Chasing accuracy- A bowhunters journey

[jhg]

I hope this helps someone.

I have always believed everything I have read that suggests that if you take your time and learn your tackle, you will be accurate.

Here is why:

I had Marty Thompson build me his Ossabaw high performance longbow. Wicked nice- smooth and quiet and dead in hand.

About the time I received it I happened to be down at RMSG and shot a bow down there and put every arrow in a 2 inch group. No hassle. No super concentration please please let this arrow fly true. I just shot this bow/arrow combo and every arrow went into the spot I looked at.

!!!!!!
1) I now had (by chance/luck) finally shot a bow that with its particular set up and my particular style of shooting shot the way a bow is meant to shoot. ie: Deadly.
I cannot tell you how helpful shooting a bow that does this can be. It is like a revelation. A door opens and your minds says "ah yes, thats how its supposed to work"

So I finally had an idea what to aim for (no pun intended) regarding tuning!

I wanted MY bow to shoot out of MY hands like that bow. So the journey began.

I read up on OL Adcock's bare shafting. While on that part  that finds the right spine I ordered two 450+ skinny strings from Josh.(OliverStacy)

So this is what I did:

I shot in the strings without silencers and found the bow brace ht sweet spot. On my bow it is easy to find. One twist either way and it lets you know. PERFECT!

Then I put on a little knot of cat whiskers (just nine strands, like nine lives get it?) down 9 inches from the tips.


SILENT! Well, almost. Pretty darn quiet.


So I am shooting the spined arrows that work and I am still getting large groups and getting frustrated because I cannot for the life of me account for why some of my shots are so crappy.

 I tried a lot of things like side plate stuff and shelf stuff and concentrated on my release stuff and sacrificed a ----,  wait,  that part is not true just kidding, but could not get the groups to compress and I KNEW it was something(s) in how I had this tackle set up. So I went back down to RMSG and shot some arrows out of this bow for them. Tommy suggested knocking off some tip weight because he was seeing some wobble on the arrows quick trip down range. So we reduced by 25 grains. The arrows now flew like darts even if my groups were not great.

------SIDEBAR-------
(you need someone else to watch arrow flight for you, it helps A LOT, they can see what you cannot and you should be concentrating on shooting not catching a glimpse of an arrow as it spends 1 second in the air)
-----------

 So I went home and started from scratch with the string. Took off the silencers and found the sweet brace ht. Put back on silencers, Then, shooting only broadheads, I twisted the string one twist every group of arrows.
And guess what? If I twisted the string even ONE twist too tight or ONE twist too slack I got poor groups. But with the brace ht EXACTLY at 7-3/16 I could shoot a three arrow group under 2 inches. EVERY  time. I shaved fletching more than once. This perfect broad head grouping/accuracy brace ht is about two twists away from the no cat whiskers on the string perfect brace height. They differ slightly.

So what is my point?

Read and understand a tuning method. Just one mehtod at a time. Follow directions. Be patient.

 In OL Adcocks tutorial he mentions that when tuning for broadheads that a twist or two on the string will bring them in. THAT is why its worth reading about tuning arrows and tackle. It worked!

Some little detail may well be between your bow/archer/arrow combination and really tight groups. Find what that is. It may take awhile and

 only change one small thing at a time!


 But keep at it. When you find it you will know it. Get help from someone. Don't be too hard on yourself. It may not be you. It may be how your tackle is tuned.

Joshua

AMEN!!!!

Bisch

[Cyclic-Rivers]

It's easier to blame the bow and keep buying more.

   

Nearly sold my 1st bow because I didnt like teh way it shot, then I learned it wasnt tuned.

[Bowwild]

Night Wing....I bet you are jumping up and down right now!    

I had the pleasure of talking to Night Wing about this fine tuning of brace height and the impacts on accuracy. In all my years in archery I had never talked to someone who had worked this aspect of tuning as much. Very enlightening!

Joshua your experience is very compelling to guys like me who have barely tinkered with brace height.

[Friend]

“Establishing and Maintaining Proper Brace Ht.  For Me, is a Natural Routine and Not Taken Lightly”.

Having a complete grasp of and adhering to your shot routine is paramount.

------Understanding why you do what you do during a shot routine is greatly beneficial

-----Understanding why your equipment is set-up the way it is may pay significant dividends

-----Incorporating reflection at shot conclusion may immediately let you know what went right or wrong with the shot – especially if you know and own your form routine as well as know and understand your equipment.

