Bowhunting - How To Shoot With The Bow and Arrow

First, brace your bow. To do this properly, graspshould hold his posture a second, bow arm rigidly
it at the handle with your right hand, the upperextended, drawing hand to his jaw, right elbow
horn upward and the back toward you. Place thehorizontal. This insures that he maintains the
lower horn at the instep of your right foot, andproper position during the shot. There should be
the base of your left palm against the back ofno jerking, swinging, or casting motions; all must
the bow, near the top below the loop of thebe done evenly and deliberately.The shaft should
string. Holding your left arm stiff and toward yourfly from the bowstring like a bird, without quaver
left side, your right elbow fixed on your hip, pullor flutter. All depends upon a sharp resilient
up on the handle by twisting your body so thatrelease.Having observed all the prerequisites of
the bow is sprung away from you. The string isgood shooting, nothing so insures a keen, true
now relaxed, and the fingers of the left hand pusharrow flight as an effort of supreme tension
it upward till it slips in the nock.Don't try to forceduring the release. The chest is held rigid in a
the string, and don't get your fingers caughtposition of moderate inspiration, the back muscles
beneath it. Do most of the work with the rightare set and every tendon is drawn into elastic
hand pulling against the rigid left arm.The properstrain; in fact, to be successful, the whole act
distance between the bow and the string at theshould be characterized by the utmost
handle is six inches. This is ordinarily measured byvigor.Game shooting differs from target shooting
setting the fist on the handle and the thumbin that with the latter a point of aim is used, and
sticking upright, where it should touch the string.the archer fixes his eyes upon this point which is
This is the ancient fistmele, an archer's measure,perpendicular above or below the bull's-eye. The
also used in measuring lumber.Hunting bows shouldarrowhead is held on the point of aim, and when
be strung a little less than this because of theloosed, flies not along the line of vision, but
prolonged strain on them. Target bows shootdescribes a curve upward, descends and strikes
cleaner when higher strung.Change your bow tonot the point of aim, but the bull's-eye.The field
your left hand and drop the arm so that thearcher should learn to estimate distances correctly
upper end of the bow swings across the body inby eye. He should practice pacing measured
a horizontal position. Draw an arrow from thelengths, so that he can tell how many yards any
quiver with the right hand and carry it across theobject may be from him.In hunting he should
bow till it rests on the left side at the top of themake a mental note of this before he shoots. In
handle. Place the left forefinger over the shaftfact we nearly always call the number of yards
and keep it from slipping while you shift your rightbefore we loose the arrow.Where a strong
hand to the arrow-nock, thumb uppermost. Pushcross-wind exists, a certain amount of windage is
the arrow forward, at the same time rotating itallowed. But up to sixty yards the lateral deflexion
until the cock feather, or that perpendicular to thefrom wind is negligible; past this it may amount to
nock, is away from the bow. As the feathersthree or four feet.In clout shooting and target
pass over the string and the thumb still rests onpractice, one must take wind into consideration. In
the nock, slip the fingers beneath the string andhunting we only consider it when approaching
fit it in the arrow-nock.Now turn the bow uprightgame, as a carrier of scent, because our hunting
and remove your left forefinger from its positionranges are well under a hundred yards and our
across the shaft. The arrow should rest on theheavy hunting shafts tack into the wind with little
knuckles without lateral support. Now place yourlateral drift.No matter how much a man may
fingers in position for shooting. The release usedshoot, he is forever struggling with his technique. I
by the old English is the best. This consists inremember getting a letter from an old archer
placing three fingers on the string, one above thewho had shot the bow for more than fifty years.
arrow, two below. The string rests midwayHe was past seventy and had to resort to a
between the last joint and the tip of the finger.thirty-five pound weapon. He complained that his
The thumb should not touch the arrow, but lierelease was faulty, but he felt that with a little
curled up in the palm.The release used by childrenmore practice he could perfect his loose and
consists in pinching the arrow between the thumbmake a perfect shot. Since writing he has entered
and forefinger, and is known as the primary loose.the Happy Hunting Grounds, still a trifle off in
This type is not strong enough to draw an arrowform.Even a sylvan archer needs to practice form
half way on a hunting bow.Stand sidewise to yourat the targets. He should study the game from its
mark, with the feet eight or ten inches apart, atscientific principles as formulated by Horace Ford,
right angles to the line of shot. Straighten yourthe greatest target shot ever known.The
body, stiffen the back, expand the chest, turn thepoint-of-aim system and target practice improve
head fully facing the mark, look at it squarely, andone's hunting. Hunting, on the other hand, spoils
draw your bow across the body, extending theone's target work. The use of heavy bows so
left arm as you draw the right hand toward theaccustoms the muscles to gross reactions that
chin.Draw the arrow steadily, in the exact plane ofthey fail to adjust themselves to the finer
your mark, so that when the full draw is obtainedrequirements of light bows and to the precise
and the arrowhead touches the left hand, thetechnique of the target range.The field archer
right forefinger touches a spot on the jawgets his practice by going out in the open and
perpendicularly below the right eye and the rightshooting at marks of any sort, at all distances,
elbow is in a continuous line with the arrow. Thisfrom five to two hundred yards. A bush, a stray
point on the jaw below the eye is fixed andpiece of paper, a flower, a shadow on the grass,
never varies; no matter how close or how farall are objects for his shafts.The open heath,
the shot, the butt of the arrow is always drawnshaded forest, hills and dales, all make good
to the jaw, not to the eye, nor to the ear. Thusgrounds. As he comes over a knoll a bush on the
the eye glances along the entire length of thefarther side represents a deer, he shoots
shaft and keeps it in perfect line. The bow handinstantly. He must learn to run, to stop short and
may be lowered or raised to obtain the propershoot, fresh or weary he must be able to draw
elevation and length of flight. The left arm is heldhis bow and discharge one arrow after another.
rigidly but not absolutely extended and locked atWith the bow unstrung walking along the trail,
the elbow. A slight degree of flexion here makesoften we have stopped at the word of
for a good clearance of the string and addscommand, strung the bow, drawn an arrow from
resiliency to the shot.The arrow is released bythe quiver, nocked it, and discharged it within the
drawing the right hand further backward at thespace of five seconds. Deliberation, however, is
same time the fingers slip off the string. Thismuch more desirable.Let several archers go into
must be done so firmly, yet deftly, that no lossthe fields together and roam over the land, aiming
of power results, and the releasing hand does notat various marks; it makes for robust and
draw the arrow out of line. Two great faultsaccurate game shooting.Shooting an exact line is
occur at this point: one is to permit the arrow tomuch easier than getting the exact length. For this
creep forward just before the release, and thereason it is easier to split the willow wand at sixty
other is to draw the hand away from the face inor eighty yards than it seems.Often we have
the act of releasing. Keep your fingers flexed andtried this feat to amuse ourselves or our friends,
your hand by your jaw. All the fingers of the rightand seldom more than six arrows are needed to
hand must bear their proper share of work. Thestrike such a lath or stick at this distance. Hitting
great tendency is to permit the forefinger toobjects tossed in the air is not so difficult either.
