Aiming for Gold

One of the downfalls of whitetail hunting for me last year was not enough time shooting my bow and getting a consistent and solid shot sequence down. After going back to the drawing board and re-evaluating my form I realized my draw length was off by half an inch and I really didn’t have any consistent anchor points. Any archer conscious or unconsciously goes through the sequence of loading, gripping, drawing, anchoring, aiming then shooting their bow. What I didn’t realize previously was that I wasn’t analyzing these individual pieces and consciously making changes prior to releasing my arrow. Changing my grip gave me a much solider shot and seemed to give me a longer period of time which I could have my bow drawn and be aiming.

Anchoring consistently and properly changed my shots immensely. I realized to be consistent I need more than just one anchor point. The book Idiot Proof Archery states, “After full draw is reached, the rear anchor is on the face, but there is a second anchor or front anchor, which is the pin or dot placement on the target”. For me I am aware of my anchors when I draw back as, the string center on the tip of my nose, release back to the corner of my mouth and peep sight centered on whatever pin I’m aiming at. Also keeping both eyes open! A change for a rifle hunter but I see so many people shooting their bows with one eye closed.

Now that I feel like my shot sequence has more correct form I’m now working on squeezing that release versus punching it. A few tricks I’ve been told is to squeeze the shoulder blades back and together as well as wrapping your finger back and around the release slowly once you are ready to let your shot go.  It’s a great time to regroup on technical skills in the off-season.  All of these tips have greatly improved my shot and my groups are becoming very consistent.