I would say that well over 99% of the time, it was me that caused the issue and not the equipment.My set-up data is saved in a file and routinely updated and has notes of what I may have learned or experienced.

Routinely aiding others in setting-up and fine tuning their trad equipment has provided much personal instruction and also enforced my own adherence to the advice and/or set-ups of which was provided.How too often it is that my short comings are highlighted by the aforementioned occurrence.

**My good friend who happens to be a Level 4 NFA National Coach, NFAA Master Coach and NADA Instructor is what you might describe as quite zealous in verifying the equipment set-up is near perfect. This strict adherence is far too much for most us and could diminish our love for trad, however there are some set-up characteristcs, such as Brace Ht., we would do well do have a grasp on.

[jhg]

I shot this morning and verified my conclusion. I don't know if its a good thing that my bow shoots way better at an "exact" string twist, but it does. Once these strings settle in I have found they do not move much at all after that.

I just shaved another fletch- dang this is getting dangerous. May have to give up the three arrow cluster and its inherent beauty and go to shooting each arrow at a different mark.

I am shooting only broadheads this week before the season which begins Saturday for us. I found this helps as well.

My elk confidence is way up!

J-

[Bowwild]

Not that I'm a super-threat to my arrows from a recurve, I wouldn't dare shoot one broadhead-pointed arrow after another arrow!  If I'm shooting a broadhead I shoot it first. Then I follow with field tips. Or, as you suggest have different aim points.

[calgarychef]

Tuning is everything....well next to form.  I've watched the same people shooting for years some learn their equipment and tuning and work on form etc. these folks improve their shooting.  Others don't do these things they just fling arrows and never get any better even after years of shooting.  

It's the small improvements all taken into effect together that produce outstanding accuracy.

[ron w]

Does this mean the "Monarch" is really in trouble...

[jhg]

Yup.... as long as I don't blow it...

I found a 380 class winter kill a couple weeks ago. If I saw a bull elk bigger than that(Monarch size)  I honestly can't say how well I would do. But they are there. Someplace. The thing about big bulls for me is body size. A hold over from my days hunting big body white tails in Maine. For some reason I put a lot of value in that.

I would not just count coup, thats for sure.

[arrow flynn]

thanx ineeded a reminder

[Shawn Leonard]

2" groups at how far is the question?? 20 yards and you are one of the best shooters out there. I agree bows like a certain brace but 1 twist has never made that much of a difference in any bow I have ever owned. Shawn

[jhg]

15 yards.

I make no claim to being a crack shot. I can ruin shots by lack of concentration, bad release etc. However, if I do my part, the arrows fly into that little spot. Until I found the right brace ht I never shot any groups that well regardless of how well I shot the arrow.

With my bow arrow archer combination it made a huge difference getting my string just right.
Lucky you it makes less difference, being in the ballpark is good enough. I've only owned 6 bows and this is the first one I have really understood, so can't comment on whether or not this is unusual. I thought it might be.


I am excited to finally be able to make some good shots. This is how I got there.

[Shawn Leonard]

Very nice!! I would just be concerned that 1 twist of a string can make that much of a difference. That means a day that is is real humid or you shoot a bunch or a real hot day the brace can change by more than 1 twist of the string due to those conditions and you will have less than perfect arrow flight. Shawn

[Rob DiStefano]

what shawn just posted.  it's not at all about 1 twist in the bowstring - that's the placebo effect, imo.  

99.999% of all bows are far more accurate than we are.  and well flying matched arrows matter considerably more than the bow or bowstring.    

assuming reasonably consistent tackle, 99.999% of all consistent accuracy starts in the brain and ends with consistent form .... the rest is luck.

but hey, when yer "in the groove", that's a great feeling.  hope it lasts forever ....

[Ray Johnson]

I wouldn't want to shoot a bow that was that sensitive to brace height.I can move a half inch either way on my Black Widow PSAV and still get decent groups but the bow may be louder with a lower brace height.I keep mine at 9" but if it drops a little,my accuracy won't suffer enough to where I can tell it.It may just be that I'm not good enough to tell the difference.LOL

[jhg]

...it's not at all about 1 twist in the bowstring - that's the placebo effect, imo. ... [/QB]

I thought about that too. But decided to accept the fact that for whatever reason, it shot better and if it/me was not and I knew it was not my form, a couple of twists and it was back to good groups, in my mind or in the brace ht, I don't care. Trying not to over think archery.

Hope you all have luck this fall!  I have learned a lot here.

Joshua