Tips for knew archers getting into this sport

[Traditional-Archer]

Not picking a spot or not remembering picking a spot, I assume you practice and what you practice becomes habit if practicing the motion enough.

Look guys, I hear on Trad Gang all the time, I messed up, I wounded a deer, I had a clean miss, and my shot didn't hit where I was looking. One guy said he was going back to compound not long ago. All of the complaints are valid and some people should go back to shooting a compound. If you are not committed to becoming better at what we do every day this sport is not for you.  I know from what I’m hearing from most of the guys on here that picking a spot is most likely not the problem. Remembering picking a spot could be, but there are so many practiced points of contact, muscle memory, how your body is positioned the perfect “T”. When you practice the shooting of a recurve or longbow over and over, it is then no longer a practiced motion but a habit, and then it becomes instinct. So there are three levels to be learned, I’m sure there are more that I am not picking up on. One is “Practice” Two is “Habit” and then three is “Instinct” most people think because we call ourselves instinctive shooters that, that automatically makes that statement true, and in some ways it is. Think of it as we are in training when we first start shooting instinctive oh wait a minute we are.  

Then we practice and it becomes a habit and that is where most of us are now unless you want to put yourselves in the same category as Howard Hill, Fred Bear, Paul Schafer just to mention a few. Now these guys had mastered the art of shooting a bow, watch the videos here on the Gang and you will see what I am referring to. Shooting jack rabbits running across the desert at forty yards or shooting a running animal running down the side of a mountain at over seventy yards, that is true instinctive shooting. Come on guys do you think these guys remember picking a spot? They practiced or I should say lived shooting a bow.
The biggest problem I have reading some of the post here on Trad Gang is when a guy starts shooting a recurve or longbow and they can’t understand why they are not putting the arrow in the same spot they did with a compound, “Come On Man” one, after a year of shooting you are still in the practice state of learning and you should not expect to shoot like someone that has been shooting for years, driving to shoot like that yes but do not expect it.
 
I hope this is helpful to some knew archers trying to be the best instinctive shooters that they can become.

If anyone has some advise or a comment that would be helpful to new people getting into or back into traditional archery please put in your advise.
               

[fmscan]

Well said, I never thought of it that way, makes a lot of sense...

Here is one idea that I have about trad shooting;

If you are ever satisfied, you will cease to get better. What I'm saying is that you cannot ever quit trying to improve. If a day comes where you think you are good enough, that is the day you will stop improving!

I have been at this for quite a while and shoot nearly every day of my life trying to improve. I know there is room to improve, no matter how good I am shooting!

Bisch

[centaur]

What Bisch said!  As I have said in the past, tradtional archery is a simple endeavor, but not an easy endeavor. Practice, practice, practice. The more I shoot, the less satisfied I am with my shooting. I am always striving for perfection; although that is not realistic, it is a goal that keeps me wanting to get better every day. If it was easy, all the 'experts' on TV would be shooting trad bows.

[ChuckC]

I think having a mentor is an awesome thing.  It is something we don't push in our current society.

We have tons of information available, but in its way, that doesn't help and often hinders.  

Having someone show you the ropes and smile when you get it done right. .  that's what we need more of in our lives.

ChuckC

[Traditional-Archer]

Awesome comments, all well intended and from the experiences and trials of men that have been around.
 I use to think I was doing really well at shooting my recurve, and then I went through some hard hitting reality I was shooting too much, that’s right too much. I had to slow down or I was going to blow this sport I love to take part in so, I stopped shooting for 7 month. January till July hardest time I’ve been faced with not shooting my bow but it was necessary to let my body rebound. I was feeling pain in my shoulders, in my elbow my wrist it was bad.
When I started shooting again, I started spending more days shooting and fewer hours doing it. My shooting improved and the pain is gone.  
I remember when I first started shooting my recurve back in 06, I would read books talk to fellow Trad archers and practice, I put pegs in the ground where my feet would stay at the same spot when I shot, I practice coming to full draw and would tell myself to push/pull anchor and then release. I practiced my anchor coming to my eye tooth and letting down over and over again.
I spent a lot of time on the shooters forum asking questions and applying the advice, some I used and some just didn’t work for me.

