seriously how accurate are you.(20 yards)

[Yeoman Bowman]

Thanks Tradgangers.

I appreciate the encouragement & the excellent advice I find on this site.

Somehow I manage to find my way here everyday. Except for having a personal archery coach, Tradgang is the best way to learn the great sport of trad archery.

Yeoman

[don s]

i find that for me, if i go out and start shooting arrows without thought, my groups are not that great. if i concentrate and think about what i'm doing ie. terrys clock. i can put the arrows in a nice tight group. i practice at 20 yards. if i'm having a bad day, i walk up to the bale and concentrate on form and forget about accuracy. i am not at the point yet where it's second nature to me. don

[longbowray]

This at 15 yards
 
This at 20 yards wood arrows

[Hopewell Tom]

Well, I like the look of that, Longbow. That's getting it done.
I agree with the posts that speak to the arrow. I got a dozen from a fletcher that plugged my bow info into his calculator and what a difference! I hated the 20 yard shot, now like it. Group size? Not quite there yet! I get enough right in the spot to know, it's not a fluke, but need more time to bring the "flyers" in.

[J-KID]

I was reading this post and decided to find out for myself and post the results - regardless of the outcome.  I usually only shoot a couple arrows at different targets so i grabbed six and headed out.  I took six warmup shots at a different target at 15 yards to get loose and then shot this six arrow group at 20 yards.  Four of the arrows were touching, with two lonesome souls (bad release or follow-through).  Not as good as Longbowray but I'll take it on this beautiful Memorial Day.

[zetabow]

 

This me warming up in the morning in Tallinn Medieval town with my 50# Saluki Turk, walkback from 15 yards to 40 yards (split finger)on 40cm IFAA bunny face, it's a very light and tricky bow to shoot but great fun to shoot and nice feeling when you can stack them in the target face.          

I mostly shoot a 45# ILF Recurve 3 under but it's a little out of place in a Medieval town when I'm doing demos of Trad Archery

[kenner]

Tom,
  Glad to know that adjusting your arrows worked!  Now you can play with point weight: Heavier makes the spine act softer; lighter makes them act stiffer.  Just play with it.  If you're using glue-ons, you can add a BB, which weighs 5grains.  I also use split shot and BB's to at up to 20gr.  Your nocking point makes a big difference too!.. By loosening it slightly and moving it up and down, you'll see a difference.  There's a perfect sweet spot for each kind of arrow you shoot.  You should get a bow square to play with this and start with a mid-range of the bottom of the metal nock, 3/4" high of level.  Then play with it from there to see which height gives you best flight.

Good shooting!....  Ken

p.s.... Also make sure your arrows are tuned to the same brace height, which you check with your bow square.  Depending on the bow and the string thickness, a few twists of the string can change things.  Your string can/will stretch over time and your brace height will change.

[Raging Water]

I can hit the broad side of the barn.

Matt

[FrankM]

I can group about 6-8 inches at 15 yards. Much improved recently, fences used to fear me.  

[Friend]

Wish I could offer you more, but the following has propelled me from missing a large Morrel  Outdoor Range target 8 out of 10 shots at 20 yards ,since my last stroke last June, to competency.

1.   Choose a very manageable draw wt which doesn’t detract from form development.
2.   Develop a regimented yet doable routine that you adhere to each and every shot and work at it until it actually appears and is actually quite relaxed.
3.    Attempt to understand why each part of your form is important in how it contributes.
4.   Learn to employ both relaxed and controlled back tension
5.   Attempt to make perfect shot execution on each and every shot and take time to reflect after each shot.
6.   Learn to remain focused on the spot while smoothly going thru your routine until the arrow strikes the intended target. Maintain your head postition from the aiming sequence thru the complete follow thru.
7.   Allowing my bow arm to steady and smoothly releasing while remaining focused thru a relaxed yet strong follow thru has paid big dividends.
8.   It is much easier to focus once you own a relaxed form and also much easier to recognize errors or discern factors that produce positive results.
9. Learn to tune your bow. Knowing and being intimate with your bow permits you to be one and deliver on the mark.

The objective is not to wish the arrow to be on the mark but to allow the bow to perform. Mastering your form will permit you to vastly elevate your own traditional experience.

[BobCo 1965]

Very impressive shooting Zeta!

[canshooter]

For reference to the original question, In practice and when I am on form, I can put 5 arrows into a coffee cup lid repeatedly at 20 yards. In competition in a 300 round I score in the 260 range but in practice I am 270 to 275. I am in my second full season since I took up archery. I bought my first bow since high school in 2009. I have never been athletically inclined, but I wanted this and in the master category I have taken gold 2 years running indoors at 20 yards in the Canadian championships. I also set 3 records outdoors this spring in a 900 round (55 45 and 35 Metres). If I can jdo it anyone can.

   

[kenner]

Here's a good article on tuning your equipment:

     http://bowmaker.net/tuning.htm

[Diamond Paul]

The problem with this question is that people tend to forget the odd arrow that landed 10" low or left or high, etc., and just remember the ones that hit within 3 or 4 or whatever inches from the spot.  If you can always average 6" at 20 yards, you can shoot something around 240 on an indoor 300 round, and very, very few traditional shooters can honestly do that.  I shot today and never had an arrow out of the scoring area of a Vegas 3 spot face, but tomorrow that might not be the case at all.  Don't get hung up on it.  Lots of people claim to shoot 6" or less at twenty yards, but if they remembered all the arrows, the actual number of people that can do it daily is pretty small.  The question is, do you feel confident in taking a twenty yard shot at an animal?  If the answer is no, get closer until the answer is yes.  I mostly shoot less than 6" at 20 yards, until I don't, but I feel confident that I can kill deer at that range.  Remember, everyone misses, even if they don't admit it.  JMO.

[JamesKerr]

when I focus and actually take the shot I can usually pull off about a 6" group at 20 yards, but I don't shoot very much at that distance as my normal hunting shots are usually 8-15 yards.

[Larry247]

First of all, you need to quit worrying about yardage. Stop thinking of shooting from a certain "yardage", because there is no set "yardage" when your out hunting.

If your good at shooting up close then hunt close. Bowhunting is a close up game of chess between you, and whatever your hunting.

Shooting a little further back will come to you with time and practice, do a little roving around the yard shooting at tennis balls with a judo or a big blunt. It'll come to ya brother, hang in there.

[zetabow]

Originally posted by Larry247:
First of all, you need to quit worrying about yardage. Stop thinking of shooting from a certain "yardage", because there is no set "yardage" when your out hunting.

 

I'm no Bowhunter but when I shoot 3D knowing the yardage during practice gives me good feedback on how my accuracy drops and helps me be more consistent by understanding why the shot sometimes goes wrong.

Understanding how your arrows drop and groups open out at 10, 20, 30+ yards will speed up the learning and confidence building process, when you gain that experience and confidence that's when you can stop thinking about Form and Distances.

If I was to learn Bowhunting it seems logical to me that you're also learning about your limitations and I imagine it's good to know during practice what distaces are outside your comfort zone so I would know when not to take a shot.

If your hunting limit is below 15 yards and you dont know what 15 or 20 yards looks\\feels like, how can you make any shot with confidence?