You can keep your favorite hunting places up to date all you want, with the best possible food plots, and deer stand locations, but, if in the moment of truth you are unable to place the arrow where it needs to be, everything you have worked on will have been in vain. Accuracy is one of the most important things when it comes to bow hunting. This article lists seven tips for achieving the best possible accuracy.
Archery Accuracy and Shooting Tips
Confidence - Confidence in your shooting ability is key to being accurate. If you are not comfortable in a forty yard shot, chances are you will not hit your target. You will gain confidence with time and repetition. Be sure to practice at varying distances, as this will help build confidence at all distances.
Anchor Point - Anchor point is something that a shooter must have to be consistently accurate. When you draw back your bow, and rest your hand slightly against a certain point on your face this is called an anchor point. Pressing too hard on your face, or not touching your face at all will cause you to be inaccurate, therefore, lightly touch your hand to your face. You also have to be sure to touch the same point on your face. Replicate this action every time in the same manner before you release an arrow. After time you will subconsciously do this.
Stance – Standing comfortably with your legs apart is the traditional stance, but being able to adapt to different positions depending on the circumstance is also important. Jace Bauserman recommends “practicing by putting your feet close together, kneeling down and letting your butt rest on your heels. This creates a very solid platform, and one that I use regularly whether I’m firing an arrow at hide or foam. You’ll notice when you first start shooting from this position it’s pretty easy. But the longer you stay kneeling, the more you'll begin to shake. Keep practicing until you can shoot a softball-size 5-arrow group even with tired legs.” (Bauserman)
Grip – Carefully paying attention to your grip is also very important. How are you holding on to your bow? If your grip is to tight the arrow may not fly straight, also the strings could fall off your bow. Often shooters mess this one up. It’s best if your grip is loose, and open.
Release and follow through - A good release, as well as your follow through, is key for consistency. Try to have release smooth and crisp, no knee jerk reactions. “Eyeing the shaft all the way to the target through the sight-pin bracket during practice sessions promotes better follow-through and keeps you from dropping your bow arm.” (Brantley, 2) If the shooter lets the bow fall immediately after releasing the arrow, his/her contact point may be consistently low.
Breathing - Shooters want to continue to breathe normally throughout the shot. “Holding your breath reduces oxygen flow to the brain, causing you to shake and loose mental focus. Also, your visual acuity starts to decrease after holding your breath for only 8 seconds.” (Bauserman) So, even though you may not even realize you are doing it, breath holding is a bad idea. Also deep breaths are not the best idea, just try to breathe normally.
The Paper Test - If you are having problems with your bow shooting accurately beyond 20 yards, and you can physically see your arrow flying sideways a paper test is probably needed. You could do it yourself, but it would be best to go to an archery dealer and use their system.
A paper test is basically a piece of paper that shooters will fire through, standing about three feet away. After the arrow tears through the paper, shooters want their mark to look like a bullet hole. Most of the time they will end up with a tear horizontally or vertically about 2 to 3 inches long. When this occurs it usually means the knocking points may not be lined up with the rest correctly.
There could be a variety of different problems but the most common problem is the one I mentioned above. When this happens the knocking points will have to be moved up or down until your arrow creates a perfect bullet hole. If the shooter is still unable to achieve a perfect mark, adjusting the rest left or right might be needed, depending on the situation. After this, if the arrow still is not flying straight it could possibly be something to do with the cams, or string. We would hope this would not be the case. After the paper test the shooter should be able to shoot accurately at all distances.
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