Gap Shooting

[ermont]

I have been watching the Masters of the Barebow series over the last couple of days and had some questions. I have been working on my Instinctive shooting but was wondering your thoughts on gap shooting. Any of you use it? Any thoughts pro or con would be appreciated.

[Stumpkiller]

I use a variation but it is nothing reliable enough to hunt with.  Out to 25 yards - purely instinctive.  60 yards +/- I have a point-on (depends on the bow).  When stump shooting or field shooting I use that point-on to estimate a hold over or hold under.  Say a stump at 80 yards.  I know I have to hold about the height of two and a half humans (15 feet) over that stump . . .  so I point aim at an imaginary spot 15 feet over the stump.  At 45 yards I might decide to hold two feet under a stump or bale.  It's not true gap, but it does give me a way to correct if I am high or low.

I've never taken a shot at a deer past 20 yards.

Coyotes, on the other hand . . . .

[thunder1]

When I started out it was purely instinctive. At the end of the second season my longbow took a rest. Five years later I met an elder gentleman who taught me about gap shooting. Now within 40 yards my gap shooting is instinctive (deer size game). I'm a firm believer that if it helps you, use it. I once had someone say you can't hit flying targets using the gap method. Never seen a deer,pig or elk fly.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by thunder1:
 I once had someone say you can't hit flying targets using the gap method. Never seen a deer,pig or elk fly.

Yeah. I've heard that too. It's always funny having someone who doesn't gap shoot tell me what I can and can't do with it.  

[zetabow]

Originally posted by thunder1:
I once had someone say you can't hit flying targets using the gap method. Never seen a deer,pig or elk fly.

When you consider Mr Hill didn't shoot instinctive and was a master of Trick shooting, Field Archery and one of the greatest Bowhunters of modern times I cant understand where people get this idea that Gap\\Split doesn't work for Bowhunting.

As a Tourney shooter I use all the aiming methods (Instinct, Gap, Split & POA), I just pick the right aiming method for the shooting situation required.

[Wapiti Bowman]

All good info; and, if you've been watching "Masters of the Bare Bow" Vol III, you've seen two of the top bare bow shooters in the nation shooting a gap method, although they both go about it a bit differently.

Instinctive shooting does work; however, even G. Fred Asbell admits that it takes many, many hours of repetitive shooting to give your brain the time needed to learn the arc of the arrow needed to hit that spot at different distances.Additionally, it is imperative that you have good vision, because instinctive shooting requires being able to see the arrow in flight, as well as the impact point, no matter the distance.

On the other hand, using a gap method, as taught by Rod Jenkins or Larry Yien, can have a person with good form shooting decently in a relatively short period of time. So it's really up to you to decide which path you want to choose. And, as some have mentioned above, just because you decide to go with one approach does not mean you won't use aspects of both or even that you won't, over time, switch completely to the other method of shooting.

As long as you keep the fun in your shooting, you can't go wrong no matter which path you choose!