Sighting in my bow, and getting frustrated...

[AntlerObsession]

New strings also take time to stretch and settle. Whomever did your new string should retune it for you and make sure everything is good. That may not be THE problem but it is a good reason to have them run through your bow again to make sure everything is hunt ready.

[wildwoody]

+1

[ThomC]

Nine pins are too many. How can you remember which is which? From the looks of your target you need to only shoot 30 yards max. Use the first two pins only. Go to archerytalk .com and read, read, read. Nobody can tune your bow except you. Long practice will teach you to make mistakes. If you are hunting the first shot is the only one that counts. To quote experts:

 

Perfect practice= perfect.

[PRDATR]

No need to shoot 70 pounds. The need for speed is alive and well in archery and in firearms. If you can consistently shoot a 4" group to 30 yards you'll do fine. When the group starts to open up, thats you limit. So , stop for that session.

Go out and spot and stalk some jack rabbits.

[Swivelhead]

A relaxed shot is the goal. Be honest with yourself, if you are uncomfortable and stressing at the point of release that is likely your grouping problem. Let the bow do the work. Relax and let the shot happen.

[CouesWhitetail]

you are getting a lot of good advice here. I second the idea of quality over quantity. Shooting just a few arrows with great form is so much better than shooting for an hour with no break. I say that from personal experience. I used to get frustrated and just shot more and more and I just got more frustrated. I finally figured out that I was getting fatigued and tense and it was causing a lot of inconsistency. So I would limited myself to two shots and walk to the target. Then do that another 5-6 times before stopping for the day. It really helped. Marking arrows helped too. And when I changed the way I lined up my peep site with my bowsite it really helped too. I used to try and center the pin in my peep site. But now I line the circle of the peep up with the circle of my site that is around all the pins (the guard). Then put appropriate pin on target. I found it less stressful and more consistent.

[motoxno53]

I live not too far from you... I would be willing to meet you out at the Tucson Mtn Park range after work one day..

 

Give me a call

 

437-5437

 

Chris

[Scooter]

My practice sessions now consist mostly of hitting the walk-through range that the HMABC runs about three to five times per week. It has 15 targets spaced out over a little over a mile of terrain in the foothills of the Huachucas. I practice quietly navigating the trail and approaching the targets, setting my feet or kneeling, drawing slowly, aiming, releasing and follow through. I am only shooting one arrow at each target IF I score a vital hit. If I fail to achieve a vital hit with that first arrow I will nock another one, hit the rangefinder, and re-shoot that target. I move on after each "kill shot" as a way to reward myself. Somebody said it before, "you only get one shot at the animal". I am primarily a hunter, not a competitive shooter, so I'm not really that concerned about having three or five arrows touching each other in the bullseye at 60 yards- nor do I want to replace any more arrows. If I can deliver that first-shot hit on the vitals on all 15 targets (ranging from 20-63yds) I'm a happy camper and consider myself lethal.

[ylclaret]

That's like an awesome way to practice! I really appreciate all the great advice here and I'm going to try to take Chris up on his offer. I shot the sane way as Amanda mentioned for the first year before someone mentioned that I should put the peep around the outside ring of the sight and that definitely helped, and towards the end of last hunting season I figured out if I anchored my nose on the string it would help me be more consistent. As far as good form and follow through though, I don't really have any idea if I'm doing it right...

[joe hunter]

If you have to move your sight remember it's not like a rifle sight where you move your sight towards the bullzeye with a bow if you are shooting to the right you want to move your sight to the right, same with up and down if you are hitting high move your sight up...hitting low move it down.

 

You should put your peep in line with the sight ring, bring the pin up to your target (spot), release and follow through....don't bring your shooting hand down or your bow down until you hear your arrow hit.

 

Don't over do it. Like said above, just shoot a couple arrows at a time and think about your form and what you are doing. If you stsrt getting tired take a break.....don't try to" force" yourself to shoot good.

[Heat]

1. Shooting field point groups is one thing, broadheads is another. At this point of the game you should be shooting broadheads!

 

2. 1" circle for each 10 yards of distance is a good gauge. 2" at 20, 4" at 40, 6" at 60, etc. Some guys say you need to hit a chew can at 50 or 60 yards or whatever. There's a lot more guys who say they can do it, than guys who can actually hit the can with every arrow, every time.

 

3. Be sure you are not getting string contact with your arm or fletching contact with your rest or riser. That can make it very difficult to get a good group.

 

4. Good Form is a necessity, not a option.

 

5. Kids kill deer with bow under 40 lbs all the time. No need for 70 lbs. I bet your groups tighten up with a decrease in poundage.

 

Hit one of these guys up that are willing to help. That is cool of them to offer! Good Luck and keep coming back with more questions. You owe it to the elk to get this figured out or you should limit your shots to distances where you KNOW you will kill the elk AND recover it.

 

Nick

[ylclaret]

Just wanted to take a second to give a big thanks to Chris, who goes by motoxno53 on here. I just got home from Chris' house where he helped me out with my form, gave some good tips on things I could improve, and even helped out by replacing my old whisker biscuit with a different rest he had, that immediately fixed the paper tuning issue we were having! Hopefully tomorrow evening I will be shooting some much better groups and if I do it will be thanks to Chris! Thanks again to Chris for all your help and to Amanda for an awesome site that facilitates this community!

[sjvcon]

Hopefully you now have an idea what follow through is all about. When I get into a shooting slump, it's because I forget my follow through, which causes me to pull and shoot inconsistently. For me ... follow through is like tunnel vision. My focus never shifts from that tiny spot on the target I am looking at ... even when the bow falls away from my hand. That kind of focus prevents torqueing the bow. Aim small ... miss small.

[Scooter]

Nice! Glad you got some assistance and it sounds like you are on track for success!

[ylclaret]

I hope so! Can't wait to get home this afternoon do some shooting!