# Field Target Shooting in 20-25mph winds with gusts - how do you do it?



## AKDoug (Aug 27, 2003)

I found it rather funny that one of GRIV's Hornet kids took to his knees at Yankton last week to get himself out of the wind. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Braden G. was just on the last Bowjunky #11 podcast and discussed the wind at Yankton quite a bit. He was only one of FOUR people at that tournament not to shoot a zero..now that's windy. He also mentioned that he doesn't practice much in the wind because it causes him to get bad habits. 

I, personally, don't have an answer. I happen to live in one of the least windy places in the world and I struggle to shoot in the wind.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

You'd have to have wind to practice for wind. I've got down my knees more than a couple of times. I don't know if some the "flat" type stabs help. I mean, the wind is blowing on your equipment and you.
Never shot a timed event for distance. Our Outdoor Championships (out in the open) weren't timed. Most of us paid attention to the flags on top the targets.
Like AKDoug, no real help here....


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

I've never shot a competitive round in wind like that. However in practice, I found it helpful to remove my stabilizers. Fortunately, my bow balances pretty well without stabilizers & it seems to give me a little advantage over shooting with stabilizers in the wind. 

I'll have to try the kneeling thing next time I have to shoot for score in the wind. Better practice it. 

On the plus side, everyone is shooting in the same wind so my bad shots are probably being duplicated by most of the other competitors.

Allen


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## Bobmuley (Jan 14, 2004)

I always looked forward to having a bit of wind as I felt I was more prepared than everyone else.

A. realize you're not going to score your best. 
B. Just execute to the best of your ability.
C. I always slowed down (hinge) or tightened the trigger (button) on the releases for the wind. Forced me to get aggressive with the shot.


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## caspian (Jan 13, 2009)

from an equipment perspective I run skinny stabilisers (which really does help) and I don't run tiny blades - I typically stick with the Beiter 5mm for Protours.

from a technique perspective, learn to execute a controlled shot with a trigger. this is not the same as a punch.


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## Shogun1 (Jan 31, 2015)

After I got thoroughly blown all over the target with a 30" stab hanging out front - I took the stabs off and survived the round with a reasonable score. 

In my search for my own answer to this -- I have gone to only 15" stabs both front and back -- both heavily weighted. Another key adjustment was tweaking my draw length so that I'm holding all that weight on my draw side back muscles -- not on my bowside shoulder.

Although I normally shoot with a slightly open stance and allow my relaxed torso to determine my natural point of aim, that doesn't work well in the wind. With a wind, I have found that creating tension in my abs by twisting my shoulders in relation to my hips helps me resist the buffeting of the wind.

On a separate issue -- how do you aim in the wind? One way is to simply hold off to the side. Shoot one good one and see where the arrow hits. Then aim upwind by that amount.

Another way is to allow the top of the bow to go with the wind. Since the pin is above the arrow, this has the effect of offsetting the pin downwind -- so you have to aim upwind to get the pin on target. The question is how far? Try it with calm wind. Can't the bow for 1/2 bubble and a full bubble off level. How much azimuth error is induced? Use that information as a gauge to figure out how much to can't the bow in a crosswind.


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## oldpro888 (Dec 31, 2010)

I have shot in high wind in the past, but simply won't shoot in high wind anymore. I struggle with release control and punching. There isn't enough xanex to help me with what the results from high wind would cause


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Rylando (Jul 30, 2016)

At the World Field Championships in Ireland just a few days ago, and I struggled in one shot with a high wind blowing arrow off my rest ( barebow ) situation, just use your shot time to wait for wind to die down, otherwise just aim off and make the first shot a good shot so you can adjust off of it.


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## thawk (Mar 11, 2003)

Equipment wise I have used a BHFS front stabilizer with 14+ oz of weight! I might switch to a button so I can punch! I will pull harder into the wall! I always use umbrellas when it's within the rules. All this has and will help to some extent and what I do when at a big shoot like this year at the OPA.

But at local shoots I have found one thing that works every time and has made many windy days much more enjoyable for me.
I load my bow up and go home!!


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

I am just a 3d guy so have never been on the line at a field shoot but when I am training sometimes down by the river and the wind picks up really bad I do continue shooting and allow myself to deal with the wind. 

I am a hinge shooter so I don't have a trigger to punch but what I do have is a feel for my hinge and I use this to my advantage on windy days. Of course when I am on normal days with no wind I shoot with my normal execution which is super buttery smooth with no extra efforts or tensions. But, on a really windy day I can not use that same method, I use a much more aggressive execution that I commit to more than normal. When I start it it is on task and it is running really hard and it is going to fire. What this allows me to do is guage my big pin float and I actually want my pin to get blown off to the side because I use the momentum of my bow to my advantage as my pin is coming back to the spot I want to hig when I get within a couple inches I go ahead and start my aggressive execution of the hinge and as my pin moves those last couple inches anytime it fires is perfectly fine with me. 

