Right hand, left eye

[Lewis Brookshire III]

I am right handed and left eye dominant. I shoot with my left eye squinted to make my right eye dominant, it has always worked for me.

[Dave Schneider]

My son is the same LH, RE.  I taught mine to shoot bow and gun LH from the begining.  He never knew any different.

[Guru]

My Cade started out rt handed when he was 3yrs. old, when he got old enough to test, found out he was lt. eye dom.....switched him when he was 6 to a lefty bow.

He's nine now and shooting great....I'm glad I switched him when I did....

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[chad graham]

i would lean toward the dominant eye,in my case i am right handed and but shoot a bow left handed.i switched three years ago after finding out i was left eye dominant i shot right handed for 20 plus years for me the switch was easy it felt natural from the first shot.i did start with a 36# bow at first then jumped up in poundage.

[hunt it]

Do your son a big favour and buy him a left handed bow. Why complicate things, do some research elsewhere on eye dominance and accuracy. Sure there are many that say either is ok but this wheel has been invented and studied and proven. Accuracy potential is with the dominant eye period. Sure he can learn and shoot right handed as many have but they are not reaching their full potential and are only fooling themselves. Unless handicapped or an injury dictates there is no argument for starting him out any way but the proper way - LEFT HANDED.

[LAR43]

I have to agree with everyone who recommends going to the dominant eye side.
Did that with my grandson 3 yrs ago. He's 13 now & he shoots better than he ever did w/ a lot less frustration. Kids need to realize success in order to stick with any accuracy required sport.
It kept him in trad archery. . . All shooting sports for that matter.

Get him a lefty bow he can handle. He'll pick it up in no time.

Hunt It is spot on IMO.

Larry

[hydrasport205]

I am the same way  AKBILLYBOW is right i shoot the same way lean my head farther into the string  your brain will compensate and do the rest for you

[J. Holden]

I'm a right handed everything but left eye dominant.  I switched a few years ago to shoot left handed, best decision I made as far as set up goes.  It didn't take long before it felt natural.  Now I pick up a right handed bow and it feels awkward.  Go to the left on this one.

-Jeremy

[joebuck]

TooMany....Not all is lost if he can't switch over......there was a couple fellows shot cross dominant like your son......a guy from Alabama was pretty handy with a longbow...Howard Hill shot right handed but left eye dominant....Ole boy from Grayling Michigan named Fred filled a museum up with trophy animals. Mr. Bear shot left handed but was right eyed and think his sometime hunting partner Glenn St. Charles was too?  if he shoots pure instintive ( doesn't see the arrow) it doesn't matter, if he shoots a secondary vision  system ( sees the arrow). he can manipulate his dominant eye by squinting one eye and dominance switches......shotgunners use a spot of tape on field glasses...........main thing someone said earlier is it is all about fun!  i have 5 and 8 year old boys myself with some cross dominance.

[TooManyHobbies]

I got a lot more responses than I thought I would. Thanks everyone. It seems there is an argument for each way.
BTW, my son is 18 and doesn't like compounds, so I hope he is a natural trad shooter.

[Red Boar]

Originally posted by COMPOUNDLESS IN CONCRETE:
If you teach him to shoot instinctive, eye dominance doesn't matter because you look at the target and not the tip of the arrow.  

I think if he is already shooting right handed, that is probably what is comfortable to him.

I am ambidextrous as well but can't shoot left handed, it feels like a man hug that lingers too long, awkward and uncomfortable.

With respect, I have to strongly disagree.  I've bowhunted for 28 years, but I am relatively new to traditional archery.  Honestly, I almost gave it up due to this problem.  If I shoot where I think I am looking my groups are pretty nice, but an entire foot left of my aim point.   :(   This was the same no matter which bow I used...and I tried a bunch.  Finally (after talking to Mike Treadway) he suggested squinting my left eye...I found it easier just to close it.  Wow, it cleared the problem right up.       If I was young and just starting, I'd go with the dominant eye....alas, I am 51 and it is too late for me to make a dramatic switch like that.  Best of luck.

[adeeden]

I grew up similar to your son, Batted right handed, played the field left handed, shot a gun lefty and a bow righty, and am left eye dominate.

I shot bows right handed from the time I could walk until I was 27, then decided to order a left handed recurve to just play around with.

Within 6 months I was shooting better than I ever had and have stuck to the left side ever since. In hind sight i widh I would have started shootinf lefty as a youth!

[joebuck]

ooooooooopppps   ..he's 18 ?!.....well...i change my advice..i would buy him the lightest weight left hand bow and switch him over to dominate eye dominant hand. i thought he was a little guy and would get discourage.........he's grown.