shooting at 50 yards
 

ok, let's not be too modest, I'm a good shot at 18 yards and 25 yards, shooting an average of 9.4 on a fita target with my hunting rig.
At 30 yards I still have an average of 9.2 but I shot a short metric tournament which goes out to 50 yards ( actually meters ) my arrows go all over the place.
No real line in the errors I make, the arrows go in every direction inbetween the red and the yellow ring.
Any tips guys ? I have several arrows that don't make the same trajectory on this kind of distance, while at 25 meters they hit bull's eye.
No wind at the time of shooting.
Set up; 82nd at 28" with 57,5 #
FMJ's 400 with 125gr bulletpoints
Qad Ultra hunter rest

I know for most 50 yards is a "no go" shot but I like to know that I can shoot these kind of distances. Because 40 yards is almost 50 yards and I don't like to have doubts when I'm aiming at an animal.

Frank

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

Try shooting the same arrow 5 times in a row. Mark each spot on your target. That will tell you ifthe arrows are causingthe inconsistency. If you group it well, then you'll know that it's either your shooting, or something else on your setup. At least you would be able eliminate one variable.

I know it's alot of walking, but everyone can use a little exercise. Right? ;)

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

I don't care what #-age you've got it set on. When compared to other bows, the 82nd is a beast to draw.

Try shooting your 50yd end earlier in your practice session. You may be tired when you get to the end that requires you to be the most steady.

Just my .02

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

at 50 yards you really notice the inconsistencies in form or flight. do like they say and use one arrow and do it fresh . this is why most won't shot at an animal that far

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

Take a sharpie and number your arrows and you'llbe ableto see if it's you or if it's the same couple ofarrows. Are all of your arrows the same type and spine? I have a couple of different types of arrows and some weight about 100 grains more than the others. They fly to the same spot out to about 25 yards, by the time they go 40 yards the heavier ones drop about 8" more.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

It's been my experience that while trying to work in any longer range rig that you MUST key in on critical bow tuning and form issues. I've seen coutless archers totally change their game when these factors were corrected and honestly, most shooters and their rigs need the improvements.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

One thing I have noticed is the size of the aiming spot matters! When my pin covers it, havea tendanc to move it to see the spot. On my block target I can shoot 20-40 on the smaller dots I have painted. At 50 I really can't, the pin covers the dot totally and something in my head won't let me hold on something I can't see. At 50 I have a bigger dot a shoot at and that solves the problem. Groups grow consistently as I back up.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

Right on!! My old arrow set up flew pretty good shooting at 15 yards but once I got out to 30 some yards they went goofy on me. It was a combination of form and too weak of spine for me. I shoot a recurve so form and arrow set ups are huge when practicing and shooting. Like Jeff said try doing the longer range shooting/practicing right away to see If It's tiredness or If you really do have some arrow/bow/form Issues.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

This is a great point. When I was younger, maybe 14 or 15, I didnt have much to do in the summertime other than shoot my bow and make sure my form was perfect. I could shoot baseball sized groups at 65 yards and would not have hesitated to shoot a deer at 50. The older I got, the less I shot my bow until I only would shoot it 2-3 weeks before season. What I started seeing was not only a change in the consistancy of my shots, but a change in my form alltogether. I really had a time trying to get my form down with my new bow. When I first bought my new PSE, I was not really happy with the groupings I was getting. Now, I go through a mental checklist before EVERY shot, whether it be 10 yards or 50 and I am shooting a lot better. It really is extremely important to focus on your form and practice staying in that form in order to get good at the longer range shots.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

I had a quiet afternoon to practice my 50 yards shot. I shot every arrow 5 times to eliminate the bad arrows. After done that I took my shot sequence notes and nailed them on a board next to me. The size of the spot you aim on went on to be one of the key factors of me shooting larger groups. Once I made the target larger I kept on shooting tighter groups. Another thing that made me shoot inconstent was the sunlight on my peepsight. I can see the bubble of my level in the rest but with the sun behind me or above me I don't so I changed my anchorpoint to see the level again.
I shot around 50 arrows and then the wind picked up and made it impossible to do the finetuning.
I noticed at 30 yards that my groups are more left than at 50 yards which means I need to walkback tune the rest again.
I felt too confident shooting 18 to 25 yards but now I really think I need to retune completely. I'm going to restring the bow and change the cables, after that a whole build up from zero.
I'm going to add the 30 and 50 yards into the tuning process to get a finer result.
The tips you gave me helped me out, so thanks...

Frank

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

Aim small, Miss small.

What peep do you shoot? I found bad glare in the G5 (blue) peeps and did away with them, went back to a Tru Peep.

Are you shooting on flat ground with no slope? If you have slope are watching your level?

