The swing draw for hunting,... is it practical?

[overbo]

I'm w/ Ray,

Swing draw is not for me but if you want your close game hunting more of a challenge? go for it.Try swing draw on an approaching gobbler w/out a blind.Now that's stacking the odds against you.

[typical2]

So much about the shot is feel.  Practiced swing drawing but found it to be too much movement when hunting with my ghillie suit.  Went away from it and haven't looked back.

[KSdan]

I find this entire discussion rather interesting . . .Our predecessors, some of the greatest archers and archery hunters of all time, namely John Shulz, Howard Hill, Byron Ferguson, Asbel and many others- all shot with some type of rhythm/timing sequence style draw while rarely holding any type of anchor; i.e. a static style.  Further, I have heard/read these men clearly and STRONGLY denounce any other style FOR HUNTING.

Don't take it from me as I am not an authority, but I think you could document that ALL these men would tell you to decide:  target shooting or hunting.  They do not mix.  

I really wonder how much our modern world; compound/techno, 3D competitions, etc. have influenced our thinking.  

Watch the John Shulz video on youtube.  Listen closely to the archery philosophy he presents from Howard Hill.  Shooting at game is VERY different than shooting at targets.

I am intrigued by all of you who mention too much movement. . .  while again I am no authority, I am not sure you understand the swing draw.  You all have to move to shoot with trad equip. - the swing draw is simply a practiced rhythm/timing with no static beginning or anchor.  You can slow it down to a crawl if you like.

[kestimator]

Originally posted by gregg dudley:
 

Originally posted by Bisch:
I use a swing draw and I have killed a few critters with that draw!I have shot animals from tree stands, from ground blinds with the windows open, and spot and stalk. I have gotten busted, but most of the times it works just fine.

Bisch

And when Bisch says a few critters he means more than Noah had on the ark. [/b]

No kidding!!  I was going to say something along those lines.       LOL!!!  I'm surprised to learn that....but Bisch definitely has proof in the freezer and on the wall to back his statements.

I like the swing draw....especially when shooting a Howard Hill style bow....but my limited big game bowhunting has seen me get busted by virtually blinking my eyes let alone having the nerve to move my bow...which by the way has caused me to get busted too     LOL!!!

[Ray Hammond]

I'm really not confused at all. I promise

[jonsimoneau]

I've used both with success. But for whitetails in a treestand I don't use it very often. Prefer to draw straight back to reduce movement.

[akbowbender]

You still need to bring the bow up into position to draw it straight back. When I shoot kneeling or sitting, my swing may only be a few inches, but it is still the same shot sequence. Watch John Schulz shooting while laying on a table.

BTW : I shoot the way John Schulz does, not like Asbell, That does make a difference.

[Otto]

Two things I would never want to do with respect to bowhunting.

1.  Restrict myself to a single style of shooting.

2.  Tell someone else their style was wrong.

The first is silly.  The second is just arrogant.

[Overspined]

I use the swing draw every time in one way or another on game.  Turkeys are the only critters that I just haven't had enough time with, and I haven't hit but one and it was about 30 yds away and didn't seem to care.  

It's a rhythm thing for me I guess, but sometimes the swing is only a couple inches.  It always depends on the situation, and I don't shoot deer that are staring me down very often.  

Blow a turkey diaphragm call if a deer sees you and many times they will ignore you and you can swing away!

[gregg dudley]

Originally posted by Otto:
Two things I would never want to do with respect to bowhunting.

1.  Restrict myself to a single style of shooting.

2.  Tell someone else their style was wrong.

The first is silly.  The second is just arrogant.

Sound doctrine right there.

[Fattony77]

I missed at my best ever opportunity on a whitetail this last season because the buck was broadside, 20 yards away, with nothing between he & I, and I was on the ground with him. In retrospect, (always 20/20) I swung too fast and he bolted before I got the shot off. I haven't had any problems with it scaring away turkeys in the fall, I just missed cuz I suck! LOL! But after the "lost" buck I'm trying to learn to shoot with a set bow arm also. Better to have more than one way to skin a deer. :-)

[Ray Hammond]

Otto

A wise man once told me that

"successful bowhunting is defined by the elimination of mistakes. Give me a guy who shoots one bow, and one arrow the exact  same way every time and I will show you a fantastic shot!"

the original poster asked for opinions and I'm pretty sure that's what he got.  Everyone's opinion can ONLY be based on personal /subjective experience.

Labeling those you don't find yourself in agreement with is -well, not something I'm going to label

On the other hand, what do I know  

[Terry Green]

I have applied the swing draw on several animals I've killed......it's scenario dictated for me....and deadly during those times.


 Its also advantageous for the bow hunter to have that technique in his bag of tricks.

You also could ask Howard Hill.....    

[TSP]

Yup, swing draw style is perfect for hunting.  Probably a better name for it would be 'rhythm draw' since any movement can be super slow or very fast, and in either case needn't involve actually 'swinging' the bow...but the rhythm aspect (vs. setting the arm rigid like a rod) is always part of the shot.  Both certainly work and have their advantages, but I'll take the rhythm style for hunting and 'joint insurance'.

[maineac]

I have never called it the swing draw, but watching the video I must say I have a draw that is more swing than static.  I don't swing from my waist, but there is certainly movement in both arms on my draw.  I don't think it has ever spooked game, but I have not drawn on that many.  Other sounds have alerted animals more than the draw.

One shot that I have found to be very good with longbows and deer is a half push and half pull, with bow only coming up a couple of inches fron the beginning of the draw.  Another, that I practise and use, is anchor first, or nearly anchor first, and get the rest of your draw with just the bowarm.  It worked for me when I had to shoot a deer that came on my back side.

[Roger Norris]

Originally posted by Otto:
Two things I would never want to do with respect to bowhunting.

1.  Restrict myself to a single style of shooting.

2.  Tell someone else their style was wrong.

The first is silly.  The second is just arrogant.

Yep

[smoke1953]

Terry again hits it right on the head. Situation dictates your natural movement to achieve the goal.

[calgarychef]

When I started shooting I tried the Asbell idea with swing draw and I just never was consistent, I changed to a more static straw and I got to be a good shot.  That said, I can't even get close to moving or arial targets shooting like I do and the swing draw is probably the bomb for that, I might revisit it a bit and see if I can morph the two.  Most deer I see rarely stop for a shot and and that's where the static shooting falls apart a bit.  I mean to hit a moving target with a shotgun we swing on the target so it must work well with animals too.

[JNewman]

I do both styles, both static and swing.  With my high wrist recurve I use static, and with my hill style longbow I use swing.  I have notice that with both there is still movement, and that is the rotation of the upper body while drawing, and I have been busted equally with both styles.  I feel it has more to do with the range you are from the animal than anything else. the closer you are the less tolerance for movement.

All  prey animals have three zones, recognition, flight, and fight.  If you are in the recognition zone then them will acknowledge movement but will not run until they can identify it and adjust their flight zone.  If movement is in their flight zone they will move away from it(quite often running) before they even try to recognize it. Their recognition zone and flight zone change with speed of movement, size of movement (standing or kneeling), and any sounds that are linked to movement  


I believe this is why when you see older hunting videos where the hunter is moving and still have a clear shot at their animal is they are outside the animals flight zone.

The same zones are affected by sounds.  That's why mature animals will move from a selected woods when they here a vehicle stop.  The older and more wise the animal, the larger the flight zone.

That's just one mans very simplified explanation of prey animal responses.

Jesse