Accuracy?

[bear bowman]

I've been thinking about this for awhile now. I see people ask and talk about how accurate this particular bow or that bow is. My general thought would be that every bow is or can be accurate if the arrows are tuned and the bow fits the shooter.
I guess I think of it from a golf standpoint. You could give a pro golfer a set of wal mart clubs and given time could do really well with them. Am I wrong in this thinking?

[crazynate]

I think your right to some degree. If a bow is poorly designed it can only shoot so well even when it's tuned properly. I have dozens of bows and each one shoots a little differently. I do believe my kodiak magnum shoots as good as any custom bow I have owed. I have  had other 1200 dollar bows that no matter what I've done tuning wise will not shoot that good. I won't say what brand but guys would be surprised.  Also I think there are different levels of what guys determine accurate. A sage bow shoots an arrow good enough to kill anything that walks. But it might not be good enough to out shoot  a tricked out modern target bow. Just my opinion

[Caleb Monroe]

I agree with that in typical hunting ranges say 0 to 30 yards. Your "bow fitting the shooter statement is very true in my case never shot a bow that is less than 62" very good.

But there is a reason that Olympic recurves are long and have high brace heights.

[Bowwild]

I'm sure I know a couple guys who could shoot my bows better than I can, even though I'm (in their eyes) "wrong-handed".

[longbow fanatic 1]

It seems most archers are in search of that magical bow. You know, the one that they shoot the best with, whose arrows just go exactly where they're looking. That said, some archers have even placed ads in the classifieds trying to buy back a bow they sold previously.

Now, you place any bow in the hands of a pro shooter and they will shoot it better than most of us ever could. As in most cases, it's the archer and not the bow that accuracy comes from.

The average archer, however, gauges accuracy based on their own abilities. For example, you hand me an ASL and I might as well use it for a walking stick. I'm worthless with the thing. Give me a bow cut before center and I can't shoot them worth a darn either. If I have a longbow/recurve cut to center or 3/16" past center, with a substantial shelf, and I can shoot pretty well.

[mcgroundstalker]

I'm gonna stick my neck out here with trying to keep it simple:

Most of the time, it's the shooter-not the bow...

An arrow MUST be tuned to the bow and your shooting style...

A $1200 bow with unmatched arrows might be found for sale for $600 due to ignorance and poor shooting...

Just my 2 cents worth... Been at this game for almost twenty years and had many bad shooting habits that took years to correct...

... mike ...    ...

[Scott E]

Arrows are way more important than the bow.

BUT

There are bows that are easier to shoot and make your bad shots not so bad.

A parallel you can draw is form vs mental game.

Form is important but mental game is more important.

You can win a world championship with decent form and a strong mental game.

Great form and no mental game is still going to be bad.

[monterey]

I have a bow that I really like but can't shoot as well as I'd like.  With that one it's all about how the grip fits my hand as well as the size of the grip.  It wants to force the hand to roll around the outside of the grip

Another bow by the same maker has the same design in the grip but it's smaller and fits perfectly.

So, both bows probably have the same accuracy potential but in my hand, the one is more accurate.

I have not found a bow that shoots as accurately as I would like yet.  I have not found an arrow that shoots as accurately as I would yet either. I have not found a a ping pong ball or a dandelion head as easy to hit at twenty or more yards as I's like either.  It especially aggravates me when my worst flying arrow is the one that hits the small targets or when I flub a release and that is the arrow that punches out the center of a dandelion. However, when a crapped out arrow with a whipped release hits a rabbit or a pheasant, I am pretty good at claiming that it was all me and not just dumb luck.

[hawkeye n pa]

I agree it's more the archer than the bow.

 Although I've had a few bows that just didn't shoot well for me.

[mcgroundstalker]

pavan, Point Taken! It's something how we can (over think) shots at 3D and brain overload, or fall apart... Then a shot at a running rabbit becomes a perfect double lung shot... Just Happens!  

... mike ...

While I do agree that there is equipment that is better than other equipment, I believe more that it is the monkey pulling the string that makes the most difference.

I have a friend of mine down here that can beat almost everyone out there, even when he is shooting his Samick Sage!

Bisch

[Friend]

Referring to personally lethal hunting ranges:

Beyond a personally accomodating grip, most bow design advantages are neglble and merely commentary with respect to the individual behind the bow.

Due note: I firmly acknowledge there is always the possibility of exceptions.

[katman]

I don't think your wrong at all bear bowman

[Chain2]

The age old question, "Is it the arrow or the Indian?"

The one question I need to consider for myself, 'Does the bow let me do what I want to do?'  When I shot target bows and even when I shoot target bows now, it is a very slow and time consuming procedure.  When I shoot a game animal, I want the shot be less than two seconds.  For that I need a bow that requires no thought from me, about adhering to specific little needs for what to do with a particular bow.  I do not want it to take a long hold, or need to stick my pinkie out just so, or cross my big toe with my next toe.  When I shoot at a three D target, I do the same shot that I want to take at game.  When I go to a 3D event, I do not keep score, I let people pass if we have irritating people behind us, (I am no longer into impressing or competing), when I can get and stay in that adventure state of mind I do pretty well. That is the same frame of mind that I have on good days out sneaking around, trying to shoot food. if the bow and the arrows allow that, the rest is up to me.

[McDave]

I'm just a mediocre shot, but I really enjoy it.  I've had a number of bows, a few of which didn't measure up to my level of mediocrity.  Hopefully, they worked out well for someone else, because I don't really think there was anything wrong with those bows; they just didn't suit me.  I've also had the pleasure of shooting with some really great shots.  Contrary to what some others have said, I think the better a person shoots, the more he is able to appreciate the difference between bows.  

Someone mentioned how well a golf pro could shoot with Walmart clubs.  Be that as it may, none of them that I know of use Walmart clubs.  You could say that is just vanity on their parts, but if any of them could shoot really well with Walmart clubs, I'll bet he would use them in tournaments just to show the other guys up.

Or, to use another example, I couldn't play a Stradivarius violin any better than I could play a Sears violin, but a real violinist could.

[Pointer]

Almost any bow out there is capable of more accuracy than the guy shooting it. If an archer works with a bow and tunes it up properly with the correct arrow and has good shooting form then any bow will work.

I do think that there are bows out there that may be better suited to a particular archer... but that's really a matter of what a shooter prefers

[Friend]

There are rare individuals out there that can consistently mark at 90 yards with a selfbow.

There are even rare individuals that tinker with selfbows that can even mark consistently at 120 yards.

There are likely individuals out there that accomplish far more than I have been privy to.

After a proper personal fit, then hunting range accuracy resides predominantly in the archer's corner.

[Longtoke]

I think a grip that fits the hand well can help a lot.