Fixed crawl?

[Don Stokes]

I had to look up "fixed crawl" after seeing references to the technique. Disclaimer: I'm a crusty old fart who is set in his ways, so if you like it, please don't take offense.

I see nothing in it but a new name for string walking, which was not allowed when I was doing 3D shooting because (I was told) it was considered to be for target shooting, not a suitable method for hunting. I felt the same way about three-under shooting, which is almost the same thing as the crawl. It gets your eye closer to the arrow and reduces the gap between point and target.

As an aside, I never have my nocks tight enough for this to work for me- I would be dropping arrows. I like for the arrow to stay on the string without holding it, but just barely. The tighter the nock, the more noisy the release.

I would think that a bow would need to be tillered differently for this technique, to keep the energy balanced in the limbs. Where you put your fingers on the string affects how much pressure is put on the bow limbs when you draw. This would be my biggest concern. Three under shooters commonly specified a new bow be tillered for shooting that way, to make sure the limbs stayed balanced. The crawl is just a more extreme version of three under. There's a reason the split finger draw has stood the test of time. It's the best way to balance the forces you are employing by keeping everything aligned during the draw; by moving your hand down the string on a bow tillered for split finger, you add a vertical element to the forces. Not sure just how to express that clearly. Bows normally have been tillered with the lower limb slightly stiffer to allow for the split finger draw, which puts just a little more pressure on the lower limb.

Why not just go ahead and put sights on the bow? Do those of you who favor this technique get your bows tillered for it? I only watched one video, but that guy's bow was noisy.

[wingnut]

Most guys using a "fixed crawl" are shooting ILF bows with easily adjusted tiller.  It's a very effective method for killing game.  Set your crawl for the range you want to shoot and put the point of the arrow where you want to hit.  Beats the heck out of missing game time and time again.

Rusty Craine is 74 and he's used this method since the 60s. 

Sounds like your are "a crusty old fart who is set in his ways" after all.  LOL 


Mike

[bigbadjon]

Don, I actually did put a sight on my bow for the reasons you stated. I used to shoot 3 under for close shots and switch to split for longer ones. I know this had an effect on dynamic spine because I could see drift to the left and right of the target, even if I was fairly accurate. Shooting with the sight lets me maintain my tune for split finger shooting and not have unmanageable gaps associated with that style.

[bigbadjon]

While not often employed, I always thought face walking would be superior to string walking as the tune would stay in check. I assume it is just harder to find alignment with the various anchor points needed.

[huskyarcher]

I would say this one has the potential to get volatile, so maybe I can get out in front of that and say this; To each their own, do what makes you happy.  I, for one, have really improved as a shooter under pressure when a deer gives me a chance by switching to fixed crawl. It gives me something to think about and keeps my brain from panicking.

I also have two friends that we got started this year and are completely new to trad archery that cant hit the broadside of Rosie O'donnell shooting split finger or instinctive, but will be toting a trad bow proudly to the stand next saturday with confidence because they can bust nocks at their effective range due to either A. a fixed crawl, B. shooting 3under or C. all of the above. That doesn't make them any more or any less of a hunter or archer than anyone else, it just means they use something different that works for them. One of them has to have cheek muscles that burn because of the constant smiling he has been doing thinking about opening day, that's what it's all about.

A recent study i read revealed that 33 states reported a decline in license purchases last year, we need all the help we can get. I don't care where their hand is on the string as long as they're legal, i'm just glad they're here.

[bigbadjon]

I'm not knocking the fixed crawl. Just stating why I stopped using it. Most people are going to set their  knocking points for 20 and 30 yrds and the effect on hunting shots will be small. In fact I am glad people are gaining an interest in aiming methods rather than just getting frustrated trying to stick with instinctive.

[joebuck]

Hello Don!  hope recovery is going well!  I can only tell you my experience lately with the fixed crawl from shooting to making my own recurve for it. I am not as crusty as YOU but personally speaking if you told me 20plus years ago when I won the Howard Hill World Championships, several SouthEastern Championships, Cloverdale, etc while shootin split finger instinctive  with your Superceder arrows i might add   that in 2018 i would be string walking the Fixed Crawl,  I would have bet the house i would not.........................But I have officially jumped across to the dark side and loving it... heres why..

