I guess I' m a lot like Arthur in this regard. In almost 35 years of bowhunting, I doubt I' ve ever held even 5 seconds. I think part of this is the fact that I hunted with a recurve my first 10 years. No way to effectively shoot one, when holding a long time. The next 15 years, I used a compound with a 30% let-off. This didn' t allow long " holds" , either. My technique is very well ingrained, and I' ve been very successful with it. Often times, the draw is what stops the deer. If it doesn' t, I often stop them with a grunt. Since I only shoot very close ranges, I don' t care if the deer looks at me - it' s dead.

I' ll bet the average hunter who uses the " long hold" technique" looses more opportunities, by having to let-down, than I do by waiting for the deer to get into the position I want, before drawing.