Just for the record books...

[iowabow]

I may take you up on that next year after deer season! That sounds like good times to me.

[half eye]

Hey Iowa,
      Man I feel for ya, done every bit of what you are going through. Killed more than I got a right to, but for the first few years I'll bet I missed as many.
     What helps me (and my old eyes) is when ya practice do not shoot at a bullseye or deer target, instead cover yer target with burlap and aim at little spots that shadows make or wrinkles make. Will teach ya to bore your attention into a small area. If you are concentrating enough all ya see is the arrow appear on the target.....nothing else. No arrow, no bow, not even the critter.....just the spot and the arriving arrow, as a matter of fact if the shot's a pass through the arrow will appear and then dissappear just as mast, kinda spooky the first time that happens.
     What give me all my fits was as I drew the bow I was sneekin a peek to see if the deer was lookin.....result was perfect windage about 1" high over the back.....every time too!!!!
     The other thing that gives me fits to this day is when them damned deer just "appear" out of nowhere....no time to calm down or nothin, I like to see them coming so that I can calm down and try to controll my heart-rate before even drawing.

Ya didn't ask, but two things ya might try......learn to totally concentrate on your spot, and try to calm down before you draw.......oh ya one more thing, resist the urge to shoot another arrow at them when they are running away stickin out their tounges at ya
rich

[Stingray45]

I would suggest you give me the map coordinates to your tree stand so I can hunt it! haha. That is alot of deer traffic to get 20 shots in a season. I've been bow hunting about 7 years now and all traditional starting last year and I don't think I've let 20 arrows go yet. Enjoy what you have, the more shots you get the better you're going to get at your craft. Just remember when you see the deer early, just breath and prepare and think of where the shot is going to come. Visualize picking the spot behind the shoulder, just find a little tuffed of hair or a spot or something and aim for that, don't look at the whole thing. Goodluck. 

~Barry

[iowabow]

This is good info guys,  thank you! I am going to put this info to practice! I a a good hunter but not a good primitive archer. I can get the deer in because I have like 6 stands and hunt feeding patterns that work with wind direction only. So if a deer is moving from a field of beans to a woods on a trail that runs south and then turns west, I would set up two stands one on the N/S part of the trail and one on the E/W and then watch the forcast for wind direction to determine which stand to sit in that morning. I would only hunt that spot in the morning if there was a north or east wind and that would determine stand a or b. Now in the afternoon it would have to be a south or west wind. I have a set of note cards for morning and night that are broke down by wind directions. So I don't have to think about which stand I want to hunt but which would be the most favorable. I also setup pattern stands these are stands that are on trail that pattern around the stands that I hunt most often. In the early part of the season I do a lot of valley hunting but as the deer get smart I move to ridge stands.  I do ground hunts only if it is spot and stalk for the most part or real early in the season. I try to hunt everyday that the weather is good. I live where I hunt so that make a real difference also.

[iowabow]

This summer I went to TN and had a great time shooting the 3d targets.  I did not do well so I have been working to put many of your methods into practice.  I went in June to a local 3d shoot.  I did not score great, so out of 30 targets I scored a 91, there were a lot of 30 yard shots  not real practice for primitive shooting.  I decided that my 70 inch bow needed to be rebuilt so I cut it to 62 inches and made the fades work a whole lot more.  Anyway I worked hard on your ideas to improve my form and concentration.   I went this weekend and shot the course again (which was changed a little) and scored 46 points higher, it was clear that the bow was shooting much flatter.  I was aiming much higher than the bow required and over shot a number of targets that I would not miss if I ran the course again.  I scored a 137 and could have picked up 20 more if I knew the bow a little better.  I hope that I can bring my 3d score to around a 200 by next year.  I found a big different in the practice arrows I built.   I found one that shot high everytime and one that shot low everytime (did not shoot them on the course).  I just wanted you folks to know that your input is helping.

[iowabow]

I put all of your ideas into play and I spent a lot of time straightening arrows.  I also noticed something new.   I felt shock into my shoulder and the arrow hit dead on. So I thought about why and realized I was locking my left shoulder into place so I shot the rest of these arrows.   I am very happy with this group at 15 yards it measured 3 inches across

[soy]

Nice group !!!is that with broad heads?

[iowabow]

No.   The field points are matched to the arrowheads.

[soy]

Looks like you are in business, no doubt you will let the air out of one shortly! When does. Ia start???

[iowabow]

We start Oct 1st. I am going to start the one shot practice from now till opening day.

[gstoneberg]

If you want to shoot more arrows in your practice, take each arrow and throw it away from you different directions and distances.  Then walk from arrow to arrow shooting back at the target.  If 2 are pretty close to the same distance, shoot one and then go to an arrow at a different distance before coming back to shoot the other one.  Don't forget real close shots, make sure you shoot in close too.  Better do that first though or you'll beat up your arrows.  I hate (because of living in town now) that I can't shoot but 18 yards, and I hate shooting groups.

George

[iowabow]

I  live in the country but our town has an open archery range at the city park that anyone can just walk up to and start shooting arrows at targets. In todays world I think that is kinda cool.

[Prarie Bowyer]

I haven't read all posts.  But I wanted to say I feel for you.  I have yet to hunt primative but I can kill the Sh*t out of a box at 20yds.

Last season I hunted was in Jersey.  I have hit deer each season... only one per season. when I was sorrounded by deer like that my nerves were gonig nuts.  I should aimed for MIR space station to improve my odds.  In Jersey you need to earn a buck but I prefer does anyway, they taste better.

I hunted compound.  One day I had a whole herd of does come in.  I picked a big one and fired.  Missed.  She looked around like "what was that"?, we continue this till my quivor is empty. . . all 6 arrows decorating the woods behind my house with 4 does and spike looking around.  Finaly she looks up right at me.  I threw my empty quivor at her. . . . Miss.  I threw my hunting knife at her, miss.  I threw the sheath  . . . got closer.  They all split when I yelled God *&^$ F*&$% D*MN IT!

[iowabow]

That tis funnier than all three pages of this post!

[Prarie Bowyer]

Where is that range?  When I moved to Iowa there was talk and pictures of a close range in the local propoganda but I've not found it.