Just a reminder are you shooting your bow?

[WTNUT]

Just thought I would remind everyone that it is getting close to season. Make sure your bow is ready and you are practicing. It is a good idea to make sure your string and cables are in good shape, everything is tight, your arrows are all in good shape and you have new blades in the broad heads. If you are using fixed broad heads shoot everyone of them to make sure that arrow head combo flys accurate and true. When done take the worn blades out and slip knew ones in. Wax that string and cable combo as well.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bueller]

I'll be shooting my crossbow this weekend. Don't have the time to practice with a bow to ensure ethical shots when the crossbow is legal option for me to hunt with.

 

[yoderjac]

I go back an forth. I love hunting with a compound, but I usually need to start practicing in August to be confident. I have pretty high recovery requirements. I used to bow hunt through our muzzleloader season and even through the firearm season when I was younger. As my arthritis progressed, I find the colder it gets, the less effective I am with a compound. I have difficulty drawing smoothly after I sit still for a few hours. I now move back and forth between a compound and crossbow depending on practice time how warm it is and how I'm feeling on a particular day.

One more tidbit I'd pass on for practice with a compound. Practice wearing the same clothes you wear to hunt. It is amazing how small things can become problematic when the moment of truth arrives.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Weasel]

I've been shooting pretty regularly the last few weeks. It's on my mind everyday but I don't always get to it.

 

[Nova]

Been shooting all month. Shoulder surgery this spring so I needed to get those muscles back in shape. All is going well and back up to 65lbs pull. Going to keep practicing until the opener. Almost time to start shooting in all the hunting gear that I normally wear to the stand in early season. Fine tuning if you will.

 

[landlord]

After practicing for about 2 weeks I took my bow in yesterday for new string and cables, and a paper tune. I will resight it in next week and it will be ready for the season even if I am not. (more practice)

 

[dsinwi]

I start shooting around the end of July, 100 to 200 arrows a week. I'll shoot 10 to 40 yards during each session. I enjoy shooting my compound. It really helps my technique and muscle memory. As I age, I find it also helps me build a little strength which I hope benefits me at the moment of truth. I have a couple neighbors who are enthusiast also and we get together quite often for practice sessions. One has a couple stands hung in tress for practice. Have broad head bunker setup as well. We have hung all sorts of items on the target. My daughter donated her collection of stuffed animals a couple years ago. We've shot everything from teddy bears to unicorns:)
Have a 100 yard target setup as well. That get interesting.

 

[yoderjac]

Shooting lots of arrows and at long distance builds the muscles and muscle memory as you say. It is great. The one downside I've found is overconfidence. We tend to overestimate our hunting abilities the better we get on the range. One way I like to deal with that is by setting my distance limits before the season. I'll stop shooting lots of arrows, put on my hunting attire, shoot a single arrow from a seated elevated position. I'll do this each day. If I can't consistently hit a 6" circle with my very first arrow, I've exceeded my maximum distance.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[dsinwi]

Jack - Can't agree more. We shoot long distance for the fun of it, at least I do. I've found that my shooting at normal yardages improved a great deal when I started doing it. My buddies have taken some long shots(imo) and have been successful. I don't judge them if they are capable. My limitations start to show at about 35 yards. That's my cutoff in a hunting situation for deer, that looks like a long ways sometimes through my old eyes. I suppose I would have to work to extend that if I were to ever go elk hunting.

 

[yoderjac]

Jack - Can't agree more. We shoot long distance for the fun of it, at least I do. I've found that my shooting at normal yardages improved a great deal when I started doing it. My buddies have taken some long shots(imo) and have been successful. I don't judge them if they are capable. My limitations start to show at about 35 yards. That's my cutoff in a hunting situation for deer, that looks like a long ways sometimes through my old eyes. I suppose I would have to work to extend that if I were to ever go elk hunting.

It all boils down to your tolerance for wounding deer. Mine is pretty low. I can drill arrows on a range at 40 yards with no problem, too many things can go wrong in the field. Form is never perfect. The target often moves. You have string jumping, and ranging error to contend with. I like shots at 20 yards at a broadside or quartering away. I think twice before shooting at 25 and beyond that, I let 'em walk. I had far too many hit but unrecovered deer when I was young. Beyond 25 yards, even with corrected vision, I can't see with high confidence small branches without any leaves depending on lighting that could cause a deflection.

Everyone has to set their own threshold for recovery percentage. I set mine pretty high. I just wanted to emphasize the point of practice at long distances is of great help with developing precision in one's shooting ability but it does nothing to ameliorate the variable that occur under field conditions.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Booner21]

I will shoot 6 to 7 days a week for the next month starting at 50yds and stretching it out to about 80. After I end the session I shoot a couple arrows between 20 and 40. After shooting at 80 30 is a gimme.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Bill]

I just switched to an X-bow. Wouldn't have but I have an elbow that wants to collapse when I draw a bow.
I'm not so hunky dory on the thing. Everything about it screams, I'm going to hurt you.

Put a thumb up on the stock and you're going to loose it. Cocking the thing makes me nervous.
Even loading the bolt seems so against anything OSHA would allow.

I've been bow hunting for 35 years, I can't imagine a fudd picking one of these things up and heading out.

 

[yoderjac]

I just switched to an X-bow. Wouldn't have but I have an elbow that wants to collapse when I draw a bow.
I'm not so hunky dory on the thing. Everything about it screams, I'm going to hurt you.

Put a thumb up on the stock and you're going to loose it. Cocking the thing makes me nervous.
Even loading the bolt seems so against anything OSHA would allow.

I've been bow hunting for 35 years, I can't imagine a fudd picking one of these things up and heading out.

It really took me some time getting used to. In some ways it is the same sport, getting close to deer. There is no real range increase. It does reduce practice time since the form aspects are enforced by the xbow itself. The big advantage (and lack of challenge) is not having to draw in the presence of game.

There are clearly some safety aspects unique to x-bows. Most quality x-bows now come with a forearm that is so thick that it prevents getting your thumb in the string path. Mine has a Picatinny rail so I added a pistol grip up front. I can also swap the pistol grip for a shooting stick. Either way, I feel safer with my had going horizontally below the forearm. Another nice feature my x-bow has is an anti-dry fire device. If the arrow/bolt is not seated against the string it cannot fire. I always use a cocking rope to cock mine. That ensures limbs have the same tension.

Probably the biggest risk for me is limbs impacting something. I've developed a caution of the lower limb on my compound bow contacting my stand, but I haven't developed the same sense or the crossbow.

Thanks,

Jack