I agree with Art, but have a bit more to add........

Hunting and tournaments are different, but I don't know of any better practice for hunting than 3-D (the type courses and clubs I shoot at). I don't have any close--I have to travel over 2 hours to get to any of them, but it's worth it to me.

3-D is different than hunting, but it's as close as we can get for practice. You have pressure, you have unknown distances with unfamiliar terrain, you trees/limbs/bushes in the way, you have shots you may have to kneel down, stretch out, etc. for, you have the pressure of your peers watching you shoot........a lot closer to hunting than shooting in the back yard. Some shoots even have moving targets.


I agree the best shot won't always be the best hunter, and vice-versa, but I don't see why anyone serious about the sport wouldn't want to be as good at both as they can. I don't measure my improvement by the number of dust collectors I can bring home--my main competition is myself. There are lots of shots at tournaments I wouldn't consider in the woods, but they are confidence builders and help me know my limitations. Ilike see if I can make the long shot through the bushes or thread the needle between two trees....... on foam.Those shotsmake me more confident of my shooting in the woods.

My goal is always to shoot at least 80%--that's averages out to a kill shot on every target. At the bigger tournaments, 80% won't get you in the top 10 in the longbow or recurve class. The winner of the recurve class at the Howard Hill this year averaged almost straight 10's--he shot a 494. That was 50 targets, 5-8-10-12 scoring. The winner in the longbow class wasn't far behind with a 473. I know both of the winners, and both are accomplished hunters. These were NOT wide open, flat ground shots.

My guess is that at least 80-90% of the folks that show up at all-trad tournaments are hunters first, and knowthat as far as scores go they don't have much of a chance of winning against the serious target archers--but they still show up time after time.

Most folks use their hunting bows and hunting arrows. I shoot the same set-up for tournaments as I do for hunting, minus broadheads. I could probably add some points to my score card if I got a lighter bow, lighter arrows, no silencers on the string, etc. but 3-D is hunting practice to me. I shoot the same bow and arrows if I'm hunting rabbits or moose or 3-D. The only exception is bow fishing, and I use a recurve for that--don't have inserts for my reel on my longbow.

You don't have to shoot tournaments to be a good shot, and you don't have to be a really good shot if you are good enough to get really close--but I don't see any reason not to work on being a better shot, plus the other benefits mentioned that go along with tournaments.

Chad