Where do you anchor?

[elkhunter752]

I'm having a lot of trouble with my anchor point.  I've been anchoring with my thumb in the back of my jawbone and the string running by the outside corner of my eye.  I'm thinking about starting to change and start shooting with the string on the inside of my eye to help me "feel" where the arrow is going.  I have a pretty short drawlength, so I think when I originally started shooting, I would stretch my drawlength out to give me a little more power.  Where do you all anchor?  Any advice for me?

[wabearhunter]

I anchor at the back of the jawbone as well and i am pretty accurate and consistent with that anchor point.

[Winterhawk1960]

Thumb knuckle on earlobe and cock feather touching tip of my nose.

Winterhawk1960

It is very important for me to feel like I am staying within the triangulation of my anchor to my line of sight and my power line. If I draw to far back, my head position shifts to an unnatural cock up and towards the target, which can be hard on the dorsal/cervical connection.  When I shot with target form I damaged this area of my neck because I was drawing too long. Now anchor with my middle finger on a tooth just back and below the corner of my mouth, my index finger is under my cheek bone and my thumb knuckle is behind and at the corner of my jaw bone. The right spot is different on everyone, what I look for, is the arrow over and inline with the eye and is the head in a natural position without goose necking forward or cramping the head at odd angles.

[basket-rack'89]

Personally, I anchor with my middle finger in the corner of my mouth.  However, the most important part of anchoring is being consistent.

[ncsaknech1ydh]

I draw 32 1/2 inches, I am 6'3" so the longer draw is natural for me, I draw as you do with my thumb knuckle to the back of my jaw bone, but I use the fletching against my lip for the second anchor point. DK.

[Huntnjim]

3 under and my index touching my eye tooth

[Eugene Slagle]

Back of thumb against the back of the jaw bone & I use my pointer finger against my eye tooth.

[McDave]

I think a person should first learn to draw the bow to full draw, before deciding where to anchor.  In other words, draw the bow such that your drawing forearm is in line with the arrow.  Confirm that by looking in a mirror or by a picture or video.  Compare your allignment with Terry's clock.  When your allignment is good, see where your drawing hand ends up.  There should be some part of your face, jaw, a tooth, etc. that is handy to use for an anchor.  If you arbitrarily pick an anchor without reference to whether you are at full draw when you reach that anchor, the chances are you won't be at full draw, and you will never reach your potential accuracy.

The same holds true with Rick Welch's anchor.  The thumb on the earlobe is variable back and forth; it mainly establishes an up and down anchor.  The feather against the nose should be the indication that you have reached full draw, therefore, the location of the feather is critical.  If you are new to this anchor, I recommend only fletching a couple of arrows, and then firing many shots over a number of days, because you will probably decide that your original feather placement needs to be moved back or forward on the arrow, so that you barely touch the tip of your nose with the back of the cock feather at full draw, allowing a slight bit more backward movement during expansion.  A common mistake when using this anchor is to have the feathers mounted too close to the nock, requiring a backward movement of the head at full draw to get the nose behind the cock feather.  When you reach full draw, the back of the cock feather should just touch the tip of your nose, without having to make any head movement other than possibly a slight turn or tilt to get your eye over the arrow, which should be done as you are drawing the arrow, not after you reach full draw.

[PA-Spot]

Three under, with top finger in the corner of my mouth.

[S.C. Hunter]

I am with McDave. I most often concentrate on full draw and I guess my middle finger touches between corner of mouth and dimple in my chin. My knuckle on my thumb touches back of jaw bone, more important than my finger to chin for me. I will be honest when I shoot my best I am not even aware if I touch either spot. I often feel like my hand is floating.

[bsigal]

I shoot split finger with my index on my cheek bone along side my nose.  I find that this places the arrow directly under my dominant eye.

[Jon Swanson]

I have a double.  I use the corner of the mouth and the knuckle of my thumb in the corner of my jaw.  When I do this I know that my string is matching the angle of the cant of my bow (which is not very much).  If I don't have this.....look out dirt:)

[canshooter]

For me when I am at full draw the back of my thumb touches my earlobe, the thumbnail goes under my cheekbone the string above the nock touches my eybrow in a specific and repeatable spot and I fletch my arrows so the fletch touches my nose. For my physiology this give a consistent and repeatable draw length, elevation and windage.

[Wapiti Bowman]

First, we're all built differently, with different muscle development and different facial structure. So, what works for one, may or may not work for another.

McD has made some very important points to be considered and tried. Another possible problem using contact with the cock feather is the consistency of feather size and placement.

Coming from a target rather than hunting background, I prefer a natural, upright stance with a nearly vertical bow, rather than the hunched over stance, very canted bow frequently used by hunters. I cant the bow just enough to be able to see past the limited sight window of a LB. With this stance, I have a vertical line that runs from the top of my head straight down my spine to my tail bone. Keeping this vertical line, I turn my head to the target and draw to my anchor. BTW, I use a slightly open stance.

IMHO, the two most important aspects of the anchor point is that it must provide proper alignment of your dominant eye over the arrow, and you must be able to repeat it exactly with every shot.

 Shooting without a sight, and using, say, 30 yards maximum for ethical hunting guide lines, the higher the anchor point, (translation, the closer the nock is to your eye)consistent with the above stipulations, the better. That's one of the reasons you see so many hunters using three fingers under vs split finger hooks. This smaller gap between your eye and the arrow reduces the possible margin of error, Similar to reducing the pin gap on the 'wheelie bow' shooter's sights.

As you can see, only you can select the anchor point that works for your body and facial structure, consistent with proper alignment from the tip of your arrow to the tip of your elbow at full draw.

Good Luck, and Have Fun, above all else!  

[elkhunter752]

Thanks for all the advice! I really appreciate it.

[Terry Green]

I use a double anchor to get the same draw length and back tension every time.

Middle finger in the corner of the mouth, and I keep drawing till my thumb knuckle slides behind my jaw under my ear.

[REM]

I have the same double anchor as Terry, but for me, its more important to get proper alinement.  Draw side elbow must be back inline with arrow, and bow hand must be pushing towards target.

[NBK]

Excellent points and McDave's spot on.  I would add however that the anchor must be comfortable, and very solid.  You can "fish" for a light anchor while shooting in the backyard, but when you're pulling back on an animal you're thinking about that animal, not your anchor, at least I don't.  I anchor with the knuckle of my index finger behind my cheekbone and feather on the nose.  The knuckle of my hand is like resting my face on a gun stock and the feather is the final reference.

[mambashooter]

I have tried different anchor points and have found out that I shoot so much better when I just shoot w/o doing alot of thinking. I just  pull the bow string back as far as I can each time..look with both eyes..yes both eyes, and I usually am satisfied with my shot most of the time.I found out that practice is the best answer to most bow problems myself..you can adapt to just about any style. Kinda like a golf swing...some are ugly but the results is really what matters.