New to archery. any tips?

[Burnham]

a guy i rifle deer hunt with last year gave me his old bow as he has a matthews, and finally on monday i decided to get it out. have been shootin it for the last couple of days and the only thing i regret is not getting it going earlier. all i know is its an old golden eagle. at sportsmans i had a new sight put on it today. i have a buddy(8point) thats really into bowhunting and is helpin me get into it, but i would appreciate ANY tips! and i know not to dry fire it lol....

here are some pics of it(i dont have the stabilizer on it in the pic)...if you know what model it is i would like to know.

[Powerstroke]

With archery, the number one thing is practice.

I think there are two main keys to being good at archery. First of all is form. If you can't be consistent in your form than you will not be accurate. You have to be able to repeat your shot sequence the same way every time or you can't be consistent.

Once you've practiced doing the same draw cycle and putting your arms in the same spot every time and repeating that over and over than you can work on aiming and creating accuracy.

Accuracy can come slowly based on your ability to hold still and how you pull the trigger. Just like rifle hunting you want to pull slowly and steady. Don't punch it. Also don't choke the grip of the bow. Keep it loose. That hand's only job is to keep that bow steady and in front of you.

Again, practice practice practice. Too many guys stop practicing once the season comes. Even if you can't find time or room to shoot 20yds, shoot in the garage or the basement or whereever and practice your form shooting the target from 5 feet away. If you perfect your form then it just becomes a matter of placing the crosshairs on a deer, just like with a rifle.

[Burnham]

thanks a lot, i will continue to shoot a lot, stay consistent. and try to not grip the bow really hard.

Burnham

[Pickelfarmer]

With archery, the number one thing is practice.

I think there are two main keys to being good at archery. First of all is form. If you can't be consistent in your form than you will not be accurate. You have to be able to repeat your shot sequence the same way every time or you can't be consistent.

Once you've practiced doing the same draw cycle and putting your arms in the same spot every time and repeating that over and over than you can work on aiming and creating accuracy.

Accuracy can come slowly based on your ability to hold still and how you pull the trigger. Just like rifle hunting you want to pull slowly and steady. Don't punch it. Also don't choke the grip of the bow. Keep it loose. That hand's only job is to keep that bow steady and in front of you.

Again, practice practice practice. Too many guys stop practicing once the season comes. Even if you can't find time or room to shoot 20yds, shoot in the garage or the basement or whereever and practice your form shooting the target from 5 feet away. If you perfect your form then it just becomes a matter of placing the crosshairs on a deer, just like with a rifle.

Powerstoke hit the nail square on the head. PRACTICE,PRACTICE,PRACTICE!!!!

It looks to me like your bow is a Golden Eagle Evolution. I own this same bow and its great.My 2 cents on this is that you keep the poundage low while target shooting so you can consentrate on repetitive shooting without getting tired. I would also recomend video taping yourself shooting and watching how you vary when you shoot. ( If you have this option avalibale). Last but not least DO NOT GO HUNTING until you are confident that you can hit what you are aiming at. REALLY, to many bowhunters pick up a bow one day and try hunting the next. Owning a bow does not make you a bow hunter. You can pick up a gun and shoot it the same as its owner with in only a few shots if you know how to shoot. A bow is not the same. Your bow is an attachment to your body and you need to learn how to use it before you go hunting. Wounding deer is not bow hunting its just wounding deer not bow hunting. So ounce again PRACTICE,PRACTICE,PRACTICE. Oh and HAVE FUN.

[fishinmajishin]

I got my first bow from a friend, along with his shooting advice(not so good). I eventually got my sh** together, but only through research/tips here and there(many contradicting so it was trial and error). My advice is to talk to a real instructor...it will save you lots of time and you shouldn't have to break bad habits after practicing them too much. Oh and get fitted for your bow. Your bow may not be the correct draw length to allow proper form.

As for the bow itself, I'd suggest getting a stabilizer for it, and check that wrist strap so it doesn't put any tension on your bow hand. It looks like it doesn't have much clearance.

[Random guy]

Such as stated before find someone to instruct you or shoot with that knows what is going on. I was self taught then when I started shooting compounds'sights from instictive shooting I was luckily enough to have a good instructor that put a huge jump in the learning curve and he helped cure many many bad habits I had.

Not to mention you will learn the ins ands outs of bow tuning, repairs and most likely end up with a friend or hunting buddy for life.

[Burnham]

i do have a stabilizer for it but didnt have it on it in the picture....Thank you a TON everyone who has responded so far, i will put all of the advice to use.

I love this HSOforum lol

[DaveT]

All the archery advice is spot on. Here's some bowhunting advice: Shoot every legal animal you can (good, ethical shots of course) There is a learning curve you will have to climb when dealing with animals close up. For example, I spooked most of the deer I saw when I started out because they would see me grab for my bow, then when I learned to grab my bow when they weren't looking, they would see me draw my bow. When I got good enough to grab and draw my bow undetected, I would get the fever and miss. The only way to get past all of this is to shoot a lot of animals. There are hundreds of little lessons to be learned from every deer, some of us (me) are slower learners than others. Good Luck!

[Code-Man]

when you hit your release/trigger slowly pull back instead of "slapping." I had great groups at close ranges but was all over the place at forty. Guy at Scheel's showed me what I was doing wrong went from barely hitting my block to being within a paperplate at 40 yds. Just slowly pull back nice and easy and start it early so you don't get my bad habit.