Acuracy gauge

[Fun4all]

What do you us to gauge your accuracy?  3 arrows in a 3" circle at 20 yards (or, whatever yardage you shoot)?  Or, first arrow within __ inches of where you were looking?  Hitting a 6' diameter circle at __ yards?

Just trying to see if there is a consensus of what folks use to judge their accuracy shooting instinctively.

Thanks

Great shooting
Jeff

[McDave]

The only gauge that made any sense to me was being able to put a majority of your arrows into the kill zone from whatever distance you plan to hunt.  For deer, that would be approx a 6" circle.

For life in general, it's just trying to be better than yesterday.  Generally, I can't depend on doing that, but it's a good feeling when I can achieve it.

[Fun4all]

Thanks, that's kind of what I was generally thinking.  Of course, I strive for pinpoint accuracy (hitting the 1" circle in the middle of the 6" circle), but that can be frustrating (I rarely rarely rarely do that), lol!

For a good indicator of form, consistency and progress, shooting one of those blue faced FITA targets at 20 yards will tell you all you need to know.  You don't have to shoot the 12 rounds of 5 arrows each to do it.  A guy can shoot 10, 20, or whatever.  Just make notes as you go along.

Most "trad" guys don't like to do it.  Stumps won't tell the tale; the blue face will.  8^)

[KeganM]

FITA targets come in blue? I thought that was just the NFAA. Either way, Jim's absolutely right. A good gauge of accuracy is paper. I usually only shoot half rounds, but the baseline seems to be at least 80% of the possible points. That would put most of your arrows in a roughly 7" circle at 20 yards if memory serves.

Shooting paper once a week is usually a good way for me to iron out kinks I may have picked up, too.

[longbow fanatic 1]

For me, I want all five arrows within an NFAA (single spot blue face) 4 ring for 60 arrows or shooting a 3-d without any 5's. I've done neither of these so far.    This is what I aspire to do though.

[ThePushArchery]

Agree with Jim and Kegan.

Shooting at a measurable scorable face is the best indicator of progress. And like Jim said, you don't have to shoot the entire round, as long as your scorable arrow qty is consistent. A multi-color FITA vegas face will break down the scores a little more, but either blue face or multi color will do the trick.

It's nice to be able to put a number on changes you're making. Whether it's equipment or form changes. Being able to put a number on those changes and compare back to the previous averages you e been shooting. Pure gold.

[Fun4all]

Thanks, for the input.  Sounds like I need to be shooting paper on a regular basis!

[reddogge]

Kegan, correct. 80% of a 300 round NFAA blue face target would be a 240 or 4 point/arrow for 60 arrows, a worthy goal to shoot for.

OP, if you averaged 5 points/arrow (3 arrows into 3" from 20 yards) you could enter any indoor competition in the country and win every time.

Originally posted by KeganM:
FITA targets come in blue? I thought that was just the NFAA....

Oops!  I'm so embarrassed.  I'm a real sensitive guy.    

[forestdweller]

For me it's how tight I can get my 3 arrow groups.

The distance is always getting progressively further away for me and as an archer I don't think I'll ever be happy with my accuracy and that's what keeps me shooting.

If I ever had a day where I was shooting 3" groups at 50 yards I'd just back up to 60 yards and want to shoot those tight groups even further away.

It's never ending but that's the great thing about archery.

[KeganM]

Originally posted by Jim Casto Jr:
 

Originally posted by KeganM:
FITA targets come in blue? I thought that was just the NFAA....

Oops!  I'm so embarrassed.  I'm a real sensitive guy.        [/b]

It's OK, Jim, we don't judge!  

[Keb]

There is more than one way to skin a cat, confidence breeds success.

Practice which way gives you the most realistic feed back for what up your goals are.

The actual vitals on deer are pretty big 10".

[Fun4all]

Thanks for the feedback!

[Trenton G.]

If I can keep my arrows inside an 8 inch circle at 25 yards, I consider that good shooting. I will continue to shrink the area that I consider good as I progress.

[frassettor]

I just started shooting the NFAA single spot target. I only shoot "1/2" rounds (30 arrows), for total of 150 points. I've shot that 8-10 times so far. Lowest was a 99, highest was a 117.
Everything else was100,105ish.
Not sure if that's good or not by your definition ,but I'm trying

[BowFrog]

For me it's hitting the "kill" zone on my block or 3D target vs a hit that if were on a real animal would mean a LONG tracking job or worse yet a non-recovered animal.

The thing I finally figured out about trad archery is that it's a lot like golf...some days I got it and some days I don't. The "don't" days tell me to do something else so I develop bad habits. Tomorrow will be better.

Originally posted by frassettor:
I just started shooting the NFAA single spot target. I only shoot "1/2" rounds (30 arrows), for total of 150 points. I've shot that 8-10 times so far. Lowest was a 99, highest was a 117.
Everything else was100,105ish.
Not sure if that's good or not by your definition ,but I'm trying

Good for you.  You're doing very well. That translates to a 234 on a full round.  240 (or a 120 in your practice) is generally considered good shooting for hunting-type rigs.  My best ever was a 265 so I keep trying now again. I'm usually in the mid-250's.

[forestdweller]

I try to avoid shooting paper since for me, like shooting pie plates, it's difficult to find a specific spot to focus on shooting instinctive.

My personal gauge for accuracy is how tight my groups are around an object the size of a tennis ball since the ball gives me a small spot to focus on.

As of right now if I can keep my groups tight at 35 yards around a tennis ball sized object than that's really good for me and a good gauge for my accuracy.

Good for you forestdweller.  You should consider shooting the NFAA Blue face.  I'd love to see the score on a 150 or 300 round.