4 months of target shooting.... questions.

[Tow Bow]

Got my bow, a PSE Rally 50# (bad shoulders) in spring and have been shooting targets most of the summer.

I'm having some issues, I think they are mostly form but also tuning.

#1: I have to resight every 2nd week. I blame this on anchor point. I anchor from knuckle to the corner of my jaw bone. Maybe the jaw moves too much?

#2: Occasionally an arrow will go nearly sideways and the fletching will be inline with the target but the point will be way off. It happened with the point going to the right the last time, cant remember the others. Tuning?

#3: I don't think my bow is very quiet. It doesn't rattle but the 'thwack' is very pronounced. Is this a common perception to the shooter? The string silencers came apart after a couple weeks and i haven't got any others besides the 'counterweight'.

#4 I get a slight string slap occasionally but even worse, I get my knuckle bit rather regularly. With a broad-head, thats probably a bad thing.

Yesterday, I started shooting 90' / 30 yards for the first time. First shot was bulls-eye and then random mayhem ensued. Did alright but not happy. Stepped back to 120 and lost 2 arrows. Could barely hit my bag, never mind the center.

I find that as long I'm sighted and thinking, I nail my first few shots and then my shoulders give out and I get bad sway (maybe a real counterweight would help). Kinda kills the notion of practice makes perfect. I've been keeping my sheets from each week and grouping is improving but not significantly.

[graymatter]

consistency is definately something that needs to come to the table, if your bow is new or a newer model,it will most likely be doing the same thing over and over and the error is you,make sure it is tuned. the technology is awesome in some of the gear out there now.
set your tiller properly,( lower limb 1/16th closer to the string than the upper).
you could get a kisser button and anchor that in the corner of your mouth, but they are kinda old school.
make sure you are double knocked and your clickin on under the bottom knock, rather than clicking on under your arrow.

strip of all the accessories and shoot the bare bones bow, take of the quiver and shoot the raw bow and start from there
problem with some of these newer rocket speed bows is that they are not at all forgiving
if your shoulder is getting sore, sounds like you may have too much to pull as it should be relatively easy. if your getting fatigued, put it down for a couple of days as it can be very frustrating
stick to 20 yards and back off the draw weight and focus on your form and doing the same thing over and over, dont worry about if your hitting the bull with each shot, work on your form and the consistency will come.

I have not bow hunted for years due to a shoulder injury, so stick to the rifle now.
but when I was into it, I went as far as using replaceable blade broadheads, took off the blades and target shot with them, made sure each specific arrow had only one broadhead and did not intermix.
many bowhunters get frustrated when target shooting is awesome and with broadheads they are all over the page, I dont have experience with these open on impact broadheads, but made sure I knew where they were hitting before I took to the field,

good luck

Graham

[Doodle30]

Originally Posted by Tow Bow

Got my bow, a PSE Rally 50# (bad shoulders) in spring and have been shooting targets most of the summer.

I'm having some issues, I think they are mostly form but also tuning.

#1: I have to resight every 2nd week. I blame this on anchor point. I anchor from knuckle to the corner of my jaw bone. Maybe the jaw moves too much?

#2: Occasionally an arrow will go nearly sideways and the fletching will be inline with the target but the point will be way off. It happened with the point going to the right the last time, cant remember the others. Tuning?

#3: I don't think my bow is very quiet. It doesn't rattle but the 'thwack' is very pronounced. Is this a common perception to the shooter? The string silencers came apart after a couple weeks and i haven't got any others besides the 'counterweight'.

#4 I get a slight string slap occasionally but even worse, I get my knuckle bit rather regularly. With a broad-head, thats probably a bad thing.

Yesterday, I started shooting 90' / 30 yards for the first time. First shot was bulls-eye and then random mayhem ensued. Did alright but not happy. Stepped back to 120 and lost 2 arrows. Could barely hit my bag, never mind the center.

I find that as long I'm sighted and thinking, I nail my first few shots and then my shoulders give out and I get bad sway (maybe a real counterweight would help). Kinda kills the notion of practice makes perfect. I've been keeping my sheets from each week and grouping is improving but not significantly.

It sure can be frustrating in the beginning especially when you are a newbi trying to figure things out on your own.

It sounds to me that you might be having a number of issues, some of them might be equipment and some is likely you.

