# new to bowhunting



## da white shoe (Mar 10, 2009)

First, I hope you're shooting a compound bow! Ha!
I'd say that having the correct draw length is very, very important. It's worth really tinkering with to get it perfect.
Set your bow so that it is very easy to draw and hold. You can always crank it up, but for the learning stage and to build up the correct muscles... start on the low end.

There are quite a few ways you could learn to shoot a bow. Unfortunately, most of them are not very consistent. Let me ask* you *a question... what's the best way to shoot a rifle at long distance? You can bet that someone shooting a bench rested rifle at 300 yards won't pull the trigger... he will get steady and then just keep putting more and more pressure on that trigger until the rifle goes off. He won't know when it will fire. There is a way to shoot a bow using that same concept. It is highly accurate and, really, it's the best way to shoot a compound bow with sights... whether for targets or hunting, close or far. If you want to learn it, I've outlined the process below. If you don't want to shoot this way... if nothing else, these are some good tips for a new archer to know.


Before drawing the bow, position your hand on the grip and start pulling with your release hand to put pressure on the string. You are trying to find the exact spot for your bow hand to be in on the grip. You want to feel all of the pressure from the bow at one point on your bow hand when you're at full draw. Pretend there is a steel rod running parallel and exactly between the two bones in your forearm. Where that rod would exit your palm is where this point is. If you find this spot, it will help keep you from torqueing the bow handle. Your hand needs to be touching the grip in the exact same spot... every shot. A vertical, thin handle is much better to have than a fat, round one. You may want to just take the grip off your bow and wrap the handle section with tennis racket tape. I have done this with bows that had a rounded grip and it makes a huge difference! Also, if you will rotate the bottom of your bow hand away from the bow a few degrees for your grip, you will clear a path for the bowstring and negate torque at the same time. Learn to find your grip before you draw the bow on every shot, but once you start your draw, do not move your bow hand AT ALL.

At full draw, your release hand as well as your bow hand, should be completely relaxed. You don't want to be grasping or squeezing the barrel of the release or the grip of your bow handle. Also, do not force either of your hands open. Your fingers should be hanging limp and relaxed. I lightly touch my first finger and my thumb together around the bow handle, but some people use a wrist sling. Use the bones in your arms and the muscles in your back to hold as much of the weight of the bow at full draw as you can. Relax every muscle in your arms that you don't need to use to stay at full draw. That goes for the muscles in your shoulders, torso and legs, too. Remember; tension in your muscles is what causes your sights to wobble and jump around. If you can learn to relax everything that isn't needed to hold at full draw, your sight pins will barely even move. It is very important that your bow is set at the correct draw length. If it is too long, you will have a very hard time relaxing fully.

1. Form... Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, equal weight on both feet, slightly facing the target. A line drawn straight from the target to you should have the big toe of your forward foot just touching this line... and the heel of your rearward foot just touching that same line. At full draw, stand with your head held straight up... don't lean with your torso or tip your head to the side or forward. Your draw length is very important! If you have to draw the bow too far back, it will throw everything else you do off. The same thing is true if the draw is too short. The string should just touch the tip of your nose, with the nock directly under your eye. With an index finger-triggered release, I might suggest anchoring with your thumb under your lower jaw and the V created by the junction of your thumb and trigger finger locked behind the L of the back of your jawbone.

2. Back tension... Using your back muscles to hold the bow at full draw not only allows you to partially relax muscles in the rest of your body... thereby steadying your sight picture, you can also use your back muscles to trigger the shot. 
To find the right muscles to use, have someone stand facing you while you pretend to hold a bow at full draw. Have them grasp your elbows and try to force you to give them a hug while you resist, all the while keeping your arms relaxed. The back muscles you feel resisting are the ones you need to flex to make the release fire. 
Adjust your release so that the 2nd pad back from the tip of your finger is curled over the trigger. Don't use the tip of your finger. It is too sensitive and easy to move. Put as much pressure on the trigger as you can without making it fire and then squeeze just your back muscles until it goes off. Do not move your trigger finger at all. Your entire arm becomes the "trigger finger". That's why it's important to keep the release free-floating from your wrist to the string. The trigger is set off by flexing or squeezing the muscles of your back so that your release-side shoulder blade is flexing toward the spine, not by moving your finger. Another way to do it is to dig the tip of your trigger finger into some part of your cheek or face at full draw. Then, as you pull with your back, you naturally put more pressure on the trigger until it goes off. You could also just slowly squeeze the trigger with your finger, but then the finger becomes involved and that can lead to punching the trigger. Anyway, the surprise release is the goal. 


