Canting the bow

[mhay]

#3618

I’m curious as to how many trad shooters cant the bow and how much ,,,rough angle .

Does more or less affect your accuracy ? Does it seem to improve your form or sourly affect it ?

Reason for asking is , I have always canted the bow . Just two days ago ,,,while accuracy was at a scary low ,,,I noticed I was actually uncomfortable at full draw as well as during the draw . I then started bending more at the waist and canting the bow quite a bit more . The comfort returned and the seemingly STRAIN stopped . My release changed for the better without thinking about it and my consistency has reached a high for the past year of shooting .

Looking for your thoughts on the subject.

[Doc Nock]

#21928

HOpefully for your sake and mine and others, someone with way more shooting expertise will weigh in.

I find the more I “bend” the shorter my draw.

Someone once said to let your bow arm dangle relaxed at your side…then just pull up that arm and point at something with your pointer finger… then whatever angle your hand is in, stick your bow in and do that cause it’s the natural orientation of your arm/hand/wrist.

I have natural excessive wrist rotation in my shooting form and had to have a bowyer finally diagnose that and alter a grip for me to get full comfort.

My only question to you about “strain” is if you’re not using back tension…or weak back/shoulder muscles to cause strain, are you compromising draw length to bend more?

archery might be a game of inches…and stick bows may be simple machines, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t tremendous variables to learn in using that simple machine!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#22054

I pretty much always cant my bow when shooting, without really thinking about it. My normal cant is between 15 and 20 degrees. A canted bow just feels more “natural” to me, and it doesn’t negatively affect accuracy at all in my experience. I also believe that a canted bow allows for a larger sight window and a better view of the target than a vertical bow.

Asbell advocates a more aggressive, bent-knee shooting stance, combined with facing forward, in his “Advanced Instinctive Shooting” book. He feels that it helps intensify concentration on the target, aids in the style of “push-pull” drawing that he advocates, and improves his accuracy versus the erect, in-line classic archer’s stance.

Personally, I don’t bend my knees that much on a regular basis while target shooting (though I think that it’s good practice, along with lots of other positions), but I do find that getting my upper body leaned into the draw, with my head over the arrow, gives noticeable benefits.

And all this talk makes we want to go out back and fling a few arrows…:D

[mhay]

#22138

I have read Freds ”INSTINCTIVE SHOOTINGII” many times .

What you said , Smithy , in your 3rd paragraph is spot on to how I do it too. I just noticed in recent days that if I cant the bow a bit more than I normally would it seems to bring everything into better alignment ,,,resulting in better and more consistent groups .

[paleoman]

#22185

I always can’t the bow. I can’t hardly imagine a hunting shot where you’re not in some screwed up position. The more you mix it up the better. I’m of the “not thinking about it” school. Tilt, twist and bend until muscle memory takes over then don’t stop!

[James Harvey]

#22192

A cant feels unnatural to me, but I have been working on forcing it lately. When I put a really heavy cant on it (maybe 45degrees, probably less) I appreciate what Asbell is saying about getting the bow out of the way. Even focusing on the target, all I can see in my periphery is the arrow, lining fletching to tip to target.

Asbell writes of pointing your bow hand at the target while Hill wrote of thinking of the arrow as an extension of your string hand and pointing that at the target. When I shoot a rilfe instinctively I point both hands at the target and I have been trying to apply that. The double hand point, with the heavily canted bow leaving nothing but the arrow as a visual reference seems to cover all bases for me. The cant still feels unnatural but I am convinced of it’s merits so will persist for the time being.

Jim

[Col Mike]

#22219

OK–my 2 cents

What Bruce said and Paleo—it boils down to we are each individuals and hunting shots are unlike the range– they are all different. Cant or not—well it depends.

I think Fred A’s primary point is not bending the knees or canting–his focus is —the target. Concentrate on that, practice the fundamental’s and you will hit what you are looking at.

If you are seeing the arrow or fletching in your peripheral vision you are NOT focused on the target. Sorry Jim.

