How long did it take you to get accurate?

[sagebrush]

753 arrows

[calgarychef]

I never did get accurate until I learned how to tune my equipment.  Now a 2 1/2" circle at 20 yards is about as good as I can do.

have fun!

[Cottonwood]

Its the road to fun.

[RC]

What Bjorn said for me.RC

[LongStick64]

There is a difference in Consistency and Accuracy. You can always become consistent with bad form, enough that you may actually become accurate, but you will hit the wall quicker. Right now forget about accuracy and develop your form. If you do this now you'll be much happier later.

[YORNOC]

As soon as I started reaching full anchor, and holding a couple of seconds while concentrating on the "spot", my shooting took off in the right direction. I used to snap shoot and was never consistent. Olympic archery coached cured me quick. Was not allowed to release, the nock was epoxied to the string. The bow was 70" and 22# draw. I could hold it all day. Personally, I now wont hunt or shoot a bow that I cannot draw and hold at anchor for 5 seconds, or the bow is too heavy for me. I can work up to it if I need to shoot heavier.
Try it, it may work for you too.

[lpcjon2]

Being accurate and consistent with form is a never ending procedure when shooting trad gear.If you dont continually focus(mentally and physically) on the basics of form and release you will never be accurate.They go hand in hand and are as important in the shooting relationship as the bow and arrow are.When you become one with the mind, body and bow thats when you start to get accurate, and you must practice to maintain that state.JMHO          

[Hopewell Tom]

You can get accurate at this?
I shot a lot of arrows before I found out (on here)that the bow has to be tuned and then the arrows tuned to that tuned bow and even then "something" happens and you're searching again.
So, as above, it NEVER ends. We're bound to shoot continuously, consistently and with total concentration. The 3 C's.
Fortunately that arrow arching in there is great for the spirit. Nothing is easy.

[wapitimike1]

I'll let you know when I do!!!

[smoke1953]

I'm just reaching my 4th year and have kept a journal of the process and it's simply amazing the changes both significant and not that you may go through, at least I did. I have shot nearly every day and the modifications now are more subtle but they continue to occur. As I shoot at animals however it has become more automatic with all those adjustments becoming just part of the natural process. Ain't it fun!

[longbowman]

This accuracy thing is very interesting because it means so many different things.  I started before the compound was around.  It took me five seasons to kill a deer and during that time I didn't even know there was such a thing as archery shoots.  After my first kill I killed a deer every year with no problem and learned about the archery shoot gigs.  I quickly discovered I wasn't very accurate but I still killed my deer.  Now, 40 yrs. later I can win trophies using 70+# hunting bows and shooting from the compound stakes at 3-D shoots and still kill my deer.  Am I more accurate?  Yes, at targets but really not much different at shooting game.

[boog21]

Three steps forward, two steps back - slow progress over years.

What has helped me most are the videos of the shooting form of fellow Tradgangers (http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=17).  I watch how they shoot, then record myself and compare what I'm doing to what they do.  The shooters' forum on this site has been helpful too.

[bigbadjon]

It doesn't take long to develop good accuracy at close ranges, further ranges have taken me many years. I used to shoot compounds with a front sight only and a long draw to hit anchor. When I switched to bare bow I shot instinctively and progress was slow. I shot for several years and thought maybe I would never shoot past 15 yrds. A couple of years ago I watched Byron Ferguson and switched to the Howard Hill style of gap shooting and dialed in further. Rod Jenkin's style filled in the missing pieces and now I shoot pretty confidently out to 35yrds and get better everyday. Consistency in form is critical regardless of shooting style, but I also needed visual aid when aiming. I think had I started that way I could have achieved respectable accuracy in a year or so.

[Stumpkiller]

About 45 years and I have good and bad days.    

Here's an exercise for you:

Which of these bowhunters is more accurate?

 


The second bowhunter kills 10 deer while the first only seven.

And the beauty of bowhunting (as opposed to target archery) is that it is fine and acceptable to get closer to your target any time you wish.

[GRINCH]

I shoot everyday thats the only way I know to improve.

[vtmtnman]

Originally posted by Friend:
....

Having a competent mentor is invalueable.

That helped me more than anything.Having someone there that was familiar with form and what to look for in good shooting technique was invauable to me becoming a better archer.

There was a point where I just didn't see any improvement but after a while things came together.

Regular blank bailing and practice will help the most.Don't try to move too far out as you're starting,basically don't try on another set of britches till you're ready for them.Otherwise it can be more fustrating....and you'll waste lots of time looking for lost arrows.

As a side note...and merely my opinion...thank you for not taking up trad shooting a month before season and heading out with the bow to hunt.I see folks doing it all the time.Absolutely not a good idea.  

[Running Buck]

15+ years and getting better. One of the biggest hurdles to get over is learning what you are doing wrong. Consistency comes only after you idenify how to fix your common flaws,accuracy will follow. Everyone's learning curve is different but, most will agree that improving your accuracy will become a obsession.

[Andy Cooper]

When ever my accuracy falls off, or hits a plateau, I go back to working on form at very short range. Lots of good advice here...but that's what is so cool about this board!!


(Needless to say, I work go back to working on form a LOT!)  :(    :D

[YORNOC]

I find it funny that certain people get their name on a technique. Its not a bad thing! Dont get me wrong.
 But say.."Byron's" technique of gap shooting. He was smart enough to write a book on it..as was Howard, but its been used for thousands of years! My friends and I used gap methods when we were just kids, self taught. Years later we looked at the book and we thought, WE should have wrote this book. But then another crowd was doing it long before us! And so on.
This is not negative in any way, I think more of us should make the effort to write down our experiences and share with the public. With forums like this, traditional archery has its best chance ever to thrive and improve.

[Blaino]

when you get confident enough to hunt.