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Shooting faster -vs- taking time

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CoastieHunter

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Ok, I proved my point OVER AND OVER AND OVER again about my own individual shooting but the guys I shoot with think I'm crazy.

When I shoot:

Arrow knocked. Look at target, pull up, the second my peep is lined up and I am on target BOOM!

When MOST people shoot:

Arrow knocked, Look at target, pull up, line up peep, deep breath in, let out slowely and hold 1/2 way through, squeeze release slowely.

Here's what happens:
When I do it my way... I get robin hoods, ALL arrows at 20-30 yards are in a group of 4 that I usually have to take all arrows out at same time cause they are too close together.

When I do it the "correct" way... my shots are very inconsistant, usually about 4-10 inches apart! NOT GOOD when hunting.

ANYONE ELSE FIND THIS TRUE?

Guys at archery shops think it's crazy how fast I throw the bow up and release the arrow. But they can't understand HOW I get such good groupings when I do that.
 
The funny thing is just the other day i was shooting with some friends. I told one of them lets have a speed round. Shoot as fast as you can. He laughed at me then we shot 4 arrows and I robin hooded one. One way to look at it is you don't have as much time to drift off the target. I would say it doesn't work as good without a drop away rest because the bow may still be moving some.
 
Cool, just wanted to know if I was the only one really.

Didn't think that I was and I NEVER plan on changing my ways unless they are proving NON-effective. But that's cool.

I do the same, as soon as my peep hits the target I let it fly.

Longer I wait the more I drift, shake, etc.. etc.

I've had those "speed rounds" with my wife before and she usually gets her ass kicked but when we take our time she beats me at shooting.
 
I listened to Randy Ulmer the other night on bowhunter tv and he was telling how to get on target and relax and tense your shoulder muscles and then squeeze trigger. I tried it and missed the whole dang target at 40 yards. I can shoot baseball sized groups my way and i am sticking too it.
 
I have one problem with shooting this way. A deer is coming your way- you draw as the deer get's close- the deer hangs up. Well in this situation I sure don't want to let down and draw again. That's a lot of movement when a deer is in bow range. Point is I prefer to practice holding. Over time much like anyting else this repetition builds muscle. At which point you can hold more or less dead on longer with out all the shaking and fatigue.

I was just showing my wife that the other night. Here's what works for me. I'm sure there are more technical terms and what not, but here goes. When holding I make sure that my back elbow is exactly in line with my front hand. By doing this it causes the bow to sit closer to my body. So by doing that most of the energy that it takes to hold that bow back has transfered from my arms/shoulders to my back and core muscles. So now I'm steady from the ground up.

I watched my wife's elbow and it was not exactly in line with the bow arm. I told her to tweak her elbow and "transfer" that weight of pull to her back muscles. We started at 10yds and we had to back her up to 20 because she was robinhooded an arrow at 10. Like I said probly better termonology to explain it, but thats my 2. sorry for the book.
 
I use to shoot very fast and I got very good at it. I started slowing down and at times feel my performance has suffered. Now I shoot to slow imo. I guess it is a case of do what works as long as your good at it.
 
I have a specific routine for tournament shooting, but when I'm practicing to hunt I vary they time I hold at full draw. Once I decide to really aim though the shot is away in 6 seconds max.
 
You get to snacthing on that trigger soon as it hits the dot can lead into some nasty flinching habits, tourqing at the last second.

Thats the way I shoot and I finally got back straightened out a few weeks ago.
Just dont push it trying to shoot to fast.

But I am the same way, draw back, pin on, whack.
 
I do both ways both to improve my form and strenght.. ill shot 6 as fast as the pin hits the target .. then 6 ill wait for a count of 10 before i loose.After about 2 weeks of everyday practice I can hold it almost as steady at the end of a 10 count as i could on a drop and shoot.I have had to many deer easing my way and stop behind a bush or a twig to not make sure I can hold my bow for 30 or 40 secs if I need to.
 
When I have to draw and hold for a few minutes on a deer , I try to focus on the deer movement , body language and waiting for the right shot angle.
I noticed that I can draw and hold longer when I'm not forcing my self to hold steady for a length of time .
Only when the narrow window of opportunity comes do I bear down , hold steady and aim . There are times when deer hunting in thick cover that I had only a few seconds to draw, aim and shoot before the deer moved through a shooting lane .
When it comes to target shooting , I think that forcing myself to hold steady for a given time leads to target panic . Like I said before , I just let the shot happen without trying to hold rock steady for a given amount of time .
Even Randy Ulmer recommends letting the pin float near the bulls eye and letting the shot happen .
 
Radar said:
When I have to draw and hold for a few minutes on a deer , I try to focus on the deer movement , body language and waiting for the right shot angle.
I noticed that I can draw and hold longer when I'm not forcing my self to hold steady for a length of time .
Only when the narrow window of opportunity comes do I bear down , hold steady and aim . There are times when deer hunting in thick cover that I had only a few seconds to draw, aim and shoot before the deer moved through a shooting lane .
When it comes to target shooting , I think that forcing myself to hold steady for a given time leads to target panic . Like I said before , I just let the shot happen without trying to hold rock steady for a given amount of time .
Even Randy Ulmer recommends letting the pin float near the bulls eye and letting the shot happen .
Click to expand...


I'll do the same thing with deer actually. It's not like when hunting I see a deer walk by, THROW my bow up and let 'er fly. I will draw back and hold but not worry about swaying or shaking at all until I get a shot. Usually I'm about 95% to where I need to be to make the shot. But I won't even look through my peep or anything but the deer. The second I get that window I'll move that last 5% and line peep up and let 'er fly. Hasn't steered me wrong at all, have never missed a deer yet.
 
Ive heard it said many times that anyone who hasnt missed a deer with a bow hasnt shot at many.

I agree it is personal prefference in how to shoot.

However, we have had lots of discussions about shots at 60-70 yards. You dont throw a pin up on a 1 inch circle at this range (1in is the size of most of my dots). You need form and to squeeze. Maybe these differences in shooting styles is why some argue with what is possible with a tuned bow in the hands of someone who practices.
 

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