Hunting Forum

does any one have an idea how I can build my shot to be more accurate.  30 yards no problem ,but any further than that it is a near miss.  also I do great on flat land, but if there is any elevation up or down it also is a near miss. I shoot with a Mathews passion and totally love it.  any info would help.

Look at your form, how you hold the bow, stance, follow through and pratice, pratice, pratice. there are many more things to look at, those are a few.

What's a near miss ? Do they scatter or group somewhere and if so how big ?

Check to see if your arrows are hitting your rest or something. Sounds like your not tuned correctly. I recently changed my rest from a hostage to a quik tune drop away and it fixed a lot of problems with my grouping at 30 yards and beyond. Before I had good grouping at 20 yards but had trouble hitting the bullseye at 40 yards, not anymore. Check out Easton's tuning guide. Are your arrows fish tailing or flying staight?

Like you are saying you have no problem when on flat land .Are you bending at the waist when you shoot up or down and not moving your arms .That is a major problem with most shooters with that problem .Do not raise and lower your arms .Bend at the waist .As just moveing your arms changes your anker point and other points .Check this out .

A near miss is just under the belly on the up hill and just over the shoulder on the down hill. My grouping is about an inch apart with the second two arrows closer together.
My fist shot is always just to the left I'm sure I pull it some. I don't bend at the waiste but do position my feet in a stance. to give a straight side view down my arrow. I don't seem to hit anything. I have a straight arrow shot with no porpusing or fish tailing. I do however have a problem judging distance though getting better. I do have a sticker guide on my bow for marking distance with my pins. this I line up on my dear statue upper line on back and lower line on belly to help me on distance. It is new maybe it is a little off. I do think maybe I don't move my arms up or down enough. yes practice and lots more practice is the key. thank you guys for your help all good info I will try.My near misses though out with my tags really hurt. the last doe just jumped were the arrow was just low enough she felt it. No blood so she is fine. I'd rather make a clean one anyway. But man just a bit higher and it would have been a heart shot like last years buck. Meat on the table.

When shooting up hill with my bear EL , I aim high and down hill , I aim low.. but like alot of people have said you mite be holding your bow wrong.. try what , I said about your aim and see.. I have taken shot's as far as 62 yards but , I will always make sure that , I'm holding my bow the right way befor , I release the arrow.. so just try it  and good luck to you..

Sounds like stance (draw as if on level and only adjust at the waist and "never" move the arms, nock the arrow and hold that spot as well) up or down shooting is physics it will hit high with both . Try walking off the range to checking the accuracy of those stickers too , that stuff might work close but...

You said it.."Distance Issues". You are probably a little nervous on any shots that aren't level and in your comfort zone. You may have a tad bit of target panic too.
Do like I did, buy a range finder and check distances while you are waiting. And yes, bend at the waist!!!!!!!!

Assuming everything everyone has mentioned has been considered and tried you have to go back to target practice, but don't just stand at 30 yards for numerous shots.

First make sure you know the exact distance. I don't mean you have to measure it out in yards, but you have to know that your pin is zeroed at a particular distance whether it is something with your sticker, or if you just know that it is zeroed at 20 steps or something.

Second and most importantly you should try to stretch your abilities. I personally only feel comfortable shooting a deer out to 30 yards. but when I practice I very rarely shoot at 30 yards. most of my practice is at 40 yards. Can i group well at that distance? no my arrows are all over the target but it forces me to focus on aiming and my form for every shot. I'll end every session at 30 and then 20 yards to verify my pins are still set correctly.

I don't shoot as much as I used to (im gone to college a lot know) but I have a pin set for 60 yds on my bow. I'd never consider actually shooting at an animal at that distance, but it makes 20 and 30 yard shoots seem like free-bis.

just my two cents good luck

Posted By pakkrat on 27 Aug 2012 12:36 PM
does any one have an idea how I can build my shot to be more accurate.  30 yards no problem ,but any further than that it is a near miss.  also I do great on flat land, but if there is any elevation up or down it also is a near miss. I shoot with a Mathews passion and totally love it.  any info would help.

before I chime in on what I think, let me ask a few questions..draw weight, draw length, vertical or horizontal pins, assuming release aide?
just what is a near miss? inches? fractions of and inch etc...open or closed hand...all these things could have dramatic effects on how the arrow preforms at longer distances...also how about timing, holding the draw longer than with shorter shots..(real likelyhood there) even your breath control will/can have an impact on arrow flight

If you don't have a draw weight of 50 or more then anything over I'd say 40 yards will be a "near miss" or a 'lucky shot' depending on the wind, elevation and your form. I would invest in a good rangefinder like bushnell with arc assist to help you with distance judging or either measure off your distance during practice to make sure all your pins are set almost perfect to your yardage. I have a PSE X Force and all my pins are set by 10s, from 10 yards through 60 yards so anything in between is easy to adjust to once im in the tree or blind. Main thing is just practice as much as possible and control your breathing and form.

