more difficult when not using a release aid as the string tends to twist slightly. i think most of the time its a discipline like most things keeping the bow straight,clean release,correct stance etr etr, i suppose your question about old bow new bow, i could only hazard a guess at that one,maybe because of the progress thats been made to compounds as appose to how they use to be ,materials,strings,cams, and so on. *


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## skydog

I shoot bare bow class long stabilizer i sight with the tip of the arrow. i just shot my first tourney shot 272 I thought that was good for me.


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## toxo

*finger shooting instinctive shooter style*

My Hoyt Ultratec wheel and a half shoots great instinctive with just a huntmaster 2000 on it. stare at where you want the arrow to go and with in 10 shots it is there. That is true instinctive shooting.....just ask Frank Addington @www.aspirinbuster.com that was his advice to me. toxo


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## BowHunter6666

toxo said:


> My Hoyt Ultratec wheel and a half shoots great instinctive with just a huntmaster 2000 on it. stare at where you want the arrow to go and with in 10 shots it is there. That is true instinctive shooting.....just ask Frank Addington @www.aspirinbuster.com that was his advice to me. toxo


You shoot just as me I shoot totally instinctive it takes a lot of the guess work out of a shot.


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## star

Ive been shooting this way for yrs. in 3-D not too many shooters .maybe 8-10 90% of the time Im 2nd or 3td. though Im limited out to a certain yardage,thats when arroes hit low.Now Im shooting a 06 Pearson Gen II,its gets the arrows out there w/ some speed & accuracy !!!!!!!!!!


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## BowHunter6666

I cant break away from old habits I learned my shooting style and got in to instinctive shooting by watching Dan Fitzgerald so I got in to the old wheel bow shooting 95lbs. Ill be shooting instinctive for 5 years once 07 rolls around so I see no need to change the first 2 years were nothing but pain staking pratice now I shoot pretty good have killed a few deer this way.


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## Donhudd

BowHunter6666 said:


> Id love to shoot instinctive with finger off my Bowtech Pro40 but it seems I get worse arrow flight from a newer bow then I do with an older style wheel bow. I shoot with a deeper style hook almost to my second knuckle and I put my thumb on the side of the nock. I anchor by the side of my eye I learned this style from watching Dan Fitzgerald shoot.
> 
> Do you know why I get worse performance from a modern bow then an old wheel bow? And should I shoot with loose fingers and back tension or tense fingers?



The round wheel bow probably had 50% letoff and the cam bow probably has greater letoff and less pressure on the fingers at full draw. This would make it harder to get good flight


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## Limey

I shoot a Pro 40 with fingers but I shoot it with pin sights.

I find that the string angle is just about as tight as I like with fingers, you release may not be as clean with this bow than older longer bows.

Also it has a draw stop on the cam which gives a different feel as the long valley that older bows with wheels have:darkbeer:


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## Flip35

I also shoot the same way. I tend to focus more on the target and the small spot I want to arrow to go more than the actual arrow. I try to picture the arrow flight, and more often than not, it does what I predict it will. It just comes with a little experience I guess. But like you said, just look at where you want it to go and within 10 arrows it's there.

I think this is my favorite way to shoot. I like to watch my arrow fly, and I see it as more of a challenge than with a release and sight. Plus, you win some, you lose some. Some days the arrow and you are one and it goes wherever you tell it to go. Other days, you'd be better throwing the dang thing. 

Some of the new technology in sights and releases and stuff is pretty impressive but I look at it this way, as far as hunting goes, people were taking game just as impressive as the animals today, but did it with 40 pount recurves with no sights. So why is a sight and release so necessary today?

Just my two cents. =)


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## BowHunter6666

Flip35 said:


> I also shoot the same way. I tend to focus more on the target and the small spot I want to arrow to go more than the actual arrow. I try to picture the arrow flight, and more often than not, it does what I predict it will. It just comes with a little experience I guess. But like you said, just look at where you want it to go and within 10 arrows it's there.
> 
> I think this is my favorite way to shoot. I like to watch my arrow fly, and I see it as more of a challenge than with a release and sight. Plus, you win some, you lose some. Some days the arrow and you are one and it goes wherever you tell it to go. Other days, you'd be better throwing the dang thing.
> 
> Some of the new technology in sights and releases and stuff is pretty impressive but I look at it this way, as far as hunting goes, people were taking game just as impressive as the animals today, but did it with 40 pount recurves with no sights. So why is a sight and release so necessary today?
> 
> Just my two cents. =)


I agree do you shoot the same style as me or diffrent? Isnt the Reflex Excursion a short bow how do you shoot it with fingers?


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## Flip35

Hi Bowhunter,

Yeah I pretty much shoot the same way I think. Split fingers, my middle finger anchors in the corner of my mouth. I pretty much try to picture the flight of the arrow and I have been able to, lately, get my concentration right. I focus on the x or whatever spot I am shooting at and just stare and concentrate on it and i seem to get almost tunnel vision where the only thing in focus is that spot, then I draw, never taking my eye off the spot, and I am pretty accurate shooting this way.

Yeah I think my bow is like 34.5 ata. Pretty short for a fingers bow, but it's the one I got, and I like the way it feels. I would probably be more accurate with a longer bow, but for now, I am very satisfied with the results I am getting. Not much finger pinch, I think the cams rotate out and make the string angle not as bad.


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## deadeyedon

thenockpoint1 shoots instinctive with fingers and his Martin Cougar. Out to 40 yards he is lethal. Most of the posts seem to be confused with what is intinctive and what is point of aim style. We shoot indoors for dollars(fold it up until just the head on the bill shows and then shoot the head. He beats most everybody most of the time. that includes FS, BHFS etc.


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