canting the bow

[nhbuck1]

im a bit confused on the bow cant thing, in order to cant the bow you have to bend forward at the waist? i see pics of people shooting with cants in a straight standing position wouldnt that cause string torque? i cant my bow around  o clock and bend forward at the waist.

Not necessarily, some waist bending, but that does not mean that your back needs to board stiff and straight from the waist up, not does it mean that don't flex your legs and hips.  You can still use the strong muscles to draw the bow.   If you try todo it all from the waist when you are leaning tight to a treeyou will naturally angle your legs causing your butt to stick out and launch you off balance when your butt pushes against the tree.   This guy did pretty well bending into the shot.  

[dirtguy]

You don't have to bend forward at the waist.  What king of bow do you shoot and is it cut to or past center?  You might not even have to cant it.

[Shadowhnter]

The only real reason to cant, is to open up your sight picture. I keep a fairly straight stance, yet I slightly lean my neck and head when I cant to shoot. It dont take much, and with many cases its slight enough its a bit tough to tell from the onlookers view point.

[newhouse114]

I have to remember which bow I am shooting, my Bear Montana requires more cant (about 2:00) and my Toelke Whip goes at 1:00.

[McDave]

There are really two kinds of cants.  There's a natural cant that we all eventually find for ourselves, which might range from almost straight up and down to 5-10*, depending on the shooter.  This is the natural shooting position that we assume if there is nothing in the way of our shot.  No particular bend is required for this cant, other than whatever natural posture someone might assume when making a normal shot.

Then there is the unusual shot when there is a branch in the way, or we have to shoot while sitting, or whenever our natural cant won't work.  For this shot, we have to try to keep our upper body in the same alignment with the bow as it is when we shoot with our natural cant.  Do whatever bending you might have to do to maintain this alignment.

When sitting on my butt pad with my back against a tree, I am closer to 2:37 P.M.  Unless of course, if I am shooting left hand, then it's 9:23 A.M.

[FlintNSteel]

For me,canting a bow is just more comfortable.  Hold your arm out and look at how your hand is naturally positioned.  Don't unnaturally twist your wrist like you have to to hold a bow straight up and down.  If you stuck a bow in your hand while arm and hand are relaxed, it sits just naturally in a cant.

That said, I practice shooting from reverse cant through literally holding my bow horizontal.  I have killed bucks in situations that demanded both the reverse cant and horizontal hold.  If I hadn't praticed with those "extreme" cants and knew I could hit doing it at the yardage I was at, I could not have capitalized on the shots.

Shooting while on your back is not as hard as your average target archer would think.   I practice it from a low, 8" from the ground, flat lawn chair, with a nice pillow for comfort, while someone else is retrieving my arrows.  It's hard for me to get in and out that thing, rolling over on the ground is easier, but i still like that pillow, for when someone else is retrieving my arrows.

[McDave]

Originally posted by pavan:
Shooting while on your back is not as hard as your average target archer would think.   I practice it from a low, 8" from the ground, flat lawn chair, with a nice pillow for comfort, while someone else is retrieving my arrows.  It's hard for me to get in and out that thing, rolling over on the ground is easier, but i still like that pillow, for when someone else is retrieving my arrows.

I can imagine Pavan reclining in his lawn chair, head resting on pillow, perhaps a cold beverage by his side.  His faithful wife or grandchild, waiting just out of his field of vision, so as not to interfere with his shot, for him to loose an arrow.  When the spirit moves him and he shoots, a sigh of admiration is heard from the gallery.

Contrast this with Paul Brunner demonstrating a prone shot in the turf, REALLY lying down in the turf, no chase lounge, pillow, or sighing gallery.  Just his memorable words, "I must have taken 50 wild game animals from this position!" We in our shooting group have adopted Paul's words as our mantra, to be uttered whenever we make a shot that is anything out of the ordinary.  Who knows?  Maybe Paul actually DID take 50 wild game animals from that position.

Sorry Pavan, I hope I didn't offend you.  Your words just tickled me.

[Orion]

Don't need to bend to cant the bow.  Doing so doesn't really have any impact on string torque.  Keeping the elbow low when one cants is important to keep from torquing the string regardless of whether one bends at the waist (unnecessary, but sometimes required for certain shots with obstructions) or not.

[Shadowhnter]

I think pavon is feeling his oats tonight!  Too dang funny!

Mc Dave, I was just relaying what we do for fun and making a bit of joke out of it.  Some folks do not consider that there are multiple ways that a deer can be shot. The reason getting up and down from a prone position is difficult for me is because I am disabled.  If you want to play Leatherbrawl, with tilted comments, go ahead.   I'm gone.

[Friend]

Ironically, wasn't that many years ago that even shooting straight up was challenged as a preferred viable position when hunting.

[McDave]

I would like to apologize publicly to Pavan for the offensive remarks I made.  I know that one shouldn't make personal comments on the internet about someone one doesn't already know personally, but I slipped up.  I'll try to see to it that it doesn't happen again.

[DannyBows]

[YosemiteSam]

Just depends on the degree of cant.

I only try to cant when I'm seated.  Otherwise, I've found it more consistent to simply hold vertical.  I'll cant from standing every now and then but it only continues to show me that I'm more consistent when I hold vertical.  If I shot instinctive or moving targets, though, I'd want that better view that a canted bow offers.

[katman]

I am definitely more accurate consistently shooting with bow straight up and down(target archery) but that don't work for some hunting situations for me. So I cant by bending at waist to retain the same bow alignment to my body as straight up. Works for me.

[nhbuck1]

so basically in order to cant you have to bend at the waist? i dont see how canting shooting vertical woul not cause string torque

[katman]

Don't have to be I prefer to. I guess you can just twist your arm to cant the bow, causes me to shoot low and right since the arrow is above the pivot point.


" i dont see how canting shooting vertical woul not cause string torque"
If your draw hand arm is relaxed the fingers will follow the angle of the string, that is to supinate/clockwise rotation for right hander.