A little something for the beginner?

so... since we are looking for some new topics...
 
How about a sharing of knowledge for the beginner bow hunter.
My son got a bow this year from a guy here on the board... now Dad had to get one...
I just picked up a used browning (not sure on model at the moment).
 
So.. where to start for the beginner....you don't have to go all technical and way out there...just share any basics that helped you learn, where to start, arrow discussions (since I know nothing), fingers vs release ( a topic on every bow site I have ever seen). etc.
 
Thanks
Mike

I think denali has covered most of this. Be patient with yourself and make practice fun. Join a indoor archery league if you can. We have one here that starts the 1st Saturday of January. I shoot in it every year. You can never stop learning about this activity. So have fun and practice.
 
 
 

Remember to teach our youth the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Keepin' it simple, I think Denali & G3 covered it!  Have fun & shoot as much as you can!

PAPER TUNING

These paper tuning instructions will assist you in achieving good arrow flight. Even though paper tuning is not the

end-all method of gaining perfect arrow flight, it is a guideline and a good starting point for achieving that goal.

To begin paper tuning your bow you must set up a frame covered with paper. Newsprint or other large-sized paper

will work fine. Make sure your backstop is far enough behind the paper to allow the arrow to pass completely

through the paper. For your first test stand about 10 feet away from the paper. Make sure the arrow is level when

shooting. After you have made your test shot, compare the hole in the paper with the following samples:

Low Tear: [/fo

<message edited by g3bears on Wednesday, January 07, 2009 4:45 PM>

Remember to teach our youth the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Guys:
 
Thanks for providing, mgoodman, with some valuable advice!
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve
 
 

Everyone before has gotten all of it covered. Best thing is to practice, practice and then practice some more. Try doing little things like I have to get me ready for the season, shoot at your target form various angles also. You may never get the perfect shot you want but you can still make a clean ethical kill shot. Also practice from an elevated stand for more assurance for when hunting from a treestand. You will also want to practice with whatever hunting clothes you will be wearing to make sure you do not have any inteference with sleeves or headnets. So....................................practice, practice and then practice some more. Get yourself a good rangefinder but also be able to judge distances at a glance and get good at it. You will not always have to opportunity to get your rangefinder on target before the target gets away.

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

EXCELLENT tutorial here, gang!

While there's nuthin' I'd disagree with, overall, I might put a slightly different order on things in order of preference or priority ... NBD, really ...

One aspect I'd stress is use of proper technique ... y'all know ... feet squared @ 90 degrees, shoulder width, blahblahblah ... all the basics we HOPE to be able to use in an actual huntin' shot, but will seldom experience in the actual moment of truth ...

If this will require you to ask for "professional" (?) help, then do so ... there will be literally dozens of shooters @ any range who will be (one may only hope) more than happy to help with friendly guidance ...

Once you get the basics down, strive for consistency ... that is whut leads up to some of the finer points cited by several folks, above here ...

Then, it's practicepracticepractice ... as mentioned ... WITH THE FOLLOWING CAVEAT ...

Y'all have heard the adage: Practice makes perfect. Yup. HOWever ... I'll add in a clarification learnt the hard way, thru many years of my own activities, plus several years as a coach of various activities ... Practicing your mistakes makes perfect mistakes ...

I had this brot back to me only last fall, when tuning up @ the trap range for upcoming fessunt season ... first round was ... OK ... not great, but ... adequate? ... 17, I think it wuz, or mebbe 18 ... or 16 ...

Next round, another guy said, "I'll score you ..." ... since I usually merely keep score of the misses in my head, I said he din't need to ... but he said, "No, that's OK ... I don't mind ... "

So ... I broke one of five at the first station ... then I began missing ... and missing ... and missing ... and getting a bit more upset with each miss ...

Along about #16 or so, he said, "I think you're lifting your head ... "

I thot about it, and missed a few more ... then he said it again ... and I thot about it a little harder ...

