One of my seminars last year discussed the difference between tournament verses hunting setup. There were at least 12 differences that were discussed.

We look at tournament archers, and because they are successful/accurate, gleen from them things that, when taken into the field under hunting circumstances, can cause problems. Some of them are body positioning (which includes head position), string position (as it relates to the body/clothing), and anchor points. Let's take just these three one at a time and assume that hunting is our main agenda.

Body positioning. This should be such that the acquisition of the peep andits direct relationship to the sight ring are quickly accessed. Why? Because the hunting target is moving and illusive. If hunting outof atreestand, weight should be on the front leg. Keep in mind that body positioning is a more extensive subject too deep to cover here.

String positioning should be studied with an effort to keep it as far away from the chest as possible. Why? Because hunters usually wear heavy clothing which can cause string deflection and subsequent arrow deflection.

Anchor points. The release handanchor point should be very repetitive and stable. The string on the end of the nose (except when eyeglasses have to be worn) is another anchor point that dictates a stable/heads upview towards the peep. And the peep, when the otheranchor points fall in line, should be immediately focused/in line to the sight ring.

Now, if you study the pictures carefully, you should see the things that I see. Also, the bent arm is exaggerated down whereas the bend should be out and not as extreme as it appears.

There are quite a few otherthings that I would change for a hunter and I could give you very logical reasons for those changes. A tournament shooter, however, can get away with things that would annoy a good hunting setup. After all, the seminar went on for more than an hour.

Now, let the flaming begin.

I'm surprised I didn't get any arguments or questions from the tournament guys. I guessmost of them have come tounderstand the differences. That's a good thing.

Anyway, I recently changed Davidmil's anchor points slightly and got some good feedback from him. He's going to miss me!

Len:

From my very LIMITED experience with "tournament" archers (at my local 3D shoots).....they need to worry about ONE thing....and ONE thing, only....to help transfer their accuracy to hunting situations.

They need to work on finding a deer that will sit there for 10 minutes while they go through their pre-shot routine.

ROTFLMAO

I've never thought to put it that way. You've got a way with words.

One thing that I notice is that your draw length is probably still a little long. When standing up straight your iris of your eye should line up with the end of your nock, and with your belly button. This should all be one straight vertical line. One good thing is that you are not leaning back, so it is not WAY too long. Len covered some good points for if you are going to be using your bow for hunting primarily, but you do want to straighten up a bit so your bow arm is parallel to the floor and your back elbow and wrist should create a line parallel to the arrow. With the loop your arrow looks good and as Rob said you should relax that bow hand. I had a guy tell me once that you want your bow to be in your hand as though your were holding a baby bird. That is you are containing the bow, but very relaxed and gently.

Apply these things and what the others have said and you should be in good shape. That is if while thinking about everything you've been told you don't develop target panic.[:@]

Your draw length now is most likely ok........your use of it isn't IMO.

You need to transpose everything forward a little bit......get your arm more straight and bring the anchor forward to stay "behind the shot".
The push pull thing IMO doesn't work on compounds, its to hard to repeat the pressures involved and you will wind up with variances in hand pressure and torquing forces on the grip.

Treat your bow arm like a 2X4 with your shoulder down and in a locked bone on bone position with good relaxed hand placement. and FORGET IT. From there on out you simply pull with your back muscles. Both hand should be relaxed and PULL only.

I could get into a bunch of stuff from those first pics but first and foremost scrap that anchor and bow arm style.

I included a pic of my "Tournament style" form. I have actually since shortened my draw length myself 1/2 " on a longer ATA style bow to maintain my consistent set of reference points and to be able to stay behind the shot even better on uphill , downhill shots. I will actually mess with loop length in 1/8" increments to get things just right.

Matt's picture shows a perfect example of what I was talking about. You can draw a straight vertical line from his iris to the nock, all the way down to his belt buckle. His back elbow is actually a little high, but he is an experienced archer and can get away with that without having adverse affects. The main thing is the back arm is straight from elbow to anchor. Look at his bow arm as well. It looks solid and stable. This is what you want. If you straighten up you should be able to achieve this. Take it all one step at a time as Matt said.

Thanks guys. I will work on all of your tips and post another pic in a few weeks, cuz i know this isnt going to happen over night.

Uhhhhhhh..............what??? That could mean several things, but apparently somebody is going somewhere??????

Davidmil is moving from Maryland to upstate New York. I'm going to miss him as well. He's my friend and we've shared a lot of hunting time together. He promises to come back to Maryland to hunt with my son and me and has invited us to New York anytime we can make it. Anyone who is lucky enough to enjoy Dave's friendship is certainly blessed.

As far as Matt's picture, it's one of the best crosses between tournament and hunting form that you can get. Congrats Matt.