[VS-Admin]

Greetings archers! Welcome to the Archery Talk Ask Me Anything with Tim Gillingham! If you haven't heard of him, Tim is a world-class archer and equipment and tuning guru.

With decades of experience under his belt, Tim possesses a wealth of knowledge on all aspects of archery. If you've any questions about his journey, the sport and craft of archery itself, or even just his preferred kind of gear, now is the time to ask!

This thread is now open! We will be running the AMA until this Thursday, January 14th at noon (EST), so get your questions in by then. Tim will be dropping in from time to time answering questions while everything is open. Questions will be moderated by Archery Talk admins as well as our full team of moderators. We can't guarantee that every question will be answered, but even if not, you'll still be seeing some interesting responses from a true master.

Have a good one everybody!

- Dan

 

[Mr.CNC]

Good afternoon and Thank you for taking your time to do this.
How much or will nock point effect accuracy and cam timing.
I have a Fanatic 3.0 LD and a PSE xpression

 

[Daver36]

Hello, thanks for the opportunity. Tuning with the flex guard on a Bowtech. You mentioned in one of you videos before you can adjust it in and out to help with left/right tear. Is there a max you would turn the screw out? When I asked Bowtech they didnt have a clue what I was talking about.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Ken.Fischer]

A while back you mentioned that you prefer "standard" diameter arrows because it was easier to keep the string in the middle of the shaft. Have you changed your mind on this especially for windy conditions and/or greater penetration when hunting?

 

[wvdoehunter]

How much of your success as an archer would you attribute to natural ability and how much to practice?

 

[Tim Gillingham]

Good afternoon and Thank you for taking your time to do this.
How much or will nock point effect accuracy and cam timing.
I have a Fanatic 3.0 LD and a PSE xpression

How the bow is timed will dictate where the nocking point has to be to shoot bullethole. If your nocking is way off of 90degree then something is messed up in the mod or the timing
You can shoot it out of time, I do my Reckoning 38's. The nocking point is just not at 90 degrees. No big deal

 

[redman]

Thank you Tim for all the great info you post about archery A1

 

[Tim Gillingham]

Hello, thanks for the opportunity. Tuning with the flex guard on a Bowtech. You mentioned in one of you videos before you can adjust it in and out to help with left/right tear. Is there a max you would turn the screw out? When I asked Bowtech they didnt have a clue what I was talking about.

Cheers,
Dave

If you reduce load it help with a left tear or vise versa for a right. That being said I would use the yokes or the Dead lock cam to tune the bow and keep the flex guard down. The more it comes out the moreit can move around.

A while back you mentioned that you prefer "standard" diameter arrows because it was easier to keep the string in the middle of the shaft. Have you changed your mind on this especially for windy conditions and/or greater penetration when hunting?

A while back you mentioned that you prefer "standard" diameter arrows because it was easier to keep the string in the middle of the shaft. Have you changed your mind on this especially for windy conditions and/or greater penetration when hunting?

I think out to 70 yards its hard to beat the Velocity or Pro hunter. Skinny shafts are harder to tune and the insert system is not as strong. I use the Pierce shafts hunting for long range because they are better at over 90 yards. I use the glue in Thorn broadheads to eliminate the insert and keep my vane size down. If I was using screw in broadheads I would use the Airstikes for a better happy mediums. Ive even used Xcutters they flew fixed heads better than anything Ive ever shot

 

[CowboyD]

Do you still prefer command release versus surprise release?

 

[TNMAN]

Any advice for the flood of good young shooters that dream of competing as a professional?

 

[Ropewrangler]

Is there a basic indoor target arrow setup for beginners to start with that you would recommend?

 

[Tim Gillingham]

Do you still prefer command release versus surprise release?

Absolutely. Its the most accurate way to shoot a bow in all conditions, All top rifle and pistol shooters shoot the same but surprise shots are prevalent in archery because people don't know how to control anticipation. There are more and more top shooters shooting my way and I think the best in the world do. Mike Schloesser, Kyle Douglas, Jimmy Lutz to name a few. You have to be able to fire in the middle if you are not able to hold there the entire time. David Tubbs talks about it very well in hi book, High Power Rifle. Not everyone can hold like Chance Beaubouef and when Chance gets outside and has to deal with elements his shot style struggles. Ive tried everything and when I decided to do it my way and the hell with what everybody says, I started winning

 

[Helic]

I used to be a huge bowtech fan.
I personally still believe that the pinnacle of modern archery as far as bow design goes is the realm X.
The dual split buss system, cantilievered axle, flex guard, adjustable grip angle, and the dead lock limb pocket.
Not to mention the wider limbs, caged riser, and other features.

I owned many bowtechs.
I still own my fanatic 3.0 and my realm X.
And at this point, I am not giving up that X any time soon.

