Bought a bow - now what?

G

gdgwp

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
78
Alright - I made the plunge. I went to the local archery shop and they hooked me up with a Mission Craze II bow. It fits me well and was at the price point I was looking for. Ok so now I need some help...here's my questions:

A) Practice - I'm here in SD & winter is in full force. The archery shop gave me free 6 months of lessons & access to their indoor and outdoor ranges. My questions is this...should I just start at 10 yards indoors until I'm consistently in the kill zone and then move on to 20? How do you guys suggest moviung up yardages?

B) Knowledge - What do I need to know as far as maintenance and repair on the bow? The shop will obviously do a lot of fine tuning for me, but what I want to be comfortable with is if I'm out at camp or on a hunt and something happens...I need to get it back into working order. What are the things I need to be able to fix?

C) Practice - I'm only willing to hunt if I'm comfortable that I'd be able to kill an animal. I obviously not at that point yet...what would you say my goal should be for accuracy before I hit the field? 5/5 in kill zone from 40 yards in variable wind conditions?
 
congrats!!! Practice, practice, practice!! I would start in 10 yard increments, then you can tell if the center shot is on properly as you move back further, so that is a good start. Listen to everything the bow shop guys can tell you and practice even more. I have my pins set in 10 yard increments. Only you can decide when and if you are comfortable with the hunting aspect to your shooting. You would want 5/5 in any yardage no matter what. As far as yardage, once again, only you can decide on your comfortable range. The biggest thing is to have fun and shoot as much as you can.
 
Congrats on the new hobby. Archery is a lot of fun that provides year round entertainment.

A) I would start out at 20 yards. If they are willing to give you a little instruction you should be shooting decent groups at 20 with minimal practice. I'm guessing by the time spring rolls around you will be ready to stretch the yardage out.

B) Knowledge of how things work is never bad but in 15 years of archery hunting I've never had to work on my bow in the field. I'm sure plenty of people have, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.

C) Only you will know when you are comfortable. If you do your part and practice 40 yards will not be a problem for you once hunting season comes around. With that being said, shooting 40 yards at paper and shooting 40 yards at a deer can be completely different base on how excited you get. I know guys that completely lose their mind once an animal steps out in front of them.

Spend as much time in the archery shop as you can and shoot as much as you can. I'm sure most guys in there will be willing to help you with your form and any questions you may have. And don't be afraid to sign up for any leagues and 3d shoots. 3D shoots are probably the best practice you can get in my opinion
 
a. Start at 20
b. For me the main thing is wax, always have string wax with you as well as allen wrenches.
c. For me it's hitting an 8 inch paper plate at any distance.
 
You should be able to get to 20 yards relatively quickly.

I don't do much. I know how to adjust my sites, wax my string, adjust my rest, and a few other things. I couldn't put one in a press and do anything real technical if I had to.

Last question is depends. With whitetails I practice to 50 but I rarely shoot past 30. I don't have many sets that I can shoot past 30. I have pins set at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50.

When I get off my butt and head out west I am going to switch to 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. I may even switch that to 30-70. Elk are much bigger than white tails and from my research they don't jump the string like a whitetail.

I wounded one last year at 40. My shot was true but she was on alert and she moved a good 15" from where she was when I shot. I will never shoot at a deer over 30 yards again if alerted. Hell I shot one last year at 20 that wasn't alerted and she moved a significant amount.
 
Something I like to use for ethical kill zone is simply this: 60 lb draw, 60 yards, 50 lb 50 yards etc.

Practice out as far as you can, if you can hit a pie plate at 100 yards then that 50 yard shot is nothing. Our 3d range here I use has 27 targets. Thru the brush, up hill, down, etc. When I am all alone on it, I shoot as far as I can to get practice.

As for tuning the bow, let the pro shop do it with you there so you can see what they move around. If you shoot high, move the sigh up, always chase the arrows with the sight. Your field tips will fly different then the broad heads.

You wont hunt with the field tips, so you need to tune/sight for the broad heads, then adjust for the field tips. It gets tedious but is fun also!
 
All good advice.

