So how long before you got "good"?

[ChuckC]

I think that the answer is a fleeting one, ever changing.  

How YOU shoot is a great determining factor, and by that I don't mean how you hit.  

A person that is learning truly instinctive style (a name only, we do not have an "instinct" to shoot), it may take a given time.  

By using any other aiming technique, that time MAY be cut down, often quite substantially.  

As we see at the range, add a compound device, sights front and rear, release, ad nauseum and obviously it takes much less time.  Other steps (three under, point on, gap, string walking etc) might help speed the process as well.

Also.. How Far we think we need to shoot is an added factor.  Getting good at 5 yards,and at 10 yards is likely going to come quicker than at 50 yards.

Also.. our own personal "X factor", my word of the moment for your ability to do the shoot sequence under the pressure of the hunt: in a tangled web of forest (not on a manicured back yard range); with a target that is not static and just standing there allowing for long time thought and aiming; and with a target that inherently causes some / most / all of us at least some degree of anxiousness.

All of those things change and cause differences in the amount of "time it takes to be good".

Can I suggest a course of action ?

Get good at a range. .  say 5 yards, or 10 yards.  Then go hunt.  You need that hunt practice almost as much as you need the shooting skills practice.

DON'T shoot beyond your known skill. If the deer is 5 yards too far, it gets away this time.  There will ALWAYS be deer walking just a bit too far away, no matter your skill. As you increase your ability, increase your hunting range accordingly.  

I am a believer that most folks should not wait to hunt until they reach some lofty shooting goal.  There are other factors that count too and those are only met and overcome by doing it.

A knowledgeable mentor helps speed the game immensely.

ChuckC

[jjwaldman]

x2 on a good mentor.  Just slinging arrows at the target is probably not going to work.  Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is not the way it works.  I tried it.

Then I went to see Rod Jenkins.  I need to go back.

[RC]

Once I figured out that if I hold my form and focus on the spot the arrow will go there and it began to get easier after that.
  Its all about confidence. If you don`t have it practice till you do. You don`t have to shoot good at 20 yards. I kill most of my critters around 10-15. My average this year on 4 deer and two pigs and three turkeys is 9 yards.RC

[Caddo]

Been shooting for 40+ years, still workin on it!

LD

[Lin Rhea]

I have hunted all of my life. So a lot of things carry over from gun and compound shooting. But one thing that I have been getting used to since trad bow hunting is to let the animals get close. Real close.

There is a big difference in the intimidation factor from having an animal at 40-50 yards to needing it up close and personal, 20 yards max. in order to be in range. It removes a lot of crutches that I may have unknowingly relied upon. Now I have to give much more attention to scent control and wind direction, skillful technique and stand location. This in itself has taken me some time along with mastering instinctive shooting. All of it together has impressed upon me that I have to be a better hunter to trad hunt.

I love it though.

[Altiman94]

In 2009/10 when I was trad bow only I practiced nearly every day and was fairly confident to 20y.  I'd say it took me a solid 3 months to get that way.  Fast forward 3 years and my effective range has shrank to 7y,  I think it takes daily practice and varying ranges to feel comfortable.  I still shoot daily but didn't pick it back up until maybe 3 weeks ago.  Then one should limit your shot to the ones that you know you can make.

[Hoyt]

I never had a problem shooting recuves from the beginnig. Started out with slingshots at a very young age in the 50's went to bows.

Had a good start from Dan Quillian right when I got my first hunting bow and started shooting Field Rounds regulary.

My problem came after I quit shooting recurves for so many yrs and went to compounds. When I tried to pick back up where I'd left off it didn't work.

I'd had a lot of major surgery over the years and was much weaker and older and it was all I could do to handle 40lb recurve. I don't snap shoot and like to take about 3 to 5 seconds at full draw before everything looks right.

I was always able to just pick up a recurve in the past shoot it one time and be right on with the next shot..elevation check. That was no longer the case..I had to start all over with my form, how I looked down my arrow and saw the target..everything..and constantly like two long sessions a day of practice to try and build my strength. Took me about a whole summer to get back right and still have to shoot regular to keep strength up. Shooting little over 47lbs now comfortably.

[Danny Rowan]

Been at this since 1965. At 15 years old, spent a bunch of time shooting rabits and small game,lived in the country in Texas so spent a lot of time out in the mesquite flats hunting and trapping,never had a mentor, just taught myself, took my first deer in 1967 with a Ben Pearson Ole Ben longbow. Never even thought about am I good enough yet. The more time you spend shooting the better you will get, don't get tuned in to a certain yardage, change it up, shoot from different yardage and positions constantly. I still do that to this day.

[michigan bill]

I started at 10 and have shot regularly for 57 years now.  I honestly believe I am getting closer and closer.  I still have my moments of total confusion as to why a shot did such and such but I am now confused on a higher level.
that is progress.  I think.
bill

[TraditionalGuy]

I think I learned to shoot long before I could even ride a bike and shortly after I could walk. That being said, I'm still waiting to be good. As for hunting, I've always considered myself a hunter that chooses to use archery equipment rather than an archer that chooses to hunt. I don't worry about being good enough to hunt, since that is all I do. If I were to worry about being good enough at something it would be tournament shooting, something I don't do.

[Onehair]

I've been good several times. Never really last long.

[jkm97]

About three months of shooting before this season. I've killed three so far, but I missed the first two I shot at badly. But nailed the last three...

[LongStick64]

Not soon enough and I will be the first to admit that it was all my wrongdoing.
1. tried to find the perfect bow
2. tried to shoot like every archery demi god
3. got too used to flinging arrows and not work hard enough on getting better

What put me over the top was to learn how to shoot relaxed with strong form that worked for my abilities.

[JamesKerr]

I got my first traditional bow in the summer of 2005. I started hunting a little bit with it in Febuary of 06 and in October of 06 I shot and killed my first deer with a traditional bow. I was and still am lucky though in that I had a man who has been shooting traditional bows for quite some time ( not sure how many years but at least 20+) who is a close family friend who really helped shorten the learning curve for me.

[cahaba]

I know I am accuracy hunting ready when I can hit my 3D target with consistency on the first shot of each shooting session. But really hunting live game is a totally different ballgame than shooting in the yard in a perfect stance. Get as good as you can and limit your shots to the distance you feel comfortable. Hunting small game like rabbits and squirrels makes for good practice.

[Sam McMichael]

I don't know, but I'll let you know when it happens.

[achigan]

Woodsmanship is as important as marksmanship. If you are confident out to 12-15 yards, then get good enough with your woodsmanship to get that close to your prey. The Wenzels wrote an article "When did Hunting become Shooting" in the PBS mag (or mebbe it was Trad Bowhunting). Just the title gave me the drift of the story.
  400 yard shots at an elk on the other side of a canyon with a 20x scoped .338 isn't (IMHO) hunting, but shooting. You can extrapolate that out to bowhunting if you wanna. I read stories of 3 yard shots at elk(Don Thomas)and my heart races right along with theirs..

[joe ashton]

I fear that answering this Q may put a pox on my success.  but the first few years was thin and then the pieces began to come together.

[jrbows]

Can I get back to you on that?

[drewsbow]

I was always good but my brain just kept getting in the way