close encounter with a huge bull

[bradsmith2010]

well if you hit an anchor and pull through as if you were snap shooting,, it may give you more consistancy,,
I can shoot well with no anchor, alot of my bows are short or short draw,, 20 to 25 inches,,
it takes practice to shoot these, that is the key,, practice, accuracy with no anchor is obtainable,,
but you may have to limit your shots say to 10 yards on game to start with,, my favorite hunting bow of all time was 25 inch draw, no anchor, I was accurate to 30 yard groups with it,, and killed deer with it but under 20( some less than 10 yards,), maybe one just a little over 20,,,, I dry fired it and it broke in two pieces,,

when I shoot with no anchor,, I draw the bow as if I am going to hit anchor,, having my elbow coming back into line,, but just release before I get to an anchor,,
I will put a piece of tape on the arrow so I am drawing it to the same lenghth each shot,, that will help your consistancy,,
soon your body will feel when to release based more on the weight of the bow ,, than how far you draw,,
if you are pulling though the shot at that point, the arrow should go pretty much where you are looking,,
the lighter bow is harder to release smoothly,, the heavier bow will pull from your fingers as you get to full draw a little smoother,,

[mullet]

well if you hit an anchor and pull through as if you were snap shooting,, it may give you more consistancy,,
I can shoot well with no anchor, alot of my bows are short or short draw,, 20 to 25 inches,,
it takes practice to shoot these, that is the key,, practice, accuracy with no anchor is obtainable,,
but you may have to limit your shots say to 10 yards on game to start with,, my favorite hunting bow of all time was 25 inch draw, no anchor, I was accurate to 30 yard groups with it,, and killed deer with it but under 20( some less than 10 yards,), maybe one just a little over 20,,,, I dry fired it and it broke in two pieces,,

when I shoot with no anchor,, I draw the bow as if I am going to hit anchor,, having my elbow coming back into line,, but just release before I get to an anchor,,
I will put a piece of tape on the arrow so I am drawing it to the same lenghth each shot,, that will help your consistancy,,
soon your body will feel when to release based more on the weight of the bow ,, than how far you draw,,
if you are pulling though the shot at that point, the arrow should go pretty much where you are looking,,
the lighter bow is harder to release smoothly,, the heavier bow will pull from your fingers as you get to full draw a little smoother,,

I'm curious, can you still hit a spot 6" around at 60 yards? Because, that is the best option, with a hope and a prayer, at a heart shot, and at that distance your best; or are you just shooting at the Elk?

[bradsmith2010]

I would not be shooting at an Elk at 60 yards,,,I can not hit a 6" circle at 60 yards consistantly,, only a lucky shot,,
I only shoot that distance for fun,, at a stump or target,,

when you are shooting at a 3d elk target at that range, you pick a spot to shoot at,,not the whole elk target,,
I am only confident at that range shooting at grass clumps or a stump,,

if I was going to shoot 60 yards alot,, I would set my bow up to shoot point on at 60 yards,,
put the tip of the arrow on the target and release,,
I would shoot more of an aiming style if long range was my goal,, or that was the normal shot I would have,,
but I would not shoot at elk at that range,,

[Lumberman]

I see, I had thought about trying a 26" draw, I swing a 29-30 pretty comfortably but when I do the snapshot it flows from my fingers somewhere before that but I am not sure where. Thanks again

[bradsmith2010]

try putting a piece of tape on the arrow,,
if you up the poundage  it will help a bit,,
pull back to the tape,, hesitate a split second as if that is your anchor,, then pull though the shot,,
if you make a bow that is 50 at 26 it will perform well,,
make a bow that is 50 at 29 and practice both ways,

you will find that there is a weight your body likes, say its 50,.
you body will release at 50,,, not so much how far you draw,,
right now your bow is light at the shorter draw,,so it may be confusing the issue
if you cut the bow shorter to bring up the weight, it will be easier to shoot at the 26inches( if you have enough wood to do that)

[Lumberman]

Hmm.. That is a good point. I will try that on the next one

[BowEd]