Do you have access to an experienced mentor or a club. I think it might be advised to go back to step one and start over. Have bow setup checked, arrow spine etc. I also think it might be time to have someone take a look at your shooting form. Help ensure you have a proper grip, repeatable anchor point, not torquing etc. Example, I had my grip corrected and haven't had a string slap since.

It will come though so don't get to frustrated. It took me a bit to get over a hump.

[Speckle55]

Check with some one knowable in bows sounds like your bow and arrows need to be tune for you as in do you have the right length bow and target arrows

Turn your bow down to 45# and don,t shoot more than 1 arrow every 15 minutes .. you have string jump .. if your shoulder hurts ..your flinching.. are you using a release .. if so what kind.. you may also be holding your bow to tight and twisting it when you flinch from pain .. get a buddy to shoot your bow if he can put a group of arrows close together then its you and not the bow..

these are some thinks to check

David

[Tow Bow]

Gray: Not sure if the tiller is set properly as the shop did it but i trust them. I'm shooting bare bones, which bothers me because i may have the quiver when i go out. I try to be consistent but I think i'm chasing the wrong technique.

Doodle: You need 2 sponsors to get into the club here. The owner of the shop i bought it at gave me some basics and I've read a lot on here about bone to bone contact, anchor points and etc but haven't shot with anyone else yet. I do believe i am torquing for whatever reason. For grip i just try to keep arm in line with shoulder, elbow slightly bent and hand loose. Like i said though, i'm getting the arrow biting my knuckles as it leaves fairly often. Shop owner mentioned it and said to be careful, etc...

Speckle: Until i meet someone, the busy shop owner/guide is my best resource. Arrows are cut (by him), length adjusted but self sighted (is there any other way?). I'm using a cheap release that seems to be sticking a little during my last session. Caused at least one miss that i know of... whole bow swung to the left on me (from anticipation?). I thought someone else wouldn't be able to aim my bow due to geometries? I guess they don't have to hit the bulls-eye.. just create a grouping? Maybe i should slow down my shooting. lol Try 5 at a time, for 8 hours (with a couple small breaks)....

[benamen]

In response to your having to resight frequently, personally I have found that if I do not concentrate on my sight picture or if my peep twists, my point of impact seems to move. If I concentrate on the sight picture and ensure my peep does not twist, my arrows will impact where I aim. I will be looking for better strings after this hunting season.

[Trav]

Originally Posted by Tow Bow

Gray: Not sure if the tiller is set properly as the shop did it but i trust them. I'm shooting bare bones, which bothers me because i may have the quiver when i go out. I try to be consistent but I think i'm chasing the wrong technique.

Doodle: You need 2 sponsors to get into the club here. The owner of the shop i bought it at gave me some basics and I've read a lot on here about bone to bone contact, anchor points and etc but haven't shot with anyone else yet. I do believe i am torquing for whatever reason. For grip i just try to keep arm in line with shoulder, elbow slightly bent and hand loose. Like i said though, i'm getting the arrow biting my knuckles as it leaves fairly often. Shop owner mentioned it and said to be careful, etc...

Speckle: Until i meet someone, the busy shop owner/guide is my best resource. Arrows are cut (by him), length adjusted but self sighted (is there any other way?). I'm using a cheap release that seems to be sticking a little during my last session. Caused at least one miss that i know of... whole bow swung to the left on me (from anticipation?). I thought someone else wouldn't be able to aim my bow due to geometries? I guess they don't have to hit the bulls-eye.. just create a grouping? Maybe i should slow down my shooting. lol Try 5 at a time, for 8 hours (with a couple small breaks)....

Where are you located at?

[Tow Bow]

Benamen: Not exactly sure what you mean by sight picture but my peep definitely twists and I probably make it worse by counter-twisting it so I can focus through it. If the strings are in the way, I have a hard time seeing through it. Thanks for the heads up!

Tray: I'm in Canmore.

[Trav]

Originally Posted by Tow Bow

Benamen: Not exactly sure what you mean by sight picture but my peep definitely twists and I probably make it worse by counter-twisting it so I can focus through it. If the strings are in the way, I have a hard time seeing through it. Thanks for the heads up!

Tray: I'm in Canmore.

Twisting your peep so you can see through it is not going to hurt you one bit.

