about shooting your wood bow with accuracy,,

[bradsmith2010]

I am not a great shot,, I am an average shot,,,and if I practice really hard and consistantly I can shoot pretty good,,
I have been shooting alot this last year starting with getting ready for spring turkey hunt in april,,and I just kept it up,,
got to go elk hunting and did alot of stump shooting, so I am feeling good about my shooting,,,this has been a long time coming after a long lay off several years ago,,
I am really posting this for the new guys, that are just starting to shoot,, and in this fast pace day and  age our time frame to learn a skill is a little unrealistic for some,,there is no fast or easy way,, ,, just work and practice(its so rewarding though)
it just takes alot of practice,, and sometimes very slow progress,,( its like learning a musical instrument,, it takes years to be a master at an instrument or bow,,)
this very slow progress accumulates ,, so dont loose hope,,
sometimes its one step forward and two steps back,, but you have to keep working and keep up the faith,, dont give up and get a compound,,

    I did not really get good with a wood bow,, till I committed to shooting it and nothing else,, this is key,,
    even today after shooting bows more than 50 years,, if I want pin point accuracy I have to shoot just one bow and one type arrow,,
    I can shoot alot of bows pretty good, but to get really good,, its just one bow,,, and thats hard for me cause I have alot I like to shoot,, so if you want to develope your best accuracy shoot just that one bow for at least a few months and see how it feels,, just try it for me,,
    if you dont have a good bow,, that will hold you back,, either build one or get one that is well made,,and start to practice,,
dont over do it,, thats really easy to do,, there is a guy on one of the other sites that was an olympic shooter,,,, he said tired practice is a bad idea,, (profound),,
     just practice a little every day and vary from group shooting to one arrow at a time,, and work on your form and consistancy and your confidence will grow and grow,, dont worry if you are not good at long range that will come,, if you are a hunter ,, work on your 10 yard skillet shot,, that shot will fill your freezer if you never miss it,,

ok thats my thoughts on shooting today,, I am out to practice what I preach,, I have one bow I am shooting it ,, I am gonna shoot a few arrows,, and even practice with my bare fingers a bit,,,,, gonna get to hunt some deer in about a week,,

[Knoll]

Well penned! If I had the ability to write such a treatise, could only hope it came through as well as yours.
Your experience matches mine to a "T".
Good of ya to take the time to post this.

[loon]

yeah... shooting unmatched arrows seems like a good way to have very poor accuracy :p

[Lumberman]

Good stuff! Thanks for the tips

[Pat B]

Well said, Brad. I keep my shooting bow where it is obvious, where it is easily seen. I don't shoot much anymore. Hopefully that will change. When I was shooting I shot 50 to 100 arrows a day. I did this for a few years until I didn't have to think about each shot. My form, release and shooting came natural but this took many years of a lot of shooting each day. After a while I noticed my shooting became sloppy after a lot of shots so I started shooting a dozen or 2 each day, concentrating on each shot. If I got agitated or sloppy I put the bow down and walked away. Bad habits are a lot harder to get rid of than good habits are to make. About 2 months before hunting season I picked out my hunting bow and arrows and a secondary bow that shot similar. I shot the primary most but kept up with the secondary. I did my shooting sessions from an elevated stand(front porch)just like when hunting, either in the early morning or evening, when most of my hunting took place. About 2 weeks before hunting season I would only take one shot a session but make sure it was a good shot. I'd do this in the morning and/or evening but only one shot. If I wasn't up to it for some reason I would not shoot that session.
 It does take a lot of practice to get good. Not many folks are excellent selfbow shooters. Anyone can get good enough to feel comfortable hunting but it does take lots of thoughtful shooting to get there. Just shooting for shooting sake is good to develop your shooting muscles but thoughtful shooting gets you where you need to be mentally to shoot well enough to hunt.

[Aaron H]

Thanks guys, I think this is something we all need to hear every now and then.

[bradsmith2010]

thanks Guys,, I am just excited about shooting well and love to encourage anyone else that has an interest
and Pat your method of shooting one arrow is really great,, cause thats really the arrow that counts,,
I shot a "cold shot"  this morning,, no warm up,, no glove,, just to see how my practice is going,,
it was about an inch to right,, so I was happy,, my next shot was right on,, does that count??? probably not,, ( that bein said I have killed deer on my second shot after a miss) so there is always hope,,
I will practice my thoughtfull shooting today and hope to put the practice to use,,when it really counts,

[helmet]

I love shooting also. This year I got an old bow and about 10 new arrows shooting really well. I shot every day. One weekend I shot too much and hurt my bow wrist/hand. So I second the "not over doing it" advise. It has been hard to cut back, but obviously I had to.

[JustJake]

I needed that, thank you

[Will Tell]

It's funny but I can shoot a self bow better at short distances than my recurves and longbows. I short draw a self bow and think it's the difference. I'm like Pat and only shoot one arrow at a time. My yard slopes so I shoot uphill, downhill,level, short and long and never the same place twice. I should be honest, I'm a great shot on 3d targets but have missed a couple if deer and turkeys.lol