Practice Shooting Form for the Real Thing
 

Great article from G5 that helped me correct shooting mistakes that were taking their toll on my hunting season.

http://www.g5outdoors.com/shooting-m...ith-your-form/

Anchor point, release, and follow-through are all important, and can be controlled and focused on each time you shoot. Stance, however often can not be controlled - one needs to learn how to shoot from various positions and angles.

What I found was messing me up once was a shooting window in my burlap ground blind that was too low, so I was crouching forward. Solution was to cut the opening higher and patch the bottom.

Yeah, like MZS stated, Stance is the only thing on that page that is pretty much impossible to keep consistent while in the hunting field or in a stand. It actually takes, in my opinion anyway, MUCH more practice to become proficient for HUNTING situations than it does for target. I've shot competitively in 3d compound, 3d traditional, and Olympic recurve target and can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that preparing to hunt from a tree stand or even spot and stalk requires MUCH more practice simply because you CAN'T usually get the proper stance so you have to compensate with an "awkward" body position to set your anchor point. I practice from sitting positions and pretty much any position I can think of that may present itself in the field. How many times have you guys been out there and a deer comes in where you have to dang near wrap yourself around your tree to get a shot!? Or when walking in, you see that a deer is around 25 yards off, almost has you pegged and you have to shoot from an almost one footed position from behind a tree. Repetitive stance is fine for target or SOME, not all, 3D competitions (some IBO comps have you wrapping yourself around trees to get to the 10 ring) but it can actually hurt your practice for hunting.

Agreed, Hard to concentrate on form when all of my concentration is on that pin and the deers posture. Love to practice with it so I do have some of the instinct in when the time comes.

Good advice about practicing from different positions. I have done a little of this, but not nearly enough. Things you can do are shoot from kneeling, sitting on ground, or from a chair. And shoot off to your right if you are right handed - that is tough.

I do more target practice out of an old stand I have set up in the back yard than I do on the ground. If I do practice on the ground, I try to mix it up and shoot from a sitting or kneeling position. I think practicing from a stand or a blind is more productive for hunters, anyway. Its not too often you get a deer to stand in front of you, broadside, while you're standing out in the open yourself.