# Using your bubble in a crosswind?



## XP35 (Oct 11, 2005)

Do any of you guys do this? I have experimented with it a bit after reading a mention of it once. Just not sure if there is a WAY to do it or if there is nothing but experimenting/practicing it to point me in the right direction.

Could anyone here shed a little light on this technique?

And what about a head or tail wind? Aiming elevation changes?:noidea:


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

XP35 said:


> Do any of you guys do this? I have experimented with it a bit after reading a mention of it once. Just not sure if there is a WAY to do it or if there is nothing but experimenting/practicing it to point me in the right direction.
> 
> Could anyone here shed a little light on this technique?
> 
> And what about a head or tail wind? Aiming elevation changes?:noidea:


Some people aim off the bullseye on "wind shots" and some don't. There are times when the wind is howling so bad, that "bubbling" isn't enough..you gotta AIM OFF TOO...and there are times when BOTH won't do the job.

The first thing to conclude WHEN the wind is blowing...YOU ARE GOING TO MISS....so get over it.

However, if you have Practiced in the wind, and you are a bubbler...then you are at least one step ahead of most of your competition. Most shooters HATE practicing in the wind and will avoid it at all costs! They prefer to set their sites dead on, dead level, and practice trying to shoot in perfect conditions to get perfect scores...that rarely are achievable.

Anyways...so much for that part....let's talk PROACTIVE practice.

If you choose to be a "bubbler"...one rule of thumb is in order:

TOP LIMB INTO THE WIND...so simple....TOP LIMB INTO THE WIND. Lefty, righty, wind from left, wind from right..TOP LIMB INTO THE WIND.

Now, how far to cant...Well, you gotta LEARN THIS.and to learn it...you gotta proactively practice it...How?

Simple....on a calm day, or on a level target in the trees out of the wind....start dead level...you are good at that. Now, without touching the site or anything...cant the top limb...either left or right....about 1/4 bubble and keep it there....AIM DEAD CENTER...and shoot GROUPS of arrows at that same bubble "setting"...you will see a change of impact point....to the left or right depending upon the "bubbling"....MEMORIZE how far that point of impact moves from center...THAT is data.

Now do the same thing...only 1/2 bubble cant...and note the impact point for that as opposed to center...remember ALWAYS AIM DEAD CENTER...but cant the "bubble" as close to the same every time so you learn the change in impact point.

You gotta do this more than once and for BOTH SIDES of cant....top limb left and top limb right...because all of us have a "natural cant"....some tune their site bars to it and some don't..

Once you know how far 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and a full "bubble" either side moves your impact point; you now know, in the wind, how much 'bubble" to give for "wind effect"...but you aim DEAD ON with the site...or you lose the "data" and you are back to guessing again.

One word of caution if you choose to "aim off" instead of "bubble"....you are used to aiming dead on...centered up...right? Well, the subconscious tendency if you are aiming off...is to get that site back to center just as the shot goes off....and you will blow it out the OTHER SIDE if you aren't careful. Do this all day long in the wind by aiming off...and you get to spend the next few days learning how to not jerk the bow around! Just a word of caution about aiming off and a possible pair of side effects.

Of course...here you sit...bubbling off 3/4 bubble (or whatever) cuz the wind is drifting the arrows from the middle of the red into the gold...and...lo and behold...the wind QUITS...oh, crap, here is that "8" staring you in the face. Poop happens, get over it...you got caught by the "wind monster"...oh, well.

One last thing: DO NOT DRAW WHEN THE WIND LULLS! Because, by the time you get to full draw, anchored and settled...the wind will most likely be GUSTING AGAIN...and it will be a bad shot or a let down.

I tend to draw the bow as the wind GUSTS...then, normally, I will be at anchor and ready to shoot when the gust stops and the wind steadies....it works...most of the time. But rarely does it work when if I draw the bow when the wind lulls, hoping it "holds the lull"....maybe it is just my rotten luck, I dunno, hahahaha.

Also....pay attention! sometimes the wind is blowing where YOU are, but is NOT blowing down range...if FITA or 900...watch the FLAGS....it is amazing what weird stuff goes on in the wind.

Watch the other shooters on YOUR target and the impact points. That can help give you clues too.

Lastly...analyze every shot...you WILL miss...but was it the wind? Did you shoot a strong shot? Because often times, even in the wind, you CAN MAYBE just shoot a strong shot and not bubble at all. 

