3-D Shoots.....are they true???

[**DONOTDELETE**]

OK, This is a question in "is a 3-D shoot true in the sence of hunting?"

I have read online and in magazine's the 3-D shoots are close to real life hunting. If so then isn't it better to use this time to work on form, picking the spot, clean releases and all that, but with out the rush of the game coming in, giving you the Dream Shot because you BS'ing with friends. I know you need to have fun shooting, Hell thats half the fun right there.

So do you use Your #1 arrows?
are You close to Your BH weight from FP weight?
do You wear Your hunting gear (The same as you would if you where on a real hunt)?
Do You Ever take a shot, THat You would never take on a live game animal (Not On The Archery Range, but On THe Course)?

[John57]

I wear what ever I happen to be wearing on the day "just like I do when hunting" the only difference in my set up is field points instead of broadheads.
But it's in no way anything like the real thing.
The targets are always broadside on in positions that allow a clear flight path.
The scoreing is not done anatomacly but according to scoring zones that don't add up in the real world.
The animals never run away if the wind changes,you step on a twig that snaps,or miss your first shot.A clear and obvious gut shot still scores well as long as it was your first arrow.Your often taking shots that you wouldn't/or shouldn't in real life.
It's never snowing,seldom raining,and you didn't have to walk two days into the bush carrying a 70lb pack on your back while crossing the same ice cold river up to your arm pits three times in twenty miles.You never get up cold an hungary after seting up camp in the pouring rain,in the dark the night before.

It ain't hunting,,,,it ain't even close.

[Tbilisi]

I look at the other side in being it is fun.  I have never laughed so much as I have with people I have met and had the opportunity to shoot a round.  It is pure relaxation with humor and a little competition.  Does it help with the hunting?  I don't know.  Too busy laughing to think about it.

[southernarcher]

I shoot my same setup, exept for bh are replaced with field points.The shoots I've been to don't always have broadside clear shots,and I keep my score in K=kill,W=wound,M=miss.Some of the shots I wouldn't take if I were hunting.I usually call these shots out,but for the sake of fun take them anyway.

[mcgroundstalker]

All statements above, in opinion, are true...Most 3D shoots set up for "all types of bows" have open shooting lanes. (Guess the wheelie bow people shoot from a greater distance then we can.) Safety is the issue there...

When I want to have fun with the guys I'll shoot from the stake...But it dosn't feel like hunting practice to me...There are times I need to be "alone" on the 3D range to "hunt up" a target...

Now "Traditional Archery Shoots" are different...Might be a good bet for ya!...Close in shots with "stuff" in the way and all that...Look up the Whittingham NJ shoot in Trad Events...Hope to see ya there!

... mike ...

[keith brimmer]

any excuse i can get to shoot is good.is it like hunting NO! what is?

[JC]

We have quite a few trad shoots here in GA and most if not all attempt to make the shots "difficult" but not impossible. Typically, you must shoot bending down or on your knees, leaning around a tree, threading an arrow through a hole in the brush...it's certainly not like many of the "compound-type" shoots I have attended with manicured shooting lanes. Besides  broadside shots, we often have animals positioned quartering or at least slightly quartering, bedded animals, running animals (moving targets on a wire), and even timed shots (you must drop a marble down a curving tube, draw and shoot before the marble hits the gong). While it certainly isn't "hunting", with the added pressure of your buds razzing you and the good natured pressure of competition, it's as close as I've found (next to an expensive DART system). At the bigger, "serious" shoots where there's some big braggin rights at stake, the pressure can be intense to say the least. We even have broadhead shoots where you must shoot your broadheads and "ethical" shoots where a kill shot is +5, a wound is -3, a miss or no shot is 0....I really like these and most of the shoots I am in charge of are at least an ethical shoot, if not broadhead too.

We do often have a few shots that I wouldn't take at animals, and almost every shooter will say something like "That's too far for a real shot" or "I'd never take that in real life", but we shoot it for the score anyway.  

I shoot my hunting bows (usually 63-65#'s), my hunting arrows (usually 600-650gr), when it's cold I'll wear the type of gear I normally hunt with. I'm at a slight disadvantage to someone shooting a more target oriented bow, but when I win with my hunting gear it makes it that much sweeter. And, mostly, it makes me a better shot with the gear I'm actually going to kill with...a plus in anyone's book.

So to me, the trad shoots I normally attend are close enough that I'll say I'm practicing my hunting shots...but not necessarily "hunting" per se. You can't really "practice" hunting, you either hunt, or you don't.

The practice is great, but even better than that, is the cameraderie I have with my family and friends on the course. I have solidified life-long deep friendships with people we have shot with...and THAT is the main reason I go to 3-D shoots.

[varmint]

I have to completely agree with JC's outlook on it.

[Izzy]

Just have a blast.We do a lot of laughing and ribbing when we lose or bend an arrow.I think it helps me judging distance in the field and lets me know at what range Im confident in shooting at game.Mostly its just fun,I couldnt get by without.

