Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Wudstix on June 07, 2023, 11:21:14 PM
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When I'm shooting at the house and there is only moonlight, or maybe some shine from the street lights when I'm shooting it seems I am dead on. Perhaps it is the need to focus more to see the target, or the elimination of outside visual distractions. Whatever it is I like it!!! Also, the arrow just disappears into the dark and all I hear is the thump.
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Yep, its easier to focus as you have better 'tunnel vision' as there is nothing to distract you. I recovered/shot a really nice 8 pointer in the dark at Solana years ago, and several hogs at night.
I have found the exact thing shooting through holes in the brush.
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Less distraction make it easier for the few brain cells to communicate!!!
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In New York State you can shoot a half hour before sunrise and a half hour after sunset. I was hunting the cedar trees on my property. Half an hour before sunrise, a deer came out about 20 yards in front of me. I could tell he had a rack but it was tuff to see him. He hung out for a few minutes then decided to turn around and leave. When he turned around I thought I could see him better. I drew on him with my longbow and it looked good; so I shot. The deer took off; I felt I hit him well, plus I heard the crash. It was another 10 minutes at least before I could see the front half of my arrow sticking in the ground. I waited for 30 minutes after sunrise to go get him. Short blood trail.
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Shooting in the dark or low light is good for I guess to remove distraction. Shooting in daylight is nice too. The only difference is that in light I get a glimpse of my arrow in the last few as it hits the target, or enters my gaze at the target.
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I've been spending some time late evening shooting lately as by the time I get home, eat and rehydrate my system it's after sunset. I like shooting in lower light however I also can set up a solar flood light to illuminate the target and Procter well after dark.
I find it helpful to call my shot placement before I walk up based on my follow through and such upon release.
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I shoot when I can, as well. Also, shooting at first light is educational.
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I have trouble with shooting in the dark or very low light conditions I tend to shoot low . If theres any lights at all like drive way lights or kill lights . no problem
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I talking about, just enough illumination to see the target. Moon or stars!
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Seems like some pre-dawn shooting is in order, to catch the temperature below 70 degrees!!!
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Years back our club used to host coon shoots at night . All cardboard raccoon targets placed on the bales around the course. The only shooting light was a single flashlight aimed by one of your shooting partners at the target. It was suprising how accurate you could be!
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I have found that my ability to pick a spot declines in low light. Maybe it is because my eyes are getting older, but I think it is because once the target is dark a specific spot is too hard to see.
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Looks like I'll be dealing with the less hot temp of 0600-0730 shooting. Sunrise is @0635, so it should be as cool as it is going to be.
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Try shooting at a single candle during complete darkness.....
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I've done that, pretty amazing.
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It's 8:17 pm and temp just dipped below 90 degrees. Went out to throw about 8 arrows and they were all close,(4-5") but my bow shoulder is sore thus the shots were sloppy. Last one was pure Focus and right on the spot. Good time to stop.
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Shooting in the dark is...different. It's not only forcing you to concentrate, the visual queues that help you with depth perception are minimized or gone altogether. At first, most folks miss because they're brain is giving the wrong information on the distance to the target. Once you practice it enough, you'll start hitting consistently.
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Tonight my plan is to ready about four arrows and do some shooting as the temp dips below 90 and the sun goes down. Fire some St Jude arrows through my Big River D/R longbow. She has been patiently waiting too long.
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Temp didn't get much below 100, 98 currently. Forgot how smooth this longbow is. Even at one pound heavier than my recurve it draws smoother, feels lighter and I can anchor better. Stepped off to my max of 18 yards before the yard drops off. All arrows hit within 1" of spot, except when I didn't cant the bow and they sailed high and left. Had a wonderful evening shoot.
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One last trip out tonight, temp plunged to 93, almost needed a vest. 18 more shots at a Live Oak leaf, 4 times knocked it down, 3 times more than 3" away all the rest within 1" of leaf. Time to come inside, before I caught a chill!
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Went out this evening, just before last light and threw a few from the D/R longbow. Did pretty good considering I was shooting for team Yuengling, The most I was off the mark was 4-5"and had several within an inch of the oak leaf. This longbow is amazing.
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Went out and sat in the new chair until the temp dropped to 90, and it was still light enough to see well. Took 8-10 shots from the chair and was hitting real near point of focus. Then the fireworks started and I decided to come inside.
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Today was cooler than in about a month, 88 degrees at 8pm. We got about a hour of hard rain. Slight breeze, was comfortable shooting a dozen-ish arrows and taking my time between shoots. Mosquitos finally drove me inside. Getting real comfortable shooting from this seat.
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If you want to shoot you go early or late. Early is cooler (80) before 0800. Late is a bit warmer usually under 100 before dark. Pick your poison and launch them arrows.
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I go out at sunset and shoot well into the dark.
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Early pink light till dawn works better/cooler for me.
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Years ago, (around 2010) I put small pieces of aluminum foil on some bales and shot from the porch. Worked well. I've put tiny strips (simply folded over in a bow of the line) on my fishing line when tight-lining for catfish at night.
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"Dark' is a subjective thing, sort of like "far' or "fast' or 'good'. But shooting at a candle in the dark isn't really shooting in the dark. Neither is shooting while someone holds a flashlight on the target, lol.
Dark basically means not enough light to see what you typically need or want to see to shoot well. Most folks hopefully wouldn't ordinarily try to shoot that way when hunting since, well, they can't see well...and they'd likely either miss, screw up their hunting area and/or wound the critter. Not much sense in any of that.
For hunting it makes sense to practice in dim light...generally the kind you get at the first or last of the day for whatever the local hunting laws allow for start/finish times. Even that isn't foolproof...dark still happens in thick forest forest cover...so common sense rules. It's relative. The true measure is whether you can see 'well enough' to take a responsible (as opposed to risky or stupid) shot. Beyond that...as my father would say... :nono: :nono: :nono:
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Agreed, early light and last light in the location you're hunting are the standard starting/stopping points.
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nothing funnier than going on a coon shoot and listening to arrows smack off trees because many know that a lot of folks think they are shooting instinctive but in the dark they quickly realize they were aiming.
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Practice in low light pays off. (I must have been in Australia)
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See the back one????
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PDK was with me on the very short recovery a few hours earlier
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Nice pork.
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Wud, I have moabs, can you please post pics of yours!!! I would love to see it!!
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I'm serious, Wud i'm taking the Lightest of the trilogy this weekend.... TheTrad Gang MOAB anniversary series.... I've killed so much stuff with the 70 pounder and the 60 pounder, And it's time for me to take something with the 50 pounder. Rob sent it to me a few years back. And I think it's time for me to bloody it.... We shall see
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Mine is 62# 27"' purple heart riser, curly maple lams and bamboo core. I'll get some better pics after work today.
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It can help to cover one eye with a patch, since it improves vision in the other. In the days of pirates they found a patch help see better at night. "Over time, swashbucklers who often found themselves embroiled in combat had learned how to adapt. Of course, the only way to move stealthily through the dark of night was to utilize your eyes to the fullest. By wearing a patch over one eye, pirates could “trick” their vision into adjusting to darkness more quickly".
Maybe that is why aiming with your dominant eye is important. "Your dominant eye is the one that provides slightly more input to the visual cortex of your brain and relays information more accurately, such as the location of objects. Research shows that eye dominance and handedness are associated, though not directly related".
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I think shooting in the dark is a lot of fun, but it is very contradictory (mentally) to my shooting style. One night (in 2015) I was fooling around and had my wife take a video of me trying it for the first time. Not the best shooting in the world, but every arrow hit the target. Not sure if I ever put this on TG before... ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhiaTRUc9Iw
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I find similar results when shooting in very low light/no light where the target is just a general direction.
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So I have an interesting development. I recently purchased a new 56 in Cascade Whitetail hawk from Steve Gore. All my life I have been a dedicated Black Widow shooter, and they serve me well. This is my first dedicated attempt with a short bow. I practiced until I could shoot it okay, but went out grouse hunting and couldn't hit anything. I missed 5-6 grouse, some as close as 10 yards. It really hurt my confidence. Went out grouse hunting again yesterday morning, and threw my Black Widow recurve in the truck as well. I didn't see any grouse, but stumbled across a bull moose at about 40 yards. A legal bull, and I had a harvest ticket in my pocket, holy cow!! . I grabbed the Black Widow and worked my way up towards it,, and could have taken a shot, but my confidence was so wrecked that I decided not to. After the moose ran away, I started stump shooting with the Widow, and hit every leaf, stump, and dirt clod that I shot at. Clearly, I'm doing something with the shorter bow that wasn't working. So... In the context of this thread... I took the short bow out last night and did a lot of shooting in the dark. Strangely enough, I was able to walk around shooting an old coffee can from 15 to 30 yards with the short bow, with no trouble hitting it. Evidently, there is something about my concentration that is resolving itself when I shoot in the dark versus in the light. To be fair, the new short bow is only 50 lb, and my Widow recurve is about 65 lb, and it's what I have been shooting since January. So, there's a good chance I'm also overdrawing the short bow. But it is interesting that I was able to shoot it so well in the dark after a few days of shooting the same bow so terrible awful bad.
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Confidence in your gear is a big deal!!! My three main bows are 60" and 63-67#@27 3/8". Pretty easy to jump from one to the next. Have longer and shorter bows at slightly different weights, but not enough time to shoot them all. Heavier bows will most likely see some hog hunting after deer season.
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Confidence in your gear is a big deal!!! My three main bows are 60" and 63-67#@27 3/8". Pretty easy to jump from one to the next. Have longer and shorter bows at slightly different weights, but not enough time to shoot them all. Heavier bows will most likely see some hog hunting after deer season.
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Absolutely! I've only had the new short bow for a month, and shot a couple hundred arrows through it by now. I can switch between my BW longbow and recurve easy-peasy all day long, so expected the same with the new bow. And in the dark, with no arrow to line up, and no arrow-tip in view, I shoot it just like the others. Weird... this is new to me! My best guess, early on, is that I'm over-thinking the new bow,. It is so smooth that it is quite surprising, and in the newness of it, I haven't gotten familiar enough with it. Shooting in the dark makes some of its distractions disappear, evidently.
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Great thread!!!!
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One last comment before I slink back into the shadows, as I don't want to hijack this thread...
After my aforementioned shamefully-bad shooting of late, I have been practicing routinely in the dark for the past few days. Something has clicked, and the arrows are now going where they are supposed to, even in the daylight. After last night's grouse hunt with my daughter, there is a grouse somewhere in the woods missing a chunk of feathers that my judo claimed at about 20 yards. And this morning's hike down another grouse trail culminated with an unbelievable shot and first kill with my new bow.
This shooting in the dark stuff has been a nice diversion and a good tool for sharpening up my shooting.
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Great stuff guys, absolutely great stuff.
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Based on recent events, I am going to do something and have my wife film It this week.
I will also be posting on YouTube. So people can comment negatively that it's fake when in fact it won't pay I love it.