Shooting/Accuracy Question. What does this mean?

[ejes]

I bought a custom longbow a couple of months ago and I have been having fits with it.  It is a beautiful bow, beautifully made; I know it is the shooter and  not the bow .  The bowyer made it tillered for me to shoot 3 under, which I have always done with my curves and even my compounds over the years with good success.  This my first longbow - a Toelke Whip.

Over the last two months I've tried all these things:  different spined arrows, altering spine with tip weight and arrow length.  Different fletch: 3, 4, 60x20, 90 degree, etc.  Adjusting the nock height, adjusting the brace height, etc.  I've even tried two different finger tabs.  I did get an arrow set up to bare shaft with my fletched arrows as far as the following grouping was concerned.  

I could get fairly consistent flight but my groups were about 10 inches at 20 yards and usually low.  The only thing consistent about all this was the size of the groups.

So, today, out of frustration, I went to the shed and grabbed a pair of regular Lamont work gloves and shot the bow split finger.  Low and behold, my groups went to 3 inches and hit where I was aiming.

What does this mean I was doing wrong?  3 fingers under is much more comfortable to me.  Split finger feels as though the string could slip at any moment.  This, I assume could be the solution.  Perhaps I was plucking with the 3 under tab and my release was extremely poor and this fine bow just showed me this.

Suggestions or comments?  Should I just shoot this bow split finger, or is there something I can do in practice to get back to 3 under?

[R H Clark]

How long is the bow? For me a short bow is more difficult to shoot 3 under.What is your draw length? Longer draws would compound the problem I have with short bows.What is the tiller measured from the string to the point of the riser fade? I shoot bows with adjustable tiller and like even or zero tiller for 3 under.

[ejes]

It is 62 inches at 55 lbs, draw length is 29 inches.  Tiller is adjustable from 6 and 7/8ths to 7 and 3/8ths.  I get the best bareshafting at 7 inches so that is what I've been shooting it at.

[BRITTMAN]

ejes ,
When I switched from recurve to longbow I thought I was going to lose my mind but now I can shoot as good as I could with my recurve . I shoot 3 under also so let me throw out a few things that I had to over come to be able to shoot a longbow well . First , you will have to get used to the new sight picture . I shot low to start with so I moved up to 10 yards and worked on the new (gap) that I needed for my arrows to hit where I needed them to . Second , I also had to cant my bow a little more than the recurve ,I dont know why it made a diffrence but I started getting a cleaner release . Lastly and the most important to me , hold the bow arm as steady as possible and follow thru after the shot . A longbow is lighter than the Recurve and is more sensitive to form issues . Trust me if you keep shooting your longbow and working on proper form it will come together . Just move up close for as long as it takes to get the groups you are looking for , then move back a little at the time and so on .
 
Good luck and happy hunting ,

Mike Britt

[ejes]

Thanks Mike.  That is great advice.  I love everything about this bow, but boy does it point out your shortcommings!

[ejes]

I went and got a pair of Wells Lamont "Grips" work gloves that are like Mechanix gloves. I just don't like the feel of a 3 finger shooter's glove.  They fit tight like a archer's glove and it seems to be the ticket.  All is well and I'm shooting 3 inch groups easily at 20 and sometimes 30 yards.  They are real comfy, I can feel the string much better and the leather is actually nice.  Pretty cheap too at $11!  Thanks for the help guys!

[Stumpkiller]

I've never tried three fingers under, but your vertical problem could be due to finger pinch on the nock.  The split finger tends to put equal pinch top & bottom instead of all underneath.

Just guessing that may be a cause, but something to keep in mind.  The folks I've seen shoot three under seem to keep the nock well above the fingers and between two "loose" nock points (to allow for the angle at draw).

[ejes]

Thank you Charlie!  I'll tie on another nock and give that a go too.