New Archery Tips

[Cwlauger]

I am not totally new to archery, hunting, or shooting. I have some experience and hunted as a younger man..

I am new to the intricacies of archery. I love learning by doing and there aren’t a lot of archery pro shops where I live.

I want to learn how to do everything I need to on a bow. I don’t currently have a bow press though.

What knowledge and processes would you tell a new archer to learn to be able to get a bow shooting its best? Any links to article and videos would be appreciated. I know I can search for stuff, but I am not sure what to target as a beginner in bow maintenance, upkeep and tuning.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ResearchinStuff]

watch dudleys stuff on youtube, especially school of nock series. stay the heck off of archery talk. take literally thousands of shots this year. if your arrow flight is good enough to group field points at ~40 yards, hold off on all further tuning until you're several thousand shots into practice.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

The Bow Shop Bible app is the best single resource IMO. It's kinda pricey but worth it if you're serious about wanting to do your own bow work.

John Dudley's "School of Nock" videos and Gold Tip's "Super Tuning Your Bow" series are good free resources on YouTube. Below are some handy tuning cheat sheets that I find myself referring to frequently. FYI not everything listed on those sheets will be applicable to your particular bow; the end goal of tuning is the same, but different bow makes/models use different mechanisms to get there.

I would echo the advice to avoid Archery Talk. IME you find just as much bad advice as good advice there, and the bad is often stated more emphatically. The quality of archery discussion is much better here on Rokslide. @Billy Goat is a treasure trove of high quality archery info (and mediocre quality memes).

 

[Cwlauger]

The Bow Shop Bible app is the best single resource IMO. It's kinda pricey but worth it if you're serious about wanting to do your own bow work.

John Dudley's "School of Nock" videos and Gold Tip's "Super Tuning Your Bow" series are good free resources on YouTube. Below are some handy tuning cheat sheets that I find myself referring to frequently. FYI not everything listed on those sheets will be applicable to your particular bow; the end goal of tuning is the same, but different bow makes/models use different mechanisms to get there.

I would echo the advice to avoid Archery Talk. IME you find just as much bad advice as good advice there, and the bad is often stated more emphatically. The quality of archery discussion is much better here on Rokslide. @Billy Goat is a treasure trove of high quality archery info (and mediocre quality memes).

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Thank you!!

 

[Cwlauger]

watch dudleys stuff on youtube, especially school of nock series. stay the heck off of archery talk. take literally thousands of shots this year. if your arrow flight is good enough to group field points at ~40 yards, hold off on all further tuning until you're several thousand shots into practice.

Thank you!!! I am getting pretty consistent groups at 20-30 yards… haven’t moved out to 40 yards yet. I’ve entered a tournament this weekend with max distances of 30 yards. I know I’m not a contender to win, I entered to network and get more into the local bow community and meet some more knowledgeable archers.

I’m shooting an entry level bow (GenX X-Versa at 67# and 28” draw). It’s a bit compact and I’m thinking of upgrading my bow to a phase 4 33”.

I’ve been going to the range pretty consistently and working on my technique. Probably close to 500 shots this year.

My peep sight is rotating on me and I don’t have a bow press so I’ve just been twisting it before shots and it’ll hold for a few shots before needing to be twisted again.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

peep twist is a common problem with low quality strings. it can be completely eliminated with high quality strings. String quality is not consistent across bow manufacturers (stock strings) or aftermarket string builders.

 

[Cwlauger]

peep twist is a common problem with low quality strings. it can be completely eliminated with high quality strings. String quality is not consistent across bow manufacturers (stock strings) or aftermarket string builders.

Yeah I’d say that’s my issue… I’m hoping to upgrade my bow soonish so I’m holding off on dumping another $100+ into a new string.

 

[JF_Idaho]

Yeah I’d say that’s my issue… I’m hoping to upgrade my bow soonish so I’m holding off on dumping another $100+ into a new string.

You can add or remove a twist in the string to align the peep to get you for now.

But, more to his previous point even on a brand new flagship bow, I would budget just replacing to a custom stringset. If you do it when you buy the bow saves on setup labor twice.

 

[jbelz]

The great thing about being new to archery is you'll have a lot of people – especially at the local 3D shoots you're going to – that'll want to help. The bad thing is you'll have a lot of people who'll want to help. Someone locally who is knowledgeable is a fantastic resource, but you need to be discerning about who you take advice from. And, a surefire way to piss off a knowledgeable person is to be an askhole (i.e. asking everyone around you questions until you get the answer you're looking for).

Lots of things to learn, so enjoy the process. If there's one solid piece of advice I'd give you, it'd be to avoid falling prey to any specific, cult-like philosophy (FOC, super heavy arrows, super fast arrows, etc.). Worry only about your tune and go from there.

 

[Hoytbowhunter]

^^^^^^
Definitely do 3-D shoots, get to know other folks and have fun. I shot a lot of outdoor tournaments growing up in the Archery. It teaches you a lot techniques, go to your local Archery shop shoot the indoor range it’s in no other folks there. Also, I’ve been doing this for 42 years. I’ll never put it down.

 

[rugerhoyt]

look into Joel Turner as well.... could drive tacks when I first started, then the target panic hit. Turner got me back to driving tacks and my process solidified. Target panic will get to most everyone eventually.

good luck, you're in a target rich environment!

 

[DanimalW]

At your shoots ask around who the best person is to take a lesson at locally. If you just started, you don’t have the form consistency to worry about tuning yet. It’s kind of like a golf swing. You can watch every video, but it doesn’t mean shit until you see a video of you shooting. You’re already shooting groups good enough for 90% of hunting range shots, so best advice is to have fun and keep at it!

 

[evan97smith]

I am not totally new to archery, hunting, or shooting. I have some experience and hunted as a younger man..

I am new to the intricacies of archery. I love learning by doing and there aren’t a lot of archery pro shops where I live.

I want to learn how to do everything I need to on a bow. I don’t currently have a bow press though.

What knowledge and processes would you tell a new archer to learn to be able to get a bow shooting its best? Any links to article and videos would be appreciated. I know I can search for stuff, but I am not sure what to target as a beginner in bow maintenance, upkeep and tuning.

Thanks in advance!

paper tuning is a great place to start but honestly I would start with form videos. It'll be the biggest help right now as you really get into it. Then shooting a ton is going to be your biggest friend