How long can you hold at full draw?

[fatman]

Tom, it's because they are aiming.

Nothing wrong with that, and I know some hunters who are unabashed aimers.  And they shoot a lot better at longer distnaces than I do.  It's a whole 'nother discipline, and FOR ME, it's not necessary at hunting ranges....

$.02

[James Wrenn]

I omly need a couple of seconds or less.As far as hunting goes I can hold at 3/4 draw or half draw a pretty good while when needed and come on back when the shot is there.No reason to hold the full weight.jmo

[SteveB]

The ability to hold for a bit at full draw and make a good shot can sometimes be as advantageous as being able to touch and go.

Steve

[Bjorn]

Only hold as long as I need to-less is more when it comes to holding-unless you are using sights of course.

[Jason Jelinek]

I can hold at full draw for 30 seconds (50# @ 28.5").  When I'm shooting it's maybe 2-3 seconds.  I want to be able to hold for 30 seconds so those 2-3 seconds are comfortable and I won't short draw or even think about weight.  Before I did this I was conscously working at getting the bow to full draw and not being consistent.

Jason

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by Tom Anderson:
I wonder why they don't snap-shoot at the Olympics...?    

Shooting long distance at paper.. Plus their bow are light weight draw.

[J-dog]

Whatever works for you, I believe you should be able to comfortably hold your hunting weight for 10 seconds, or you are overbowing yourself. Will I hold that long whiel hunting, probably not, I do not snap shoot but may hold for a second or so. Will release when I know I am on.

Play with it, experiment see what works for you. Might wanna try doing it in your hunting attire as well, just a thought, but makes a difference.

J

[hockeyref]

Originally posted by mysticguido:
 

Originally posted by Tom Anderson:
I wonder why they don't snap-shoot at the Olympics...?      

Shooting long distance at paper.. Plus their bow are light weight draw. [/b]

Guido,
The Olympic men are holding ~45#+ on their fingers. My Olympic RC measures at 46# and I believe Limbwalker indicated that the bow he used in the Olympics was about 48# (I would have to go back and see if I still have the PM's).... Light by some standards, average by others.

[UKarcher]

I was a target coach when I lived in England and one of the best ways to see if an archer was over bowed was to get them to draw and hold for 10 seconds then slowly let down. If you could see any tremor then it was a fair bet they were holding too much weight.
 
Another thing we used to do was what we called reversals. This was weight training with the bow. Slowly draw, hold for anything between ten and thirty seconds, then slowly let down. You would do say thirty of these and then swap hands and do it again. This trained the muscles you needed.

I would say these exercises would suit a hunter just as much as a target shooter, because although you don't hold as long as the target shooters, you are still using the same muscles.

I'd ask any of you heavy weight guys to do the ten second test. If you can do it without getting the tremors then fair enough. If you can't, then you are risking tearing something, especially sitting in a treestand for hours on a cold morning.

[pdk25]

Agree with Biggie on this one.  However long you need to shoot accurately.  There are some advantages to being able to hold longer, but if you need to hold it is pretty easy to go to half draw and reduce the weight without much motion.  Multiple advantages to shooting as soon as you reach anchor, such as shooting animals like hogs who frequently are on the move.  I am currently working on not holding as long but it is a taking some time.  Holdover from the compound days I guess.

[Rico]

There is no advantage for me to hold at anchor my draw, anchor, release is pretty much one motion.
 If holding is some type of test I'm sure I could hold 10seconds or so.

[joebuck]

It would take a world class athelete to be able to have his bow arm at the precise horizontal elevation and at the same split second achive full anchor on the face with his drawing hand;all in line to the target 15yards and further time and time and time again. I think one should be able to hold their hunting weight bow long enoouoooough where at full draw their bow arm doesn't shake when aiming..........if your shaking at full draw while holding.....either go down in weight or spend more time developing a snap shot.

[Biggie Hoffman]

why thank-you Joey!!

[joebuck]

Biggie your close but your maybe at best time and time again but not a time and time and time again yet...

[Don Stokes]

As much as I would like to attribute my accuracy to a Zen-like state of perfect alignment without effort, I need to hold long enough to take a look, and get the sight picture right. Then the reflexes take over.

[Pointer]

I'm a snapshooter....once I get there its gone....something for you to try Tom...it helped me with my bum shoulder....practice drawing in front of a clock with a second hand. Come to full draw and time yourself then let down slowly. I did this for a few months, gradually increasing my hold time until I could hold for over 30 seconds. Since I snap shoot this exercise really helped my shoulder not to tire out and ache they way it used to. It made shooting much more fun for me...and, by the way, I don't shoot heavy bows either....56lbs is the heaviest I own these days and usually shoot 52-54lbs most of the time.

[Terry Green]

Some of the shaking can also come from a complete stop....just like a deer rifle when you try and hold it steady.  I've heard before about snippers using a figure 8 to hit their mark....maybe someone can confirm that.

The trick is if you are a holder is to keep pulling ever so gradually that you really never stop.  That minute rearward motion will keep the bow steadier than a total complete stop, that will also lead to creeping forward and losing back tension.

[SHOOTO8S]

Originally posted by mysticguido:
 

Originally posted by Tom Anderson:
I wonder why they don't snap-shoot at the Olympics...?      

Shooting long distance at paper.. Plus their bow are light weight draw. [/b]

Not really...most of the men are shooting in the low 50's these days, and a lot of the women are shooting 40#'s..the Korean women,are at least.

[Don Batten]

I'd hate to bet money on me against the korean women. i could hold at full draw till next week and not shoot the groups they were shooting ,at 70 meters no less. I know it's a kinda different game, but I can appreciate perfection in any game. Don

[Don Stokes]

Terry, you nailed it. If you stop completely, creep is inevitable. That's what the back tension is about. My theory is that my body compresses under the strain, and I have to keep pulling with my back to compensate, until my sight picture is right.