How To Shoot A Recurve Bow Fred Eichler

So, we're going to assume that you already have your bow, your arrows flying great, and it's all tuned up. To shoot consistently, you need as many anchor points as you can. And by anchor points, I mean places that you're going to anchor your hand, your finger, the string, that you can go to every single time. A lot of people have to decide what their favorite style is. And don't worry if your style isn't the same as others. But I'm going to give you some of the more common One is split finger, and that's what I'm using. I'm using a finger tab here, and I have one finger above the arrow, two below. The other, probably most common, is to put three fingers below the arrow and draw back. And in that situation, you're basically gun barreling. You're looking right down the arrow with your dominant eye, and you're shooting the target. Make sure you know what your dominant eye is before you choose to shoot right or left-handed. If you're not sure, a quick and easy way is just make a little tiny gap right here in your hands. Pull it all the way back so you can see an object on your counter. Let's say you've got a Coke can sitting on your counter. Put both hands fully extended, a tiny little hole in the middle, and draw it back to your eye that still can see the Coke can. And if it comes back to your right eye, your right eye dominant. If it goes back to your left, your left eye dominant. So, since I'm right eye dominant, it's easier for me to hold the bow left-handed. Draw the string with my right hand. Well, to shoot accurately, consistency is super important. You want to make sure, no matter how you shoot, you do the same thing every single time. So it doesn't matter if you have a horrible release, as long as you do that exactly the same every time, you can get consistent and still shoot well. So, a couple other tips. When you draw back, you want to make sure you hit that same anchor, wherever that is for you. It may be your pointer finger in the corner of your mouth, middle finger in the corner of your mouth. You may want to shoot three fingers under and look down the arrow. Whatever feels more natural or comfortable for you, just make sure you do the exact same thing every single time. When you release, you want to try and come straight back. Since I hunt for the majority of the time, I tend to camp my bow a little bit. It doesn't matter if you want to hold your bow straight up and down, which is Olympic style, or cant your bow a little bit. It's whatever feels more natural to you. I like canting the bow because if I hold the bow like this and I'm going to hit the camera lens, I have a lot of stuff in my way, especially if I have an arrow on the riser. So if I'm looking at the camera eye right here, I've got the bows right here on the side, I've got the hand right here, but however if I turn this, now I can see what I want to shoot with both eyes. Just gives me a little better view of what I'm trying to shoot at. The other great way to practice with a recurve bow is to practice at different ranges. Don't get used to just shooting at 10 yards, or 20 yards, or 40 yards. Try and switch it up. I think for the best hunting practice, what works for me is to shoot one arrow a day. It's more like a hunting situation. I don't care where my second arrow goes, or my third arrow. In a hunting situation, it is the first arrow that counts. So I will step out of the house, I'll take one shot, and I'll think about it all day. So for shooting tips, pick a style that feels natural and comfortable to you. Make sure you do the exact same thing every single time, because that will help you become more accurate faster than anything else. Then practice at different ranges so you could be a better shot when you shoot whatever range you're shooting at. And for the best hunting practice, I think it's one arrow because that more simulates a real hunting situation. Have fun. Good luck out in the field.