One thing I would add is to understand how to check your arrows for any issues. I had a friend that had a carbon arrow blow up and demolish his hand. Multiple surgeries later, he got most of the use of his hand back.
 
http://www.lancasterarchery.com/bernie-s-idiot-proof-archery-book.html

If you don't have a good coach teaching you then I suggest you buy this book. I learned on my own and after 15yrs of shooting I ingrained a terrible habit of "drive by" shooting, which lead to target panic. After reading his book and starting over from step 1 (shooting at 2yds in my bedroom) I'm back to slapping arrows at 50yds again.

The book will teach you everything and anything you need to know about archery, from shooting to bow setup and tuning. It's a great read and he's pretty comical too.
 
Last edited:
Use the heck out of those free lessons and range time! I rarely shoot less than 20yds and don't even have a 20yd pin on my sight anymore. Check your carbon arrows for cracking every time they go into a target, failure is rare but you really don't want it to happen to you. Practice shooting at uphill and downhill angles, without using your rangefinder or marked targets, and from your knees, the animals will rarely be on the same plane as you at a marked distance...
 
Use up those lessons before you do anything. Learning good fundamentals from the get go, without anything else to worry about (yardage, weather, wind, animals) will pay dividends down the road when you start to layer in those variables.
 
It looks like you got some pretty good advice already. I will add my 2 cents:

1. Consistency is your foundation! Anchor point, grip, release, sight picture, and follow through. Making a conscious effort to build these into muscle memory will pave your may. Your lessons should focus on these same things.

2. Many may disagree, but stay away from 3d targets and paper images of animals as you learn, and practice on a bullseye target. Starting out, stick with a single-spot (until your groups get tight enough where you start damaging arrows). If you have the time to join a spot league, do it.

I grew up shooting competitive archery from a young age. I adopted a cycle where after the hunting season I went back to the basics of 20yd target shooting all winter, and not until spring did I start shooting 3d tournaments and practicing field shooting in prep for hunting.

Spend your winters shooting spots, your summers shooting in the field, and your falls shooting game....
 
Practice and practice. Pay close attention to all the details. All the little things matter big time with archery.

Once you get the hang of it, don't be afraid to go beyond your comfort zone distance wise. I practice to 90yds. Doing so makes 50yds seem like a chip shot. This also magnifies any little mistake in form that you may be making that isn't noticable at 40 or 50 and then you can correct it. Try and shoot daily.
 
did your bow shop tune you bow to you?When I get a bow, 1st thing I do is take it to one certain shop to get peep sight mounted for me specifically,paper tuned so my rest is set perfect for me.Once this is done,your accuracy will be scary
definitely use the range time they gave you. I would set your first pin for 20 yards.not often you will get a closer shot in the fieldWith practice and a properly tuned bow, you wont want to shoot at same spot more then twice unless you can afford a lot of arrows
buy the best arrows you can afford.I think it makes a big difference in accuracy
Have FUN
 
If you want to shoot some indoor 3D Give Archers Addiction a try targets out to 50 yards so you can start extending your range even before it warms up. Hear we are in a Blizzard Warning for tomorrow morning as well. Glad I stopped by the range tonight to get 30 shots in.

Mark the owner is a great guy and really knowledgeable on all things archery I'm sure he would give you some tips on shooting form and tell you everything you need to know about the feeding and care of a bow. He's the only one in Sioux Falls that gets to touch my bow anymore. Bought a new bow from him right after Christmas, and picked it up right after the first of the year. All tuned up perfectly and ready for some practice.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to run into you sometime.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

PorterHouse
Tell Me About Your Bow Kills
2 3 4
Replies
62
Views
4K
PorterHouse
PorterHouse
N
Ghillie suit = New Bow
Replies
8
Views
643
Vanishe187
Vanishe187
perma
$60 for a loose screw
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
Lost Arra
L
R
Compound Bow Beginner-Help!
Replies
16
Views
1K
RugerHawg413
R
Southern Elk
Bow press and equipment needed for home archery tinkering
Replies
3
Views
719
golfer
G
Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
111,159
Messages
1,949,449
Members
35,063
Latest member
theghostbull

Share this page

Back
Top