Practicing in the wind

[krink]

I have recently moved to a house on 3 acres surrounded by corn/bean fields.  I am trying to get back to the swing of things and shooting more.  I know my form isn’t where it should be and I plan on blind baling a fair amount.  My problem is that where I live it is always windy.  Some days it’s a breeze, which I can shoot in, but other days its 20 mph and some it’s gusting at 50 mph.  I imagine that on a bale up close my shots and arrow flight will not be affected as much if at all. My concern is when I take the work I do at the bale to various distances that the wind will mess with my arrow flight, and not show any improvements I have made.

I do not want to give up on windy days but I read here once to practice with a purpose, and my purpose is my form.  I probably can get really good at shooting in the wind, but I want my shots and my form perfect and then deal with wind when that happens.  I also want to have one “shooting range”.  I have barns to block the wind but I don’t want to move around because I have one area that has a tree that is perfect for a stand to practice my in stand shots but its in an open area.

So I guess what I am trying to say or ask here is who else has this problem, what can I do to remedy it or do I suck it up and shoot in the wind?  If I line up a shot on a bale (2 yards or so) and it’s windy, will my “results” on the bale be true?  Would it be better to shoot into the bale facing the wind or with it at my back?  I understand that shooting while it’s windy is beneficial but how much wind is too much?

[njloco]

If your doing blind bale shooting, and standing close to the bale, the wind won't matter as your eyes are closed and it doesn't matter where you hit.

[krink]

Ya know njloco as I was typing that I was thinking that the arrows in the bale would show nock up, down, left and right.  I had just read something saying that it doesn't matter how your arrows look in the bale.  Well for some reason I convinced myself that the arrows would tell me something, while totally forgetting what I had read.  I guess I mixed up blind bale and arrow tuning in my head.      

I am still wondering about practicing in the wind.  If anyone has any experience or guidance on that matter it would most definitely help.  Thank you.

[Al Dean]

It's good to practice in the wind just to see how it effects things.  You can try to orient where you don't have a direct crosswind.  It may amaze you how accurate you can still be in the wind.  Just don't expect to see perfect arrow flight.

[Paul/KS]

Living in Kansas we don't know how to shoot when it's Not windy...  
 

[Ringneck]

X2 Paul!

[Rufus]

Same here in Amarillo as Kansas, just comes natural after awhile to not worry about, just shoot and go on. Just don't plan on checking arrow flight for set up problems.

[pdk25]

Practice in the wind, for sure.  I have a round bale facing west that I shoot into a crosswind, as the wind is almost out of the south.  When it is over 25 mph, I will sometimes shootinto another side of the bale from the North.  I also do this when I am bare shafting for tuning purposes.

[J. Holden]

I've bowhunted in Nebraska, learn to shoot with the wind.  Position yourself, time your shots.  That kind of practice will play dividends.  That is if youre planningon hunting.  If it's just form practice there's no need to be so far away from the bale.  Good luck and keep shooting!

-Jeremy  

[Biathlonman]

Always windy at my place.  It usually calms down just before dark, that's when I do most of my shooting.

[njloco]

I'll tell you something you might find interesting, A friend of mine and I were shooting at one of the 3-D shoots, and it was a little windy, the target was about 50-60 yds. His arrows were really tuned well for his bow and I thought mine were, we pull about the same weight. My arrows and his arrows out of my bow showed over spined with a right to left wind,  and his arrows out of his bow flew perfectly straight, so make sure your arrows are tuned well, then go and shoot in the wind.

[krink]

NJloco, I do find that interesting.  When I first moved to where I am at now I set up a target and was showing my brother in law my bow.  There was a very stiff wind blowing from right to left as well.  When I shot a few arrows they showed what would be stiff as well and entering the target not straight on but canted kind of like this / (if we were looking down at the target and the target in on the up from us).  I knwo my arras are not perfectly tuned but are as good as I could get them at the time.  I guess I need to spend more time getting them right!

[reddogge]

Any wind affects arrow flight some. I'll shoot in the wind but don't get too concerned about erratic flight. It's always the wind.

[Rufus]

"Any wind affects arrow flight some. I'll shoot in the wind but don't get too concerned about erratic flight. It's always the wind."
I agree wholeheartedly reddogge. Not an expert but I been shooting for nearly 40 years in the third windiest city in the USA, Amarillo, so I quit worrying about the wind a long time ago and just shoot. If your an instinctive archer your brain will eventually take over anyway as long as you don't try to think it out. At 20 yds. and under it ain't a big deal anyway unless it's really blowin, like last night's 60 mph +. Try holding a bow where you want it in winds when you have a bow quiver and a few arrows in it. Talk about a 'sail" effect!

[ltppowell]

IMHO, you should shoot broadheads a lot in the wind, because they'll shoot differently than field and blunt points.

[petalumapete]

Where I live the wind blows every day. It's right off the ocean and as the heat of the day progresses the wind speed picks up. I also hunt and shoot 3D in the same area. I've gotten so use to the wind it doesn't bother me even when it's really whipping it up.
The nice thing about being use to the wind is it doesn't affect my hunting and when shooting 3d,  gives me an advantage over guys who never shoot in anything over a breeze.
It's kind of fun shooting a 40 yd target watching the arrow blow sideways but still hit where ya want it to.  

[JoeArizona]

I don't know where you are in Arizona (hopefully not around the fire in Prescott right now).  But up here in Kingman we are gusting into the 30+mph today as it has the last few months.
I get out early or late if I can and it's better, but yesterday afternoon I shot in the wind.  Well tuned arrows seem to fly fine.  I noticed that my 4" fletching didn't fly as stable as some new arrows I shot that still have 2" vanes. And 4-fletch is more stable than 3-fletch in the wind until the wind gets up to "carry a small dog away" speed.
Happy shooting!
Joe

[JamesV]

The wind will have more effect on you and your form than the impact spot of the arrow. If YOU are wobbling in the wind picking a spot and executing the shot will be very difficlut. The flight of the arrow might not look good but the drift from the wind will be minimal at 20 yards

[krink]

Thank you everyone for the replies.  I guess I shouldnt be afraid of the wind!

Joe Arizone, I do not live in AZ anymore.  I dont know why my profile didnt update but I thought I changed that a while ago.  I do know about the forest fires though.  2011 we had one less than a mile from us.  35000 acres burnt in 10 days.  Not as big as the horseshoe fire up north of us that year but scary none the less!