2-inch group size at 20 yards is a good starting goal.

1.5-inch group size at 20 yards is something you should strive for.



2 fletched arrows and one bareshaft (arrow with no vanes).

 

2-inch group size at 20 yards is a good starting goal.

1.5-inch group size at 20 yards is something you should strive for.



2 fletched arrows and one bareshaft (arrow with no vanes).

I thought I was the only one that used 2 fletched arrows .

 

My VERY best student, can do 21 shots with one arrow in his quiver,
I made him walk back and forth to the 20 yard target, pulling out that one arrow, and walk all the way back to the shooting line and fire again. He was supposed to do 30 shots, but he stopped after 21 shots.

His group size was 40/64ths (his arrow diameter was 27/64ths), meaning he was able to shoot a 20 yd group
at 1.5 arrow shaft diameters. 5/8ths inch group at 20 yards.



70 years young.

Work on your form, work on your bow tuning to eliminate your high-low miss pattern.
Improve the cam sync (many call this cam TIMING)
so that you can get a fletched arrow and a bareshaft arrow to hit within 1/16th inch for same height of impact,
at 20 yards.



IN this example, I fired at the top edge of the masking tape.
I have the top edge of masking tape running through the center of the x-ring.
So, I wanted half the bareshaft arrow hole ABOVE the masking tape
and I wanted HALF the bareshaft arrow hole BELOW the masking tape.

I nailed the x-ring, dead center. So, since I did not want to kill my bareshaft,
I fired the fletched arrow at the top left corner of the masking tape. AGain,
I wanted half the fletched arrow hole above the top edge of the masking tape
and
I wanted half the fletched arrow hole below the top edge of the masking tape.

Nailed the top left corner of the masking tape.

U try. 20 yrds.

 

My VERY best student, can do 21 shots with one arrow in his quiver,
I made him walk back and forth to the 20 yard target, pulling out that one arrow, and walk all the way back to the shooting line and fire again. He was supposed to do 30 shots, but he stopped after 21 shots.

His group size was 40/64ths (his arrow diameter was 27/64ths), meaning he was able to shoot a 20 yd group
at 1.5 arrow shaft diameters. 5/8ths inch group at 20 yards.



70 years young.

Work on your form, work on your bow tuning to eliminate your high-low miss pattern.
Improve the cam sync (many call this cam TIMING)
so that you can get a fletched arrow and a bareshaft arrow to hit within 1/16th inch for same height of impact,
at 20 yards.



IN this example, I fired at the top edge of the masking tape.
I have the top edge of masking tape running through the center of the x-ring.
So, I wanted half the bareshaft arrow hole ABOVE the masking tape
and I wanted HALF the bareshaft arrow hole BELOW the masking tape.

I nailed the x-ring, dead center. So, since I did not want to kill my bareshaft,
I fired the fletched arrow at the top left corner of the masking tape. AGain,
I wanted half the fletched arrow hole above the top edge of the masking tape
and
I wanted half the fletched arrow hole below the top edge of the masking tape.

Nailed the top left corner of the masking tape.

U try. 20 yrds.

Looking at that, Looks like I have more work to do on my groups

 

I try to keep my group sizes smaller than the NFAA field/hunter/marked 3D spot sizes:

• For distances from 20 to 35 ft., the target size will be 20cm with a 4cm center dot size.
• For distances from 15 yards to 30 yards, the target size will be 35cm with a 7cm center dot size.
• For distances from 35 yards to 50 yards, the target size will be 50cm with a 10cm center dot size.
• For distances from 55 yards to 80 yards, the target size will be 65cm with a 13 cm center dot size.

