Beginner Tips on using a Bow?

Question

I'm starting to use a bow and arrow, I'm wanting to lay off the guns. Can someone give me some tips, or even a video?

Answer 1

stuff that buddy ,use a gun better than an arrow if Robbin hood lived in this time he would use a gun.If you have a gun stick with it i recon,any how its up to you i guess 60 meters is a far you can go with a bow well that's how far i use to shoot my cross bow when i was a kid but now i use guns cheers

Answer 2

Get a kiss button.. therefore you will always have the same sights.

Practice makes perfect.. do like the other guy said and shoot from different angles, elevations, etc..

Answer 3

Just practice a lot, from different elevations, heights and practice shooting standing or sitting as if you were in a cramped blind. Make sure you always anchor your release hand on the same spot on your face everytime, so you always have the same sight picture.

Just keep at it and youll find yourself getting better and better.

Good luck :)

Answer 4

do what the guy above said, get a kiss button.  Then start at 10-15 yards and get sited in, until your on target, then move to 20, 30, and so on.  Practice at a max distance of 40-45 just in case, but know your comfort zone.  For me i would take anythin 35 and under easy, and would only go 40 in the best conditions, no wind, straight shot, and confindent.  If i had doubts, i wouldn't shoot, rather wait than wound a deer.  

Be consistent.  Draw the same way, use the same stance, and practice different positions, crouched, from a stand.  Also move target to different elevations.  Don't wear yourself out either.  Once on target, sling a couple arrows a day to keep your confidence.  Even if its raining shoot a couple, since if you wanna hunt, at some point your probably get wet.  

When you draw the bow, make sure you do it is a slow manner, quitelly, just like hunting.  You don't want to make to much movement when in the field.

Practice is the best, but once again if you shoot 20 arrows and start gettin inconsistent, give it a rest for the day.  Come back fresh.

Answer 5

First off, what kind of bow are you using?  Longbow/recurve or a compound?  The reason I ask is, there are things you need to worry about when you use a longbow/recurve that you don't have to worry about when you use a compound.

With a compound your anchor is not that important for instance, with a longbow/recurve your anchor is everything.

The trick to using a bow, just like a rifle, is consistency.  Everything need to be the same from shot to shot.  If you can be consistent while doing a handstand and shooting with your feet, then that's the perfect form for you.  Having said that, archery form has been researched through millenias of use.  So there are certain things that are the same.  These days the most popular form is the 9 step

1.Stance...feet shoulder width apart, parallel to each other

2.Nock...make sure the arrow makes a solid click on the string

3.Grip...hold the bow with a relaxed hand, wrap your fingers lightly around the grip

4.Pre Draw...with the bow pointed down, look at the target and lock your head in position, this is the first step of anchoring.  Raise the bow up

5.Draw...draw the string back, with constant motion

6.Anchor...bring the string to your head, there are several different anchor points you can use depending on what type of equipment you have

7.Aim...put the sight on target...simple enough

8.Release...relax your fingers and let the string push the fingers out of its way.

9.Follow through...continue the motion of your draw hand naturally.

A little something about anchor if you're using longbows or recurves, like I said anchor is paramount.  Without a solid and consistent anchor, it doesn't matter where you aim, you're only going to hit the target by luck.  This is because unlike guns or the compound bow, longbows and recurves don't have a rear sight.  

The anchor comes in two part, first part is the position of your head relative to the rest of your body, and the second is the position of the nock of the arrow relative to your head.  So if your head move about from shot to shot, it doesn't matter if you always put your nock on the same place on your face it'll never be consistent either.  This is the importance of locking on target during the pre draw stage.  Once you acquire the target, lock your head in position.  

Once your head is in position, you need to lock the rear end of that arrow relative to your head.  This is usually done by touching your face with parts of the string or parts of your hand.  For people shooting without sights, the prefered anchor is usually tip of the index finger by the corner of the mouth, or some people put the tip of their thumb by their cheek bone.

The most solid anchor, however is used by Olympic style archer.  We can use this anchor because we use sights.  This anchor places the rear of the arrow so far down your face that without sights it's hard to get a good target picture when you're up close.  The point of the arrow will look like it's pointed at the ground.  But the thing that makes it solid is that every contact is bone on bone.  Here's the anchor, you put the string on your chin bone and the bone of your index finger is pressed firmly against your jaw bone.  This anchor doesn't move about once locked in place.

I do suggest you find a shooting range near you.  If you're in the US, try www.usarchery.org to find one.  It'll help tremendously with your form.