3. Shooting using a surprise release... reach full draw with perfect T form... meaning that your upper body forms a T shape with your shoulders and arms. Next, line up your bubble level... your bow needs to be perfectly vertical... pick the right pin and center it all in the peep. Then, move your whole upper body to get on target. You don't want to just move your arm up and down or side to side. That introduces torque in your grip and throws the arrow to the sides when you shoot. At full draw, your upper body and arms should at all times form a perfect T shape. When everything is lined up, start consciously relaxing muscles. Hold the bow back with your back muscles. Start with relaxing your hands and work your way up your arms and through the shoulders. When you've shot this way enough, you won't have to even think about this step. Then go into aiming mode. Your full concentration switches to the spot and only the spot. The pin is blurry and it will still seem to float around the spot, but you need to forget about the pin. You will naturally try to keep it on the spot without even thinking about it. You should be focusing on the spot and nothing else. Keep your concentration while slowly squeezing through the shot, making sure to follow through after the release. The first few times the bow goes off, it will scare the heck out of you. Keep at it! You will get used to it and it's important to never be able to anticipate the shot. Focus... concentrate on the spot you want to hit and just squeeze through until the shot breaks.

4. The follow through.... When you "follow through" after the bow goes off, keep your T form until you hear the arrow hit, do not drop your bow arm or move your head, stay relaxed and let the bow go where it wants to with out grabbing it. Some bows will need the perfect stabilizer in order to force the bow to fall the same way every time after the shot. Good follow through usually takes a lot of practice. 

Now, it's tempting to just go right out and try all of this on a target at 20 yards, but DON'T DO IT! When you start trying all of this for the first time, it is very important, and it will speed up the learning process... if you completely eliminate the aiming part of shooting the bow. Work on relaxation and a surprise release before you ever have to worry about aiming. You need to ingrain the feel of the shot process so that it becomes automatic... as in the term, "muscle memory." You do this with your eyes closed at first. Your target needs to be at the same height as your arrow. I hang my target from a rafter and stand close, so that the tip of my arrow is about 3 1/2 feet away from the target at full draw. After you reach full draw and have lined everything up, close your eyes, relax and think through every step of the shot. After that is comfortable, use a target with a spot, but start close... 5 yards or so. Work your way out to 20 yards over the coarse of a couple weeks, at least.

In my first years with a compound bow, I felt that I needed to "shoot the bow." What I mean by that is; I tried to control *everything*! The sight pin, my shakiness, the moment of release.
I think that the natural inclination for everyone that first picks up a bow is to use every muscle they have to draw and hold it back. Then, they will invariably try to watch the sight pin and the target at the same time... impossible to do. It feels athletic to try to control the bow, but that is the wrong approach. After a lot of my own inconsistency, I came to the conclusion that I needed to let the bow shoot itself! I had found a new philosophy in archery. To be static. Like a bow shooting machine. To just stay out of the way and allow the arrow to leave the bow with no outside influences working against it... namely me! After all, if my bow was being shot out of a shooting machine the arrows would all be going in the same hole! Just that little bit of attitude adjustment, that little change in my approach to shooting, was all that it took to get my mind right. You will be much more accurate and have a lot more fun shooting this way! I guarantee it! Shooting in this way is truly amazing! It defies logic, really, and at some point while learning this method, you will know you are doing it right because your arrows will keep going dead center of the bull's-eye... even when you know the pin was not on the spot at the time your bow went off! 

I hope this will all help in some way... remember to keep it fun though, however you decide to shoot a bow!

Good luck, Zane


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## MNJB (Jan 7, 2013)

Thanks a lot zane I am going to print that off and staple it to my wall in my indoor range/basement. Very usefull info


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## da white shoe (Mar 10, 2009)

:thumbs_up


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## elksnout (Feb 2, 2006)

Yup, Shoe's pretty good...if nothing else, when we go to Alaska this fall, he can tell me what I'm doin wrong!


