# judging yardage



## quick4au (Jun 10, 2010)

hi , im new to the forum and to 3-d and having problems judging the yardge to the target . does any one know any things that i can try to get better.


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## jar-dot (Jan 19, 2010)

Judge the yardage to everything you can and then check estimation, and I am talking about when you are not on the 3-d range. When you are shopping at the grocery store judge how far it is to a sign or an aisle. Stand in your front yard and judge the trees in your neighbors yard. These are just a couple of examples of what I am talking about. When you are the 3-d range familiarize yourself with the size of the targets, height, width, length. If you know and are familiar with the size of the target it will help you with when they hide the feet of the target and you cannot see where it is touching the ground. 

Good luck and I hope this helps:wink:


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## Cheerioette (Apr 16, 2010)

I have been told to carry my range finder everywhere I go. Judge the distance first, and then use the range finder to see how close you were. Grant it, this requires you to have one/purchase one, but so far I think mine has been worth the investment. Good luck!


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## SpotShy (Mar 14, 2005)

quick,

Here is a little tip. Get you some bricks and spray paint them with flo orange spray paint. Then put them in your yard at 10 yard increments from your target butt. I would recommend burying them in the ground with just the tops uncovered. That way you can cut grass without hitting them. Not only do they make good markers for shooting known distance and sight setting but you can go back to 50 yards and spend time visualizing what 10 yard increments look like on the ground. It may sound a bit weird but when I have trouble with my distance I try to go to my memory and think about what it looks like standing at my 50 yard mark viewing my bricks back to my target. It works. The mind has the ability to use these types of visual cues. I sometimes spend time setting in a lawn chair drinking a cold beverage and looking at my bricks. Darn us archery folks are crazy!


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## quick4au (Jun 10, 2010)

thanks for all the help


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## gryfox00 (Jun 11, 2007)

SpotShy said:


> quick,
> 
> Here is a little tip. Get you some bricks and spray paint them with flo orange spray paint. Then put them in your yard at 10 yard increments from your target butt. I would recommend burying them in the ground with just the tops uncovered. That way you can cut grass without hitting them. Not only do they make good markers for shooting known distance and sight setting but you can go back to 50 yards and spend time visualizing what 10 yard increments look like on the ground. It may sound a bit weird but when I have trouble with my distance I try to go to my memory and think about what it looks like standing at my 50 yard mark viewing my bricks back to my target. It works. The mind has the ability to use these types of visual cues. I sometimes spend time setting in a lawn chair drinking a cold beverage and looking at my bricks. Darn us archery folks are crazy!


Thats a great idea !! I think I will use this on our outdoor range at the club. I think a lot of our members would put it to use !


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## Mr. K (May 17, 2007)

I got these tips from one of the "old boys" at my club. He's been shooting since the 70's and has done a far amount of field archery. He suggested one of two different approaches. The first is to memorize how far 10 yds is and then attempt to estimate how many of these increments there are to the target (i.e. the brick method above). The second suggestion was to find a spot that was halfway between you and the target. If you're not able to accurately estimate that distance, then find the point that is halfway to the halfway point and try to judge the distance. Once you find a point that you can accurately estimate the distance to then it's simple math to find the total distance. Hope it helps


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## burmjohn (May 28, 2010)

Mr. K said:


> I got these tips from one of the "old boys" at my club. He's been shooting since the 70's and has done a far amount of field archery. He suggested one of two different approaches. The first is to memorize how far 10 yds is and then attempt to estimate how many of these increments there are to the target (i.e. the brick method above). The second suggestion was to find a spot that was halfway between you and the target. If you're not able to accurately estimate that distance, then find the point that is halfway to the halfway point and try to judge the distance. Once you find a point that you can accurately estimate the distance to then it's simple math to find the total distance. Hope it helps


I'll have to give this a whirl this weekend when practicing.


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

*This is too easy*

 BUY A RANGE FINDER.....:thumbs_up


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## shooter74 (Jul 7, 2005)

*hmmmmm*



mike 66 said:


> BUY A RANGE FINDER.....:thumbs_up


what is to easy???????????????


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## Dave2 (Jan 24, 2003)

I do the closest 5 yards....estimate the target to the closest 5 yards...estimate your target and it is between 40-45 yards, if you can't figure out the exact yardage..just shoot it for 42 1/2 yards...bet you will be real close...works for me


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## skullerud (Apr 12, 2007)

As you know, of course, measuring is not allowed n 3D/field, but the thing is, everybody does it, like it or not.
So, you need a system.
I dont shoot 3D, only field, so the rest of my "system" is taken from that.
I shoot a Viper archery 1 5/8" scope with a waterpass, and a 4x lens
You can, if you ajust the sight/scope right, have the lines on the waterpass fit exactly to cover 1/2 of the target on given distances.
f.ex. on a 40cm FITA field face, if the area between the lines on my scope waterpass covers exactly 1/2 og the scoring zones, I know the distance is 20m.
another trick, used by some of the best field archers in the world (incl former world champion Ulrika Sjöwall form sweden), is to cover up the lens in the scope with tape circles from the edges, until the target face at f.e.x. 40m just fit inside the viewable part of the scope.

But this was very competition specifics.
another thing to remember, is that when you are guessing distances, at least longer than 30m, what you think is half way, normally will be more like 40% of the total distance.

my 2bits.


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## Hittingguru (Oct 1, 2004)

Came up with this variation of the Brick in the ground method- and it's portable. Bought some cheap clothesline rope and some tennis balls. Drilled a hole all the way through 6 tennis balls and threaded the rope through all of them. Then spaced the tennis balls at 10 yard increments from 0-50 yds. I tied a knot close to each side of each ball so they don't slide. Used a cheap electrical cord wraping device and now it goes with us to all the shoots. Easy way to sit and judge distance. Even works across uneven ground.


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## Chocha (Aug 2, 2006)

I have had the same issue over past years.. Horrible at judging distance. I confirmed this yesterday when my very first rangefinder purchase arrived in the mail. I realized just how much practice I need. As someone else suggested, I just plan on taking it everywhere with me and playing the "judge the distance game". I figure by doing that and using it while practicing I improve well beyond how I have been judging previously.


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## ats (Jul 20, 2007)

I've been practicing judging distance for 20 years, and I probably do it more so leading up to turkey season than any other time. I judge yardage to everything, at work, in the store, in my yard.........and still can't judge yardage to save my life. Maybe some of us just naturally suck at it


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