[JRW]

in reply to: Looking for advice on switching to trad #135802

Ray,

I think the biggest mistake folks make is thinking they have to start over from scratch, that everything they know about archery from shooting a compound no longer applies. The transition from compound to traditional is really not that big a jump. I suspect we in the traditional archery community end up making it more complicated than necessary.

 

[JRW]

in reply to: Looking for advice on switching to trad #135800

Jeffrey,

You’ve been given a lot of excellent advice above. Heeding it will take months, if not years, off your learning curve. If I may, I’d like to add a little to that advice.

Archery is archery; form is form. The biomechanics of shooting a bow do not change simply because your limbs no longer have cams.  Stand up straight and use the same basic T form as you likely already do with your compound. There may be times in bowhunting when shooting from varying positions will be advantageous, but it’s best to establish a baseline of good form and fundamentals before learning how to divert from it.

With your compound you likely use a peep sight and anchor either with the back or your hand (handheld release, like a hinge) or base of your thumb (wrist strap release) at the base of your jaw. With a recurve or longbow you will have to establish an entirely different anchor. What you want is hard tissue contact, bone on bone. Something like the tip of your middle finger on the lower rear of your eye tooth (just an example). What you don’t want is soft tissue like just touching your finger to the corner of your mouth. Soft tissue (like the corner of the mouth) moves. Hard tissue does not. If your anchor is inconsistent, your accuracy will be as well.

Aiming is perhaps one of the most hotly debated topics in traditional archery. It’s also one of the first things people who switch from compounds want to know—“How do you aim that thing?”. There are many different ways to aim, and they all work well for different people. The trick is to find which one works best for you (and yes, sights are one of those options). Fred Asbel has some great material out there for instinctive shooting, and Jay Kidwell’s book is an exceptional resource as well (his two-step approach to learning instinctive aiming is really incredible).

If you want to learn conscious aiming, like what you’re used to, only without actual sight pins, then there are a ton of good resources out there for you. Masters of the Barebow 3 covers two different types of gap shooting by a pair of world champions (Rod Jenkins and Larry Yien). There’s a video on YouTube called “The Push” that details what’s called fixed crawl—an incredibly basic and high effective aiming style that’s gaining a lot of traction in traditional bowhunting (I use this myself). In addition, TBM has recently ran a pair of articles on gap shooting that you may want to look into. Back issues are available on this website, or, if Robin doesn’t object, I could always email the articles to you.

Above all, keep an open mind, don’t hesitate to change if something you’re doing isn’t working for you, and have fun.

[JRW]

in reply to: Appropriate discussion? #20166

Ed,

J.Wesbrock here.

I’ll defer on the rifle analogies, since I’m no firearms expert. Although, I’d be hard pressed to imagine two bowhunting setups for big game that differ as greatly as a 22LR and a 375 H&H. Doesn’t the latter produce over a hundred times more energy than the former?

Anyway, back to bowhunting. I agree that examining ways to reduce wounding losses is a good thing. But if we go around telling people that with such-n-such setup it’s perfectly OK to try shooting big game up the butt or through the shoulder blades, I think we’ve pretty much lost our credibility on the subject.

[Author]

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