loogout1

I saw the groups that JoshKeller posted in the technical sec. in reference to sighting in his general and was absolutely floored at the accuracy he achieves at such long distances. So here's my question. How is this done? I use .19s for my 30 and 40 and they just about block out my intended spots. Is there a different routine or way of aiming for long distances? How is "float" minimized, or do you just practice so much that you completely trust your location. I know that practice is the answer for a lot of it but I would love to know some of the intricasies that go into longer range shooting. Maybe some of the advice could be carried over into hunting situations.

Roskoe

For me, the size of the pin really doesn't matter much. I like to shoot at a larger aiming point as the distance increases. Apple size at 25 yards. Pie plate size at 50 yards. Hat size at 75 yards. Large enoughspot so that I can see a little of the aiming point around the pin, and thus allow me to center the pin on the aiming point without having to guess where it is.

If your setup is all tuned, you should be able to shoot proportional size groups as the distance increases. For me, good solid shooting is 1" for every 10 yards of distance. So 2" at 20 yards, 4" at 40 yards, etc. When shots are not in this margin, I'm doing something wrong. Sometimes I can shoot tighter on a good day (I had one of those days yesterday ) - but I don't get too discouraged as long as I'm in the 10 MOA margin.

I have seen a lot of shooters get psyched out by longer distances. They change their form as the time of flight of the arrow increases. The only other shooter factor that comes to mind is the fact that it's easier to keep the pin and target both in clear focus at closer distances. For someone who qualifies for AARP benefits, a 70 yard target is probably going to be very fuzzy when focusing on a sight pin only three feet away.

loogout1

I'm thinking, like you said, that I just have to pick bigger spots as the yardage increases. I've been trying to hit my regular 20yd spots shooting at 40 and was having a hard time trusting wether I was on it or not. I can pretty consistently hit 4" groups at 40 but would really like to tighten that up even more and was just looking for some pointers. I kept finding myself "reaching" for my trigger, almost as if my release was too long. After looking in to it I found I was relaxing my wrist, thus letting my hand become too short. I started to keep my hand straighter along my cheek and now my trigger falls where I think it should. Took me 15 years to figure this out!

Roskoe

I also struggled with the same "reaching" issue in the past.Upon the advice of a local 3-D shooter, triedthe Short N Sweet release - where the trigger is about even with the place the release hooks on to the string loop - it helped. Also the shorter release resulted in an anchor point a little more forward, where thebase of the thumb is actually under the back of the jaw bone - not under the ear. This too seems to have helped some with anchor consistency.

loogout1

I just made this straightening of the hand discovery in the past couple of days, so I'm going to work on it and see what happens. Because I've always been "reaching" I've never really been able to wrap my finger over the trigger to get that really good semi-bt release. If this doesn't feel better then I will try a different release. I'm shooting a hurricane right now.

Roskoe

Sounds good. A couple hundred arrows ought to be enough to evaluate whether a new release is needed or not. Good luck. Roskoe

loogout1

I really appreciate the help Roskoe, thanks.

John.

mauser06

when oyu are trying to shoot longer ranges, EVERYTHING is magnified. that 1" miss at 20yds is a 3" at 60yds.

your form, bow and arrow tune, and everything needs to be perfect and your form, grip and release have to be consistant and upto par.

after that, it takes dedication and practice. dont go overboard. take your time and dont get frustrated. i started "long range" shooting just out of boredem and found out that with some work, i can shoot well, and it REALLY helped my short range shooting. if you have the form and consistancy and tune to stack them at 60yds, 30yds is going to be a hazzard to your arrows health

i shoot with .029 pins this year..REALLY makes long shots harder..plan to get .019 for my top 2 pins and .010 for my bottm 3 when i get new sights.

for targets, i use a golf tee pushed into my bag target for alot of my shooting. once i get to 40+ i painted 1-1.5" squares on my bag for my spots. "aim small, miss small". i like to shoot the smallest target i can see

i wont lie, at 50 and 60, i think i just float the pin in the center of my bag and let loose...thats where i painted one of my spots and it seems to work...going to try the paper plate next time..should help giving me a REAL aiming point...

loogout1

mauser, I dont think I'd be able to see a 1.5 square at 40yds even with my .19s. I have the 18-1 foam and the circles are probably softball size. I've been just trying to center my pin on them and seems to be ok. Like I said I'm getting close to 4" grps at 40, but would love to do better. I think going down a size in pins might help this issue. Also I have a red pin for my 30 and get a ton of halo out of it, think I'm gonna make it green like the rest of 'em.