I want to gap shoot

[aim small...release]

Can anyone pont me in the direction of how to gap shoot and also is it effective in hunting situations?

[reddogge]

Put a piece of tape near the bottom of your bale and step back 5 yards. Shoot 3 arrows putting the point of the arrow on the tape. Measure the distance between the tape and the group and write this down. That is your gap for 5 yards. Move back every 5 yards shooting, measuring and writing until the distance where your arrows strikes the tape. That will be your "point on distance". If you plotted these gaps they would describe a parabola.

You will find the gaps become ingrained into your brain and second nature so you use them to initially establish the proper gap but then concentrate on the target. This is how a lot of  gappers do it.

Oh, another thing.....there are two ways of perceiving the gap. One is at the target and one is at the back of the bow. It's up to you to decide which is easier. For instance let's say your gap at the target for 20 yards is 15" but it looks like 1" at the back of the bow.

[McDave]

You might be interested in this video from Jimmy Blackmon (Ranger B on this forum)    Gap Shooting.

While you're at it, watch all of his videos, along with those made by Arne (Moebow on this forum).

Many hunters use the gap method of aiming.  There is no distinct line between gap and instinctive; there is a gray area in between that incorporates a little of one and a little of the other.  You have to decide whether you shoot better pure instinctive, pure gap, or somewhere in between.

Pure instinctive means that you consciously block out all vision of the arrow or any other part of the bow; you focus solely on the spot you want to hit.  This is likened to throwing a baseball to first base or a basketball into a basket.

Pure gap means that you estimate the distance to the target, and set your gap at a pre-measured distance between the arrow point and the spot you want to hit.  For example, you estimate the distance to the target to be 20 yards, and from previous shooting you have done at 20 yards, you set the point of the arrow at 2' below the spot you want to hit (or 1" below the spot you want to hit, if you use the gap at bow method).  The 2' and 1" examples I used are purely arbitrary; if you want to shoot pure gap, you have to establish your own measurements by shooting many times at marked distances, and making note of the gap needed to hit the spot you want to hit.  You also need to refine your ability to estimate ranges.

In between would be the method used by Howard Hill, which he called split vision, where you don't measure anything quantitatively.  You just notice the point of the arrow and place it wherever you think it should go based on previous experience of shooting at similar distances.  Usually this noticing and placing of the point takes place during the final stages of the draw, so the point of the arrow is on the correct spot at about the same time you come to full draw.  The mechanics are exactly the same as pure gap, but no actual estimate of the range to the target or amount of gap needed is done.

Under any of the methods described above, it is important to maintain your focus on the spot you want to hit: not the point of your arrow, not the spot you put the point of your arrow on, but the spot you want to hit.

[mahantango]

Great explaination! I will second the recommendation to watch Jimmy Blackmon's video - it really illustrates how gap works. His and Arne's videos are the best.

[2bird]

I have learned a lot from Jimmys videos...

Gap is extremely effective for hunting, i wrote this on another post but it sort of applies.

once you shoot gap for a while i guess it pretty much becomes "instinctive" if you will in the sense that you dont really have to think about where to aim, you just do it, and it really helps if you have a fast flat shooting bow because 1 gap can fit most of your shooting needs.  

This is my trajectory if I aim at a orange dot sticker

10 yards 8" high 15 yards 9" high 20 yards 6 3/4" high 25 yards 4 1/5" high and I’m point on at 30.

So as you can see from 10-25 yards I only have 4.5" of arc, I can use the same gap from 10-25 yards and keep them in the 10 ring at a 3-D shoot and it's a good peace of mind when hunting because I really don't have to guess the deer yardage just if he is 25 and in.

[aim small...release]

when everyone says aim at the dot do.you mean put arrow point on the dot? in order to find gap

[2bird]

Yes put the point directly on the dot, just like you would aim at a dot if you where shooting a rifle.

[Jack Hoyt 75]

Please correct me if I am wrong but isn't it:

Aim at target like you normally would shoot but put the tip of arrow in your lower peripheral vision on the dot.  If you focus on and aim down the arrow to the dot you will shoot high.  Aim and draw like normally would at the target but have arrow tip on the dot only.  Is that clear?

Edit: "skip what I said here and read McDave comments below.  That what I meant but he said it much better!"

