# Fingers and no sight with compound



## airbourn (May 21, 2008)

You guys that shoot with out sights how do you get your sight picture.Look down the arrow. pick a spot or what. Just thought I would try going back to fingers and try shooting with out a sight. Any help would be helpfull.


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## fuelracerpat (May 6, 2008)

*no sights*

You always have to pick a spot.........and yes, I look down the arrow, but I shoot Barebow(NFAA style) so I stringwalk. I have determined how far under the nock to draw and anchor the arrow for a give yardage(I have marks on my tab) so I "crawl" down the string to that mark, draw, anchor, put the point of the arrow on the target(dot or whatever) and release.
I have also been known to shoot split fingered or three under with a single anchor(usually index finger in the corner of my big mouth). With this anchor I use a "gap" system and determine how far over or under the target to hold the point of the arrow(the gaps are usually some reference in the sight window) both of these methods are fairly repeatable especially with LOTS of practice.:mg:


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## mitchell (Mar 5, 2005)

Experiment with anchor points until you get the arrow directly under your line of vision; or, line the string up with the edge of the shaft. That is how you get the windage correct, or at least how I do.

Then shoot a close range (20 yds) until you get consistent, and get used to a sight picture.

At that point, you basically look over the shaft, and see it under the spot, and shoot at the target. Adjustments for small increases in distance (5 yds) do not change the sight picture very much.

That is more or less what I do.

Another option, is to order the Rick Welch instructional video #2. He has it down to a science.


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## Harperman (Sep 3, 2006)

mitchell said:


> Experiment with anchor points until you get the arrow directly under your line of vision; or, line the string up with the edge of the shaft. That is how you get the windage correct, or at least how I do.
> 
> Then shoot a close range (20 yds) until you get consistent, and get used to a sight picture.
> 
> ...


.hey, Mitchell!....Does Ricky Welch cover shooting a Compound bare bow in His second video?....I didnt know that....I have His first video, and it's very very basic.....I'd like to see some of the video's by that other fella, Scott Anszack (sp??)......I've tried (messed around, actually) with shooting a couple of my current bows "bare-bow", and with the light arrows and high arrow speeds, I cant get the arrows down low enough.....I had an old Jennings that I could get a decent mid-range Point-On with, and shot it pretty well, for Me anyway, out to 35 yards or so...For the method I use, and the sight picture that I need, it seems that arrow speeds much over 200 f.p.s. is too much.....But, I reckon that if I were to dedicate myself to shooting this way, then a 600 grain arrow at 210 f.p.s. would be great for hunting, which is approx. what my Ultra Elite would do with that much arrow weight...Take Care.........Jim


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## biblethumpncop (May 14, 2004)

As a kid, I use to shoot a compound with no sights. I "graduated" to shooting a recurve with no sights. I use to aim differently between the two. I shot the compound with something similar to "split vision", where I was aware of the arrow's location in my periferial vision, but I still focused on the target. However, when I switched to shooting the recurve, I shot purely instinctively. I could shoot in the pitch black darkness and hit a lighted spot on the target. I had no idea where the arrow was in relationship to the target.

I got away from shooting my recurve instinctively last year. At the beginning of this year, a couple of super nice guys gave me an old caribou and an old carbon plus provantage. I ended up putting the carbon plus limbs on the old caribou and shot it with sights and fingers. Worked out like a charm. But, I went back to shooting the recurve about 3 months ago. However, this time, I used the similar aiming method that I did with a compound. The split vision style, allows for an easier transition to gap shooting at longer ranges. It worked well enough for me to win the AZ Bowhunter Happening a few weeks ago. 

Made me start to think about ripping the sight off of the caribou and giving it a shot at barebow again. Or, maybe my old Oneida. Hmmmm.... great! thanks alot! Now I have to fletch up some shafts. Its a disease I tell ya!

Oh ya, thanks again Jim and Gus!


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## mitchell (Mar 5, 2005)

JIm,

I have the old VHS tapes of Rick #2, and Scott both. If you have an old vcr and want to borrow them, I'll be glad to send them up.

No, he does not do compounds. Most people think the second video is much better than the first, including me.

If you do any utube, go out there and search for Rick Welch, or Rick Welch shooting school. He now does a 2 day school and there is a lengthy video on some of his students.

This sounds crazy, but Rick's method seems to me like it sort of self adjusts for distance, up to a point. IF you are interested in hearing more about that, shoot me an email and I will take a stab at explaining. I'm not sure I can, but I'll take a stab at it.


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## mitchell (Mar 5, 2005)

I don't find shooting the compound much different using my style, except that my effective range is much longer. And the let off really, really helps with TP.

If I was going to start someone tomorrow shooting instinctively, I would begin with a compound at 15yds. The let off allows you to work on form without fighting draw weight. And form is the foundation for good shooting, for most people.


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## dragonheart (Jul 18, 2008)

*Nonsight shooting*

I shoot gap when shooting a compound nonsight. If I am shooting targets, I have stringwalked in the past, but I am shooting a system now that allows me to shoot a hunting bow for all of my archery needs. The below system will work for hunting or target. 

I visualize a distance above or below the arrow for a given yardage. There is a point on distance where the point of the arrow is right on the target or spot I want to hit. In my current set up that is about 40 yrds. I shoot 2 fingers under the nock with my middle finger in corner of mouth and my top finger locked onto my cheekbone (high anchor). My gap "at the bow". Some folks gap at the target, I gap at the bow. At 15 yrds my gap is about 1/2", above the arrow, at the bow. In other words, I visualize a distance above the arrow and set the gap for the given distance. You memorize the gap for a given distance. Just like shooting a sight it is important to maintain all the other elements of proper shooting form (back tension, good solid stance, stable bow arm, etc.)

Once the gap is set, I focus only on the spot I want the arrow to hit. One way to think of this is if I put a sight pin 1/2" above the arrow you can shoot and learn what 1/2 inch looks like for a gap and then take the pin off to "see the gap". Each distance has a different gap and, of course above the point on you have to gap the arrow above the point you wish to hit. You will simply visialize a distance below the arrow and elevate above that amount. You cannot see the spot you want to hit, I visualize that spot through the arrow. That gets a little Zen, but it does work. 

This system of shooting is much more accurate than many think when this is perfected. When you have really shot in your gaps you begin to shoot more of a visual tragectory type of shooting. The one constant is the tragectory of the arrow. This is the same at 10 yrds and 100 yrds. Only by shooting your bow setup and keeping it constant will you be able to lock your trajectory into your memory. 

I recently shot a mule deer buck and I do not remember drawing the bow, or releasing. I was on automatic with my form and shot sequence. I remember aiming and setting the gap and burning the spot behind the shoulder and watching the lighted nock (first time with a tracer nock, that is quite cool) disappear through that spot. 

The things that is great about this system of shooting is low light is not a problem with no peep, you can shoot longer distances with more accuracy compared to pure "instinctive" shooting, less stuff to go wrong in the field (no sights to rattle loose, peeps to mess with turning wrong), and IMHO bows just look cool without sight on them. The only negative, which is not really problem, is just like with sights you need to know the distance to the target. At hunting distances, this is not overly critical.

With hope for positive change,

Jeff Schulz


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