Hold at full draw

[Elk97]

How long can you hold at full draw before you start shaking enough that you can't make an accurate shot? Only about 45 seconds for me to make a good shot to 40 yards. That's not long enough IMO for elk hunting so I'm working on strength to increase it. What do you consider the minimum time you should be able to hold at full draw for hunting?

 

[Reburn]

my form crushes down at about 30 seconds with 85% letoffs. With an animal in my sights my adrenaline is up so either I hold better or dont realise is breaking down. Likely the latter.

 

[Billy Goat]

I can hold for over a minute if I need to.

Most letoff I shoot is 80%.

Not saying I'm driving X's after holding that long, but for hunting range and accuracy I can do it.


There was a shot in one of the shooting challenges where a long hold came into play, it's good practice.

 

[kcm2]

I pull 60 lbs and set the timer on my phone for 2 minutes. I can hold that long and still shoot well. You just work up to it.

 

[LongWayAround]

At the range? I can hold longer than I can count.

In view of a bull elk? I'm usually shaking like a cat shitting razor blades before I draw...

 

[Elk97]

I was calling for my son this past season and we had a bull responding in thick timber. My son moved toward it and saw it bugle back at me and then it started walking toward him. He drew back when it got close (<20 yds) and was behind trees and brush. He held while it kept coming toward him but it stopped at 4 yds. Of course it was completely behind a large tree and brush, all he could clearly see was 6" of it's nose. It stayed there for awhile, then must have scented my son and ran off back down the hill. My son didn't have to let down but it got me thinking about how long I could hold if necessary and still be accurate. It's part of my practice now, last shot I hold as long as I can and still make a good shot.

 

[LandYacht]

Good call making it part of your practice. I do 2 minutes minimum in practice. This year it wasn’t long enough for the first bull that I drew back on, went past two minutes and I had to let down when he moved behind some thick stuff.

My buddy took the opportunity to then draw and asked me how far. I no sooner got “40” off my lips and his arrow was on it’s way.

So I suppose you have the option to practice it, or hunt with some that does, ha!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MattB]

I would also test groups after max hold versus the normal shot sequence. My bet is they open up considerably.

A lot of being a successful bowhunter is identifying spots to get drawn on game.
This past season I hunted elk with a guide who told me to draw on a couple of occassions when I had identified other spots to draw as the animal moved closer and that would likely not have me at full draw for too long. As much as I generally cr@p on people who second guess their guides, both situations resulted in me getting drawn as I thought I could. Sadly neither resulted in a dead bull....

 

[5MilesBack]

I used to practice holding for a minute then shooting at 60 yards and do that five times in a row. I've never had to hold anywhere near that long on an elk so I don't really practice that much anymore. But I'm sure I could hold for awhile if needed, and since I'm a command shooter it doesn't affect me as much as it would some guys. As long as I release when I want to, it's good.

 

[S.Clancy]

I used to practice holding for a minute then shooting at 60 yards and do that five times in a row. I've never had to hold anywhere near that long on an elk so I don't really practice that much anymore. But I'm sure I could hold for awhile if needed, and since I'm a command shooter it doesn't affect me as much as it would some guys. As long as I release when I want to, it's good.

Yea I've never had to hold out an animal more than 10-15 sec so I don't even practice it. It's more about timing your draw than anything else.