FireCloud
Active Member
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2009
- Messages
- 3,545
The almost daily showers have caused me to miss a few afternoon target practice sessions with my bow, but even so, I have now easily flung way over 1,000 arrows at my target. With only 59 days left before opening day, I am ramping up my practice. Typically I am shooting groups of 8 arrows in 5 or more sets from the two current positions I have set up at 10 and 15 yards. Since I am now getting a high enough percentage of my arrows in the kill zone at these ranges, I will soon be adding a 20 and 25 yard station to my practice range.
Here is a set shot today from 10 yards. As you can see, only 1 arrow was high and the other 7 are within the kill zone, for an 87.5% hit ratio.
Satisfied with my 10 yard groups, I moved back to the 15 yard station and here is a group shot from there. I shot 5 of the 8, or 62.5% of the shots in the kill zone from this range.
What makes me especially happy is to see at least one arrow of each group dead center on the blue square of tape. This is a bit harder than it looks, as from 15 yards back, this 2 inch square of tape looks pretty small and is very hard to see in the dusky, low light conditions as daylight fades. And when you finger shoot instinctively but cannot really see the target well, it really tests your instictive ability to group your arrows tightly.
But since the deer here tend to walk out at dusk, practicing until I can hit the target whether I can see it clearly or not is what I have to do. It is much like when I did my dark water dive rescue certification training and had to disassemble and reassemble parts underwater while blindfolded. You just have to learn to concentrate and stay mentally focused!
Here is a set shot today from 10 yards. As you can see, only 1 arrow was high and the other 7 are within the kill zone, for an 87.5% hit ratio.
Satisfied with my 10 yard groups, I moved back to the 15 yard station and here is a group shot from there. I shot 5 of the 8, or 62.5% of the shots in the kill zone from this range.
What makes me especially happy is to see at least one arrow of each group dead center on the blue square of tape. This is a bit harder than it looks, as from 15 yards back, this 2 inch square of tape looks pretty small and is very hard to see in the dusky, low light conditions as daylight fades. And when you finger shoot instinctively but cannot really see the target well, it really tests your instictive ability to group your arrows tightly.
But since the deer here tend to walk out at dusk, practicing until I can hit the target whether I can see it clearly or not is what I have to do. It is much like when I did my dark water dive rescue certification training and had to disassemble and reassemble parts underwater while blindfolded. You just have to learn to concentrate and stay mentally focused!
