Instinctive long range aiming?

[mikolay87]

I shoot split grip instinctive aiming. Yesterday I shot my field course for the first time and I had a lot of shots that were 48 to 80 yards. For the long shots I had to aim with the point of my arrow to do any good at the long shots. What do other instinctive Aimers do for long shots over 45 yards.

[longbow fanatic 1]

I am not an instinctive aimer, but I will offer this. Once you reach a distance where your arrow impacts the point of aim (PO), then it would seem that the archer would need to use the tip to aim. At those farther distances, the arrow tip would be above the target, and in those situations it would seem impossible not to use the arrow tip. Unless, you face walked or changed anchor points.

[Biathlonman]

I just started doing just as you describe on the long shots, seems to work pretty well.

[mikolay87]

It seemed that my point on is 55 yards. How do aimers figure out your gaps? Is it basically just practice or is there some to figure out how high to hold my point at various distances?

[Bill Carlsen]

For typical hunting range shooting I consider myself a pre-aimer. Once I have my spot picked and am ready to shoot it is all automatic. Some would probably call me a snap shooter. However, when the target I want to hit is a good distance away I revert back to my old field archery shooting and the tip of the arrow becomes my "sight". Works well at long ranges. Shot a caribou in Labrador that we paced off at 55 yards.

[reddogge]

Originally posted by mikolay87:
It seemed that my point on is 55 yards. How do aimers figure out your gaps? Is it basically just practice or is there some to figure out how high to hold my point at various distances?

It's trial and error worked out well in advance of shooting in a shoot. Helps to take notes but you can't use them in a shoot however. Some use the arrow rest and then the shelf as aiming points when using a raised rest and the distance is well beyond your point on distance. 55 yards point on is good for field archery.

[ron w]

On long shots I try to see the flight of the arrow in my mind before I shoot and then pick a spot above the target. Like a limb or a leaf or on long ones a cloud.......lol. Seems to work pretty well.

[Trenton G.]

I'm not sure if it's recommended, and I'm by no means a good shot at 40+ yards, but I find that by changing my anchor I am more consistent. Out to 40 I use my middle finger in the corner of my mouth. At 40+, I switch to my index finger in the corner of my mouth. I also begin to see the arrow tip a bit at this distance.

[Red Beastmaster]

I like taking long shots while roving. It's all feel for me because I don't purposely look at the arrow. If the mark is out there far enough I still "see" it even if my arm blocks my view. I'll look under my arm on longer shots.

While not exactly field round accuracy I do get surprisingly close.

I've been doing this for a long time and I've taken a whole lot of long shots. There are some benefits to turning into an old fart.

[old_goat2]

Past 30ish yds I go from instinctive to instinctive gap. But I can shoot really well out to 40ish in really dark conditions so I don't know what to make of that

[crazynate]

All good responses. One thing I use is trajectory feedback. those that read kidwells book know exactly what I am talking about. Seeing an arrow in the  Bullseye doesn't give us any feedback to learn from . Knowing the path that arrow took gives us that. Use bright feathers and follow through while at the same time watching the flight of your arrow. You will be amazed at the accuracy you can achieve by doing this. You will be training your sub conscious to copy that same path. Once the vertical is learned you'll be unstoppable. One thing I'll add is you have to have consistency in your equipment to do this right. All arrows have to be the same. "CONSISTENCY =SUCCESS" - Archery insights

[calgarychef]

40 yards and out I use the arrow tip, actually 40'yards is point on for me.  Another thing to do is shoot an arrow at long distance targets and see how low or high it hits...then adjust!