I broke five of the last six, to end up with a six for the round ...

My point is, even tho we've done sumthin' a lot, sumtimes we'll fergit some of the basics ...

One of my college instructors had a famous phrase that everyone who ever took one of his classes (I wuz a PE major) remembers to this day ...

He'd chastise mistakes (he wuz quite the athlete, I think he'd lettered in about seven sports in his own college career ... ) with his notable nasal twang ...

"Fellas ... Ya gotta know the nomenclature ... Ex-e-cute-the-Fun-da-men-tals!!!"

That's whut we've gotta do ... learn the fundamentals, then practice 'em until our muscle memory CAN'T forget 'em ... (I'm sad to say, I seldom manage to find the time to reach that level of repititive performance ... )

Put another way, to reiterate whut sumone said here, prior to now ... shoot a LOT ... but NOT too much @ one time ...

Son #1, before he got so busy with kids and hockey practice and werk @ the store and all the rest of Life Its Ownself used to get to the range and he averaged prolly about 300-400 arrows a week ... it paid off for him, when -- despite a missed shot (used the 30 pin, and the range wuz more like 22 yds), he came back with a longer shot and downed a P&Y Pronghorn when it actually stopped to look back @ him ...

Practice ... get the basics mastered ... THEN add in all the little things ... fine tuning ... shooting off-balance or from awkward positions to adapt to conditions you WILL meet when afield ... and practice some more ...

And ... know your limitations (to quote Harry Callahan) ... if you're not solid and confident with your skills beyond a certain distance, DON'T SHOOT ... (Son #1 WAS confident @ the longer range ... it wuz his range estimation that wuz weak ... he also managed the same error @ an elk in Montana ... but it wuz a clean miss, and not a crippling shot that would've merely fed the bears and lost his arrow ... )

Oh ... one other thing ... I'm

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

All very good points here. I would add that initially you pay attention to your grip.(hand, not bow)  Make it a light, comfortable...connection to the bow that is the same EVERY time. This will help elimimate any torque that you may unknowingly put on the bow. After you "practice, practice, practice", this should be second nature, and less of a focus than when you originally start shooting. Use a sight level too. That helps accuracy and consistency. Those are two things that you can go back to months from now if you are having a "sudden" onset of errant arrows. Biggest thing after setting up the equipment is to just enjoy shooting... and enjoy it alot!
 
Kent

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson

NAHC-L, NRA

I have the level vials on both of my sights and I can tell you honestly, that I may have looked at it maybe once in my whole entire shooting career. Once you get the correct form of shooting down, along with a solid anchor point consistently, then everything else comes second nature after lots of practice, practice, practice.  Good luck.

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

One more thing, I feel its critical, is when practicing hold your bow back as long as you can before releasing the arrow. I do this becuase some times you don't alway have that perfect shot. You may have to hold your own for a couple seconds, or minutes, before that animal presents the right shot. The more you do this the more confident you'll become in drawing, holding, and then releasing.
Good Luck

Hunt Hard, Hunt Safe and enjoy what you got in life
Paul Snyder
LM NAHC,NRA,SCI,DU

I agree with Duck. This will be very critical at some point in the future. If you do have a hard time drawing and holding for it for a little bit, don't be afraid to back the poundage off until you feel comfortable.

Kraig Osborne
Hunter since birth, NAHCLM, USN

By the way, welcome to (IMO) the funnest and at times most frustrating passion in the world!!!!!!!

Kraig Osborne
Hunter since birth, NAHCLM, USN

Agreed with the 2 above posts also. Draw back and hold for awhile. Remeber to breath easily and calmly, just as you would if you were waiting on that broadside shot with a rifle. You will without a doubt start the shaking thing, but after awhile it becomes easier. When it is time to squeeze that trigger, do it slowly, don't rush the shot. That will without a doubt give you a bad hit. Lots of pushups will give you the upper body strength to hold longer. Also in the offseason, get urself one of those rubber excersise bands. You can get them in diff colors for diff resistence. I use one everynight. Just wrap one end around your hand and wrist and grab the other end just as you would be drawing your bow back and hold it on a picture, spot on the wall or your better half's backside as she is doing the dishes if you like.  LOL Any way you want will give you the added upper strength to hold longer.