[Bowwild]

Some who teach archery refer to conscious and subconscious steps.  Each step must be learned with our conscious mind until they become subconscious habits.

It gets a bit more interesting when the static target is replaced with a live animal. That's when, especially if not well ingrained, the subconscious skills are short-circuited.  Part of this is for most of us we can shoot thousands of targets but only have 1-few live animal opportunities a year.

[northener]

The earlier one starts archery in life the easier it is to become proficient,especially with traditional equipment

The later in life we begin the longer it will take, that's not to say an older person can not master stick and string,just takes more dedication, that's all.

We need more mentors and archery programs for the youth.

[Chain2]

I agree with Bisch. It's like golf for me I try to shoot at least 20 arrows a day. I don't play golf everyday . I would get better if I did. I did play four days in a row with some decent golfers. It was the first time in a very long time. I took their money on the fourth day. All of it. I booked an elk hunt in 2016 I will shoot as much as I can till then but 75% will be just on form. For me that's the miss bad or inconsistent form.

[LBR]

If anyone has some advise or a comment that would be helpful to new people getting into or back into traditional archery please put in your advise.  

Get good instructions.  Practicing bad habits just instills bad habits.  Do your homework--just because someone might have a book or video on the market doesn't mean they know what they are doing.  It's not hard to research--most will have easy to find credentials.  

Some of the best money you can spend on archery is attending a Rod Jenkins clinic.  You can learn more in a couple of days that you would learn on your own in 10 years.

[northener]

Another thing we need to understand in traditional archery. It's 90 percent mental. A positive attitude is essencial, it breeds confidents.

[Diamond Paul]

My advice would be to find a certified archery coach who deals with recurves/longbows and using fingers, and who teaches sound, orthodox archery form.  It's good to know how to cant, but I wouldn't lay my foundation on it.  It's easy enough to learn to cant later after you have solid fundamentals.  The second thing is to get a very light bow to learn on, under forty pounds at your draw length, maybe way under.

[JB]

Don't over bow your self. Start with a bow weight you can shoot a lot without tiring

[Mr. fingers]

Originally posted by JB:
Don't over bow your self. Start with a bow weight you can shoot a lot without tiring

X2

[Bjorn]

If you want to hunt practice exactly what you will be doing while hunting. Get up on the garage roof if you will be hunting from a stand. Or even better put up a stand.
Wear the pack, wear the boots, shoot those broad heads as part of your practice sets. Lots of unknown yardage, and if you can, shoot rabbits and any other legal small game. Get into that predator killer mode,
in the off season practice stalking, and make sure you are in shape so you can enjoy the hunt.

[Traditional-Archer]

When I talked to Dave Windauer when ordering my first Schafer silvertip bow, He told me to at least pick a bow weight of 10 lb or less of what I was shooting as a compound shooter. I wonder if this is a common suggestion in most traditional bows. I would think it is.

[JamesD]

Great comments from all. Four and half years into shooting traditional, I am just now shooting at a level that I am confident in. I still have bad form days. Days where I have to put the bow down so that I don't in grain bad habits. While shooting at live animals, we often forget the rush of adrenaline that hits and that it has to be conquered with good shooting habits and not letting the mind rush the shot.  Even when I hunted with compounds I found it difficult at times to not rush the shot and aiming process. Especially on shots under ten yards. Wounding animals feels awful. I wish I could say that I never have. Born, great comment on the hunting gear. I was out two weeks ago and started practicing the week before with my heavy winter gloves. Until I got used to them, I was ground arrows six to eight inches to the right of where I was aiming.

[onewhohasfun]

If your goal is to kill animals then practice like you hunt.
Pounding arrows at a block target at 20 yds. is fine to a point, but for me it just doesn't relate.
If you hunt from trees, practice that way. Ground blind? Practice shooting from a stool. Are you a stalker? Try shooting off both knees.
Hunting and target shooting are quite a bit different IMHO.
Remember you gotta make that 1st shot count. If it takes you 3 or 4 arrows to get dialed in, you're not ready.
If you haven't wounded and lost an animal, you probably have not been hunting very long. It happens.
Practice till its all automatic.
Now if you will excuse me, I'm gonna go shoot some arrows!