How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

Yesterday on was on my pig stand and I had 2 come in. One was small but the other was a nice 70-80 pounder...perfect eating. I waited for at least 20 minutes for the big one to turn broadside. During that time I drew back twice and held waiting for him to turn. I had to let down both times because my arm was getting numb. He finally turned and I double lunged him. How long can you hold and still shoot accurately? I' ve never timed myself, but I' m going to tomorrow.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

Only long enough to make that perfect broadside shot;):D.


Brian

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

I can remember only a single time that I' ve drawn and waited more than 5 seconds for a shot, and that was because I suddenly saw a stick in my way and I had to find a clear hole to get my arrow through. My hunting style is to wait for the animal to present the shot and THEN I draw and shoot him. When I was coming up, pre-compound, a bowhunter had to know the right time to draw on an animal. I still believe that' s the mark of a true bowhunter.

That draw and wait B***S*** is for the guys making and selling hunting videos. They' re just holding full draw for a long time to heighten the suspense. Honestly, the whole draw and wait thing strikes me as totally amateurish.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

Last season I had a really good buck come in and offer a shot, but as I drew he turned toward me and started coming closer, no way to let down without being seen. I managed to hold it for well over a minute, seemed like an hour, finaly I had to let down so when he went behind a tree I let down. He stopped and came out broadside about 5 seconds later, I drew again and made a great double lung from about 18 yards.[8D]

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

Being able to hold your bow back for awhile can be very helpful in situations like Angus described. Arthur, what happens if when you start to draw at the perfect time the buck turns and is looking right at you in the tree. It is impossible to let down without spooking the buck, and there is no shot So what do you do if you are not able to hold the bow back, shoot him in the neck. No way! You hold on him and wait until he turns and gives you a good shot. This is a situation where being able to hold at full draw becomes of great importane.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

i once had a forkhorn come past my stand... when he steped behind a tree i drew and he froze.... so i held... i think it was probly about 2 minutes... when he all of a sudden turned and bolted... i made a bad decision by taking quick aim and releasing.... i' m glad i missed..... it wouldn' t have been a good shot... but i draw when i think i' m going to be presented a shot... if the shoot doesn' t coem i hold till i get one.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

No longer than necessary for a Quick, Clean Killing . . . Broadside or Quartering Away shot. However bowhunting for some 40 years, experience tells me that it is critical that we be able to hold on occasion, for a minute or so. Knowing when to draw and when to hold or when to risk a letdown is the mark of a skilled bowhunter.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

A buck I had been hunting finally came in (a few years ago) and I drew as his head went behind a tree. He stopped when his head and part of his neck appeared on the other side--COMPLETELY BLOCKING THE VITALS [:@] He eventually spotted me and after a hold of 1 1/2 to 2 minutes he started to bolt. He stopped about 30 yards out with only an inch or two of the vitals exposed--nearest the paunch. I took the shot and just barely touched the tree that was blocking the rest of the vitals. Luckily it defelected the arrow enough to miss him completely instead of a paunch shot.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

Longest I ever held at full draw was 20 seconds. A 10-pt was coming in just perfectly to my shooting lane. As he passed behind some brush before getting to the lane, I drew. Then, he stopped and just stood there, not spooked or anything just looking around. Finally he stepped forward and I put an arrow through his heart.

Other than that, I' ve never seen any advantage to holding at full draw for a longer period of time.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

If I get busted letting down, I lose the opportunity. That means I pitted my skill and luck against the animal and the animal won. To me, that is exactly what bowhunting is all about. KILLING a deer isn' t nearly as important to me as the way I do it. I' d just hunt gun season if all I wanted out of a hunt was meat and horns.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

I' ve sat 8 hours with my bow at full draw already,then again it is a Horton x-bow,sorry could not resist

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

Arthur, this is the only I time have disagreed with you, sometimes there is anticapation, such as when a deer goes steadily walking and when his head goes down or behind a tree/bush and this is when I draw back. Why do I do this?, so my movement is concealed , it seems like they sense your presence as soon as they come in. It is to my advantage to use this strategy. I personally don' t think its so important on how long one can hold a bow at full draw, but more so on how steady you can hold the pin on your point of aim accurately. Bobby ;)

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

Bobby, you' re not disagreeing with me because I never said drawing while an animal is behind a bush and holding till it steps out is not a great advantage. It certainly is. I' ve done it a couple of times. Never even loosed an arrow either time because it didn' t ' feel right.' Something was missing. I enjoy the CHALLENGE of getting the bow drawn with the animal in front of me.

Drawing and waiting for the shot reminded me why I sold my 30-30 and started hunting exclusively with a bow in the first place.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

Not sure! If I drop my shoulder I could hold it alot longer.

Arthur

You crack me up man! You should start a sister club to Davids " crotchety old farts club" ! It could be the " crotchety old farts club...stuck in their old ways chapter" ;)

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

I been teaching myself to hold as long as possible if i really in fact need to keep up for long time, just in case. Other then that, maybe just a few seconds.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

I think somebody already beat me to it. Comptons. ATHA. Some even say Pope and Young Club.

But I' m glad there are orgs like Buckmasters carrying the light for the newfangled means and methods. ;)

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

What usually happens to me is I will draw when they walk behind a tree and shoot them when they appear on the other side. Alot of times though they stop behind the tree for what seems like an eternity and just when I let down, they step out.[:' (] The longest I have held was for about 2 minutes.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

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.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

I dont think anyone uses the long hold technique intentionally. It' s just something that happens to every bowhunter eventually! Well , apparently 99% of bowhunters.;)

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

I never have timed mysef but i can hold mine back for a good long time. I have an 80% let-off so it isnt that hard to hold it back. I try not to pull back till its time to shoot, just so i know it will be accurate.

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

When I was younger that was a continual problem. I can remember 5 or 6 times I held my bow back for alittle ove a minute. Thinking back......that was pretty damn good considering let-offs were 40 - 50 %. These days, I havn' t had that problem. Being older and wiser does have some advantages!!!

Good Luck!

RE: How long can you hold your bow at full draw?
 

Maybe three minutes, tops.