School me on archery

[flatlander51]

Hey guys I've been a bow hunter all my life for whitetail in Maryland. I have never takien it real serious I have always just shot the average hoyt bow, with Easton arrows, a whisker biscuit, and a three pin sight. ive only really practiced out to 40 yards. With my upcoming goals of perusing mulies and elk with a bow I know I need to hone my skills and upgrade my equipment. So I just bought a Mathews creed and put a qad drop away rest on it. I still need to buy a site and upgrade my arrows. So I'm turning to you guys for some advice in preparing for my hunt. Any tips on form, arrows and practice techniques that will assist me in becomeing a better archer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Dan.

 

[dreamingbig]

I would suggest a spot hogg site if you haven't bought one yet. I shoot gold tips but the easton axis or injections would treat you well too. Spend some time to make sure you have the right spine and get the FOC correct (12 to 15%; I tend to stay towards 15%).

Good job dropping the biscuit but I am not sure what to say about going from a Hoyt to a Mathews.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

From me, keep the bisquit, spot Hogg, Mathews two piece fixed 5 arrow quivers are awesome, if u shoot sub 4" groups at 40 u will shoot sub 5" at 50 and sub 6" at 60....point being is once arrow 1 foot from bow it's on a very consistent path that u have zero control over, many have a psychological block about shooting past 40, get over that, if u shoot well at 40 u will surprise yourself at 60 etc. Carbon arrows in the 8-8.5 gpi range with 350-300 spine range will allow u excellent foc with 125 gr broad heads, I like flex fletch silent knight 300 vanes and Easton microlite nocks on back, no wraps. Assuming u will shoot 65-70 lbs so that is what advice is geared towards.

 

[sk1]

spot hogg is a hefty price on a sight, but alot of people love them. another great option and my choice is montana black gold, something with a dovetail to help you align it properly with your peep as well as have the 3rd axis adjustment. depending on your price point, a surge head with dovetail mount IMO is a great option...if you want to be able to dial your sight to shoot long distances then you would need to look at the ascent model. if your max range is 60 yards then a standard 5 pin would be enough unless you want to practice further, that's where the ascent comes in which you can customize with any head and/or pin amount/size pin.

www.sandsarchery.com sells montana black gold, spot hogg sights with all the customization options on the website for you to look at. i like montana black gold for the lifetime warranty, price isnt ridiculous, and the brightest pins ive seen yet.

ill leave arrow recommendations to others more knowledgeable

 

[Timberninja]

First and foremost, I'm in a similar situation, haven't shot compound for that long, that said, here are my thoughts. Spend some time with a good shooters getting real time pointers on form etc is a good way to head start (and continue). There are also a lot of good books to read, e.g "Bowhunters guide to better shooting" by Patrick Meitin, "core archery" by Larry Wise is another one. Personally, I don't have any pro-shops near where I live so I've relied a lot on reading and practicing solo and found it really good. If you haven't read it, here is another really insightful article:

http://archeryhistory.com/archerytalk/The_Nuts&Bolts_of_Archery.pdf

In terms of practice, I'd say less is more, early on, I'd shoot a ton of arrows without really putting any thought into it. Yes, I got better but it was more "gradual". Now I shoot fewer arrows but think more, focus on form, practice different aspects of the shot etc. Another helpful thing I've done recently is strapping a bag target to a backpack, hiked up in the mountains and practiced shooting steep angles , kneeling, under/between tree limbs etc. Super fun and you get a good workout hiking with the bag..

As it relates to gear, I've been shooting a somewhat mediocre fixed pin sight (started with 4 but added 3 pins), my next purchase will be a hybrid sight as I like the idea of having fixed short range pins, then being able to use a dial for the long range shots. I'd say start with your 4 pin sight and start doing research/figure out what suits you as you practice/get better. I often curse myself for not getting good gear right off the bat, but in this case I'm happy I didn't.

Finally, I'd say getting your bow tuned and making sure you're shooting the right spine etc would be another good first step. Knowing that your bow shoots straight eliminates a big factor.

Best of luck!

 

[flatlander51]

Thanks for the tips guy I'm gonna look into those books mentioned and spend a lil time at the archery shops near my house I'm still trying to learn all tho terminology like spine, gpi, and foc. But ill figure it out google does wonders. I'm excited to improve my skills and love this new bow.plus I'm looking forward to practice on some does this upcoming season. Nothing like live practice. Thanks again if I would have posted that on some other site I would've gotten nothing but a hole comments so i appreciate the good advice. Like I said I've been a Long time bow hunter but I'm not to proud to ask for help from people more knowledgable. Dan

 

[J-Daddy]

LOL, I've never heard anyone say they sold a Hoyt & bought a Mathews as an upgrade..Just kidding, kind of.
Best thing a guy can do when it comes to shooting form is to find someone who knows what they are doing and get advice there, same with setting up and tuning a bow. If your a member over on Archerytalk get with the member Nuts & Bolts over there about form questions and shooting advice, dude is a guru when it comes to that stuff.