Shooting your bow with your cold weather gear on?

[Christopher Quast]

So last week out in Wisconsin it got really cold and for kicks I thought I would try shooting my bow in camp with everything on that I used for hunting (I have done this before with my thin layers for early season and also my head cover and it never made a difference.

But when I tried it with multiple layers on and a heavier fleece jacket and a turtleneck shirt I felt my anchor point was the same, ( I anchor with my thumb behind my neck) but I kept on hitting about 4" left and my height was dead on, so I made the adjustment and it saved me a poor shot on my doe.

Have you ever experienced this yourself and if so how did you remedy it?

[96trigger]

I found that my string would often just graze my jacket. I never noticed it but it would throw my arrow off when I had more than a couple of layers on. It was kind of a pain, but I had to learn to shoot with a more relaxed bow arm and not rotate my wrist inward. It took a little practice but I got it down now. I also bought a compression sleeve this year to help with it. I really like it so far.

[archerystud]

I shortened my draw length so that I can collapse my bow arm a bit (my draw is now set to 26.5 inches). You will lose a little bit of speed but you will have a more relaxed arm and will be less likely to hit any loose clothing attached to that arm.

Obvously it is a big change to your shooting style and something you should practice in the off season.

[fishinmajishin]

I agree with the shorter draw length. I went from 30 to 29. BUT I didn't actually switch because the clothing issue. I just prefer to shoot with a bent bow arm and string clearance is just a bonus.

[Browning83]

Last year hunting I forgot to bring my arm compression pad up north and had to improvise so I cut the end off of a sock and placed it on my wrist. It kept my clothes away from the string on release and now its my favorite way to do so. As far as draw back it hasnt changed for me.