"Shooting and Hunting" Maybe I should learn how to shoot

[Arthur Herrmann]

Um, I have been shootin alot lately, and I am no good. I am using either a short d-bow, or a long d-bow. I am using plastic nocks, so I get a clean release. The string is centered.

My arrows, haven't been spined, because I have no clue how to do that. Everthing else in my tackle has been directly copied off of Kegan.

So, I guess my question is, how do you shoot. How can I become accurate, so that I can kill a deer that is not 5 feet away from me.

Oh, and I have never been five feet away from a deer.

My dad is a comounder, so he uses his fancy carbon fiber machine, and can consistently drill the target at 30 yards. I can't continue to embarrass him, myself and the neighbors. Well, I don't really care what the neighbors think. But even still, I have no technique, and no accuracy.

Maybe I could try y'all's style, and see if I can make it work.

[Pat B]

Without properly spined arrows you will find it very hard to shoot accurately. All bows are inherently accurate. So either your arrows aren't correctly spined or you're not concentrating on each shot but just going out and shooting. I would bet it is your arrows.     Pat

[Trapper]

Or maybe Kegan cant hit anything either LOL.  Trap

[huntertrapper]

exactly what mr. B said.... spine...or maybe your not catching the hang of instinctive shooting yet...its a focus thing...plus practice makes good so practice as much as possible, plus we all have our bad days...

[Kegan]

Or maybe Kegan cant hit anything either LOL.  Trap

I would beg to differ .

[Arthur Herrmann]

I do not have $100 bucks sittin around to buy a spine tester. How do I make a home-made one?

Kegan has a technique of shooting from a really far distance, but it is hard for me to find a good lane to shoot in, where I have a backstop.

Also, is Instinctive the best method? I'd be happy if I were accurate at 30yds, so Instinctive could work for me. Could somebody explain how to do it in detail?

People say you just concentrate, then shoot. If that's it, then how do people write books on how to shoot instinctively?

[huntertrapper]

Arthur i dont have a spine tester either...now i bought shafts from a dealer that sells them tested already and i "spine" mne by seeing how they shoot...instinctive...i cant explain, i would try but i cant think about it for some reason...i just do it...someone on here will know

[Pat B]

If you have other arrows of different spine you can use, you can make a simple spine tester that will get you in the ball park.   Drive 2 nails in a board(edge of work bench) 26" apart and level with each other. Place an arrow of known spine on the 2 nail and hang a weight from the center(officially you will need a 2# weight but for comparison it doesn't matter as long as it is constant) and mark the deflection. That will be your mark for that spined arrow. Then do the same with a different spined arrow, and so on.
   For correct spine reading your arrows should be 28" from the nock to the back of the point. Any length over or less than the 28" you subtract or add 5# of spine weight per inch. Also this spine weight is calculated with a 125gr point there is a value to add or subtract with points that are less than or more than 125gr. but I'm not sure what those values are.
   Instinctive shooting is being able to look where you want your arrow to go without outside conscious reference points. Like throwing a baseball or football. You look where you want it to go and that is where it goes when you throw it. It is hand/eye coordination. I believe G.Fred Asbell's book about instinctive shooting is one of the best out there. Instinctive shooting does take lots of practice and patience but it is something that anyone can do if they put their mind to it. I like instinctive shooting because I don't have to think about yardage except what is too far away to shoot at. You must first get the fundamentals of shooting down first so you don't have to think about them when you shoot.          Pat

[stiknstring]

I read Kegans way of spining arrows by shooting them a hunnerd yards or so and taking the ones that go left or right blah blah blah.  You gotta have good form already for that to work and be able to repeat your hold and more importantly your release time and time again.  Until you do have that build a spine tester or do as was suggested and get some arrows of known spine, try a few to figure out which fly the best at a closer distance and then match the rest of your arrows to that one.

[Arthur Herrmann]

Pat B- What are the fundamentals of shooting?

My parents won't let me buy again until Christmas. So I will have to make a spine tester.

I made a green stick bend with shoe string rope, and called it my first bow. Now I have tools, machines, and a total of 4 working bows. I have yet to read fundamentals, or these other concreate ideas that every shooter must know.

So I was hopin you guys could help.

Oh, and I no longer use green wood, or shoe strings.

[sailordad]

all i can say is " be the arrow ",where did i hear that before?

visualize the shot and then shoot it, least thats what works for me

oh and practice good form when learning is of utmost importance,couldnt tell ya what good form is especially without seeing ya shoot,and the fact mine isnt very good lol

good luck

                                                                     tim

[Arthur Herrmann]

My next question is, where in the wild web is the best plans for a spine tester?

[DanaM]

There is some plans for homemade ones in the arrow section. Do a search for spine tester.

[hawkbow]

I have been fortunate to harvest many big game animals with unmatched spine arrows ... I try to match my spine to my bow nowdays but for years I shot a selfbow and arrows with different spine... practice, practice....practice... and get as close as you can... you will find through practice which arrows shoot where and you will soon be hitting the mark... the main problem with arrows that are too heavey of a spine or too light of a spine is your penetration will be greatly reduced... sharp points are a must... by wrapping some sinew around the shaft above the piont you can cure some of the wobble on lighter spined shafts..the forward weight helps to stabilize the arrow while in flight... hope this helps brother and keep at the practice... happy hunting HAWK.. A/ho

[mullet]

  You can make a simple spine tester with a liter soda bottle filled with water for a weight with a wire hook attached. Even if you don't have an arrow of known weight, just shoot the ones you have until you find the best one. Then sand them all to match that one using the nail and weight like Pat B said. And one other thing, if you want to continually be embarrassed, keep trying to shoot with compound shooters using accurate sites and 80% let-off. Practice shooting from 10 yards until you can consistently hit the same spot. then gradually keep backing up, that way you can see what kind of arrow drop you get from different distances. I purposely avoided the use of yardage, that's a target, compound shooter's obsession. If you have consistant good form you will shoot good. And 30 yards at a deer with Trad gear is a pretty good shot and a real wimpy one with the new compounds.