That last comment to me is the important one, I am not looking for my pin to be perfect on the spot and then execute. I am a good couple inches away and my pin is moving in the general direction and I may even get hit with some more wind so I am ok with it firing at any time. The momentum of my bow moving back to the spot into the wind that is coming helps me if the bow gets hit with some more wind again and the bow will lean right into the wind. 

The biggest issue with people is their quest to allow the bow to recover from a big wind gust and they want to allow the bow to settle back into the spot they want to hit and then they want to try and execute while it stays there like normal this basically screws them over and over because if your pin is on the spot then when the wind hits it is guaranteed to get blown off the spot. By starting the execution before the pin gets there and allowing the momentum to push through the wind that is guaranteed to happen you can time the execution with your more aggressive execution so that it goes off when the pin is decent but not perfect. 

I mentioned my more aggressive execution of my firing engine but I also apply much more back tension preload to my shot so that my entire system is much more solid from head to toe. Normally I apply some preload to the wall and it feels really nice but in windy conditions it is a totally different mind set, I want my entire body to be strong and solid so that it can soak up some of the hits from the wind that I am going to take.

Mentally I think the biggest issue is letting go of my normal accuracy expectations, I know exactly how good I can shoot at any distance and in the wind I am just not going to see that so allowing myself to enjoy my shooting requires me to let go of that accuracy. I actually get a lot of fun out of the wind and I look at each perfectly timed execution as a victory and the ones that didn't fire when they should I just give the credit to the wind.


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## Rick! (Aug 10, 2008)

Here's this year's field target winds:

Gently breeze, easy to process it and shoot good shots.

Second day was not fun but stuck it out. A few other seniors I respect said it was no fun. 
One gentleman got vertigo from looking through his sight and being buffeted about. Paramedics took him away.
Some flexible youngsters in the Open class sat on their haunches and shot. 

Yankton:

Gentle wind, easy to hold off a little, just process and shoot. Lightning at noon, didn't restart until 3pm.
There is an amazing amount of space in a 12cm 10 ring to stack 24 arrows in without carnage, for 5 ends.

I didn't realize just how bad this day was, except for all the zeros I shot. When my give a damn broke, I did lots of equipment swapping just to see what could help.
More weight, a regular blade, and way too much tension in the draw hand was one way to send arrows in between gusts.
92cm targets at 60yds in this wind was f-tarded. Several seniors just packed it in, I stuck it out.
I have access to a field target setup in the wide open in the next town. It's always breezy here as the Twin Cities sucks and Fargo blows. 
I'll bring both target rigs and see what setup and release will stay in play. Maybe drawing on the windward side of the bale could be useful. All it is is survival to shoot the least worst score, I guess.


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## ahunter55 (Aug 17, 2009)

Well, those who shot the Target Nationals Sept. 23/24th in Yankton, S.D. know exactly what happens. 25 MPH cross winds gusting to 40. 60,50 & 40 yds.. Even the PROS switched to the larger face it was "that bad".. Yes, I saw arrows come off rests, people letting down more than once & some who "never" miss looking for arrows behind the target. You can hope for the best but a little luck is involved under these conditions.


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

I kept my doinker quadra multirods (30" and 35") in my bag for the windy/rainy days, loaded with lot of weights what really doesn't make sense for everage day shooting. 
In normal days these would feel too soft and lot of aftereffects but somehow these behaves better in any aggressive wind, then my full carbon tubes. 

Also one of my releases is set to "very hot", I am not confident the hinges can do that effectively - to fish for the moment...
Also, I am shooting dual side rods, all the time, lightweight carbon tubes and moderate weights on the ends, the weights fahrest possible from riser. All the attachments I have on riser I chose the lightest possible....no heavy metal sights no heavy metal scopes, no quick disconnects...
I have tried leaning the bubble into the wind but somehow aiming offset always worked for me better.

These days easier to chase the target in the wind it is just in front of the nose  I remember years ago we had those 90-70 meter shots, ah, what a good time!!!
I remember my best score ever on 60 meter target was long ago in a pouring rain you barely can see the paper, that distance was discontinued later I guess about 6-8 years ago....

Timed training can also help, try to train below 30-20 seconds between the arrows, once you see the ring is in the scope you got 5-6 seconds the shot to go off...1 second to center the scope in the peep 1 second to find the target, 1 second to center it and still plenty of time to "relax" 
When you really have to - you can still hold longer but train for the normal = short sequences, train for worst case scenarios.


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