However, ever since bowtech came out with the new deadlock cam adjustment, I have not been able to make myself buy one.
It feels to me like a step backward from the realm X.

What is your best reasoning for a guy like me, who wants to like bowtech again, but just cant get past the love for the older generation equipment?

I have been buying up everything from hoyt, mathews, tons of pse bows, prime, elite, everything but bowtech.
Bring me back into the fold Tim.

Get me over the fear.

 

[RJH1]

Interesting, i came from competitive firearm shooting and learned to shoot my bow from Rob Leatham and David Tubb, glad to know i am not alone in my beliefs. But on with the question:

What is your standard whitetail arrow/broadhead set up and velocity, and is it the same that you use for elk? If not what is your elk setup and velocity?

Thanks for your time

 

[Tim Gillingham]

I used to be a huge bowtech fan.
I personally still believe that the pinnacle of modern archery as far as bow design goes is the realm X.
The dual split buss system, cantilievered axle, flex guard, adjustable grip angle, and the dead lock limb pocket.
Not to mention the wider limbs, caged riser, and other features.

I owned many bowtechs.
I still own my fanatic 3.0 and my realm X.
And at this point, I am not giving up that X any time soon.

However, ever since bowtech came out with the new deadlock cam adjustment, I have not been able to make myself buy one.
It feels to me like a step backward from the realm X.

What is your best reasoning for a guy like me, who wants to like bowtech again, but just cant get past the love for the older generation equipment?

I have been buying up everything from hoyt, mathews, tons of pse bows, prime, elite, everything but bowtech.
Bring me back into the fold Tim.

Get me over the fear.

 

[Dbolick]

how did you start shooting at the "next level"?

like what made the difference for you thinking "i'm not too bad at this" to "dang, i am pretty good at this"

 

[Tim Gillingham]

I used to be a huge bowtech fan.
I personally still believe that the pinnacle of modern archery as far as bow design goes is the realm X.
The dual split buss system, cantilievered axle, flex guard, adjustable grip angle, and the dead lock limb pocket.
Not to mention the wider limbs, caged riser, and other features.

I owned many bowtechs.
I still own my fanatic 3.0 and my realm X.
And at this point, I am not giving up that X any time soon.

However, ever since bowtech came out with the new deadlock cam adjustment, I have not been able to make myself buy one.
It feels to me like a step backward from the realm X.

What is your best reasoning for a guy like me, who wants to like bowtech again, but just cant get past the love for the older generation equipment?

I have been buying up everything from hoyt, mathews, tons of pse bows, prime, elite, everything but bowtech.
Bring me back into the fold Tim.

Get me over the fear.

The Deadlock cam Is awesome. Very simple in design and the easiest bow on the market to tune. Limb pockets are much better than the Fanatic. Realm X is a great bow too but they don't seem to stay in tune as well as the deadlock and I think that is because you don't have the thinner yokes and cable is stronger. I would never go back. The old cam design was a little more sensitive on timing also.

 

[Tim Gillingham]

Any advice for the flood of good young shooters that dream of competing as a professional?

Do it for love of the game and get a job that lets you compete. The so called "professional" archer without another income source is a pipe dream. Itll be easier to win if you aren't trying to pay the rent with your prize money. I won a lot of tournaments because I could go for broke because I had a day job. It took me 20 yrs to win my first pro event. Its opportunity meeting preparation and it literally takes 10,000 hours to be an expert and even that is no guarantee

 

[Tim Gillingham]

how did you start shooting at the "next level"?

like what made the difference for you thinking "i'm not too bad at this" to "dang, i am pretty good at this"

Well,
The reason I harp so much on the point that 3-D archery needs to go all known to make it available to everyone comes from living that. It wasnt until I got a house and a place to put targets that I started to win. Just because I win in unmarked 3-D doesnt mean I have to agree with the format. Its got the most amount of money in in for whatever reason and if you want to make money shooting archery you had to play the game. I dont agree that the best archers and equipment should be represented by a guess. I always have had the belief i could anything I set my mind to. The growth of known 3-D archery has made it available to the shooters if they have targets or not, they can still be competitive. The money and support for archery should align with that

 

[Tim Gillingham]

Interesting, i came from competitive firearm shooting and learned to shoot my bow from Rob Leatham and David Tubb, glad to know i am not alone in my beliefs. But on with the question:

What is your standard whitetail arrow/broadhead set up and velocity, and is it the same that you use for elk? If not what is your elk setup and velocity?

Thanks for your time

I use a Pierce Tour 250 with 120 grain glue in Thorn broadhead. 435 grains at 320 FPS. Id shoot anything in North America with it. If you have less energy pick lower cutting diameter broadheads. I pick my setups based on accuracy first and I like rear deploy mechanical broadheads for everything. I love the Thorn practice system There are zero surprises when you pull the trigger