Jimmy, I was faced with the same issue. I did a 'work-around' by closing my left eye and gapping. It worked pretty well and shot some nice tight groups, but all the while I was seeing in 2D and it kept bothering me that a deer in the big woods is not standing broadside at 20 yards waiting for you to gap off his hooves. So I decided to take the plunge and shoot instinctive, no gapping. Look at the target or McKenzie deer, stare a hole in it and let fly. At first my arrows kept hitting left. It was really frustrating but I kept at it every night for half an hour to 45 minutes. Took me most of the summer, but it finally took. I think it's maybe more common than some might think; especially with new shooters that can't seem to get the hang of it? Bottom line, I'm way happier shooting instinctively than I was gapping, even though my instinctive is still not as accurate as I shot gapping. Maybe it would work better if I was a tournament archer, but I'm a hunter. So that's that.
Kirk, The seeing in 2D thing is real. Bothered me too. And you’re right, it did (and still does) take a lot of work, but I too personally enjoy shooting with both eyes open and focused on the spot I want to hit. But I can also see how others would enjoy something different.
I’m more of Rick Welch style shooter than grip it and rip it. I shoot three under and hold for a second or two while focusing on my spot and giving my brain the time it needs to get my bow hand pointed where it needs to be to send the arrow where I want it to go. But that’s just what works for me. I think I’ve tried it all!
Well you are not alone brother. I’m left eye dominant and shoot right handed myself , and it took me awhile to get comfortable with shooting with both eyes open. Shooting moving targets and wing shooting is a great way to do it too.
I think of all the training exercises I did that was the most helpful was shooting a blank bail for 30 minutes ever day with my eyes closed. Draw and hold for the count of three just concentrating on breathing. This helped me build my muscle memory working on alignment. Once you get to the point where your back muscles start feeling it more than your arms after a long work out, you know you are getting the right back tension.
It’s the same “consistent exercise” when focusing on the target that trains your subconscious mind to set the gap. You just don’t think about it anymore.
The only time that seems to back fire on me. Is shooting though tree branches. It’s very difficult to focus on your spot with a branch hanging across the path between you and your target, and if you look at it too closely, you end up shooting that branch every time.
I used to shoot a lot of 3D courses years ago with my hunting buddies and we rarely shot at the stakes. We practiced shooting through the crotches of trees and over and under brush and branches a lot. The one that always got me was trying to shoot under and overhanging branch…. I mean even with a fairly flat shooting bow, there is an arch that arrow travels to the target. Learning your arrows trajectory helps make the go/no go call, or makes you kneel down before shooting to clear the offending branch.
I set up a couple of step ladders in my archery target lane so I could test my arrow trajectory accurately. It was actually kind of fun too. I used a piece of butcher paper I taped to the ladders crossing the shooting lane at different heights to determine what I could shoot over and what I could shoot under at 20-30 yards. Then I cut a hole in it about 6” around that I could see through to my target. If you focus on the target though the hole the arrow would still hit your spot , but it would pierce the butcher paper above the opening showing you your exact trajectory. We had a lot of fun playing with that….
Once you start getting good at hitting your spot, try hanging a ping pong ball off a piece of fishing line some time… unless you hit it exactly dead center you can’t punch a hole in it…. VERY challenging.
I saw that at a 3D shoot in California one time. You put a dollar in the bucket for 3 arrows. First guy to punch a hole in the ping pong ball takes the pot.
That bucket had a lot of dollar bills in it too….
Kirk
Topic: True instinctive shooting (Read 4002 times)
