Abell's instinctive shooting books – a question

[James Harvey]

#3907

So I want to get one of Asbell’s instinctive shooting books. Can anyone recommend if it’s worthwhile buying and reading them in sequence? Or is the latest the greatest and render all previous obsolete? I’d be inclined to start at 1 and go from there, but shipping here is real expensive, so if it’s worth getting a couple, or all three, or whatever, I’d rather take the hit and do it all at once. Has anyone read them and have recommendations?

Cheers 🙂

[David Coulter]

#25038

Jim,

I only read the last one and it’s a great help. I had the same question and I’d like to read the first two at some point. It helped me a lot and I still go back to it at times. dwc

[mhay]

#25066

I have only read the ‘INSTINCTIVE SHOOTING II’. My Dad bought it for me in ’94 .It has been a huge help over the years . Having read it several times many parts are memorized . I highly recommend it . I would like to own and read the other books by Asbell as well but haven’t got around to getting them ,,,yet.

There is a story with my copy of the book .

I first read Asbell in Bowhunter mag in the early ’80’s . It was a short article on INSTINCTIVE SHOOTING. Things changed over night for me . Off came the sight pins and shooting became a real thrill with each arrow .

I tried my best to encourage Dad to get out the Old Grizzly and get in on the fun , but he was content with the compound .

At that time we were hunting deer a lot , usually every evening . Suddenly Dad is practicing with his recurve . He had never been consistent at all with the recurve , yet , now he was stacking arrows in the straw bale . I just stood back and watched him and soon noticed that his form was totally different than before .I questioned him about the change but he just grunted and continued to shoot .

A month later he gave me the Asbell book for christmas . As soon as I removed the wrapping paper and eyed the cover I burst into laughter knowing full well that Dad had read it before wrapping it up . He also gave a hearty laugh too.

Dad never picked up the c-pound or x-bow again . He took several deer with the recurve , as a good ground hunter . One very impressive running shot on a button buck.

[Barry Lyons]

#25466

I have read both one and two. Book two is an expansion of book one and there is a bit of redundancy in the books. But, book one is far more focused on a lot of basic fundamentals. If you skip book one you will miss focus on skills maybe mentioned but not emphasized in book two.IMHO

[Murray]

#25519

I would say read his first book first. That is where all the basics are explained, and should be the foundation if you want to learn his style. It’s very entertaining, informative, and will probably answer a lot of questions. It did for me, anyway.

[skifrk]

#26375

I have only read the last one but from what he tries to convey there in the material is that would be a good book to get. I still want to read the first 2 but will slowly over time.

[Raymond Coffman]

#26681

ausjim –

I own and Have read [studied] all 3 — best books on the subject.

if you only buy one, get — Advanced Instinctive Shooting for Bowhunting.imho

Scout.

ps – Fred’s book Stalking and Still Hunting is excellent!

[James Harvey]

#26845

Mhay, that’s a great story 🙂

Thank you all for your responses. I just saw 3rivers has an Asbell ‘master pack’, with all 3 shooting books, his hunting book and a DVD of his. Man I wish I hadn’t seen that :/

I think I may buy number 1 and go from there. Every tip of his I’ve tried from the mags has been a winner, so I’m eager to read some more in depth instruction from him.

[Col Mike]

#27707

Jim

From one para to another–all of G.Fred Asbell books and video are right on–kinda like-watch the horizon not your toes. Money well spent. Hop and pop my young friend. And before you ask–yes all my jumps were night jumps8).

Semper Fi

Mike

[Bunyan Morris]

#27814

I’ve only read the first one. I learned my form from his instruction. It is well written, and the concepts and basics are clearly explained. I need to read the second.

[ChumpMcgee]

#28119

I have read all of Freds books and would recommend all of them for sure. I did pull something new out of each book even thou he does touch on the same or similar topics from book to book.

Also if you are looking for instructional dvd’s the Masters of the Barebow collection is pretty awesome. It takes you thru several different styles of shooting traditional equipment. Even thou I do not personally use some of the techniques that are in the DVD, I did come away with not only learning something new from each technique but also using a portion of the techniques in my shooting.

[Ralph]

#28327

I enjoyed them. I did learn that he has lots of “rights” and that I have lots of “wrongs”. Gives me a challenge to right my wrongs. 😀

[James Harvey]

#56894

I just ordered number 2 and his dvd from 3 rivers. I guess in about 2 weeks I’ll learn about all the ‘wrongs’ I’m doing as well 😉

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#57190

I read his first book years ago, and it’s a great foundation to start with.

Reading Asbell’s excellent article in the most recent TBM prompted me to order “Advanced Instinctive Shooting.” It’s a good prompt to re-analyze my form and techniqiue and keep learning.