My findings as it pertains to making my latest Swamprooter recurve and tillering for it
1. My new bow shoots perfect Bareshaft and fletched arrows at 18 yards tight as a tennis ball. TOGETHER!! Absolutely throwing an asprin. It is the tightest tuned bow i have ever made. I have never bareshaft an arrow and fletched ones this tight.
2. I am shooting my 60"  Swamprooter T/D ....50# at 29" 181fps  540gr GrizzlyStick 320 TDT made by Victory Archery
3. Heres the Tillering Info part......I tillered my bow to EVEN tiller at 29-30" which came to a 1/8" negative tiller for my upper limb at brace. That still seems crazy to me having an upper limb stronger but my arrow flight is unbelievable.
4. i am shooting a low wrist grip with my fulgram in direct line with the middle finger of draw hand. the pressure point of my grip is located at the base of my thumb for low/no torgue grip...

Why? go to fixed crawl
1. I do not shoot 1000 arrows a week like i did in my 30's .
2.This system is so easy to maintain since i already aimed down my arrow and have a 2 second pause before my release.
3. I shoot critters 20 yards and in. period...THIS SYSTEM WORKS!  it's awesome. It is a sight , no doubt the point of field point /broadhead is a sight.
4. I simply place the broadhead on the X then focus primary vision on the X and relax my grip while pulling through......BAM!  as Emeril says!  Automatic....
5. I miss the ole split finger days when I could grip and rip but...............this style is perfect for me now in the woods.

Come on Don....Crusty guys can shoot a Fixed Crawl...be a leader
Get well!!! joeBuck

[Doug_K]

I tinkered with it a bit last year. I'm not a fan of changing things up radically before hunting season, so I didn't play with it much.

It's definitely more appealing to me than a sight, one of many reasons I started shooting a bare bow was to get rid of accessories that fail. That said I didn't like how noisy it was.

I plan on trying Ilf as a primary hunting bow next year, so maybe I'll revisit it.

[Don Stokes]

joebuck, you do things right. Thanks!

[joebuck]

Now Don, you do understand I would have never shot this style in the presence of the late great Dan Quillian who you knew very well !!! Gosh he would rip me a new one.. it would have been epic!

[pavan]

I remember the string walkers back in the days of area target shooting tournaments.   Most of the target shooters saw the short comings and thought that it was a long way to go just to avoid using a bow sight.  These days, I do not understand why the fixed crawlers don't use a simple three pin bow sight for hunting.  Back in the day, the inset sights on the Bear recurves worked pretty good for a lot of bow hunters.

[katman]

Fixed crawl can be accurate, if your form is good and not loud if you build the correct setup. I set up even tiller. Of course not as silent as a ASL but pretty quiet.

I don't use a pin sight because 1) something else to break in the field 2) requires bow vertical no cant, disadvantage in the woods. I can cant any angle with the fixed crawl and hit the mark.

[Todd Cook]

I've messed around with the crawl, and believe it would be a deadly system. I don't presently shoot that way, but would in a second if I needed to. I agree it's not the classic "traditional" style, but truthfully that may not be the best for everyone. To me the name of the game is a sharp broadhead in the center of the lungs. I shoot at different events with lots of different folks, and truthfully quite a few of them would be better off with some sort of aiming system.

[the rifleman]

Why wouldnt i put sights on my bow?  Because I've got six of them in my quiver.  By adjusting nock height i get the point on i want for 3d and 3 under.  Then move nock point down for perfect broadhead tune and use a crawl.  I'm puzzled by the frequency people suggest sights as a solution to a non- problem--- my arrow tip is all the sight i need.  Not knocking sights or any method-- just confused by the question.  Each person should find what will make them the most accurate if they plan to hunt with the bow.  If not hunting and your happiest slinging arrows with less than great accuracy-- well that's great too.