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## da white shoe (Mar 10, 2009)

elksnout said:


> Yup, Shoe's pretty good...if nothing else, when we go to Alaska this fall, he can tell me what I'm doin wrong!


Ah, heck. I'll even tell you what* I'm *doing wrong!


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## da white shoe (Mar 10, 2009)

To MNJB, the OP.
I thought I'd throw some more at you.

There is no universal anchor point that will work for everyone, but there are some things that make a great anchor point. Having at least two solid, 
easy-to-repeat points of contact with your face is recommended. For instance, the string just touching the end of the nose... 
with a knuckle of the release hand dug in behind the jaw bone. The perfect one would have your head held straight with the rest of your spine, shoulders level
and in line with the arrow, release-side forearm in a straight line with the arrow at full draw and no part of the string in heavy contact with any part of the face or chest.

As long as these things are kept in mind, whatever feels comfortable will be OK, but remember that the higher your anchor is, the lower the peep is in the string. 
In other words, the closer you have the peep to your nock on the string, the lower your sights will have to be. 
At some point that can make it impossible to shoot at a decent distance... what that distance ends up being depends on the bow and the arrow used.
The main thing to remember is, your anchor is like the rear sight on a rifle... if it's not the same every time... you're probably going to miss a lot. 

Usually, it takes some time shooting at 5 yards from the blank target... with your eyes open, to be able to comfortably incorporate the aiming process. I left that part out above, but it is important.
You have to be at the stage where you do not have to think about form or release or back tension or relaxing muscles before you can fully concentrate on aiming.
Make sure you're at this point before you try aiming or you will end up very confused at full draw.
At the point where you don't have to think of anything to trigger the shot with back tension and a surprise release, only now, with this last step... will you tie your new shooting process in with the aiming process.
Move to 5 yards with a target that has several *big spots *to aim at... no sense ruining arrows shooting at the same spot. Six inch squares of duct tape will work nicely. 
Begin shooting. Let the shooting process you've instilled run on auto-pilot... all you should have in your head is that spot. Nothing else matters. Trust the bow to do it’s job. Keep in mind that at this stage, 
where the arrow ends up in the target isn't important. What you are trying to do is capture the feeling of the perfect execution of the shot... while aiming at the same time. 

At some point, all of your arrows will start to find the center of the spots. When that happens... and you feel like you are consistent in your form, aiming, release and follow through... 
move back to 10 yards and do it all again. When it all comes together at 10 yards, use a smaller spot to aim at. 

Repeat the process out to a good distance, but don't be in a hurry to get there! Take your time and make sure it is all working before you move back.
If it isn't, move closer again. It is a good idea to begin each practice session at the hanging target with your eyes closed. 
As always, it is very important to quit shooting when you start to loose your focus... that's when bad things happen.


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## MNJB (Jan 7, 2013)

Shoe, if I am not using my back muscle now what would I have to change to use them?


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## da white shoe (Mar 10, 2009)

Maybe everything, I don't know.
Just do it like it is written above.^^^^^^^^^^^
Start close to the target with your eyes closed until you get a feel for relaxation, back tension and the surprise release.
When all of that is set like concrete, move to 5 yards with your eyes open, but use no spot.
If everything still feels good with your eyes open, use a spot... a big one at 5 yards.
Don't get caught up in where the arrow goes at first. Just try to make everything work while aiming at the same time.
When the arrows are finding the center and you are doing everything right, use a smaller spot.
After that you can slowly work your way out to distance. All of this takes time... a couple months, maybe, for it to become ingrained in your brain. 
You can't rush through it. Everything has to be so natural feeling to you that you can do it without having to think about it. 
Your mind has to be 100% on aiming for the arrow to find the center at 20 yards. 
Be honest with yourself. There is no one there to tell you whether you are doing it right or wrong, so you are the only judge here. It will do you no good to cheat or try to take short-cuts.
Remember, the goal is steady sight pins, ie; muscle relaxation... full concentration on the spot you want the arrow to go... and a surprise when the bow fires.


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## MNJB (Jan 7, 2013)

Thaks for all the advice, you have been a great help to a "newbie"


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## Stevie777 (May 2, 2013)

Bookmarked for future reference...Cheers man.


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