 

If you are going to compete in 3D. You cannot miss the 10 ring( 5”) circle. Period. At 50-60 yards, hitting a 5” circle should not be an issue. But it’s much easier for some than others. Some can aim at 3D animals better at 50 yards than a colored dot that’s 5” . Some can aim better at a colored 5” dot than a 3D 5” scoring ring. With the dot, you can easily see it. With 3D animals, many shots you can’t see the ring, so you are aiming at an “ area” that the ring should be. My pin float is better at 3D animals than paper targets at 50 yards most times. The problem with distances is 1.the bow, arrow and shooter are not together. Meaning at those distances to shoot tighter groups, your form has to be on and repeatative. Your arrows need to be spine aligned, nock tuned, and bow needs to perfect tuned for those arrows. 2. You have to shoot your shot at 50 yards the same way you do at 20 yards. Just because we back up doesn’t mean you start aiming harder, trying to get pin float to sit still. If you aim and execute shot in 6 seconds at 20 yards, then you need to aim and execute shot in 6 seconds at 50 yards.

 

Sighting in has nothing to do with group size; sighting in is an accuracy metric, group size is a precision metric; another way to say it- accuracy is based on a single shot in a specific place; precision is several shots with repeated form/results. You can accurately put one arrow dead center X, and you can shoot a 1" group at 100yds and still miss the X by several feet..

 

Sighting in has nothing to do with group size; sighting in is an accuracy metric, group size is a precision metric; another way to say it- accuracy is based on a single shot in a specific place; precision is several shots with repeated form/results. You can accurately put one arrow dead center X, and you can shoot a 1" group at 100yds and still miss the X by several feet..

This is the right answer. You use the sight to "center" the big ol blob of shafts over the X/10 ring/whatever as best you can.
If you're a crappy shot like myself, this is about half art and half science, where you shoot a group and try to kind of find the center of the big ol mess there in the bale. And then you kind of slop that mess over or up or down to where you want it to go as best you can by moving the sight.

Like tuning, there's a limit to how finely you can sight your bow in that'd determined by how well you can repeat your shot.

If the big blob of arrows kind of looks centered over the 10 ring, that's usually good enough for now.

lee.

 

New to 3D? Haven't shot much for longer distances? Don't worry. Take your time to learn. As you learn you can make changes.

Your 1 inch per 10 yards okay for starters, but there's archers that go for the 1.5" X ring on 3D targets set 50 yards and longer and nail the X time after time.

 

There is a downloadable paper template of ASA 10/12 rings. I use this for practice, it gives me realistic expectations at different yardages on what I can see, average scores by yardage, and what areas need improvement. Also run 30 target round with random numbers generated through excel for my yardages to check total scores.

 

What’s a 30 target round?

Also, when you say the random number, you have a random number generator, and whatever number it says, that’s the yardage you shoot at?

 

Our shoots are 30 targets, it’s just shooting 30 shots at varying distances. And correct each shot I take is different distance. Whether hunting or 3d, you don’t get to shoot 6 arrows from same yardage

 

When you refer to 1" groups etc, I assume you are talking in terms of spot shooting ? Are you shooting the same size groups, in the correct place on a 3d ? Are you talking in terms of marked or unmarked 3d ?

There tends to be a difference in group size going from spots to picking a spot on a relatively barren 3d (some have reference marks and older targets have damage), if the reference isn't in the correct place and you need to Aim Off, that tends to have an impact on your groups and sometimes the group placement moves when you go from a spot to a 3d.

It is also worth remembering that different courses are easier or harder and allowing for the courses difficulty or lack of, if you know some of the other shooters, where was your score relative to your known rivals, did you shoot well ? Did they shoot better than normal ? (Hence using more than one rival as a reference), over the years I have won competitions comfortably while shooting badly and lost competitions by similar margins when shooting well. Sometimes the opposition has a good day !

To a degree the score doesn't matter beyond "did you shoot well and did you shoot good shots ?", often all you can ask is that you shot well, on the bad days did you get most of your arrows back ?

 

This is all very helpful. I guess I need to blame myself because maybe I didn’t explain myself good enough. I tend to do this. Go down 50 different rabbit holes before I actually get back on topic.