If I were you I would head to calgary and go see Jim at Jimbows he will get you set up and going and give you some basic form lessons. Jim and Linda are great people to deal with

[Riverbc]

Originally Posted by Tow Bow

I'm having some issues, I think they are mostly form but also tuning.

#1: I have to resight every 2nd week. I blame this on anchor point. I anchor from knuckle to the corner of my jaw bone. Maybe the jaw moves too much?

I was the same when I started. I fixed it by haloing my sight housing inside my peep. I am using a 1/4 inch peep as recommended as stated in the directions that came with the site.
I now have 3 points of reference.
1. Knuckle tucked into ear lobe
2. String against my nose
3. Halo peep around sight housing,

End of problem. My groups are now tight and consistent out to 50 yards.

[Tow Bow]

Tray: I may do that or go back to the local hunting store.

River: I looked for a couple hours yesterday but couldn't find mention of halo peeps or haloing. I found a sight that was haloed though. Can you explain #3 a bit?

[Riverbc]

sure no problem.....when you look through your peep, you want to see the outside of the sight housing surrounded by the inside of the peep. Basically, you are just centering you pins, but with the halo effect, you have a quick point of reference.
Take a look at this http://archeryreport.com/2012/04/pro...ze-peep-sight/

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/archiv.../t-73774.html?

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/archiv.../t-67814.html?

[Doodle30]

Originally Posted by Tow Bow

Tray: I may do that or go back to the local hunting store.

River: I looked for a couple hours yesterday but couldn't find mention of halo peeps or haloing. I found a sight that was haloed though. Can you explain #3 a bit?

Hey T-Bow

I don't want this to sound rude in anyway but I think that you need face to face instruction from an experienced shooter. It seems to me you are still a little green for the internet solutions. Jim is an excellent recommendation. Trust me, I was as green as you and am I am at the point I can consistently shoot targets ar 60 yards. It takes time but with your drive, you will get there. I would get some pointers from experienced shooters and then go to the range and work on it myself.

If you have the ability to get to a shop that is qualified and willing to help I would do it. I know Jim's a bit of a drive but I can almost guarantee you wouldn't find it to be a waste of time. Pay your lane fees and get some instruction. Per minute, might be the cheapest thing a guy can do for a day.

Doodle

[Riverbc]

Originally Posted by Doodle30

Hey T-Bow

I don't want this to sound rude in anyway but I think that you need face to face instruction from an experienced shooter.

Doodle

x 2

[biggameassassin]

As for the arrow going way off once and a while I had a similar problem this year but I figured out what it was for me. Where the arrow rests on the bow it wasn't on the right place and it went to the left every time and I finally figured out that was the problem. So Maby check it out and make sure that's not your problem. Good luck! ^.^

[Tow Bow]

River: You know... i haven't been doing that at all! lol I think i might go shooting today and see how much it helps.

Doodle: Doesn't sound rude at all. I guess i'll give them a shout and figure out what i'm looking at for cost.

BigGame: I have wondered about the WB except I haven't yet marked an arrow that went loopy to see if its the same one over and over.

I've looked at a couple of these guides but don't want to mess with the bow until my technique is smoothed out.

http://www.eastonarchery.com/img/dow...ning_guide.pdf

[Doodle30]

Originally Posted by Tow Bow

River: You know... i haven't been doing that at all! lol I think i might go shooting today and see how much it helps.

Doodle: Doesn't sound rude at all. I guess i'll give them a shout and figure out what i'm looking at for cost.

BigGame: I have wondered about the WB except I haven't yet marked an arrow that went loopy to see if its the same one over and over.

I've looked at a couple of these guides but don't want to mess with the bow until my technique is smoothed out.

http://www.eastonarchery.com/img/dow...ning_guide.pdf

I think it will be money well spent. Also to your point on not tuning at the bow until you have your technique smoothed out. Shooting is much like the chicken and the egg. A tuned bow isn't nearly as good in the hands on an untrained shooter, just as a untuned bow hampers a trained shooter. You need both but if you are starting fresh I would make sure I was starting with

Sure you need to work on form but if I am wanting to work on form I would want to know my arrow are spined properly and my nocking point is where it needs to be. I think Jim is very likely to confirm you bow set-up before he takes you to the range to shoot.