shirk and to put too much work on the ringA small tin can or box thrown fifteen or twenty
finger.If the arrow has a tendency to fall awayfeet upward at a distance of ten or fifteen yards
from the bow, tip the upper limb ten degrees tocan be hit nearly every time, especially if the
the right and pull more on the right forefinger, alsoarcher waits until it just reaches the apex of its
start the draw with the fingers more acutelycourse and shoots when it is practically
flexed, so that as the arrow is pinched betweenstationary.Shooting at swinging objects helps to
the first and second fingers and as they tend totrain one in leading running or flying game.Turtle
straighten out under the pressure of the string,shooting, that form in which the arrow is
the arrow is pressed against the bow, not awaydischarged directly upward and is supposed to
from it.In grasping the bow with the left hand, itdrop on the mark, is difficult and attended with
should rest comfortably in the palm and loosely atfew hits, but it trains one in estimating wind
the beginning of the draw. The knuckle at thedrift.An archer should also learn the elevation or
base of the thumb should be opposite the centertrajectory at which his arrows fly at various
of the bow, the hand set straight on the wrist. Asdistances. Shooting in the woods over hanging
you draw, be sure that the arrow comes up in alimbs may interfere with a good shot. In this case
straight line with your mark, otherwise the bowthe archer can kneel and thus lower his flight to
will be twisted in the grasp and deflect the shot.avoid interception.In kneeling it seems that the
Then fully drawn, set the grasp of the left handright knee should be on the ground, while the left
without disturbing the position of the bow, makefoot is forward. This is a natural pose to assume
the left arm as rigid as an oak limb; fix theduring walking, and the left thigh should be held
muscles of the chest; make yourself inflexibleout of the way of the bow-string. When not in
from head to toe. Keep your right elbow up anduse, but braced, the bow should be carried in the
rivet your gaze upon your mark; release in aleft hand, the string upward, the tip pointing
direct line backward. Everything must be underforward. It never should be swung about like a
the greatest tension, any weakening spoils yourclub nor shouldered like a gun.Shooting from
flight.The method of aiming in game shootinghorseback is not impossible, but it must be done
consists in fixing binocular vision on the object tooff the left side of the horse, and a certain
be hit, drawing the nock of the arrow beneathamount of practice is necessary for the horse as
the right eye and observing that the head of thewell as for the archer.It is surprising how
arrow is in a direct line with the mark by theaccurately one can shoot at night. Even the
indirect vision of the right eye. Both eyes aredimmest outline will serve the bowman, and his
open, both see the mark, but only the rightshaft has an uncanny way of finding the
observes the arrowhead, the left ignores it. Yourmark.When it comes to missing the mark, that is
vision must be so concentrated upon one pointthe subject for a sad story. It takes an
that all else fades from view. Just two thingsinveterate optimist to stand the moral strain of
exist--your mark and your arrowhead.At a rangepersistent missing. In fact, it is this that spoils the
of sixty or eighty yards, the head of the arrowarchery career of many a tyro--he gives up in
seems to touch the mark while aiming. This isdespair. It looks so easy, but really is so difficult
called point blank range. At shorter lengths theto hit the mark. But do not be cast down, keep
archer must estimate the distance below theeternally at practice, and ultimately you will be
mark on which his arrow seems to rest in orderrewarded. Nothing stands a man in such good
to rise in a parabolic curve and strike the spot. Atstead in this matter as to have started shooting
greater ranges he must estimate a distancein his youth.And do not imagine that we are
above the mark on which he holds his arrow ininfallible in our shooting. Some of the most
order to drop it on the object of his shot.If hishumiliating moments of our lives have come
shaft flies to the left, it is because he has notthrough poor shooting. Just when we wanted to
drawn the nock beneath his right eye, or he hasdo our best, before an expectant gathering, we
thrown his head out of line, or the string has hithave done our most stupid missing. But even this
his shirt sleeve or something has deflected thehas its compensations and inures us to defeat.It is
arrow.If it falls to the right, it is because he hasa striking fact that we shoot better when
made a forward, creeping release, or weakened inconfronted by the game itself. Under actual
his bow arm, or in drawing to the center of thehunting conditions you will hit closer to your point
jaw instead of the angle beneath the eye.If thethan on the target field.Study every move for
arrow rattles on the bow as it is released, orclean, accurate shooting, and analyze your failures
slaps it hard in passing, it is because it is notso that you can correct your faults. Extreme care
drawn up in true line, or because it fits too tightlyand utmost effort will be rewarded by greater
on the string, or because the release is creepingaccuracy.Other things being equal, it is the man
and weak. Always draw fully up to the barb.If hiswho shoots with his heart in his bow that hits the
arrows drop low and all else is right, it is becausemark.The Author is Publisher of a website
he has not kept his tension, or has lowered hiscontaining e-books and great information on
bow arm.After the arrow is released, the archerBowhunting and Archery.