18 vs 20 yards & more than 2 arrows?

[wisconsinteacher]

Why is it that when I shoot at 18 yards, I keep them in a nice group but when I go to 20 it opens up.  It is only 6 feet but what could be causing this?  I know it is me so what can I work on.  Also, when I shoot, I notice that after my 2nd shot the rest of my shooting falls apart.  What do I need to do to shoot more than 2 arrows at a time?

slow down. take your time, dont let yourself hurry. its hard cause its so much fun just to shoot. youll get tierd.  just my opinion. aint worth 2 cents but there it is.

[Friends call me Pac]

"What do I need to do to shoot more than 2 arrows at a time?"

I'm kind of the oppisite.  I carry 1 arrow outside and shoot it, walk to the target, pull it, walk back to where I want to shoot and repeat.  I believe it forces me to concentrate more instead of correcting with the 2nd arrow.

[Night Wing]

Originally posted by Friends call me Pac:
"What do I need to do to shoot more than 2 arrows at a time?"

I'm kind of the oppisite.  I carry 1 arrow outside and shoot it, walk to the target, pull it, walk back to where I want to shoot and repeat.  I believe it forces me to concentrate more instead of correcting with the 2nd arrow.

I do the exact same thing. It forces one to concentrate on the shot instead of just shooting the shot.

[jim phenes]

I just shoot more sometimes im good at 20 or not alot depends on my day and whats going on. Yesterday for instance i had drank alot of coffee and was rushing to shoot because i had a party to attend with the woman i totaly missed a round bail at 20 yds i was very embarassed but it happens, just slow down dont let the arrow before bother your next shot. the next one i released was in the bull, shoot alot you will know what your doing wrong over time as far as your form. i have learned alot on here in just a short time. Good luck and keep shooting!

[S.C. Hunter]

I agree with the previous post. I think the first arrow we shoot is a shot we trust or a feel shot. The second arrow we focus on the first arrow and it also is usually a good shot. After those first two we tend to try to repeat the accuracy of the first two shots. We trusted the first shots then we try to make it happen. I am a scratch golfer and always play better when I trust my swing. I work on grip, stance, posture and form in practice. When I play I trust what I work on in practice. Sometimes we have to practice as if it is for real as Pac said take 1 arrow. I would add when you take the 1 arrow shoot at different distances don't pace just walk and shoot different angles. You will trust it more. Before a round I putt with one ball as if it is real. Same principal see the shot see the arrow hit its spot and then take the shot. Scratch golfers are scratch because the see where they want the ball to go before they take the club back to swing and then trust their swings.

Move around between shots, so you can feel comfortable at different distances.  The off feeling is a perspective visual effect, I have it myself at times.  Twenty yards out in field seems close enough to spit on, twenty-four yards in my back yard sometimes seems like a long shot, it is just in my head.  To shoot more than two good arrows try breaking your stance between shots and then refocusing on a new exact spot for the next arrow.  I have a big target and I try to shoot at different spots all over the target in attempt to not use a pretty feather or bright nock as a target. Deer don't come with nice chartreuse 'shoot me here spots', neither should the practice target.

[McDave]

Both of the questions you are asking are very reasonable things to want to accomplish.  While you may never get the chance to shoot more than one arrow at a game animal, it is not unusual in a tournament to be required to accurately fire multiple arrows at a target from the same distance, which is as much an archery skill as learning to shoot arrows accurately from different distances.

My guess is that your 18-20 yard problem is just a mental block.  You use exactly the same form for shooting a 10 yard shot as you do for a 50 yard shot.  This is why blank bale work is so effective: you can improve your 50 yard shots by shooting at a blank bale 5 yards away!  Your groups will open up some from 18 to 20 yards, just because a group of arrows disperses with distance.  For example, two arrows that are 2" apart at 18 yards will be something like 2.3" apart at 20 yards, due to natural dispersion with distance.  Any more of a difference than that means that you're shooting differently at 20 yards.  Try playing a trick on yourself: pretend that the 20 yard shot is an 18 yard shot.  Aim, or shoot instinctively, as if the target is 18 yards away.  You should be able to shoot arrows that are nicely grouped a few inches below the bullseye.  Once you can do that, maybe you can convince yourself that there is really no difference shooting at 18 or 20 yards, and move the 20 yard group up where it belongs.

