shooting

[drake123]

I just recently purchased a bow. How many times should I be shooting a day? Any thoughts would be greatly heplful. Thanks

[engfish]

How many times a day are you shooting it since you purchased it? How long have you been shooting during your practice sessions? Are you planning to hunt this year with the bow? Any practice is good practice as long as you're not getting poor results from your practice. If you notice that you are getting tired and your accuracy starts to decline, it's probably not going to do much for your confidence or your form to keep practicing badly. If you've got lots of time and a flexible schedule, shoot shorter sessions and try to practice your shooting from a variety of situations. How's it going so far?

[gr8icefishinmind]

I take you have never owned a bow?? If you are just starting out probably 20-30 arrows! You will be surprised at how quickly you may get worn down during shooting cause archery uses a lot of muscles that normally aren't used that often!! It takes me a while to get back into archery shape if i take some time off from shooting! But during the winter months i shoot alot and may shoot 120-180 arrows a night if not more!! Take your time and get used to your bow. If you get tired, quit shooting cause when you get tired you jeopordize your form and start to get bad habits!! Have fun!!

[drake123]

This is my first bow I have owned. I have had it for 3 days, and just love to shoot it. I have been shooting twice a day, morning, and evening. Each time I shoot about 15 arrows, and dont feel worn. The guy at gander said to shoot about 12 times a day, but for me its hard not to shoot more because I love it. Would shooting about 25-30 arrows a day using proper form, and still having good groupings at 25 yards ok. Does shooting to much cause the bow to wear. Again I am new to the sport and need some advice. Thanks guys

[engfish]

Is that "12 times a day" or "12 arrows a day"? I wouldn't worry too much about wearing out your bow by shooting too much. You're going to wear out the target and the arrows faster than your bow! The number of shots you're taking during your practice sessions sounds about right, especially if your groupings remain good. Be sure to vary your yardages, and if you have the space, look into getting an elevated stand to practice your shots if you're going to hunt from a stand. If you're hunting from a ground blind, practice shooting from your blind. It makes practice fun and more realistic to hunting situations. I'm assuming that you are planning to hunt with your new bow, right?

[drake123]

12 arrows a day lol. Its just so fun. I will be using it to hunt and would like to get out this year but want to make sure I can hit the target in the vitals at different yardages. I will be puttin a stand similar to wat i will be hunting out of up and practice from there, right now I am just shooting of the deck. Wats your opinion on hunting over MEA if I am shooting everyday and have the confidence at 10-30 yards as of now???Thanks

[engfish]

As long as you're practicing every day and feel comfortable at that 20-25 yard range, you can sit in a tree stand like the rest of us and watch the deer (or in my case) listen to the deer in the corn surrounding my woodlot stand. Spending some time afield keeps you motivated to get better as a shooter. You will see firsthand how quickly they can move through and not always present a good shooting angle. You can also learn firsthand how QUIET you have to be while trying to aim, draw, and eventually shoot that first arrow. Best of all, you can learn how to move those stands and blinds around as the deer tend to be exactly where you were THINKING about putting up a stand or blind. Sounds to me like you're well on your way to becoming another bowhunting addict.

[drake123]

Thats excatly wat I am planing on doing. Yes I think drawing, getting the sights on the deer, and trying to be silent will be hard, but if you screw up its a lessoned learned and just have to fix that problem the next time. Thanks for the advice engfish

[deerminator]

I say everyone should practice the way they want to so if you like shooting dozens of arrows every day, do it. But don't think you have to. Less is often more, especially during hunting season. I ususally shoot twice a week during the season. Maybe a dozen arrows each time. But I'm shooting broadheads and I take my time. Each shot, I try to visualize it as a hunting situation and treat each as a kill shot. (Note to self: Make sure your broadhits hit your target like your field points too.)

I'm no robin hood myself, though my track record for hitting and killing deer is pretty dang good for each shot I take. And I've found the key (for me at least) to success is to practice as if I were hunting and not worry about grouping three arrows inside a quarter. That's great, but it's a small part of the prep needed to prepare yourself for when a big buck steps out. You need to prepare yourself mentally and physcially for that - shooting from different positions, distances, etc.

Good luck! I know a guy that practiced once for his first time, did great and headed out the next day and brough home one of the biggest bucks I've ever seen taken in person. To each their own. If you feel ready, go for it.

[drake123]

Good advice deerminator. What targets can you shoot broadheads at, I dont think you can on a normal box target. AM i Correct??DO you need a certain kind of target?

[deerminator]

It depends. I used to have the block and that took broadheads. It should say or the guys and gals at the store can tell you. I like my glendel buck for shooting during season. I pretty much shoot that exclusively from September on. The center handles broadheads well and when you start getting pass throughs, you can readjust the foam slices and eventually just replace the core if you treat the target well. I take mine in when it rains and during the winter months. You can drop a lot of money on the glendel but a certain guide for sportsman sells defect ones (like mine) for much cheaper. You just get some cosmetic defects like bubbles here and there on the body which makes it not good enough for the store shelf.

[mrklean]

for me shooting 12 arrows and stopping is just boring, i love to shoot and shoot 30-40 times usually yea i get kinda tired at the end but its something different too try

[rbs]

shoot as much as you can without getting fatiged (sp?) Also when the time comes to make that shot on your first deer....be sure to use your peep. I got my first deer with a hip shot.....I thought I was gonna throw chunks when I saw that arrow sticking out of its hip. Lucky for me it penetrated enough to get the main arteries and it only went 150yds. I had been practicing all summer long 30-50 arrows a day but still got buck fever and forgot what I was supposed to do. Oh well...it was intense!

[archerystud]

I didn't read the whole thread here so sorry if I'm repeating what someone said.

Anytime to shoot and practice is great. I would also recommend joining an indoor league over the winter if you can. It will give you a little more experience in shooting the pressure shots. I know a lot of guys who can smoke a target but when you put the real thing in front of them they kind of come unglued.

To me the biggest thing in "shooting" a deer is learning to control the adreneline rush. We all get it and it's why we hunt. Good hunters learn how to control and "handle" it.