Since I am not hunting till the 1st week of Nov., I still have time to keep up the target practice to hone my skills. I have the bow shooting GREAT, and yesterday I was shooting 2.5-3" groups at 50 yards, so I have confidence everything is dialed in.
The problem is, you don't shoot groups at deer, and they don't have a bull’s-eye printed on the side of them. So from now until I am hunting, I have changed my tactics on target shooting. I am going to start shooting in more of 3D style manner. Here is what I am doing now:
- I bought a couple "life size" paper deer targets. (Can't afford a 3D target right now)
- I shoot from a lane with no yardage markers, forcing me to estimate it.
- I shoot only 1 arrow at a time, and then retrieve it.
- I walk back from the target to a random, unknown distance and shoot from there.
This gave me a much better feel for how effective I am shooting and it gave the entire shooting session a completely different feel. Anyway, I would recommend that anyone looking to spice up their shooting and don't have a 3D target give this a try. It really boosted my confidence.
Here is how today went:
Ignore the holes outside the large white ring, the ones WAY outside (not even in the animal) were from the stakes. The other ones were from shooting at 70 yards, and I DON'T have a 70 yard pin.
All-in-all, I think I am ready for the real thing! :darkbeer:
