shooting left with new bow

[j yenney]

I've been shooting a bear super kodiak for a number of years and always shot fine,I've bought a kota kill-um recurve, I love the bow but it has a longbow type handle and all my arrows have the right elevation and are consistent but are always to the left. Any thoughts?

[LCB]

Did ya go up in bow weight?

Are you sure your arrows are the proper spine?

[capt eddie]

Welcome to the club.  I just had the same problem.  It is that you are overspined.  The amount of center shot on your Bear allowed you to shot a heavy spine without problems. The lack of centersa typical longbow will require a lighter spine to go around the strike plate.  You may be able to go to a heavier head and fix the problen.  I went from a 160 snuffer to a 200 Ace. There a alot of thread I had about this problem that you can go to and see what others had to say.

[30coupe]

Don't be so quick to change spine. I had the same problem with my Kota, but changing spine didn't seem to make any noticable difference. I was at the point of total frustration, then I remembered something I read in Byron Ferguson's book. He said he prefers the longbow because it is harder to torque the string. My longbow shoots pretty much everything I have without a problem and it has no more center shot than my Kota.

I went out and tried rotating my hand outward slightly (clockwise for a right hander) to match it up more closely to the cant of my bow. Bingo! My shots went from 4 to 6 inches left to dead center. I had suspected it was not the spine because the arrow flight was good, but the shots went consistently left. I have to make a conscious effort because bad habits die hard, but when I do my part the Kota will put arrow after arrow in a six inch circle at 20 yards centered perfectly regardless of spine or point.

I shot 125 gr. snuffers on 2016's cut to 30", 125 grain WW on 50-55 cedars cut to 29" BOP, 125 grain field points on 29" and 30" 50-55 cedars,125 grain target points on 29" 2016's and some old Bear cedars of unknown spine with 125 gr. field tips. Before changing my grip on the string, they all grouped left. Now they all group on center.

The Kill'Um is a great bow, but the limbs are narrow. This makes them launch arrows faster than one might expect for the weight of the bow, but it also makes the limbs easier to torque. Try to line up your wrist with the string and see if your arrows don't come back to center. Mine did!

[zilla]

I bought a Pronghorn Ferret, a few years back and it is pretty much the same design..  Recurve using a longbow riser.  I too shot left consistantly with it.. I have another recurve that is more center cut as most recurves are and it shoots in the center of the target..  I have fought this for a few years now, and was about to give up.. This year I finally figured out that for my bow at least the arrow spine is very critical.. I was shooting a few woods that I made and noticed that one arrow would fly true while the rest went left.. I examined all the arrows and found that the straight shooter is shorter than the others.. No idea how that happened but it did.  I am guessin that the stiff spine of the short arrow is the difference..


FWIW, I have never been able to get any carbon or alum arrows to shoot as good as wood in this bow.

[30coupe]

Zilla,

Once I discovered the string torque thing, the arrow length on the woodies didn't seem to make much difference. Mine shoots 2016 xx75's to the same spot as my cedars with great arrow flight, but I can't get carbons to work either. They fishtail all the way to the target. The seem to hit about where I am looking, but I don't like the fishtail flight. It seems to me that would eliminate any penetration advantage one might have gained with the carbons.

Given the choice, I'll take woodies first. I like having something I can go to when my supply runs low and I don't have time to build (stuck in trees while squirrel hunting, Robin Hooded, hit a rock, broke off in deer, etc,). That's where the aluminums come in. Cut 30" BOP they shoot right with my woodies.

Russ

[zilla]

I'll try the hand rotation.. My arrows were going left and had a slight kick left in flight.. The shoorter arrows cured all that.. I have a ton of carbons, but can not get then to fly to my satisfaction.  I also have a ton of alums, so may werk in that direction also.. Problem is I love making wood arrows..

[30coupe]

Shorter = stiffer spine. You may have been too light on the spine, which can also cause a left turn due to the arrow slapping the riser on the way out. If shorter made things better, I would guess that was a factor. I went out and shot some this morning and the arrows still went where I was looking, so I think I have it figured out. At 20 yards I put three shots into the center of the kill zone on my river bottom buck...the fletches were all touching! Darn it feels good to finally be confident in the Kota. I was beginning to think it would be my longbow again this year. Now I'm thinking anything inside of 25 yards goes in the freezer!

[zilla]

Originally posted by 30coupe:
I went out and shot some this morning and the arrows still went where I was looking, so I think I have it figured out. At 20 yards I put three shots into the center of the kill zone on my river bottom buck...

Looks like ya got it figured.. Just look where ya wanna hit!