With some of my bow/arrow combinations, my point on is similar to the op.  20 yards and under I acknowledge the arrows general position, line and and latitude. Generally on flat ground and shooting at a deer or deer target that would be on the ground and about 5 feet towards me with the crown of the point ferule.  By 30 yards I use the general direction and the crown of the back of the point would be about at the foot level and then start walking up.  I am still just using the general pointing of the arrow, it angle and latitude and not using it as a hard sight.  At shots that are near to over point on I really start using the arrow as a hard aim, because it is right there in the vision.   Everything less than point on, hunting range shots, I have practiced acknowledging the arrow to a point where that is virtually an automatic response.  For hitting long shots it is more important that your release is aim based more than timing based.  There is no rule that says you need to prove anything by holding for a long time or releasing as fast as you would at 20 yards.  For myself, I know that if I am on target as my anchor tightens up that I will not be any more on target four seconds later.

[Pine]

I've not had very good success with using my arrow point .
It's hard to describe how I "  Aim " but I herd a guy describe it " Just play catch with the target . "

[kat]

I am a point of aim shooter. To learn gaps, I put a 1" dot on a target butt. I aim at the dot with the tip of my arrow from different distances. I then memorize the 'gap' at different distances. The closer to the target- the more the gap is under the dot. Therefore, the farther away, the larger the gap is over the point. Once I estimate the distance of a shot, I pick a spot over or under the point I want to hit, then aim at that spot with the tip of the arrow. If the target is far enough away, I do not see it after the first glance. I only see the point I have picked to aim at with the point of the arrow.

[McDave]

As an instinctive shooter, you will probably adjust pretty easily to instinctive gap shooting, which means that you put the point of the arrow wherever you think it should be to make the shot.  For me, this is as accurate as real gap shooting at unknown distances.  My experience has shown me that if I pick a spot above or below the target to place the arrow point based on intuition, my arrow is more likely to hit the target than if I guess the distance and place the arrow point on a predetermined gap for that distance.  If a person were much better than I am at estimating distances, he might prefer real gap to instinctive gap shooting.  

Another problem I get into if I try to use real gap is setting the gap.  Let's say I guess the distance is 40 yards, and my gap for 40 yards is -6".  So I have to pick a spot 6" below the spot I want to hit and place my arrow point there.  All too often, that means my focus will shift to the arrow point and I have to try to remember to shift it back to the target before I release the arrow.  If I don't remember to do that, I'll miss high.  When I'm using instinctive gap, my focus generally stays on the target, because everything is done unconsciously:  I just hold on the target and release when the sight picture feels right.

[Draven]

Originally posted by mikolay87:
I shoot split grip instinctive aiming. Yesterday I shot my field course for the first time and I had a lot of shots that were 48 to 80 yards. For the long shots I had to aim with the point of my arrow to do any good at the long shots. What do other instinctive Aimers do for long shots over 45 yards.

I consider myself an instinctive shooter. The single treatment is to shoot those distances (and in between) until the brain learns them. Instinctive shooting is about coordination between these three: eye, brain and bow hand. You will not be good without training for those distances with instinctive shooting - but you might get lucky once.

[Terry Green]

It takes determination and practice ....if you don't the will to practice and the determination to stay with it longer distances will never come...

But if you do they will arrive

And remember do not just raise your bow arm to get distance ...that takes you out of proper alignment ...lean your back rearward from the waist to gain elevation and keep the magic T.

[mikolay87]

Thank you for all of the insight. I have a lot to work on

[YosemiteSam]

I'm only starting to get the instinctive part so I'm not really one to be dolling out advice on how to do long range instinctively.  0-20 yards, I'm quasi instinctive.  Past that, I'm all gaps.  I face walk to achieve the archery equivalent of a maximum point blank range with various points on my face.  But with my heavy for weight arrows, I won't even bother to take a serious shot past 40 yards -- even at targets.  By 40 yards, my arrow is falling like a rock, accelerating and even a 1-yard distance estimation error can land me in the weeds.

Somebody mentioned imagining the path of the arrow.  It's no laser rangefinder but that's been the only way I can do it past 30 yards.  Like McDave, I'll pick something to "aim" at once I have the trajectory in my mind.  But I don't do it enough to really know what I'm capable of at that range.  Anything past 40 yards is really just goofing off for me.