One of the fellas hanging out in my alley.
Alright, I've fished up my last push of days on the river and I'm jacked to get out in the mountains to chase elk around for the next couple weeks. I have my new bow all dialed in and I'm putting the last few things together before setting out. I'll probably stop by the range and take a few shots before heading out. Speaking of which, I think it's worth talking a little bit about being a 53-year-old dude, who's been shooting archery since I was about 6 years old, having to actually learn how to shoot a bow and arrow.
I started archery hunting for deer when I was 13. I used a re-curve and was pretty damn accurate with it out to about 30 yards. We shot constantly and would make up games and have competitions leading up to the season. One of those games we called, "Archery Golf." We would shoot arrows down the dirt road that led out to the Hiway and back to the bale of hay set up in the yard counting how many shots it would take to make the half-mile, round trip. (I wouldn't suggest playing that game today.) I never killed a deer with that bow but I did win a lot of golf matches. In fact, I didn't shoot a deer with a bow until I was 23 and was using a "super-fast" XI Legend. (XI eventually went out of business because they couldn't figure out how to not blow out limbs when everyone started shooting carbon arrows.) I was still only shooting out to about 35 yards with that bow. It was fast, for its time, but I knew my limits and didn't feel comfortable shooting further than that.
I moved around quite a bit in my late 20's and 30's. Bow hunting took a back seat to music, grad-school, and trying to find my place in life. When I got out to Montana, fly-fishing became an obsession as well as elk-hunting the rut. Regardless of actually shooting anything, having a bull screaming at you at 40 yards was worth the price of admission. However, working for a non-profit at the time didn't really afford the opportunity to upgrade the gear.
I did shoot 3 elk with that XI, flinging aluminum arrows and the standard, Rocky Mountain Razor, fixed blade broadheads. The biggest being a 320-inch, 6 X 6 bull at seven and half yards. But I knew the technology had changed significantly over the years and in 2015, I had the money to upgrade. Technology accelerated in the archery world even more over the last decade, which talked me into upgrading again and as I wrote about in the last post, I bought a Bear Escalate.
With all the changes in technology, shooting faster and flatter, shooting lighter arrows, and in theory, being able to shoot longer distances, what didn't change was my shooting style. Although my bow would allow me to shoot out to 80 yards, my technique would not. In short, even though I had been shooting bows since I was 6 years old, I realized I never really learned how to "shoot." This became clear to me in an embarrassing exchange with the store manager at Sportsman's.
When I first shot the new Bear, I immediately noticed a problem with the bow as the string was slapping my forearm when I shot. It only takes once to know you don't want it to happen again. It fricken hurts and you start compensating so that it doesn't happen again. It did again and again, and it sucked.
The other thing I noticed was that while shooting longer distances, the cable guide was entering the site-path, obstructing my view on the target. That didn't seem right so I took the bow back to the store and was thinking I should get my money back. I saved a lot of money on that Bear but in my head, I was thinking that maybe it was cheaper for a reason. As much as I tried to talk myself into just dealing with it because I really wanted it to work out, I came to the realization that this bow was not for me. It was flawed.
I talked to the manager, and he suggested taking me back to the range and having me shoot to see what was going on. He shot first and didn't have a problem. Then I shot and the red contusion on my forearm doubled in size.
"Let's shoot through the paper," He suggested.
As he did, a perfectly round pin-hole formed in the paper denoting a perfectly tuned bow and more importantly, a well shot arrow from someone with good shooting form. When I shot, not only did the bruise on my arm getting bigger and deeper in vibrant colors, but the gaping hole torn in the paper also showed a very different proficiency of shooting form.
Seeing the frustration on my face, mixed with a fair amount of pain, the manager chose to tread lightly with his assessment.
"Now, I'm not a pro so take this with a grain of salt," he suggested, "but what I'm noticing is when you are gripping the bow, the grip is all the way in the palm of your hand. When I grip the bow, it's out more in the thumb. Try to grip the bow hear," as he demonstrated on his hand, "and less in the palm."
I did and as I braced for another thwacking on my forearm, I realized, with a ton of relief, that the string cleared my forearm without slapping it. I shot again and again, no slap and the cable guide no longer intruded into the site frame. More importantly, the bow didn't twist in my hand and the tear in the paper was reduced to a perfectly round hole.
"Well," I said, "apparently, I've been shooting wrong for the past 47 years. So, I guess I'll keep the bow."
What happens when you over-grip a bow, meaning you place it deeper into your palm and grip more firmly, is that there is a tremendous amount of side-pressure that you're putting on your hand. Your hand wants to resist turning with the pressure and when you release the string, the bow naturally twists. The little twist in your hand has a huge impact on how true the arrow is coming off the string. As the bow recoils with the release of tension, it pulls the arrow to the side and not only does the arrow wobble, but it also gets thrown off of its path. At short distance, it's not as noticeable. But as you shoot longer distances, an inch or two at 20 yards multiplies into 8 or 10 inches or even more. In short, even though you might have the gear to shoot long distances, form will always trump speed, not the other way around, which is an error many of us have made over the years.
One last thing that has made a difference in my shooting this year; I bought a new release. The key to accuracy is form and consistency. I have tried a lot of different releases over the years and was skeptical of the hook release because I thought the string could slip off of it as I drew the bow back. That doesn't happen and in fact, the release of the hook seems to be way more consistent as the double caliper release, I have been using. It's also more reliable.
Ok, so I'm heading out form my first day in the mountains. I'll let you know how it goes.
Keep 'em where they live...
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