about to give up!

[nightowl1]

I have been shooting for a while now and this stuff just ain't happening for me. I was shooting a Ben Pearson and was dead on at 15 yrds. I bought a hornes bow, beautiful bow, feels amazing but i can't hit anything. Then i go to shoot the pearson and i have just about lost that.
I'm considering selling the hornes bow. But she is almost too beautiful and i searched long and hard to find her. sigh!
Do compounds get this frustrating?

[ishiwannabe]

Compounds do get just as frustrating. More on em, more to go wrong. Its even worse when they break...a doodad here, and widget there get expensive.
Have you checked your brace height? When mine gets off, my shooting really suffers.
Are your arrows tuned to the bows? How you are missing can tell a lot....high left, low right...etc.
Do check on these things first...Good luck with whatever weapon you choose.

[vermonster13]

It's in the grip. Find a bow with a grip similar(as close as you can find) to the Pearson if you feel you need a new bow and stick with it. Until you really master your form and learn to shoot one bow well, it will be very difficult to switch grip styles and some folks never can.

[Stone Knife]

Just hang in there, no one said trad was easy    Just keep shooting and try not to think to much, I usually just shoot for awhile then near the end of my session I try to pick my form a part a little at a time to improve. I have been doing this for a couple years now and I'm improving all the time. Go to some 3D shoots and shoot with other people, it's good to watch other peoples styles and they can give you some pointers.

[oldskool]

If it was easy,everyone would be doing it

[Robert Honaker]

Are your arrows flying straight or are you just not as accurate?

[Jedimaster]

Sometimes you just have to try different bows and be honest with yourself about what you are best with.  I had to do this.  I don't get out to shoots and socials but I do have access through friends and shops to a variety of bow "styles". Shoot as many as you can and take notes not on which one is prettiest as much as which ones feel right and shoots best.  For instance, I love longbows but I have found that three peice bows with a medium grip are the ones I shoot best.  This may take some time but exploring is part of the fun.  Once you know what works for you, then you can look for one that is gussied up to meet your criteria for pretty.  You will never be satisfied until you find that bow that shoots just where you expect it to.  Nothing the compound world has to offer will compare.  It is worth the effort.

Oh yeah, the guys are right.  You won't ever shoot well unless your bow and arrows are tuned for good flight.

[Gordon martiniuk]

Dont give up try  bare shaft tune your bow try diffrent brace hights and nock points even the finest bows must be tuned for the bow to be more forgiveing and accurate also try a diffrent glove or a tab when you find the right combo of arrows point weight and spline your bows likes and it will become magic good luck and dont give up      :confused:

[Horne Shooter]

Nightowl,
It really could be anything.  Since you have lost accuracy with your Ben Pearson as well I would guess that you have a form break.  Lot's of good shooters here in Texas to look at what you are doing and help you to make an adjustment or two.  I have several Horne Bows and in my opinion one of their nice benefits is that they are shooter friendly. Don't give up, just search out some help from an experienced shooter.
Best of luck....Paul
PS. Actually, Mark Horne is one of the best teachers I know.  Give him a call and I'm sure he will be happy to help.

[The Gopher]

i agree with Gordon, try bare shaft tuning. as far as compounds go, thats why i dumped them in the first place. it seemed that every time i went to shoot the darn thing some other widget or gizmo was out of whack and it took me most of my shooting time to get it right again. With trad gear it might just as well take the same amount of time to get things set up initially, but once you've got it, very little can go wring from there. And the things that do go wrong can be fixed easily if you remembered to write down the brace height, nocking point and string length. if you have a video camera you could post a video in the shooters forum on tradgang and i'm sure many will look over your form for ya. keep at it, its worth it.

[Bowferd]

Don't ever give up. Time to sit down and have a serious powwow. You picked the right spot. Now let's get down to the basics. Length and Weight and Strength. 65# Compound doesn't equal out to a 65# Longbow or Recurve. Maybe a bit heavy, but that doesn't mean you can't work up to it in time. If you love the bow, hang on and you will not be disappointed.(PM) Private Message anyone that responds with any personal questions you might have. These guys are the greatest. I will personally answer any questions you have to the best of my ability, but there is better advise available if you are not afraid to ask.
Fred

[WilliamMcC]

Donno if this would help ye, should if the problem is in your form.

I found that shooting an untuned arrow helps me perfect my form much fast. The reason is the untuned arrow will fly “critical”, or any of my flaws are magnified. If I don’t hit full draw it drops short, if I peak and move my arm the arrow goes all over the place.

I also second that the problem might be you grip. I think a solid unmoving bow hand is of the utmost importance.

[Alex.B]

Vermonster hit it dead on. Which reminds me of a thread where Curt (Guru) said basically  the same thing about the importance of sticking (literally    :D  ) to the same grip. your problem has nothing to do with the traditional(and Olympic, may I add) bow vs. the compound shooting thing

[NDTerminator]

Took me about 14 months of literally every day practice as well as trying several bows before I found a couple with the right grip & length. Needless to say, there were frustrating days and setbacks along the way, but I didn't give up.

It was a process of not only finding the right bows for me, but of learning to tune and trying different methods & finding my own form.  Once it clicked, I never looked back.

I can shoot my chosen recurves with complete confidence out to 25-30 yards; nearly as well as I used to shoot a compound with sights & release.

With my normal shooting rythmn, from 20 yards I can put three arrows in the kill zone of a medium deer target in the time it takes my wife (the 01' ND Outdoor Women's 3D Champ), using her Matthews with sights & release, to put one in there.

The moral of the story here is don't give up. Take time to assess & evaluate,and get back in the game...

[nightowl1]

Well, I guess i will stick with it. I really want to make this bow work, i just don't like the feeling of starting over. I might be coming to you guys a little more often now for advice.

 First question for you, should i be able to hit the same with any degree of cant? Or can you only shoot a bow at any position once you have mastered that bow?

[Bowferd]

That is not fair. That was 2 questions, not one.
1st question. Yes
2nd question. Maybe

[wtpops]

It is a long and FUN learning curve, just take your time get your form down and most of all enjoy yourself as you learn. Soak in all the info you can from guys like Vermonster, Rod Jekins and all the rest of the guys on here, most of all just relax and have some fun while you learn

[NDTerminator]

First question for you, should i be able to hit the same with any degree of cant? Or can you only shoot a bow at any position once you have mastered that bow?

I cant just enough to open my sight picture up.  I've found from experimenting that if I cant past that point, I need to raise my bow hand progressively more to hit.  I also find my accuracy suffers as I cant past where I'm comfortable.

Guys who shoot with a more radical cant may not have the same issues...

[Cherokee Scout]

If you are moving your hands it is impossible to be consistent. A wise old archer once told me this, "after the shot, your hands do nothing".
He meant, don't move your bow hand, dont move the release hand, you can be consistent.
Practice from 5-10 yards, shooting at something the size of an arrow hole. As you get your muscles and brain trained, move back. This muscle training is similar to a person learning to play a piano, after many hours they lay without thinking about every move, the muscles are trained.

[BobW]

nightowl1:

You should be able to answer that question yourself - after you shoot about 10,000 arrows.  You need to get your form back, and shoot, shoot, shoot (with that good form).  I've only been at this for about 1 1/2 years, and things are only now coming together.  Do a lot of reading around here (especially in the shooter's forum).  Maybe read a book or two (or watch a DVD).  Get to places where other Trad Guys shoot.  Dont get stressed out.  Remember, this is FUN!!!!!  There is a learning curve...