bow canting...effect left or right

[aim small...release]

does canting the bow effect your left and right arrow flight

[McDave]

Generally canting will move the shot to the right for a RH shooter, moreso for a bow not cut to center than for a bow cut to center or past center. There are a lot of variables at work, and the results will be different for different people.

[DeCurry]

I don't know for sure if canting in and of itself affects arrow flight, but I do know that without properly adjusting your form it can affect your aim.

I cant my bow slightly (right handed instinctive shooter) and I find that if I leave my head mostly vertical and don't cant it properly to match my bow and string arms, my shots go left a few inches. When my head is properly canted, along with my bow and string arms, then my aim is usually good.

[McDave]

DeCurry is an example of how canting can effect different people differently.

Byron Ferguson discusses in his book, "Become the Arrow" how to move the POI of the arrow from left to right (for a RH shooter) by increasing the cant of the bow.  Since Byron normally shoots longbows not cut past center, the arrow will be pointing to the left of the expected POI if the bow is held vertical.  If the bow is canted 180 degrees, then the arrow will be pointing above the expected POI.  As the bow is canted from zero degrees to 180 degrees, the direction the arrow is pointing will move from the left of the expected POI to above the expected POI, thus moving the POI of the arrow on the target from left to right, at least for people who shoot like Byron.

A more extreme movement of POI caused by cant is described by Fred Asbell in his book, "Instinctive Shooting."  He shows examples of recurves held with a high grip where the grip places the hand close to the shelf, that are relatively unaffected by cant, and other examples of longbows held in a low grip where canting causes the arrow to move across an arc as the bow is canted.  He notes that this change of position of the arrow as the bow is canted is a normal adjustment that can be learned instinctively when shooting a longbow with a low grip, but this additional step is unnecessary when learning to shoot a recurve with a high grip.

I personally am not in favor of shooting a recurve with a high grip, or a longbow with a low grip, preferring the same medium grip on both recurves and longbows.  I suppose some would say that a longbow with a contoured grip amenable to being shot with the medium grip I prefer is not a "real" longbow, but that's a discussion for another time.

Since I ordinarily shoot recurves and longbows that are cut past, center, it really helps me when I shoot a longbow that is not cut to center to cant it more than I usually would, because it turns a left hit into a high hit the more I cant the bow, which I would prefer to deal with rather than having to hold to the right of the target.  I'm sure if I shot a longbow not cut to center enough times, I would begin to hit on target with it and not have to make conscious adjustments to hit where I want to hit.

Terry Green really seems to have canting figured out, as can be seen in his videos.