Do you shoot w/ both eyes open or......

[GR]

Both open

[WildmanSC]

Originally posted by warden415:
one open but i have very limited vision in my right eye. Steve

Steve,

I take it that you shoot LH.  Correct?

Bill

[Doc Nock]

amar,

I've become left eye dominant over time...and I shoot fine with both eyes open. Instinctively.

Our eyes are in front of our head. Gives us binocular vision.  Like other predators. Gives us depth perception.

Jay Kidwell, in his book on Instinctive Archery, does a very fine graphic that shows if you're gun barreling or gap shooting down the shaft, then you would tend to have the bow more upright, and anchor so the arrow is as close under your DOMINANT eye as possible.

If you shoot with a canted bow, and try to do what most of us call "instinctive" then the vision you would be using is binocular.  And that by definition suggests "both eyes open."

No hard fast rules, but then, I would respectfully disagre that eye dominance, is quite the cut'n dried issue as you type it either.

I can't begin to shoot anything with a sight without closing my dominant left eye being a right handed shooter, but this whole "burn a hole and release" idea of instinctive has worked very well for me...occassionally out to 40 yards when my form is solid... so I find eye dominance is NOT a factor in true instinctive shooting..

Again, Jay Kidwell's book really shows some great pictoral representation of both ways of shooting for good insights. He also covers some "hybrid" ways some of us shoot where dominance might raise an issue.

[Lewis Brookshire III]

I shoot right handed but am left eye dominant. I shoot with my left eye closed. I have always heard the closing one and you lose depth but you have both eyes open before you draw so thats never been a problem.

[scriv]

I shoot everything with both eyes open.  Bow, handgun, shotgun, rifle with a scope or iron sights.  Definately aids in tracking moving targets.  Causes less fatigue.  Practice this and it will help.    

[Larry247]

Both eyes open....

[GR]

This would make a good poll question.
gr

[Dutchman]

Both eyes WIDE open!

[Archie]

I shoot with a sight on my Black Widow PMA.  All my life I've had issues with my vision in both eyes, and my eye dominance switches back and forth between eyes.  On my old compound bow & peepsight, I shoot one eye open.  On my recurve (which I shoot almost exclusively now) I shoot both eyes open, even with the sight.  Works great for me.

[Wednesday Caste]

After reading this post, I practiced earlier this morning with both eyes opened and well...you've opened my eyes!  Shots are much improved, acquiring my target seems faster, and I'm less likely to drop my bow arm too quickly to see where my arra went.  Thanks
Quinn

[BradLantz]

Bret Favre, Dan Marion, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Wayne Gretzky, Pete Sampras, Hank Aarons .... they all exceled in their sports by shutting one eye didn't they ?


???

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Yes Both

[3Under]

Both Eyes Open (then and now)

Prior to '95 when I shot compounds, I experienced some problems with eye fatigue. I'm normally right eye dominate. I found when shooting for a long time <200-300 arrows my left eye would take over dominance and my arrows would drift horizontally. When that happened I corrected by closing my left eye and my groups return back to where they were before.

I'm not sure if that happens with instinctive shooting, that I do now. Usually if I miss its for other reasons.

Has anyone out in TradGang land experienced eye dominate change due to eye fatigue while shooting instinctivley with Trad. equip?

[cam188]

Both open with trad gear and one eye closed when shooting my "compound". Sorry for the foul language lol

[Toklat1]

Both eyes open, Same way I learned with a rifle

[Mr.Chuck]

All four open!  :--0

[ArrowAtomik]

Both for hunting.  But if I am target practicing long range near "point on" distance, or taking a hail mary at a small varmit, I will often aim down the shaft with one eye to get my windage right at that range.  Sometimes I can make an incredible group at 45 yards that I can't possibly manage at 30 with this.

[Arwin]

Both eyes open. Visualy burning a hole into what I want to hit.

[buckhuck]

Both open.  I can see twice as much!!  

[Two Arrows]

Apparentley, I have been shooting both eyes closed as of late. Don't know what the deal is.

By the way, anybody seen my neighbor's cat??