shoot left when tired?

bowdeerhunter · 10-09-2005, 01:01 PM

It seems like after I shoot about 15 times I start to shoot left. Is shooting left a symptom of being tired? (i'm right handed)

JoshKeller · 10-09-2005, 01:06 PM

Sounds like your form is degrading after a certain amount of shots. Concentrate on form, and if it still goes left, shoot less frequently or turn your draw weight down.

BGfisher · 10-09-2005, 04:32 PM

Tired after only 15 shots? No doubt in my mind you are pulling too much peak weight. As I get older I've learned all over again that archery is supposed to be fun,, not an ordeal. I've got the weight turned back into the mid to upper 50's for my hunting bow and can literally shoot about 150 arrows each day and still am not sore the next day.

Shooting this way allows me to shoot many more arrows working on nothing but shooting form and aiming, not struggling with the bow.

PABowhntr · 10-09-2005, 06:06 PM

Both previous posters offer sound advice. I would be inclined to believe that you are on the right track. While shooting today I had a few shots go to the left of the bull. At first I thought it was just a poor arrow so I numbered them. It wasn't. It was my dropping my arm slightly upon release. Your form is mostly likely the culprit due to fatigue.

bowdeerhunter · 10-09-2005, 08:30 PM

I do have it at 70 lbs but i have 80% letoff. I'm pretty sure that it is me but I was just wondering if shooting left is commonly what happens when you get tired as opposed to shooting right or some other direction?

Mikey S. · 10-09-2005, 08:42 PM

A right handed shooter will shoot left when tired. You're muscles will tire, sometimes not until you are at full draw and aiming, and you will overcompensate for the tired holding arm and push a little harder with it to hold it steady, in effect, pushing the shot left, or dropping it. It'll show up as a low hit, or left hit. If yourexperiencing this after 15 shots @ 70lbs., you need to drop down quite a bit.

Mikey

BGfisher · 10-10-2005, 06:12 AM

70# and 80% letoff doesn't matter much. The amount of letoff doesn't matter. You still have to roll the cams over that 70# and that can tire muscles out quickly. Try it this way. Hold your bow out as if to aim it and draw the bow stright back to your anchor. If you have to struggle at all, even the slightest bit, then the peak weight is too high for you. You should be able to look at your target and draw the bow stright back to your anchor, never moving your head. You should be able to draw the bow to YOU, not move anything. Otherwise the bow needs adjusted to fit you. Another thing that will cause your problem is that maybe the drawlength is too long also. It could be a combination of drawlength and weight.
Some guys shoot their bows at a specific weight during the summer and then increase the weight for hunting. IMO based on experience is that this is doing things backward. While practicing and shooting 3D you have the chance to warm up your muscles which cn allow them to draw more weight. Sitting in a treestand waiting for a deer to come along, maybe for hours, you don't have the option of keeping the muscles loosened up. Drawing that bow the first time might be a real struggle. If it is then the bow is turned up too much. I actually drop mine down between 5 and 8 lbs for hunting from 60-61 to the mid 50's. When the arrow passes through the deer and sticks in the ground they don't seem to care what the bow was set at. BUT I can draw it.