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

Everyone has given the advice I would give.  I will throw my 2 cents in and say just get some decent equipment that you can afford.  Most expensive does not always mean the best.  You can get that bow tuned and set up for many, many years of good hunting with everything you need for under $250.  Heck, I hunted with my first bow(a PSE) from ages 15-31.  The bow I have now is a 7 year old Hoyt that I bought off my father when he upgraded.  I have spent money on strings, arrows, new pins, fall away rest and broadheads.  I love this bow and will hunt with it for years to come!


p.s.  Most of all..........HAVE FUN WITH YOUR SON!!!!

Love playing that string music and sending a Muzzy flying!

WOW... thanks guys. Its a lot of great info and I am on my way to throwing a stick at animals now.
I picked up a PSE package from a local shop (on order)....package comes with a full setup and arrows plus the guys there are giving me some lessons and I get full use of the range. Since its nice and close to work, I get about 40 minutes in at lunch of shooting time.
 
and yes, my son and I will have a blast.
 
M

MG,
Hope you and your son have a blast!! Happy shooting.

Kraig Osborne
Hunter since birth, NAHCLM, USN

MG,
 Wether you do or do not get something with the stick and string really won't matter, although we are glad you got into this stressless sport, as long as you get to spend it with your son. Those will be memories that you will have for the rest of your life. The good and bad, ups and down, hits and misses. Being together these days with the ones you love is all any of us can ever ask for. Good luck to the both of you.

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

Looks like you got your setup and everything is well under way. 
 
Some generic advice for anyone else out there thinking of or just getting into bowhunting.  The biggest mistake I see is people buying bows based solely on name recognition.  We see the ads in magazines every time we pick them up.  Each brand touting it's the best/fastest/will open your beer and drive your car for you, but regardless of speed and price, and as stated above, if it doesn't feel right in your hand it's not the right bow.  It has to be comfortable to you and feel good when you shoot it. 
 
Secondly, you can't beat a good pro shop!  Find one and you will more than likely find some fellow bowhunters who love the sport and have a pretty good knowledge of equipment.  They will be able to help you with things like the paper tuning and getting a bow that fits you. 
 
Finally, don't even think about getting into it unless you are prepared for a lifetime addiction!!! LOL!!!  It is very addicting and if it hadn't been for my uncle throwing a camo jumpsuit on me the first time and dragging me into the woods with a bow, I probably wouldn't be hunting today.  It was bowhunting that started my addiction and that is the only way to describe it...addiction!  Have fun!!!!
 
 

Finally, don't even think about getting into it unless you are prepared for a lifetime addiction!!! LOL!!! It is very addicting and if it hadn't been for my uncle throwing a camo jumpsuit on me the first time and dragging me into the woods with a bow, I probably wouldn't be hunting today. It was bowhunting that started my addiction and that is the only way to describe it...addiction! Have fun!!!!

This is excactly how I got into it also, some 40+yrs ago.

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

I ended up backing out of the PSE package for a bow a year older. Its still a PSE, but it fit me well and I have the shop help me out with it. Saved about 50% of the cost on what I would have spent on a brand new one.
I was hesitant to spend a lot of $$ right out the door since I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it....needless to say, I am enjoying my self with just targets right now.

Anyway... shop tuned my bow as well as my sons bow. We are in the target at 20 yards and working on getting comfortable shooting. We will spend the time to fine tune everything once I know its not due to my arm shaking a bit or my unskilled self at lining up a shot.
Either way, the son and I shoot each night after work when we have time and we are having fun.

Thanks for all the help, I'm sure you will see additional posts from me in the near future.

M