Why do you have a 10 yd. pin ?

I disagree that a draw weight of 50# or more is required for shots of more than 40 yards. Have shot 80 yard targets with a 35# recurve bow. I do feel that formost 40 yards would probably be about as far as one would comfortably shoot at a deer with a bow regardless of the draw weight. I pull 60# on my Z7 and would prefer 20 yards and under, however under the right circumstances would shoot out to 40 yards comfortably. It is all a matter of knowing your limitations and your comfort zone, if not sure of a clean, quick kill I won't shoot. Just letting my personal ethics control my shot.
Steve Albers
L.M. since 1981, Hunter Ed and Bow Hunter Ed Instructor

Folks may be rightfully be comfortable out to 60, even100 yards with thier equipment, but it will still come down to enough energy left at the further distances to do the job correctly.

I would have shot at 50 yards with no problem with my old Highcountry bow .And woud do the same with my PSE as well .Yes you can shoot farther as we shot out to 105 yards when shooting compitition .But shooting at an animal that far would just be stupid .You do not have the kill power .The highcountry was set at 72 lbs .My PSE is set at 65 pounds .

Well just about every possibility has been mentioned...but what about your arrows ....Do you have the correct weighted arrow to match your goals and draw weight?

lots of good stuff like bending at the waist very important if you don't your drawlength tends to very slightly and you will find your eye is not centered in the peep its either high or low .back focus on your peep and insure that your centered then go back to aiming this can change impact by several inches . always aim low when shooting up hill or down hill or shave a couple of yards the actual distance  the new arc range finders will correct for elevation. one tip i did not see was use your bubble when shooting in hill country people will tend to lean there bow into the hillside thinking there holding the bow level give it a try you be amazed how far off level you are and it can make you miss by more than a foot at 40 yards to the left or right of what your aiming at. for long range shooting practice out to 60 -100 yards I suggest that while aiming you tell yourself to relax every bone in your bow hand  as well as every bone in your release hand except of course your trigger finger.next when using a wrist strap ensure your wrist does all the work it should be flat and inline with the back of your hand and it will be as long as you relax all those bones. you will find that this is one of the foundations of extreme accuracy. i could go on with more stuff but you'll find this method will take you FAR...haa!

I have been bowhunting for 10 years now and I have always had trouble shooting over 25 yds. I recently added a new pendulum sight so that I can better pin placement at a specific yardage. I also bought a 12" stabilizer bar which has helped my accuracy significantly. I now feel comfortable shooting a deer at 35 yds and I have been hitting the bull frequently out to 45 yds.

Not only did I get a new setup but I have been practicing more frequently. I start at 20 yds and do 5 yd increments until I reach my max distance which at the moment is 45 yds. Not only does this help build strength and stamina but it also helps you track how you are shooting and what your shot placement is like as you step back 5yds. I also use the same targets and I measure how far from the center each shot lands, I then use this to give me an average shot distance and if you frequently do this you will notice your average distance drop.

Another key to this is form. Make sure that your form is consistent from 20yds to 50 yds and up. Make sure everything is the same, anchor point, release, follow through. Consistency is key, archery is a lot like golf you need to create muscle memory with your shot in order to get accurate results.

My dad has been bow hunting for 40 years and he is quite accurate out to 35 yds, he has never needed to go longer, but he never practices. I have only ever seen him shoot 12 arrows a year from 35 yds and they hit a 2" bullseye everytime. His 40 years has created a muscle memory which allows him to recreate the same shot everytime.

I'm a little confused about the last post? Do you have a pendulam with ground adjustments so you can independently set , say, 10 yards apart? Otherwise, do you only shoot from elevated positions and thus don't need to worry about any increment out to 35 yards, which is usually the farthest distance for most pendulams, depending on the bow?