Anybody shoot using only one arm?

[Holm-Made]

I've been having shoulder trouble since April but have been able to shoot my bow until the last week or two.  I was planning to go to ND this weekend to start off the season but after trying to shoot a couple bows in the low 40s this evening have come to the realization that I just can't do it.  I have an appointment with the orthopedic doctor on the 12th.

Anyway, I have to bowhunt this Fall.  My 7 year old son and I have been talking about it for a year.  We have stands hung and licenses bought.  I want to start shooting with my right hand and hold the string with a mouth piece. (It is my left shoulder that is injured.)  I just need some tips to get started.  Anybody here shoot this way or know somebody who does?  

Thanks in advance for the help.  Chad

[RedShaft]

get a cross bow and take that kid hunting. great that you want to do that. but unless you want to get a compound with draw lock. thats your best bet. let that arms heal and get back in the game next year. i would never look down on ya for it.  

[Mudd]

If you have a compound I have a draw lock I can loan you to put on it.

I had to use a compound with the draw lock one season after the motorcycle wreck that messed up my right shoulder.

God bless,Mudd

[Holm-Made]

I only need to become confident to 12 yards or so as the vast majority of my deer are killed at less then that.  I know I can do this with a one pin sight.  I saw a guy shoot this way with a compound once and he could put 3 arrows in a dime at 10 yards every time.  He was a paraplegic and won a medal in the Para Olympic Games.  I'm just not sure what type of mouth piece to use and if my jaws will handle a stickbow of hunting weight.  Thanks,  Chad

[Spectre]

If you can't get up to speed on time---no biggie, you get to take the boy hunting. That is cool stuff right there. I'm all for the crossbow method this season, just get one with recurve limbs.

[oldbohntr]

Chad,
Back in the 80s there were a couple of kids and I think one adult written up in one of the magazines because they were handicapped and shot with one arm and their mouth.   I don't know, man, that seems like a big order to change this close to the season(I know, that's your business, not mine!)  Same thing about changing to a compound, or whatever.  

Your boy will love you and the experience, whatever you do.  I'll bet he's enjoy doing the same thing with a camera instead.  Heck, one of you could take stills and the other could videotape.  Might end up being a real valuable experience for him. It's obvious you're a great dad and he'll surely be ok with whatever you can do together.

[Archie]

Didn't Ron LaClaire shoot with one arm and his feet when he had a broken arm???  I think he talked about it on Masters of the Barebow 1.

Archie

[Holm-Made]

You guys are talking like you think this will be a huge undertaking.  I don't think so.  I think it might be a little tricky with a stickbow but if I chose to go with a compound with a site I know I could shoot better one handed within a week then I ever did with a trad bow.  Were talking short range here.  

I appreciate all input here.  One way or another my boy and I are going to hunt, it's all I've known for a long time now and not doing it isn't an option.  I don't need to shoot another deer just hunting with him is enough.  That said, I'd rather challenge myself then look for an easier way.  If I can't shoot one handed with enough proficiency to hunt ethically I will consider other options.  But, I'm going to try it.  Chad

[sonofabuck]

Chad check this out
 http://www.pcba-inc.org/adapt-equip/116-making-of-a-mouth-tab
Scott

[Walt Francis]

Chad, I know a guy called Lefty (for obvious reasons) in the Bitterroots that has hunted with one arm since the early seventies.  He can shoot better then most people out to thirty yards and has killed more critters then most people I know i.  He has a leather tab attached to the string and uses his teeth to clamp  on it, holds the string in place and pushes the bow forward until it is fully drawn and then releases when the site picture is right.  He has killed a lot of elk with 45-50# Bear recurves.  Greg Munther, who was interviewed in the latest TBM Magazine, has hunted with him.  I met Lefty when we were working to keep the x-gun out of the archery season in Montana and his testimony helped solidify our arguments to the Fish Wildlife & Parks Commission.  

Chad, send me a pm with your l phone number of you would like to   further discuss Lefty's method.

My thoughts: If Chad wanted to just take his kid hunting I'm sure he could use a gun.  However, I do believe he wants to take him bowhunting, and using an x-gun just don't cut it.  

Now, hopefully Dave will see where this is going and pull all the posts, mine included, that reference the x-gun

[longbowray]

Have seen two poeple use tab holding in there teeth they were use wheel bows , the one shoots up with the pro. And the other has kill  alot of game .

[longbowray]

If you need a bow let's talk I have a bear t/d 40 with pins

[2treks]

Chad, Bummer deal on the shoulder. I have been nursing mine for "awhile" now. I can still shoot good hunting weights tho. I had it in my mind that I would have to do something different this season but I think it will be good enough to hunt my stickbow.
It sounds like Walt has a good line for you to follow up on. I have seen shooter with the mouth tab and they are very good. I have seen others(Ron L.) shoot with the foot,also very good. I would pursue what ever makes you comfortable. I may even give the footbow thing a try just to see(practice for now) how it works.20 yards is not hard to shoot for an instictive shooter and 10-15 should be very do-able.
Think about it, sitting on the ground with a bow strapped to your hoof, or in a treestand. seems like it would require little motion to run one thru.
Prayers for your healing Chad.

Chuck

[steadman]

Good luck Chad, I would be using a mouth tab as well. I think you can do it with little problem, it's not like you have never shot a bow before. Good luck and let me know if I can help in anyway!

[moebow]

Chad,  Here is a link to a site that shows how to make a "mouth tab" or "chew strap" whatever you want to call it.  Never used one or even seen one used but know they are effective.  This might be an idea for you.

 http://www.americandisabledarchers.com/American_Disabled_Archers/Teaching_Archery/Archive.html

[Ron LaClair]

I shot with a man at the Longbow Safari in Montana in the mid 1980's that used a mouth tab. It could very well be the man referred to above as Lefty. He had one arm and at the time shot a 70# longbow and did very well I might add.

In 1964 I broke my right wrist and it required a full arm cast. I shot a 70# recurve sitting on my butt using my foot and hunted the whole season successfully. If I had been smart enough at the time to figure out how to use a mouth tab it would have been a lot easier..    :rolleyes:  ....

You said you tried a bow in the low 40's and couldn't do it. If you can shoot a bow in the low 30's I think with the proper arrow and broadhead it would be sufficient to kill a deer.

[Jim Dahlberg]

Chad:
Had a buffalo bull break my arm some years back.  It was in the middle of archery season.  First thing I did was find the lightest weight longbow I owned, which at the time was about 50#, and glued on a mouth tab out of leather long enough to be held with ALL of my teeth on the left side.  Changed out some of my nocks to "snap-ons" then went out and started practicing.  I had a full arm cast on so it made it tough to do anything but get the nock on the string.  I missed more big mulie bucks than I have ever had the opportunity to shoot at before and since!!  BUT I sure had fun being out there and hunting.  I did kill several rabbits that way.  
You will need to practice because of the shock to your neck muscles when you release.  AND don't PEEK after releasing.  That's how I missed all of those bucks.  I shot under every one of them!
You can do it.  Let's hear some stories.

[Mudd]

I don't have any good reason to try this but I intend to prove to myself that I can do it just for the challenge and in case I'm ever faced with some situation that would require it.

God bless,Mudd

[Jeff Strubberg]

I remember seeing a magazine article a few years back about a one-armed bowman.  If I remember right, he used nylon dog collar for his mouth tabs.  Just bent 'em over the string and sewed the ends together.

Good luck Chad.  I like the determination you're showing!

[frank bullitt]

I remember a gentleman named Biff Williams, who was featured in Traditional archery digest, and also, Bowhunter mag. in the '80s!

A vary successful archer/bowhunter that shot all types of bows with his mouth! I'm like Mudd, need to try these things, so when the need arises. I try to shoot some opposite handed, just in case, of an injury, too.

Chad, know you can do it, and hope for great memories with your son! Missed see ya at Cloverdale, too!  Good shootin!