BOW HUNTING
 

i WANT TO GET INTO BOW HUNTING ON A SERIOUS LEVEL.I AM RIGHT HANDED BUT AM LEFT EYE DOMINANT SHOULD I BUY A LEFT HANDED BOW? I ALREADY HAVE A RIGHT HANDED BOW BUT I NEED HELP IN SHOOTING MORE ACCURATELY. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

A good shooting coach would have you shooting left handed but there are many accomplished archers shooting opposite.

PS, turn your capts off. ;)

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

I personally believe you should shoot with your dominant eye.

My daughter is the same as you and is an awesome shot with a rifle and is starting to really shoot well with her bow left handed and she is only 12.


On the flip side,the best hunter and shooter that I know is shooting right handed and is left eye dominant.He has killed MANY book deer and some of them push 190".He has also won bow tournaments in the semipro devision at a national level.


I do believe he is the exception and not the rule.Go with the eye.[&:]

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

How about strenght in the off hand? I appreciate your help. I will probably hire a pro to help me if the cost is not to high.Thanks again for all your help.

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

Everybody will probably tell you that if you haven't even started yet, shoot left handed to take advantage of your dominant eye...

Having said that, I'm right handed and extremely left-eye dominant. I just close my left eye. Done it my whole life in shooting rifles (qualified expert in basic training out to 300 meters), and on good days can't aim at the same spot for fear of busting nocks. On good days, I said... ;)

I'd probably suggest learning to shoot left-handed as well, since it's so early in the game. Finding bows is gonna suck for you though... :)

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

Like mentioned above there are some fantastic archers out there who shoot right handed but are left eye dominent. So I think shoot what ever way is most comfortable. Some people can make the switch to left hand and get used to it, then there are some people who can't shoot left handed no matter what. But the fact is you have better depth perception and field of view with both eye's open plus it beleive it or not it takes concentration and fatigues the brain to keep one eye closed. Good luck.

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

Thanks greg

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

Greg are you supposed to shoot a gun with both eyes open or what? Cause if you are I'm doing wrong, since I shoot with my left eye closed as well!

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

Well I shoot my bow right handed and I shoot a gun left handed. It is just how I learned how to shoot my bow. I am very comfortable shooting my bow right handed and feel like I can put a deer down that way. So far I haven't lost one, man I hope I haven't jinxed myself. I guess you just need to do what is comfortable for you.

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

I don't know what you're "supposed" to do, but I can't shoot either gun or bow with both eyes open. I've tried and tried and tried and it does not work for me. [:o] Gun or bow, left eye closed for me.

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

It really shouldnt matter much, shoot with both eyes open, it works better than shooting with one eye. try it out. it works for me and many others.

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

I would switch to left handed. It won't be as hard as you think. I shot right handed for 20 years then switched to left. It was easy to do. I think you would be better off doing this then staying right handed andclosing an eye because your vision will be better. Aiming with your eye that isn't dominant can make the target blury.

MC Bowhunter

RE: BOW HUNTING
 

I say, just switch hands and shoot the bow you have. See what happens?

I was given a high country bow from a friend who was given the bow from his son. My friend had never shot it and didn't know anything about bows. I took the bow, started shooting it, with no prior experience with bows. Started adjusting things with no help. I was finally able to shoot the bow consistently from the ground and from an elevated position.

After my first season (in which I killed a few deer with it) my wife’s uncle came to the house and we got to talking about shooting the bow. When he looked at it he said "I didn't know you were left handed", and I replied, "I'm not". He laughed for a while and informed me that I was shooting a left-handed bow. He then asked to watch me shot it. Afterwards he said "well that's a first". I said "do you think I should buy another one"? He replied, "well you’re shooting that one real good, up to you". That is actually a really good compliment, since he is a very good shot with a bow. He hunts pheasant with a recurve.
I've been shooting it ever since, and it shoots straight every time. Biggest pit fall I've been able to notice is if you were to need to take a second shot quickly. Knocking an arrow is awkward. But I’ve never been in a situation (yet) to have to load it quickly.

I’ve since compared left vs. right-handed bows, and there isn’t much of a difference. Only things I’ve seen are the sights are mounted on the other side and the arrow is placed on the opposite side. But the critical stuff is all the same, the string, peep sight, arrow and pins are all in a straight line. The off set of the bow blocks my sight picture to the left, where as if I were shooting a right-handed bow, it would simply be blocked to the right.

I do realize that this isn’t optimal, but I think you could at least give it a shot to see if it feels natural at all and go from there. Never know, afterward you might form the opinion that shooting left-handed is out of the question, or it may confirm that this is the way you should be shooting. If so, at that time you can decide to keep the one you've got and shoot it backwards, or buy a left handed bow. But for now, I'll keep shooting my left handed bow, but shoot it right handed.

I wonder if the American indians had left and right-handed bows?

Good luck,
KP