[YosemiteSam]

I only hunt from the ground.  So a fixed crawl really messes with my head when I'm seated on the ground and have the bow canted over so far.  Couldn't quite get the hang of it.

Facewalking is okay and I'm more comfortable with it.  But something gets funky in my release from a high anchor (index finger just under my eye).  I might have arrows tuned perfectly but once I get that anchor up there, I can start seeing my arrows bobbing & waving in flight like they're all out of tune.  They'll hit the target just fine.  But the arrows start showing way stiff (even using a clicker).  Once I drop my anchor back to regular (mid finger in the corner of my mouth), they're back to laser-straight flight again.  So I just shoot heavy full length arrows to close the gap more and keep a consistent anchor.

[DarrinG]

I shot split finger, what I called "gap-stinctive" for years. By "gapstinctive, I mean I was subconsciously aware of where the point of my arrow was pointing in my peripheral vision, but did not focus on it or even really look at it, but could see it. I focused on the spot I wanted to hit. My accuracy some days was shazam good. Very happy shooter, some days. Then other days it was like I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Last year I shot directly under a big mule-faced whitetail doe at 18 yards, broadside. Chip-shot, calm, feeding deer, nothing between us but air, head looking the other way when I drew and released. Buried a Zwickey Delta deep in the dirt, LoL.

This past late spring, after a couple days of lousy, inconsistent shooting, again, I decided to try this "fixed crawl" everyone was talking about. I watched some of Jimmy Blackmon's videos. Seemed simple enough, and his accuracy was crazy-good using it. Set my ILF rig up even tiller and tuned the bow 3 under. Once I had bare shafts stacking in the same group as my fletched arrows, I started using the arrow tip at full draw as my aiming sight. Took a bit but soon I got my "point-on" dialed in at 21 yards. Stepped up to 15 yards and tied on another nock point with my "point-on set at that spot on the string. 15 and under it basically stayed the same. All of a sudden I had to be careful shooting groups as I was starting to ruin nocks on arrows.

And after months of shooting using this fixed crawl (I'd call it the old stringwalking technique also because it's really nothing new, just a fancy new name), those days of shooting well and then the next day shooting terrible seemed to be over. It made me consistent. I'm not a field archer or 3-D tournament archer, I'm a bowhunter. Killing game at my normal ranges is what I'm after, and killing them efficiently and quickly. Using this fixed crawl system has enabled me to be more accurate day in and day out. Sure I could put a couple sight pins on a sight but why would I want that extra stuff on my bow when the tip of my arrow is already there and just as efficient without worry of knocking a sight pin off its mark, or the extra weight on my bow?

I know that my confidence in my shooting is much higher this coming bow season than years past. I'll be putting it to the ultimate test in almost a week as our archery deer season opens.

[T Folts]

I like it. I swapped my limbs on my takedown and have a negative tiller. Bow shoots great.

[Morning Star]

I second all the things joebuck mentioned, a great description.    I also built a bow specifically for a fixed crawl, 25 yards.

I cut the shelf at 2” above center and kept an even tiller.  This will line up your middle draw finger with the center of the bow at an approximate 1” crawl. For this style of shooting, I find it provides great limb timing, low grip/wrist pressure, a quiet bow, and flexibility of moving up and down the string a little without worry of pulling the limbs to far out of time.

I haven’t had this kind of range, accuracy and consistency since l left the compounds behind 20 some years ago.  It’s a vicious way of shooting once you iron out your form issues.

[katman]

I will add that I had shot without a conscious aiming system for 43 years and took a lot of critters. Took me a while to put my ego aside and change to a fixed crawl, but I can not argue with the repetitive accuracy I get with it.

Shoot your bow how you want to, "instinctive", split vision, gap, string walk, face walk, sights or whatever. Just do what works well for you, makes you happy and have fun.

[Roy from Pa]

It's pretty hard to beat the consistent improved accuracy of shooting 3 under, string walking, or a fixed crawl.

It can turn a guy who shoots split finger, but not very accurate, into a very good shot.

It's your bow, shoot it how you like, and let others shoot how they like.