All of this aside...if you are a 'bubbler" there WILL BE TIMES when all bets are off and the wind is howling so bad that bubbling won't work and you will be forced to aim off and use Kentucky windage and pray a lot!

Headwind tailwind...I don't "normally" compensate for that...but a following wind, if strong enough..I've seen cases were I've shot LOW. and in a head wind shot HIGH.... Note here that airplanes normally are directed to the runway for takeoff INTO THE WIND...MORE LIFT that way....more True Air Speed (movement thru the air mass NOT along the ground), shorter takeoff roll

Oh..one last thing...RELEASE SPEED....you betcha! In windy conditions...right handed shooter...if the wind is coming from your right, the release will be going off slower...the wind is blowing your bowarm that seems to have the affect of "reducing drawlength". If the wind is coming from the left...it blows the bowarm out...and thus has the effect of "increasing" drawlength...so the release goes off FASTER. be ready for it. Your drawlength really isn't changing (hopefully), but the affect of the wind pushing your bowarm one way or the other does create this potential problem of a slower than normal or faster than normal release trip.

field14


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## XQuest (May 5, 2003)

I have always gap shot in the wind.I wanted instant correction for wind changes.


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## SuperX (May 21, 2002)

field - you getting paid by the word? :tongue:

I will use the bubble in target / FITA situations when the wind is consistent. I don't do it in field because I usually need my bubble for other things such as staying plumb on the side-hills. 

Good thing most field courses are still in the woods and wind isn't much of a factor. We'll see if that changes next year in Yankton


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## FS560 (May 22, 2002)

SuperX said:


> We'll see if that changes next year in Yankton


Don't wish for something, you might get it.

The worst wind range I ever shot in the nationals was F range at Aurora. Well, there was also all the ranges at Golden.

Whatever.


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## SuperX (May 21, 2002)

FS560 said:


> Don't wish for something, you might get it.
> 
> The worst wind range I ever shot in the nationals was F range at Aurora. Well, there was also all the ranges at Golden.
> 
> Whatever.


not wishing Jim, using reverse psychology and hoping I am wrong :embara:


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## AKDoug (Aug 27, 2003)

I aim off. Unfortunately I live in the least windy place in the U.S. with an F.A.A. weather station. I never get to practice in the wind. Much easier for me to just aim at one side of the target to get them in the middle.


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

SuperX said:


> not wishing Jim, using reverse psychology and hoping I am wrong :embara:


I second that, JIM.

Remember in Aurora when it was windier than crap out on the range by the clubhouse...and TERRY RAGSDALE turns in a 560 on it! I about near crapped my pants!

Now, Golden, CO in 1974...you gotta admit there was ONE TREE on those ranges on the MESA....

AND...in spite of the T-storms and lightning...they didn't call off the shoot...even tho at the time I was UNDER those power lines and towers shooting that lousy 80 yarder...only to have to shoot 7 arrows to score 4...and then go get my arrows that passed thru the bale by about 20 yards!

Didn't they nickname that one the "Rocky Mountain Ripoff"??? Nobody shot a 2800 up there...and I don't think there were too many 560's either...I do think, tho, didn't TERRY RAGSDALE WIN THAT ONE?

Great wind shooter that man!

field14


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## GeorgD (Nov 18, 2002)

I've found wind behind me I'm often a half yard or so low,wind seems to push the arrow down, (I add a 1/2 to my sight) wind in front of me a half yard or so high (take off a 1/2 yard on the sight). 

One thing about field. If your first shot is what you consider a good shot, you can adjust for the other three... if you lucky enough to have the wind stay constant.

Left to right is a tuff one. If it's pretty windy, I hope for a constant breeze for the shot and will start with a 1/2 bubble, top limb into the wind, I adjust after the shot if needed. If I see the wind is gusting and has lulls where the wind just stops I will try and time the shot at those times. I'm feeling and watching the wind as I approch the target, I also use my binos to see patterns on the target. Make my best educated guess for the first shot and go from there.

I'm not the best wind shooter. I use to shoot with a guy named Dave Butler, he won back to back NFAA nationals if I remember correctly. Dave dosen't shoot much any more, but I once asked him how he shoots so well in the wind. He said, "The best way to shoot in the wind, is to not shoot in the wind." 

He would time his shots, wait pull up and shoot in the lull. Dave wasn't the fastest shooter on the range, but he could sure post some awesome scores.


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