My question is.

I’m sighting in my slider sight. I want to make marks at 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 yards. What size grouping should I be looking for at those distances before I make a mark?

If I do the 1in for every 10 yards, then at 60 yards, that’s giving me 6 inches of wiggle room, which translates to anywhere between 58-62 yards.

 

YOu tune the bow for TIGHTEST groups at 10 yards. If your skill level only allows a 1-inch tall group at 10 yards,
make your sight mark. I am pretty sure with a little help, you can get your 10 yd groups to less than 1/2 inch.

You tune the bow for TIGHTEST groups at 20 yards. If your skill level only allows for a 2-inch tall group at 20 yards,
then make your sight mark. I am pretty sure with a little help, you can shoot groups like this at 20 yards.



You tune the bow for Tightest groups at 30 yards. If your skill level only allows fro a 3-inch tall group at 30 yards, then make your sight mark. I am pretty sure with a little help, you can shoot groups like jewalker, after I helped him.



His 30 yd groups, after I fixed him up.

 

I don’t allow for any variance in my sight marks. They have to be on. Maybe it’s overstating it to say zero tolerance, so I’ll get it to something quantifiable. At 30 yards, I’m looking for a mark within 1/8-1/4”. At 80-100 yards, I want to be within an inch.

I can’t hold that well on a dot, but I can on a horizontal line. Seems like most people can with some work. The size of tape line I use depends on the distance I’m shooting, needs to be small enough to know I’ve really got it right when my arrows are in the middle of it and large enough I can see it at the distance I’m getting a mark for.

D

 

Most get by with 1" or every 10yds. But for me sighting in.... 1" @20yds, 2" @30, 3" @ 40, 4" @50, and 5" @60.

 

When sighting in marks I find it easier with 18” strips of electrical tape. Taped horizontally across the target. Use as many arrows as you want. You’ll see your pattern. I prefer doing it until I can hold the line at all distances. I’ll cut the top of the tape @ 20 and 30yds. @ 40 and 50 I want to hold my group in the tape. 60yds and on I’ll add a second strip to make my aiming line bigger. I still want to be in the tape at 60. 80 and beyond I’m looking at group avgs to see if I’m “on” but still doing my best to keep em in the taped line.
Know your arrow speed? Your peep to pin? Peep to arrow measurements? Uno app will do your pin gaps for you. There are multiple other software apps to make tapes and get reasonably accurate pin gaps from. I like archers advantage myself and have had near perfect results every time.

 

Groups are traditionally measured center to center. Shooting all 1 1/2 inch groups at 20 yards easily translates to solid 300/60x 5 spot games, and will put you in the Vegas shootoff every year. One inch per 10 yards is far better than average shooting.....except on AT.

Everyone's good shots go down the pipe. It's where your bad shots go that counts the most.

 

I shot way better groups after I stepped out to 100 and played for awhile and came back down in yardage. My group size at at 60 yards went from 4-5 inches, to 3-4. It’s not much but I did notice that. I think it was some anxiety off my shoulders knowing I could step out further.

 

Thank you all for your answers.

I usually put a strip of tape on the target and change the thickness of the tape based on distance. I’ll try to, instead of doing an inch for every 10, I’ll do one strip (1.88in) for 20 and 30 yards, two strips (3.76in) for 40 and 50 yards, and then 3 strips (5.64in) for 60 and 70 yards.

Hopefully that’ll translate to proper marks.

 

OP if you wanted to "troubleshoot" the issue go shoot a known distance 3D or was this? Just like in hunting you have people that shine at shooting unknown distances and aiming at an animal. Then you have people that shine at hitting dots from a known distance.....of course many can do both but my point is this is common.

What you don't know unless this was a known 3D shoot is are you not picking a spot, seeing the angles of the target, etc or are you just not shooting well at that distance.

Set a 3D target next to a block and see. Or put a dot on your 3D target and see which one gets you tighter groups.