# how do you judge yardage



## z7 xtreme fmj (Aug 26, 2011)

don't say A RANGE FINDER !


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## Bowman51309 (Apr 26, 2011)

I'm trying to get better at ranging targets with out my range finder. It's almost become a crutch that I have to lean on and I want to get away from it so I don't have to try and range the deer walking in front of me. For me, it's about practice. I go out and guess ranges for different objects in every day life and same thing in new situations in the woods and then pull out my range finder to see if I'm close. (Pulling out range finder obviously only pertains to the woods part of that comment) I've gotten better at it but the true test is when I have a competition with gf and her dad. So in short, practice...LOTS of it..


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## OHIOARCHER36 (Oct 12, 2010)

Practice yardage 3 times as much as you practice shooting .
The guy above said it well.


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## Dr.Dorite (Oct 27, 2008)

z7 xtreme fmj said:


> don't say A RANGE FINDER !


Practice, like in any other skill. will make anyone better. I guess you can step off every estimate you make, if you have the time and energy. Also, if you are always dead on with elevation you could shoot everything you are estimating, and tell if you were high or low, but still not know the correct yardage. If you don't even want to hear the word, that most people have found to be a real asset to practicing yardage judging, then a good long measuring tape could also be used for practicing.


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## Old Man Archer (Mar 31, 2009)

Shoot 50 target shoots pretty easy to score 200 at them.


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## mcfd-1229 (Aug 14, 2010)

I read a thread in here last summer about judging yardage in the article they talked about stand and relax your neck and shoulders close your eyes and then open them the first thing that comes into focus is 20 yards. I started trying it and It works for.me


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## C.Callison (Jun 20, 2006)

Look at a lot of targets. Go to the range with your range finder and not your bow. It you are going to the range to practice, judge, write your number down. Then range and write the number down. Then make the shot. Keep track of what yardage you are missing and work on learning that distance. When you get to a certain level in your shooting you need to separate your form practice from your judging practice. I found that if I want to have a good practice and benefit the most from my time. I need to go alone and keep a record of my judging compared to the actual yardage. Then when you have the correct number. Put pressure on your self to make the shot.


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## 3Dblackncamo (Jul 22, 2009)

not too good right now, according to my score


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## carlosii (Feb 25, 2007)

i can't judge targets for stink. lot of guys say they can do a good job of estimating 20 yards so they pick a 20 yard spot and judge off of it. doesn't work for me.
Levi says he spends a lot of time shooting practice on a 30 yard target (critter, not bag) and that helps him when its time to compete cause he'll have an idea if its 30, more or less. of course, he ain't like the rest of us. but i figure if its good enough for him, its good enough for me...so i shoot a lot of practice on a mckenzie deer at 30 yards. just sayin'.


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## IBEX 2 (Jul 22, 2011)

Try picking a spot midway, judge that, then double it!!This helped me alot!!


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## zestycj7 (Sep 24, 2010)

Get rid of your sights, use a recurve, longbow whatever. Shooting without sights for the people I have worked with has always worked best. It seems that judging yardage by just drawing back the arrow and letting fly at the target works better. Get yourself a back quiver full of woods, put blunts on them and go for a walk through the woods or hills and shoot your butt off at bushes, anything. Just go out stump shooting. Give it a try, you will have a blast doing it and you will see that it helps.
Don.


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## mmukav (Sep 5, 2011)

I practiced whenever I had time. If I was at work or out somewhere I would just go outside and pick out a spot and estimate the distance. Then I would walk it off to see how close I came. After a while I got pretty good at it. For longer shots I estimate out to 20 yards, then 20 more, etc. Breaking it up into 20 yard increments helped a lot also.


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## Eliteonly (Oct 8, 2011)

I use 3 systems to get an average. I first snap judge it which is look at it and get a number. Then I go in 10yd increments to the target. I keep that number in mind. I find halfway of me and the target, figure out how far that is, double it and figure out how far the target is. I average the 3 together. Set my sight, tell myself (even if the yardage is wrong, I don't care, one of the biggest mistakes is to no trust your estimation) that the target is X amount of yards, imagine the arrow in the center of the spot I want. Aim aim aim...aim some more! Then see what I've managed to do. After my group shoots and we're coming back with arrows, Ill range it and just see how bad we were off if the range officials let us. Last summer I got down to within 2yds of about 90% of the targets. I plan on getting even closer and now that I know alot more, I should be able to really turn in some scores this year.


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## ahcnc (Nov 2, 2009)

Don't carry a score card at local shoots....Carry a notebook!!! Write down what target your shooting at...how far you shot....what you scored....It will tell you in no time at all what targets/distances are taking points from you and where you need work.


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## Eliteonly (Oct 8, 2011)

I second that! I do the samething! That's the ultimate tool to use.


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## 3dshooter25 (Nov 17, 2008)

I spend a lot of time just looking at the targets at 40 yards and try to memorize what they look like at that yardage. Most of our shots are from 38-43 yards so it helps to be able to determine if the target is closer or further than 40 yards and go from there. After i have memorized the targets at 40 yards, I will step back to 45 and try to imprint in my mind what they look like. I started doing this at the end of last year and it really helps cut down on mistakes. I also use the ground on targets that are 35 yards and in. The most important thing is to find a system that works for you and have confidence in it.


