Arrow Flight

[Rippinlip]

My last 3D shoot and during practice, I have been noticing a shooting dilemma, I am fine at 10-20 yards, starting at about 30 yards there is a left drift to my arrows.

30 yards I am left about 2"

40 yards I am left about 4-5"

50 yards I am leeft about 8-10"

60 yards I am left about 12-14".

With my sight I can only adjust the group and not individual pins for windage.

I am thinking a possible rest problem, but I would like to hear from some others before I head to the pro shop.

Mark

[Neighbor_guy]

Could be a couple of factors here...

It could be an out of square with the rest... Mabe moving the rest to the right could solve the issue, but you are good to start.?.?.?.?.?

This could be a spine issue with your arrows.

Or, most likely, this is a form issue and your follow through needs work. Shooting at distance (beyond 40 yards) will show bow issues and form issues faster than anything else. Are you canting your bow? Do you have a level on your sight?

If I had to put them in order I would look to form, spine, then rest.

[buckhunter21]

The first thing I would do is paper test your bow, you should be able to do that at no charge at your pro shop. If your arrows arent shooting straight thats more than likely your problem and shouldnt take more than a couple minutes to fix it.

If you find out you are shooting straight it could be you need to move your entire sight over, it could be that your shooting left too at under 30 yards and just dont have enough flight time on your arrow to notice it, because it sounds like your shooting consistantly farther off the farther out you go. Have you tried moving your sight left a little and see if that changes anything? Dont move your sights right that will only make you farther off!! Always follow your arrow with your sights, if your shooting left move your sights left, if your shooting high move your sights up etc.. It doesnt hurt to move your sights a little and see if that helps before taking it to your pro shop you can always move them back. Good luck!!

[92python]

I would try moving the rest to the right just a touch at a time, move the sight over to get it resighted and see what happens. I had the same thing happen to me and my rest wasn't where it was supposed to be.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Follow the above advice.. also make sure you are not having a fletching contact issue with the risor.

Also be sure your bow is level when shooting.

[vister]

i'd either (a), move your sight cage to the left to compensate, or (, go to a pro shop. as a last resort, i'm guessing your rest isn't square with the bow. but whether or not your rest is square with the bow, you can still adjust your sight cage accordingly to make the arrows shoot where you want. regardless of where your rest is, once that arrow is released, it still flies a pretty true line.

[Scoot]

Follow the above advice.. also make sure you are not having a fletching contact issue with the risor.

Also be sure your bow is level when shooting.

Exactly! Also, does your sight have a 3rd axis adjustment on it? If yes, it may have moved. Like DD said, it could be as simple as you leaning your bow left or right- if you have a level on your sight, use it to help avoid this.

[woody1975]

I am with Deitz and Scoot on this one. Sounds like you are torqing the bow when you shoot. I would guess if you are sure your bow is level, the left slide would go away. At the very least, I would make sure of that first. If that doesn't do it, then there is a lot of other great advice above.

DL

[Powerstroke]

This has been a reoccuring problem for me too. I know in my case that I torque the bow. I had to change my grip to make it go away, but old habits die hard so if I don't practice for a while it comes back.

If moving the sight doesn't fix it I would say check your rest first. Anything more than that and you'll need a pro to watch you shoot. Paper tuning will tell if its a rest or spine issue.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Rip- this may be an odd question.. can you please put an arrow on your string.. aim at a target, and take a few picts of your grip while at full draw.. I think that would answer a few questions.

It takes a brave person to be willing to ask for help.. I love looking at peoples form. If your willing to post maybe we can help.. And to be honest.. maybe thats not the problem at all.

[archerystud]

I agree with others and it sounds like a torque issue, especially if paper tuning shows good arrow flight.

Do you shoot with a wrist strap? If not get one, or make one out of an old belt. Once you have a strap then try to shoot with an open hand on your riser. This should limit your grip and your torque. When you have a wrist strap there is no reason to have tight grip on your riser.

Another thing to do is to practice shooting at about foot or two from the bales. Practice squeezing that trigger and don't worry about aiming. I'm assuming you shoot a release and part of the cause of the torque is that you are anticipating the release. If you are "surprised" when your release goes off then you won't anticipate and thus you won't torque. Hope it makes sense.

[Rippinlip]

Well just updating on the issue.

I cannot say enough about this wonderful web site.

I took the video camera and a relaxed attitude with me to where I shoot and started filming.

First and foremost I was gripping the bow upon release, I normally shoot open handed, what this come down to is the gloves I was shooting with last summer and fall, they make me feel so much more comfortable with the grip,(they have a rubber grip pattern on them). Problem 1 solved.

Still shooting left, ended up moving my sights almost 2 lines to the left. I was shooting left on the close range shots, just not enough to really notice until today. Problem 2 solved.

I have a new release that I purchased over the winter and the feel is tremendous, but the trigger is a little touchy, just need some more shooting. Problem 3 solved.

I ended up grouping 40 yard shots within @ 3-3.5" (SWEET)

Thanks to all who replied, I really like shooting my bow and now it is even more satisfying when the groups are that tight.

PS, I broke 2 arrows, (knocks, fletchings) today at a closer range.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Congrats.. and thanks for the update!!! Always nice to hear when it comes together!

[Powerstroke]

It goes to show you how easy it is to be off a couple of inches in archery, but also how easy it is to correct these problems if you take a systematic approach to solving them.

Congrats on your groups, now start shooting 5-spots or you'll be buying lots more arrows.

[Rippinlip]

I got to tell ya how cool it is to group tight and yes Powerstroke I started shooting 5 dots....

Sometime it is just fun to bust an arrow, even though it can get expensive.

Seeing a bunch of arrows rubbing sides in a target is such a good feeling.

Mark

[vister]

the only issue with shooting tight groups is this. you can get over confident, and not shoot as often as you should. i have a buddy who is a fantastic shot with a bow, however, he wouldn't shoot that often because of it. last bow season, the moment of truth came at 13 yards away. need i tell the rest of the story? he hadn't shot his bow for a month prior thinking it was all good. ended up with a clean miss!

thats why i will only shoot multiple dot targets. an arrow at each dot. when that deer comes out within range, there is no target on it. so why try filling one dot up with arrows? makes no sense. shoot at a fresh target each time to improve your skills. yes, it is nice to see tight groups of arrows, but a deer only gives you one chance.

[Rippinlip]

Not a problem with being over confidence, I shoot as much as possible up to and during deer season, I feel I owe it to the animal I trying to harvest to make the best shot on the animal.

As far as practicing on different targets I have 4 targets and unless I am having problems like what started this whole conversation I have them all set-up. This is a combination of 5 dot targets and 3D animals.

Mark