When I taught instinctive shooting to the door kickers we took the sights off their rifles and pistols–ranges out to 10meters for the .45 and 100m for the rifle–concentrate on the target mount the weapon the same every time and shoot. Of course we started with a BB gun saves a lot of money.

Jim will answer your pm tomorrow its been a long day with two bus tours of 100 folks.

Semper Fi

Mike

[jason samkowiak]

#22260

I do and always have shot with a can’t of about 20-30 degrees.

Works best for me and my comfort zone.

[David Coulter]

#22313

I’m pretty sure my cant varies in different situations. When I’m low to the ground I know I cant more. I also practice an opposite cant from my elevated practice stand for a variation of shooting behind and to the left (I’m a righty). It works pretty good at hunting ranges. I’d have to be feeling very confident to use it while hunting, but I think it’s good to practice all angles of shots. dwc

[James Harvey]

#22425

colmike wrote: If you are seeing the arrow or fletching in your peripheral vision you are NOT focused on the target.

I don’t really get that Mike. When ever I am shooting anything I am always somewhat aware of what is going on in my periphary. That is especially true for things moving within it, which the arrow is right up until anchor. I worked hard at the very start of my career to avoid tunnel vision while shooting, are you saying that is what I should be attempting to achieve in focusing on the target?

Look forward to hearing from you. Sounds like business is good 😀

Jim

[Terry Lightle]

#22899

I cant mine,practice canting more and less to feel more comfortable so when a limb or something is in the way I have been in that position before.

[Jason Wesbrock]

#23157

As a general rule, I do not shoot with a canted bow. Every once in a great while I take a few practice shots that way just to reinforce that I can do it, but I can probably count those shots every year on both hands. In almost 30 years of bowhunting I can’t remember a single time I needed to cant my bow to kill an animal, and that includes both tree stands and ground hunting. On the other hand, I can recall numerous animals that stopped behind my tree, requiring a vertically-held bow in order to take them.

In the end it’s all about what style of shooting works best for the individual. Some people enjoy a hunched, twisted, bent over, heavily canted bow style of archery. I find my best success implementing more classic archery form. Someone else may find a middle ground approach is most effective for them.

[David Fudala]

#26801

I haven’t been shooting trad gear long enough to classify this advice but I do feel that when I cantthe bow it brings my whole upper body and my head into a more focused alignment. I practice shooting at many different angles to give my hand eye coordination several different looks including shooting from my knees with the bow as close to horizontal as I can get. Helps me be ready for any situation I may be in when the moment of truth comes.

[Doc Nock]

#26816

😀

On the lighter side, when I read about “canting” a bow, and some folks “can’t cant” I think of that old tongue twister about how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood!

Since Fred gets a plug, whom I like and respect a lot, I’ll throw in “Instinctive Archery Insights by Jay Kidwell, a sports psychology.

Since were predators with eyes in front, if you focus with both eyes open, right vs. left eye dominance doesn’t matter. I’m right handed and left eye dominant! I shoot instinctive.

I erroneously thought that if I held a bow vertical, I couldn’t use binocular vision. TO tune Troy Breeding’s recommended way with EFOC arrows, vertical simplifies it so I shot that way for a week. Took some concentration to avoid looking at the danged riser, but I could do it.

I don’t think it wise to say “this or that” is absolute about anything, let alone trad archery and instinctive shooting. We’re all built different and shoot a bit differently. Kidwell makes the point when we go against our natural stance and alignment, we’re asking for trouble!

Do what feels “right!”

[Greg Ragan]

#28652

Some food for thought.

#1 – Keep your bow shoulder pointed at your target….always….high or low.

#2 – Your shooting should be natural and comfortable, leaning into the shot sligtly with head tilted.

Schulz said Howard Hill would vary the cant of his bow depending on distance….long shots were almost straight up and down. From a tree ot close ranges he would almost “lay the bow over flat”. I beleive both he and Howard hit pretty regular because they followed #1 and #2 above as a rules of law.

[Author]

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