New member - some thanks and some questions

[Mitch-In-NJ]

Just wanted to introduce myself and thank everyone here for all the information they've posted.

I started shooting at around 5 years old.  That would be 38 years ago.  I shot one of those yellow glass bows with a shelf on both sides.  It was a birthday gift from my father, who was perhaps the best shot I've ever seen in the woods.

At 10 or 11 I got my first "real" bow.  It was a Browning recurve and with it I took a lot of small game the summer I got it.

I used and kept that bow until I was about 16 and got my first compound (a Bear Whitetail).  Go ahead, boo and hiss.

But I didn't stop shooting a recurve.  In fact, I joined the archery team at school.  Won a few events and was invited to try out for the Olympics.  I didn't make the team, but it was fun anyway.

Then around 1986 I kind of let archery slide.  I'd shoot once in a while.  Get a hunting license every couple years.  But I really lost interest.  I think it was because my father had died.  Hunting is what "we" did.

Then about 3 years ago I met the grandfather of a friend of mine.  He's in his 70s and hunts or fishes at least 4 days a week when there's a season open.

Around the same time, my younger brother moved to Texas and within a month had a pickup truck and a shotgun.  He'd never been interested in hunting before and that's too bad.  If he had, I might not have stopped so many years ago.

With those two I decided it was time to get back into it.  I bought a new shotgun (sold my old one) and a new bow.  A compound.

I hunted, I killed.  It was good like it used to be.

Then two years ago I bought my nephew his first bow.  He was 9.  That same year we went to the trad shoot at Whittingham.  Saw Byron Ferguson, shot at the flying disks (my nephew SMOKED them - hit about 70% - amazing) and met Leon Stewart.

I'm a lefty and he had a fine looking lefty RD Slammer.  Let me try it out on the 3D course and I was hooked.  I bought it on the spot and have really fallen back in love with shooting without sights, releases, etc..  I still shoot the compound and hunt with it, though, because as of last year I wasn't proficient enough with the longbow.  I used it for small game where it's either kill or miss, but on a deer... I wasn't willing to take the chance of a bad shot.

Found this forum a few months ago when I was having some problems with my form.  See, years of compound and target recurve completely screwed up my mechanics for trad shooting.  In target archery the anchor is under the chin, you use a clicker and sight.  You probably know what I am talking about.  It's very precise and methodical.  Not unlike shooting with a compound.

So I came here and found all sorts of tips on getting my mechanincs back and I can say that at 20 I can now hit a pie plate about 80% of the time.

Still, I am having a problem.  I just can't find a good anchor.  I shoot split fingers and don't want to change.  My anchor just doesn't seem to remain constant.  I have tried the top finger to the corner of my mouth, to a tooth, etc.  Problem is that I can't always find either of those.

Everything else is working great.  Good release and follow thru.  Good stance.  Good back tension.  The works.

So, any tips on other anchor points would be greatly accepted.

I have lots of other questions but I will wait as this first post is damn near a novel.

Thanks again to all of you.  Just browsing thru the forums has helped a lot.  Learned some new things and was reminded of some things I had forgotten.

[Steve C]

Mitch,
Welcome.  Glad the forum has been helpful and that Whittingham got you hooked.  Leon makes a real quality bow and is a great guy.  Come over and join us any Tuesday night (usually after about 7-7:30) and someone might be able to help.  We shoot in the same barn that you met Leon in.  
As for me, i just bring my middle finger to the corner of my mouth.  It seems to work.
By the way, the 18th & 19th is another shoot at Whittingham...but this is an "open" shoot - compound and traditional.  It's a lot busier that the spring trad shoot, but it's a good time, too!
Steve

[Mitch-In-NJ]

Originally posted by Steve C:
Mitch,
Welcome.  Glad the forum has been helpful and that Whittingham got you hooked.  Leon makes a real quality bow and is a great guy.  Come over and join us any Tuesday night (usually after about 7-7:30) and someone might be able to help.  We shoot in the same barn that you met Leon in.  
As for me, i just bring my middle finger to the corner of my mouth.  It seems to work.
By the way, the 18th & 19th is another shoot at Whittingham...but this is an "open" shoot - compound and traditional.  It's a lot busier that the spring trad shoot, but it's a good time, too!
Steve

Thanks Steve.  I assume then that you are a member of the Ap-Bowmen?

I've been to both shoots each year for the last two years, was there in the Spring and will be there again the weekend of the 18th and 19th.

I will try to get there on a Tuesday ASAP.

I now use the middle finger to the corner of the mouth.  But sometimes my draw is a little longer or shorter.  I am starting to wonder if my heard is moving.

Thanks for the reply.

[Artur]

Originally posted by Mitch-In-NJ:

....  I just can't find a good anchor.  I shoot split fingers and don't want to change.  My anchor just doesn't seem to remain constant.  I have tried the top finger to the corner of my mouth, to a tooth, etc.  Problem is that I can't always find either of those....So, any tips on other anchor points would be greatly accepted.
 

Mitch, I understand how frustrating it is to not be able to come to a consistent anchor; I can't feel anything through the fingers of my glove, at least not enough to be 100% sure when my finger is touching a tooth. What I do is about the same as what terry does: I slide my hand back until my thumb knuckle -- the one where the thumb joins the hand -- is nested in the hollow immediately below my ear. I can almost squeeze my earlobe between my thumb and index finger... I try to draw smoothly, and slowly (but not so slow that it takes more than a second or two to complete the draw), so I can feel when I am at anchor.

[Grant Young]

Mitch, congratulations on your return; this stuff is elusive enough to keep you engaged and occupied for the rest of your life and we are all lucky to havefound it. Check out some of Terry Green's postings for some suggestions on anchoring. He uses a "double" anchor method that may be just what your looking for to improve your consistency in that area. Good luck and have fun,
                               Grant Young

[Mitch-In-NJ]

Thanks to all for the info.  I'll search those posts about the double anchor and see what I can work out.