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

Rob,

I tried the G5 and the metapeeps and didn't like the blue as well.
I liked the shurz-a-peep but using three strands of string didn't cut it for me, so I machined a peep myself, the same as a shurz-a-peep but with two strands of string.
This gives me a thick black circle in which I center my sight. Since the hole in the peep is coneshaped I sometimes have some light that reflects on the inside wall of the peep.
I rely on my anchorpoint now when this happens.
I shoot on a flat target range but I never have used my level.
One thing that my have interfered is that I shot my longbow a lot before training this kind of distances.....

F.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

Bingo..
I shot only 20-30-40 yrds for yrs(26)and then last yr started doing 50 and 60 yards(for mule deer and goats) and man was it ugly,I hit vitals but with no consistancy then I focused on my form and wow now I can do 30-40-50-60 with out having 2nd thoughts..
I felt like it was my 1st time shooting a bow when I went 50-60 and I thought my form was good.......

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

I am thinking the same thing, I am second best shot when it comes to under 30yard shots, I pick coinsize dots and x them. But I want to have the confidence to make these long shots, not that I am ever going to make them in real life situations.
But my mind needs to know I can. I am going to up the trainingprogram and work on form after the bow's set up properly again.

thx for the info

F.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

You'll only get good at the longer distances with tons of practice. So keep at it. Bow/arrow tuning is critical, and so is brain tuning. It is difficult to get really good at the longer distances with todays short ATA hunting bows, so your form/release and follow through have to spot on to get the accuracy you want. I would think abou a different peep, such as the Tru Peep or even a Superpeep so you can change hole diameters to get the light and clarity you shoot the best with.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

I personally think that every bowhunter should have practice rounds going to 50 yards.
I thought my bow was set and everything tuned but after going to 50 yards I discovered there was still a lot to fine tune on bow and on the arrows I use. And my form wasn't 100%. When I filmed myself on the 25 yard shots I saw myself dropping the bow down too fast which doesn't make any differenceat 25 yards. At 50 yards the arrows drop down almost 3" when I did that.
Another thing I noticed is that my confidence is very high even on these long shots now that I shoot tight groups of 3" and less.
I had to reset the rest and the backwall of my 82nd and now 2 out of 3 arrows hit bull's eye at 50 yards.
Another critical issue was my poundage, I went from 55 to 57,5 and those 2,5 pounds did make a big difference in drawing back my airborne. I shot around 500 arrows to get the feel backthat I owned the bow and not the other way around......
I might put up the little youtube clip with my practice.

I must say that once again all the intel and answers helped me out.
Now I need to get an animal in my sight and shoot it.
If all goes well maybe this fall..........

Frank

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

I shoot as far back as 60 yards all the time. I like it because it really shows your errors. People allways tell me to never ever even shoot my bow past 30 yards ever. they don't even like any one practicing farther out than 30 because (and I am quoting dumbut here) "they could use it in a hunting situation, and that is why I don't even like people PRACTICING past 30 yards" (end quote) and this was on MY LAND!!

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

You're absolutely right about showing not only the shooter's error but any faulty equipment or bowtuning issues will become more aparant at 50 yards or more.

F.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

That is hilarious!!!

Imo, if you plan to shoot ANYTHING foam or hunting seriously, you need to be profficient shooting about 20yds past your planned shooting. I LIKE to be able to shoot pretty well at 60, adn ok at 70, but that is really where i start to fall apart. but it makes 50 seem like 30 after about 15 shots.

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

my tip ?

shoot a recurve for 2 weeks, then go back to the compound and you'll be tickled to death with the incredibly easy accuracy you have with it

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

that's comparing lemons to apples, every bow has its limitations.
Do you shoot up to 50 yrds with your longbow ?
I want to be able to shoot as best as possible with my compound as well as my longbow.

F.

other than that you are right but after shooting two weeks longbow you lose form just enough to lose some accurasy

RE: shooting at 50 yards
 

Step back to 70 and 80 and shoot several groups, then move back up to 50,you'll see a big improvement.

Brad, do you have that much trouble shooting a recurve? I see constant replies on complaining how hard it is to shoot a recurve. I mean you have been at it for a long time and you have had a bunch of trad bows. Just surprised you seem to have so much trouble shooting one decent.

From looking at your video,the release elbow is 1 issue that can cause your problems.Having everything in line with the arrow is something we should try to achieve.But,you are also punching the trigger.It is a smooth punch and would be quite effective for a quick command release in a hunting situation but for target groups,firing with BT is crucial.

Now,as far as equipment,the radiacal bow will magnify the other issues but tight groups are attainable.I would put a longer stab on the bow,a 10" with the weight out front might do a great deal for tightening the groups at distance.


Another thing I am sure you have seen talked about is trusting the float.Let the pin float around the spot and trust that your Bt will put the arrow in the spot.