I did it wrong at first and could not figure it out till a "expert" clarified this for me.

[reddogge]

If you are aiming at a dot and put your point on the dot there will be only one distance you will hit that dot. That is called your point on distance. All distances closer your point is under the dot and the relationship between the dot and your point are your gaps.

[McDave]

I think talking about a dot confuses the issue, at least it does for me.  In real life, we have one of two things: either we have a bulls eye or we have a kill zone.  That's what we want to hit and that's what we focus on, all the time we are aiming.

When we gap shoot, there is a secondary point, which is either above, below, or dead on the mark we want to hit.  I have seen in illustrations by Byron Ferguson, Jimmy Blackmon, and others, where a dot might be placed on this secondary point, but it doesn't exist in real life.  What we do when we gap shoot is to focus on the target we want to hit, but be aware of the out-of-focus arrow point in our peripheral vision. Without bringing the arrow point into focus, and without shifting our primary focus away from the mark we want to hit, we place the arrow tip either above, below, or on the mark we want to hit.  The distance we place the arrow tip above or below the mark we want to hit is called the gap.  If we place the arrow tip on the mark, it is called point-on.  Actually, when I shoot gap, I'm not even paying any attention to the specific point that's underneath the point of my arrow: it could be the sky or a tangle of bushes. What I am paying attention to is the gap between what I want to hit and the point of my arrow.

[2bird]

After I establish my gaps for a new setup the only time I put my point on a dot is when I'm shooting at my point on distance and I agree if you get hung up on "dots" you might get confused.

[aim small...release]

so my gaps at 5 10 15 are much shorter then everyone elses it seems and my point on is about 20 yds which seems short. could it be because im not shooting full length arrows

[mike g]

Everyone's gap will be different.

Do too, Draw weight.
Length of arrow.
Height of shooter etc....

[aim small...release]

ok. so if im 4" high at and like 5"high 15 how far  below where i want to hit be? 8?

[aim small...release]

10 yds i forgot to put in there

[2bird]

Your gaps are going to be different then mine or anyone else. imo the smaller the gap the better because your narrowing you error margin...shorter arrows will make larger gaps, a slower bow/heavy arrow will shorten your gaps. If you am at a dot and you arrow impacts 5" above the dot, simply aim 5" below the dot and you should hit it... if your 4" high at 10 yards 5" high at 15 yards and p/o at 20 yards "I" would just aim at the deer heart for any shot 20 yards and in while hunting, no matter the yardage you will be in the kill zone.

Sounds like you have a sweet hunting trajectory!!

[McDave]

Originally posted by aim small...release:
so my gaps at 5 10 15 are much shorter then everyone elses it seems and my point on is about 20 yds which seems short. could it be because im not shooting full length arrows

The higher you anchor, the less your gap will be at short distances. OTOH, you will have a greater gap at longer distances. For example, my point on is about 45 yards, whereas you might have a gap of a yard or more at 45 yards.  You might not care about that, because you plan to do all your shooting at 25 yards or less, where you have little or no gap to worry about.  When I shoot in 3D tournaments out west, our average shot is about 40 yards, with a fair number of 50 yard shots, so a 45 yard point-on works fine for me.  An Olympic shooter needs to be accurate at 100 meters, so they commonly anchor under their chin to get an even longer point-on distance. It would do me no good to hit at 70-100 yards, although I sometimes shoot those distances just for fun, so I anchor higher on my face than an Olympic archer would, and lower than you probably do.

[aim small...release]

so if i lowered my anchor my point on would increase distance wise?

[McDave]

That's correct.  However, if you plan to do all your shooting at 25 yards and under, you may have the ideal anchor already.

One problem with a high anchor is that it is harder to engage your back muscles with a high anchor than it is with a lower anchor.  You can imagine holding the bow over your head and trying to draw it, as an extreme example.  But if you're engaging your back muscles using the anchor you have, then that's not a problem for you.

Another problem with a high anchor is that it makes it difficult to shoot purely instinctively, since the arrow is almost unavoidable in your peripheral view, whereas it is easier to ignore the arrow with a lower anchor.  But again, if you plan to shoot gap, that isn't a problem for you either.

[aim small...release]

right now my anchor is middle finger corner of my mouth