[Green Arrow]

well said JC.  personally i love em.  spending the whole day shooting your bow, with your friends, what could be better.

i look at them like this:  it is putt putt with a bow    the most fun you can have with your bow and arrow.  

i have only taken one deer with my longbow thus far and i do have to say that shooting 3D's help me a ton!

have fun,
Kyle

[Rod Ham]

For me the 3D shoots are about three things. First, being outside with people I like spending time with. We have an absolute blast.  Next, practicing my shooting in somewhat realistic situations with real pressure(harrassement is common in our group). And third, trying things you cannot/should not try in the hunting field to help extend your capabilities. You can try a 40yard shot without risking an animal.  JC said it well.  The key is that you have to find what makes it worth while for you.

[bjk]

This may sound overly general or simplistic, but every shot I take is practice for hunting...the Olympics aren't in my future.

3D's are about fun, but when I target shoot, it is because sometime (hopefully in the VERY near future) I plan to be hunting with the same or similar rig.  

Guys always talk about manicured lanes, shooting from the stake, shots setup to succeed, etc...I only listen to the ones who have aced the course.

[mcgroundstalker]

bjk says..."Learn from/listen to guys that aced the course"...(Or something to that effect)...I know one thing...That Leaves ME Out!!!...        ...Don't like to keep score anyway.

... mike ...

[LBR]

Another agreement with JC here.  I use the same bow and arrows (minus broadheads).  Since 3-D is usually in the summer, and hunting usually in the winter, my clothes are usually different, and my quiver is different.

3-D isn't hunting, but IMO it's as close as we can get to the real thing, at least at the tournaments I shoot in.  Lots of tight shots, brushy shots, awkward positions, etc.  Shooting on unfamillir terrain at targets you didn't set yourself is a whole lot different than practicing in your back yard.  The pressure is different, but still there.  There is no reason you can't get quality practice (and still have a lot of fun) shooting 3-D.

I take a LOT of shots at targets I'd never consider at a live animal.  It helps me know my limitations, among other things (for instance, you learn to look for those little twigs that can get in the way of your bow or arrow).

I use my good arrows for 3-D--I don't want anything messing with my confidence on the course.

I also learn to watch for the animal's (or target's) position, get more familiar with up-hill, down-hill, across a gully, moving, etc. shots.

I know without a shadow of a doubt shooting 3-D has greatly improved my shooting--can't see anything wrong with that.

Chad

[Snakeeater]

I think the comment that shooting at 3D targets helps to practice for hunting is true, at least it can be true. Shooting on a 3D range/course however is going to be all about what the range designer had in mind.

Whenever I go to a 3D course I will often step to the side and shoot from behind a tree or crouched down to approximate the hunting experience for myself.

I shot a great course last year called a "hunting course" where your group would "stalk" down a marked path until you saw a 3D target set in the woods to the side of the lane. It wasn't marked or anything like that until you got up to the entry lane where you could walk up to the target. Once you spotted your quarry you would move up until you had a shot opportunity and then you shot from where ever that point was. If you walked past one then you didn't have the chance to shoot at it and couldn't score off of that position. It was a fun time because it was more like real hunting.

I also like the Muzzy shoot system with the little foam blocks you have to shoot at from unconventional positions like sitting/squatting/over a log/through an opening in the brush.

[Chris Wilson]

The only thing a 3D shoot has in common with hunting is the shot sequence I go through before sending an arrow down range.  I don't view 3D as practice for hunting.  I view it as a way to work on my form and overall shooting technique.  During the 3D season, Spring and Summer, I use a different setup for competition than I do for hunting.  Come late Summer after many of the larger 3D shoots are done, I'll switch to my hunting setup and continue shooting with that until the end of hunting season.  That form work and practice I put in during 3D just carries over to my shooting come hunting season.

I really like the competition aspect of 3D/target archery.  It's one of the things that drive me to improve my shooting but, being out with friends and enjoying the day with like minded individuals is what typically gets me out the door.

[Jeff Strubberg]

Agree with JC all the way.

I wish trad shoots were more prevalent here in Missouri.  We have to pick and choose among the compund-oriented shoots.  You quickly learn which ones are worth going to and which ones are outdoor FITA tournaments.

[Ted A. Young]

I agree with most of what Chad said.  That in it's self is the eight wonder of the world.        I guess after years and years of going to 3D shoots I sort of operate under a different theory.  I'm there is be with friends, a rip roaring good time, and practice "shots" I would take hunting.  I'm not tied to a stake in the woods and I'm hunting meat so I put a sneak on them plastic deer.  They are real stupid.  They never bolt!  Plus I don't shoot for the wood and tin trophies they give out ann way.

[southernarcher]

JC well put,I should have pointed out Trad shoots,cause thats the only ones I go to now that I left the wheels.

[Pat B]

I do use 3D shoots as practice for hunting. I always buy a score card to support the shoot but very rarely keep score. The scoring at 3D shoots is not usually anatomically correct so I shoot for a kill shot...that is not always a score. The shoots I go to, like JC, are set up as difficult as possible(resembeling real hunting situations) with broadside shots, quartering away, bedded down, running shots, around trees or through the bushes. I use the same equipment for 3D as I do to hunt. Even the aereal and long distance shots prepare you for better shooting.
  But most of all, 3D shoots give most of us a chance to meet new folks or visit with old friends and do what most of us love to do most...Shoot our bows and arrows. Along with all the other shooting I do each year, 3D shoots are practice for hunting as far as I am concerned.   Pat