Benchmarks of progress for new archers

[jj554]

What are some benchmarks you would use for measuring an archers progress? Measuring groupings at different distances would be an obvious one. Paper tuning helped me quickly learn the effects of different grips so maybe shooting near bullet holes with a tuned bow would be a good benchmark for proper grip early on. Consistently shooting with a surprise break could be one. How would you prioritize the different aspects of shooting a bow?

 

[Billy Goat]

I think they are hard to really quantify. I think one of the most important things is getting comfortable with pin float. Seems easy, but suddenly it might not be.

Groups don't tell the whole story, but I think an individual can track their improvements by their group sizes to some extent.


Maybe shooting bareshaft against fletched, making sure the your bareshaft group doesn't move around.

 

[fatlander]

Learning proper shot execution as early as possible into archery will save you a whole lot frustration and heart ache down the road. Being able to recognize bad habits then quickly correct them, so they don’t become debilitating target panic.

As [mention]Billy Goat [/mention] said, get comfortable with pin float and execute good shots. That’s the recipe for the best groups.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dos Perros]

I think when you develop a 'feel' of what happened with a shot before the arrow even makes impact is a telling thing. That means you're paying attention, aware of the different mistakes you're prone to make, and can quickly identify them.

 

[5MilesBack]

I got a buddy into archery in May after getting him a bow off of here. In early June he sent me pics of a 70 yard group he had just shot into his 18-1 target. A couple weeks ago we went and shot 3D, he shot very well. Yesterday he came over to shoot some BH's for the first time (QAD Exodus). At 40 his BH's were consistently hitting 3-4" left of FP's. I tried moving his rest from 13/16" to 7/8", but that didn't fix it. So I switched his top hats out and with his first shots at 40 he broke the BH from the back end with his FP arrow. I think he's progressed into being ready for elk season.

He reminds me of me when I got my first bow. I got it the end of May that year, was shooting very well out to 60 that first week, and then shot my first archery bull that September. I'm hoping for the same for my buddy.

 

[Beendare]

When it comes to bowhunting….I think its recognizing the difference between being able to stand on a target range and stack arrows at even distances…versus being deadly in the woods with a short window of opportunity.