[Col Mike]

#57548

Jim–I’m certainly not an expert–but work on the form as he describes–2 meters from target draw and shoot–over and over. As my wife likes to say we Marines only learn by mindless repetition followed by blunt trauma. Then I discovered that I could concentrate on the spot– draw and shoot(without thinking about it) and walla hit the mark. I think you will find it money well spent mate (watch out for the video those guys are shooters and it ain’t that easy):D.

Then you can get his book on stalking and still hunting–I thought I was pretty good at that stuff (I’m still here after stalking prey that shoots back:evil:)–but I picked up some very good tips from that one. Enjoy your fall and winter I’m glad it’s spring on this end of the globe.

Semper Fi

Mike

[James Harvey]

#57567

Cheers mike, I’m a dumb repetition learner as well. Plus I can do that form practice in my short backyard range which is convenient when chasing toddlers 🙂

The daily highs are finally starting to drop below the nineties, humidity is falling. Lovely time for some archery! I’ve been nursing a torn calf and ruined knee for a few weeks now, it’ll be nice to have something to do that doesn’t require much walking 😉

[Col Mike]

#57584

Jim–well that’s the downside of jumping out of airplanes–the upside is that you can practice form from you cheeks or knees which is were most hunting shots are taken–I mean when did you last fire at a bad guy from the off hand:P. Have you considered attaching a target to the toddlers(on a long lead of course)–great moving target practice–well unless the sheila is watching:lol: We hit the upper 40’s today great run with the dogs in the slush:?

Semper Fi

Mike

[grumpy]

#59871

three weeks from 3 rivers??? LOL I ordered last Friday, and got the goods Monday. Bet the shipping was cheaper too. Been thinking about that, lots of stuff must cost you a lot more than here.

[grumpy]

#59877

Repetition. Or as my Dad used to say: “The Army way of teaching.” Actually it is tha same as casting a fly (which makes this seem easy didn’t say it IS easy, just seems easy). hammering a nail, playing a piano. Enough practice, and it gets relegated to the back part of the brain so you don’t have to think about it. Actually if I think about it I loose it. When athletes “choke” it is because they are actually thinking about what they are doing, instead of letting it happen. I did a lot of this kinda stuff on the slate roofs, there has been some research, I know a friend that will remember the researcher, Ill ask him next time I see him.

[Alexandre Bugnon]

#9381

I would buy the DVD instead if I were you. I had both when I started

[Mike Bolin]

#15768

I would buy all three…or make that four including the Stalking and Still Hunting book. Volumes 1 and 2 have a few hunting stories included and those alone made them worth the price! Mike

[James Harvey]

#15810

Alex, I got both book 2 and the dvd. They arrived yesterday and I watched the dvd. I haven’t read the whole book yet, but based on what I’ve seen so far, if I had to keep one it would be the dvd. It’s great to see guys who are good at something do it.

Incidentally, and I suppose unsurprisingly, a lot of his technique has a lot of parallel’s to the instinctive shooting we’re taught for close quarter battle with rifles. Squaring up of stance, deep bend in the knees, hunching over the weapon. Even the finger point, that’s how I was taught to shoot an assault rifle instinctively, to point with the hand holding the foregrip. All of a sudden this doesn’t feel like such a steep learning curve 😀

[Col Mike]

#15854

Jim

Right on its all the same. Having spent a decade or so teaching instinctive shooting–starting with a BB gun to our most elite, it just took me awhile to figure that I could use it with a bow–you should see Linda shoot my .45 pistol and it was custom built for me at our special weapons unit in Quantico. enough for tonight–think I have worn out the trigger finger.

–

Remember–focus on the target forget the weapon–unless your working at sniper ranges-different subject. OH IN cqb well my friend watch that squaring of the stance–advanced techniques teach different approaches–but then we are talking about different prey then turkeys. Small profile in that business means you win they loose.

Semper Fi

Mike

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#32223

After delving into “Advanced Instinctive Shooting” I would highly recommend it for anyone other than an absolute beginner (but they could jump to this right after reading and practicing the info in his first book). It is the best, most thorough exploration of instinctive form and technique that I have read, and I feel like I’m seeing improved results from some of the advice I’ve taken from it.

[David Coulter]

#32371

I keep that book handy. It’s been very helpful. I look forward to getting the DVD sometime, too. dwc

[WyoStillhunter]

#34497

Okay. You guys got me going. I am pulling out my Asbell books (I & II) tonight and putting them beside the bed for review.

Is the DVD really worth the $$ in addition to the books?

[James Harvey]

#34636

Stillhunter, if I had to keep only one and throw away the other, I’d keep the dvd. Not because I don’t like the book, but because for me, with a physical activity like this, I’m better off watching people who are good at it and trying to replicate their actions, rather than reading descriptions of how to do a thing.

That being said, once I am confident with all the physical aspects, I think the books would be better for exactly what you’re talking about, reviewing to touch up on things. If you’re a confident instinctive shooter, I think the dvd would be of less value.

All that being said, I’ve only had them and been covering the material for a month or so. So give the above comments the weight they deserve 😉

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