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## gsgayman (Nov 16, 2011)

marking out 10 yd increments always used to work for me but now I'm not sure I can figure yardage correctly at all. I'll find out this winter/spring.


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## msaskins (Jun 22, 2009)

C.Callison said:


> Look at a lot of targets. Go to the range with your range finder and not your bow. It you are going to the range to practice, judge, write your number down. Then range and write the number down. Then make the shot. Keep track of what yardage you are missing and work on learning that distance. When you get to a certain level in your shooting you need to separate your form practice from your judging practice. I found that if I want to have a good practice and benefit the most from my time. I need to go alone and keep a record of my judging compared to the actual yardage. Then when you have the correct number. Put pressure on your self to make the shot.



I do that a lot in the yard.
I walk around and pick out objects - check it with the rangefinder and pace it off, then find another one.


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## 3Dblackncamo (Jul 22, 2009)

I have a deer in my yard set at 43 yards and I look at it every day, its good to look at something at specifc distance and remember it


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## J Whittington (Nov 13, 2009)

Invest time. A lot of investing is needed.


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## z7 xtreme fmj (Aug 26, 2011)

Eliteonly said:


> I use 3 systems to get an average. I first snap judge it which is look at it and get a number. Then I go in 10yd increments to the target. I keep that number in mind. I find halfway of me and the target, figure out how far that is, double it and figure out how far the target is. I average the 3 together. Set my sight, tell myself (even if the yardage is wrong, I don't care, one of the biggest mistakes is to no trust your estimation) that the target is X amount of yards, imagine the arrow in the center of the spot I want. Aim aim aim...aim some more! Then see what I've managed to do. After my group shoots and we're coming back with arrows, Ill range it and just see how bad we were off if the range officials let us. Last summer I got down to within 2yds of about 90% of the targets. I plan on getting even closer and now that I know alot more, I should be able to really turn in some scores this year.


Thanks for that great advice , i'll be sure to try that next time i go to a shoot.


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## Garceau (Sep 3, 2010)

z7 xtreme fmj said:


> i went to a 3d shoot today and although i hadnt been to one in a while i thought i was pretty good with my yardage ..... well it turns out im a little rusty to say the least.
> 
> i was wondering just how people do it , i mean to get a score of 200 plus it pretty clear you know what your doing .
> 
> So just how do ya do it , anyone got some special tricks tips or technics to judging yardage and would like to share it sure would be nice , thanks


Poorly very poorly


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## topclimber (Dec 24, 2009)

I find the halfway point, then I half that again. That is usally a easy distance to judge, then multiply by four.


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## Frederick D. Be (Mar 3, 2009)

Read this... http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=635903
I think this post from a ways back will help you out. Cheers!
Fred


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## sightmaster (Jul 1, 2011)

z7 xtreme fmj said:


> i went to a 3d shoot today and although i hadnt been to one in a while i thought i was pretty good with my yardage ..... well it turns out im a little rusty to say the least.
> 
> i was wondering just how people do it , i mean to get a score of 200 plus it pretty clear you know what your doing .
> 
> So just how do ya do it , anyone got some special tricks tips or technics to judging yardage and would like to share it sure would be nice , thanks


i juge my 10yd mark first. then 20 and so on. if it's really close and it's a skunk or a rabbit or any small target i just put my first pin witch is my 20yd pin a little low. i don't know if you have 10yd pin if you have a 20yd pin as your first pin just put it at the bottom of the 8 ring. that's what i do and i mostly get a X or a 10. good luck.


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## usmcman001 (Nov 30, 2010)

People say practice makes perfect. I disagree. Perfect practice makes perfect. If you half *** practicing you will never be perfect at anything. Heard this from a professional baseball player whos dad beat this into him while young. Now he plays big leagues! I too am trying to get better at judging yardage.


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## bowanalee (Feb 24, 2007)

This is basically what I do along with practicing with range finders at home. For me its not all yardage, its a system in steps.

(1) I look at the target to get my first estimate.
(2) Step off with my eyes 10 steps on the ground "a few times", then estimate 10,20,30 and 8 more to get a 38 yd target.(again several times)
(3) Then look at the target size for a reestimate and set sight. If you have doubt, use the longer estimate.
(4) Glass scoring ring. 
(6) Set body and hand. 
(7) Then believe in yourself, block everything else out, completely immerse yourself in holding your pin on the target and pulling until it explodes.

If you ain't steady enough, the wind blows, or it just ain't there, let it down and start (7) over. Don't be afraid to let down.


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## carlosii (Feb 25, 2007)

can't judge for crappola. that's why i always try to shoot with guys who are good at finding arrows.


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## bustn'nocks (May 11, 2010)

mcfd-1229 said:


> I read a thread in here last summer about judging yardage in the article they talked about stand and relax your neck and shoulders close your eyes and then open them the first thing that comes into focus is 20 yards. I started trying it and It works for.me


I will be trying this out during my morning practice session.


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## bustn'nocks (May 11, 2010)

ahcnc said:


> Don't carry a score card at local shoots....Carry a notebook!!! Write down what target your shooting at...how far you shot....what you scored....It will tell you in no time at all what targets/distances are taking points from you and where you need work.


I just started doing that this month for every practice session. It's really helping to identify where I am weakest and where I am strong for yardage estimation. It will help come tourney time to let me know when I can be aggressive and when I need to be more conservative on the scoring rings.


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