To shoot groups of more than 2 arrows accurately, you need to develop a similar mindset to the one you would have when you know you're only going to shoot one arrow from a given place.  You need to apply this mindset to each arrow you shoot.  In other words, you are not shooting a sequence of arrows, like bullets in a belt of machinegun shells.  Each and every arrow you shoot has a distinct set of requirements to set up, draw and shoot, that is not related to the last arrow you shot or the next one you plan to shoot.  This mindset requires discipline and must be learned, just like any other archery skill.  It is not an easy mindset to develop, and is one of the things that separates an Olympic archer from someone who can occasionally hit the target at 100 yards.

[Dave Worden]

While you may only get one shot while hunting and, abviously, we all want to make the first arrow a good shot, I believe that practicing with only one shot to be less than ideal.  My winter league shoots 60 arrows so I generally practice with no less than 60 arrows.  While it is extremely difficult to properly focus for 60 arrows, it is,none the less, good PRACTICE.  It also helps to keep my strength up so that I can shoot 60 arrows with confidence during the league.  As for correcting on the second, third, fourth, etc, shot.....DON'T DO IT!!!!!  The arrow that gone, is gone.  Forget it.  Shoot 60 first arrows.  Yeah, it's hard and I'm sure I don't it 60 times, but that's no reason not to try.  The key here is to teach yourself to focus whenever you decide you need to focus.  Whichever arrow that may be.

[Hill Hunter]

Move your target so you don't know where 18 and 20 Yards are and do not count your steps. forget yardage concentrate and shoot.

[Ground Hunter]

18- 20 You better hope the animals don't have a range finder.

[BigArcher]

I think what happens is Pressure. You shoot a couple of good shots then feel the pressure, or desire, to continue shooting well.  Aim harder than you did at first and the form starts to suffer.

BigArcher

[portugeejn]

I too have the problem of my first two shots being right there, and then the rest are not as good.  I don't know if this is a solution, but what I did was to stop shooting more than two arrows into the same target.  

I figure that if I hunt, I am only going to get at most two shots at the same animal anyway.  So I decided to making two really good shots.  Kind of a cousin to only one shot, walking down to retrieve the arrow, and then shooting again.  That is what I do, but your mileage may vary!:-)

RonP

[swampdrummer]

Hill hunter touched on something that shocked me the first time I did it. I moved my target to a totally different part of the yard and flat out missed it the first 3 shots.
Amazing what your mind picks and uses to get the arrow in the target!

My advice is to either shoot 1 arrow at a time or to just toss the arrows away from the target so you really have no idea how far you are from the target.
I know when I get to an arrow that I've tossed, its either close or its, not so close.

 When I have tossed an arrow way out there, I try to envision the arc of the arrow and attempt to raise my bow arm to match that arc.

I'm not there yet but I'm getting better every day. Those 35-40 yard shots still come in low some times but they are right on, left to right.

Think I wandered a bit here but maybe theres something usefull in my ramblings.....

[Hookeye]

To help with focus, try a smaller high contrast target- singular.

I put a white dot on my 3D target, or a black 50 cent sized Sharpie marker dot on a white sheet of cardboard over my bag target.

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

Quit worrying about it and just shoot.. Every Time I over think things and worry about them shooting goes south..
When I quit worrying about it my usual groups come right back.

[johnnyk71]

some great advice in this thread.

[hawk4570]

I shoot better at 15-20 yrds than at 10 yrds, Crazy Right?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I think shooting groups is a mistake. I take one shot, and then take another shot at a different target or distance. I don't think about how close the second arrow may be to the first, but would each arrow be a killing shot?

Obviously I'm not a target shooter, I have no interest in compeitive shooting. I need to make a killing shot on an animal, in a short amount of time, under completely uncontrolled situations. So that how I practice.

[reddogge]

Last night I shot two judo points on the lawn.  I threw out 3 plastic balls so I had a long shot and medium shot at one from each end.  I came very close every shot and hit the balls several times which surprised me because after I was done I paced them off and the close balls were 23 yards and the long balls were 35 yards.  I broke two of the balls too.

So maybe do some random shooting at unknown yardages with judo points.  You may surprise yourself.