Good conversation fellas....Besides the elk hunting adventure and I guess you gotta listen and find those elk again.Do you have other tags for other game too Brad?Sounds like your having a good time.
I find if I pucker down and focus small and follow through with my release of my snap shot things go good smooth and right.Flight and accuracy both.With a comfortable draw weight of course.To draw with some kind of hesitation/back thought/doubt or whatever is no good.Shooting with confidence.It hits a bullseye because it was supposed to not because it was lucky.I feel good when a group of 4 to 6 arrows is within a 4" circle @ 20 yards and that is not an always regular thing with me either.Lots of times practicing I will only shoot 1 arrow at a time.Hit where I want.Retrieve the arrow and do it again.Builds my confidence.Shooting each shot with a focused purpose is a mental thing too.
Shooting long shots are fun but don't improve me much for accuracy on my 20 yard shots.Stump shooting is my best way to practice in different positions for me too.
Shooting the same bow for a while helps me too.Even though having a number of bows shoot the same arrow good.That cuts down on so many different types of arrows used specifically for certain bows too.A person gets kinda married to a bow after a while.
Just what works for me and my 2 cents worth.I started not knowing a darn thing.Not knowing if it was the bow/my form/my arrow or what ever for inaccuracy.What holds true that's been said and practiced is consistent form will get consistent accuracy.

[bradsmith2010]

I only have an elk tag, but I can shoot any elk,,
I can buy a turkey tag, so need to do that
I think shooting the one arrow at a time is great practice too,
I will shoot several arrows at a time to build up strength and work on form
but like shooting one arrow at a time,, and really pay attention to my first cold shot,,
I will shoot throughout the day too ,, even when hunting,,
thanks for the input Ed,, insightful as always,,
I get to hunt tomorrow so hope to test out some of my shooting "theories"

[Lumberman]

Thanks again for the tips, I will try the one arrow as well, should have yesterday as I ended up with two broken knocks at 15 yards. I generally try to aim at different spots to avoid that but I am pleased that is becoming a must

[DC]

Now you're just bragging

[bradsmith2010]

wow sounds like one of my tips may have cost you an arrow,, good shooting,,brag on,,,

[BowEd]

I think it's time when that happens to step back a little farther Lumberman.....lol.Try 25 yards.Sounds like your ready though.I've got nock ticked arrows too.Some I'm still shooting.Try that with a plastic nock once.
A liitle side story.....When 3D shooting with my yahoos we like to have fun.Shooting at those foam replicas[only elk I'll see this year is a foam one....lol.] from different angles opposed to where the stakes are set.Through holes in the brush/between trees/ or whatever.Well shafts get stuck in at angles then.A number of times we have crushed each others' shafts then by shooting from the stakes at the target.There's a name for that....lol..My dogwoods love those carbides.....lol.
Well it's getting hot here Brad.Would'nt be good for elk I'd say.Deer either here by me.Cooling off soon though.Hope your weather is holding up for ya to find em.You might be getting some of that rain too.

[bradsmith2010]

we got rain and it  cooled off into the 50's on the mountain
I got to go this afternoon ,, hunted from 12:30 till bout 7:00
I met my fried that had been up there all day and he had herd an elk at about 11
so we went to that area and just hung out there
well we didnt here anything all day,, so a stump shoot broke out, I was shooting pretty good and my friend was shooting better ,, so we were shooting further,, well on the longest shot,, we heard him bugle down the ridge ,,
so we set up and called, it was thick and he came by bugling  and breaking limbs, seems about 50 yards,, but I could not see him,,,
he went by us we tried to follow and saw a cow , ,the wind changed and that was it game over, the whole herd went down the ridge to the thick stuff,, but my bow was happy to get close,, just a few more yards and I would have been shooting my self bow at the game intended,, but as hunting goes,, I was hunting today and not shooting,, I had a great time, and feel postive about the area I am in and will go back and give it a try on friday,, I keep hoping a spike or cow will come by,, yes I would shoot the bull, but I am happy if I can get some elk meet with my bow,, and hide for different projects and of course the sinew for a lucky bow,,

[Lumberman]

Sounds like a blast, crossing my fingers for ya!

[Dakota Kid]

I also live in the city and most of my selfbow practice takes place at  about 10 yds. I think the key to getting the most out of close range practice is to shrink the bulls eye to make it more comparable to longer distances. I put (5) 3/4" orange circle stickers on my target. I shoot 1 arrow at each, retrieve and repeat. I like to be a little high at 10 yds(2" max) so I'm dead nuts at 20 yds. I make it a point to shoot every day, even if it's just 5 arrows before bed or going to work.  On the weekends I head to my folks house and get some longer distance shooting in. Practice is practice be it 10 yds or 60. Making sure your body remembers the form is one of the keys to consistency. If you do the same thing every time you draw and shoot, you should end up with the same result... in theory anyway. I do notice that if I miss a few days of shooting, it takes about 10 shots or so before I get warmed up. If I'm shooting daily, I'm warmed up right from the gate.  When that buck walks by, there's usually no warm up shot. I'll admit I do take a few practice draws throughout the day though, just to stay loose.

I enjoyed reading of your adventures. Good luck. Keep us posted.