Target vs Hunting archery, 3under vs instinctive

[chuckbow]

After 32 yrs of shooting , Archery has ben a huge part of my life , mainly trad archery with a few wheel years thrown in, the one thing thats for sure , outdoors , wildlife, and sticks n  strings, knives and a good campfire is what has gotten me through many tough times and work weeks. I competed for years in archery mainly 3d and some indoor thrown in too ! i finished 4 th in the ibo world with a long bow ,many years back and 2nd (ibo) recurve in 2010 , and after a big push from my wife, finally a 1st at the 2010 asa world championships! (recurve) this only took 2 million arrows,30 yrs and a lot of trial and error ,i have taken a P and Y bear and close to 100 whitetail with my bow 2 making p and y ! i see a lot of conversations and chat about 3 under vs split , also gap vs instinctive ! ive taught myself both! but i can honestly say that 3under or gap over time have turned into instinctive! no yardage or holdover no thinking just looking where you want to hit ! I know the conscious can only do one thing at a time , and the subconscious can do many at the same time.  The trick is to train the conscious properly and then to concentrate hard enough on a spot that the subconscious takes over.its simple but not easy! And you get out what you put in, i still shoot both ways and hunt some both ways, but for me personally a heavy(enough) recurve for stability and a adjustable grip makes since to me for target while i love the wood and weight , and romance of the longbow for hunting. I dont know why, its just my take on this issue ! not saying im right , just wanted to say ! For all the new folks , A good instuctor would be money well spent learning proper form and techniques ! and a huge time saver! i think we are all in this together no matter wich  way you do it! thanks for listening. Chuck,<>< ps i think ive caught the hh bug now !

[straitera]

Good post Chuck! Hard to explain to folks. You just did a good job.

Don't know gap & shot split all my life. Yesterday, was killing dandelion puffballs to 33 yards. Big fun watching judos explode through them! Believe it's confidence in your subconscious.

[Don Batten]

Excellent post Chuck.

[Brianlocal3]

great post, and makes perfect sense.

[owlbait]

I concur!  

[TSP]

Good post, ayah.

Straitera, I do dandelion puffballs too... mostly flock shooting.

[Rik]

Chuck's got it right, I have to agree. Back in '81 and '82, I shot 110 compounds with two fingers under.

Then I slowly made the transition to 80-pound recurves. That was a 30-pound drop in weight, but I had to add a finger to the mix, becoming a three-under shooter instead of a two-under shooter. Won more shoots than I deserved that way.

A few years after that, I made the transition to longbow, still three-fingers under.

The only thing I can see that would be better than shooting a longbow three-fingers under would be shooting two fingers under, but with 75-pound longbows, that would be a stretch.

Three fingers under, upper finger on the eye tooth, man, it just doesn't get more accurate than that. At least for me.

It's worth a try if you aren't shooting as well as you would like to.

Give it a shot, you've got nothing to gain. . . but accuracy!

[ironmike]

when i'm up on close,with 20 yards,three under is the way, also if i gotto shoot steep uphill or downhill,i'm instinctive,but them short shot with my 75#longbow is a rifle shot.it's good to be able to shoot every which way,makes it all the more natural, i shoot lefty now too, instinctive.

[Dirtybird]

Yeah Chuck is right, but I think one thing people forget is practice.  Practice, practice, and more practice.

[Thumper Dunker]

Originally posted by Dirtybird:
Yeah Chuck is right, but I think one thing people forget is practice.  Practice, practice, and more practice.

+ 2

[maineac]

Some very similar feelings here, well except for winning any championships.

[monsterbuck]

Thanks for sharing.  God bless.

[Mike Bolin]

Very well thought out post! I used to shoot three under, anchoring with my index finger in the corner of my mouth. Made the transition to split and anchor with my middle finger......same basic sight picture and elevation and I can switch back and forth between the two if I want. I have an easier time quieting my bow with split finger, but it is what works best for the individual shooter! Thanks for sharing-Mike

[Bladepeek]

Now that's weird. I've been a split-finger shooter and my Lost Creek Judge was a church mouse. Tried 3 under and the noise scared me half to death. Had to move the silencers way in toward center.

[chuckbow]

i have 4 bows and cant tell any diff in the noise split or 3 under on any of em!

[NBK]

Great post.  I'm like Mike Bolin in that I'm primarily a 3under shooter, but having shot split for years I can go back and forth anchoring the same as him.  My point on doesn't even change that much.  I used to really struggle with which style to shoot, or which aiming method, longbow or recurve, etc. until I realized that good form is good form regardless of style, and by really trying lots of different techniques I gain a better understanding of shooting if not becoming a better archer in general.  I won't ever be a championship archer, don't want to be, but 15 yards and under, heck, I could shoot with my teeth and still kill a deer!

[RC]

I changed to three under a year or so ago and have been purty lucky with it. I can tell a definate improvement in accurracy up close and even more important I can tell a huge improvement in the main thing...Confidence.
  Would enjoy a target shoot I`m sure but I work weekends and never get to go but my main concern is  big broadheads through the ribcage up close.
  Opening my mind and trying different things has helped me to improve. Admitting that something else is better other than your old way is tuff for a hard headed feller like myself. I have to give Chris Spikes credit for my improvement in shooting because he has shown me that hitting "close" is not as good as hitting perfect near every shot. He is the best shot I`ve seen in real life.Kills stuff too...RC

[chuckbow]

well said RC , i shot over 10 yrs split and was pretty good tried 3 under and after a couple of months my groups out to 30 yds were better than they had ever been!

[TRT]

I am stubbornly switching from split finger to three under.  My accuracy is really improving.  Maybe more than accuracy is consistent accuracy.  That consistency is breeding confidence and destroying a bit of pride as well.