I shoot all year because I like it....and I need time away from the wife.
If I screw up a shot on a deer I don't want to go home knowing that I could have done more to improve my shooting.
I also bowfish in the spring and summer.

Currently I am blessed with the opportunity to shoot all year around in my basement and at a nearby outdoor range, but back when that wasn't the case, I still got out a month before the season started and shot about twice a week, and continued druing the season. It was not just to make sure my pins were set though, It takes practice and repetition to stay in good form.


I could live with a 6" group at 30 yards since that's current my self-imposed distance limit too.
...BUT, I've learned that the ability to shoot a 6" group on a 30 yard target at the range does not necessarily translate directly into being able to keep a 6" group in the field while hunting.

Bob, it sounds to me like you've been shooting and hunting long enough to be able to evaluate your own abilities and stay within your limitations. Only you know how many shots you've made that didn't hit where you wanted them to. It's strictly a personal thing. I would have to do more.

[quote]ORIGINAL: stealthycat

I can take any tuned compound from any board member here and be deadly out to 30 yards with it in 10 minutes of shooting. Seriously guys, I can hold 4" groups with any tuned compound and most people who have shot any can do the same.

Stealth, can you shoot left handed? I know what ya mean though.
The snow finally left here last month so I've been shooting since then. From the end of hunting season through the end of winter I don't shoot but now, I am shooting a set of arrows just about every morning and evening as I have 3 targets set up at different ranges and shoot at them from my front porch. I even have a ladder going up to the roof on the porch and shoot from the roof also. The more you shoot the better you get. You just have too. Bobby

Well said Jerry. My side of the coin is that I do not practice to better my hunting. I shoot a bow year round because I like ARCHERY. I hunt a couple months out of the year because I like bowhunting and there isn't much else going on with bows at that time of year. I used to love hunting, then bowhunting. That's tempered a bit as I get older and a lot of my hunting places are now housing developements or warehouses. Frankly, to me, the process of deer hunting is absolutely boring most of the time. But the time spent in the field or the woods is time away from the cruel realities of everyday life. I'd like to have the old fire back, but even being retired doesn't leave enough time to get into it like I'd desire to.

I shoot year round. I find that if I don't, bad habits come back fast. For me it is easier to maintain good shooting form. Even if that means shooting in the basement when there is a blizzard outside.

You're a rather lippy little nubie aren't you. Dumb question, or dumb for posting this? I don't think so, Sport... this is a chat board with forums to chat on, or did you miss that at sign up? I am not offended at anything people say to me out here - again, it's called discussion, chat, debate, learning, whatever you want to call it. Bored? No. Wanting to learn what others do so I can learn as well. It's obvious my stance on this issue is shooting all year doesn't warrant me a better shot in the field come season and makes me no less of an ethical hunter for doing so. If I'm wrong or you think I'm wrong, state why - I'll listen, maybe even change my mind. Don't lip off to me like a sissy little school boy though, Sporto.

I hear what you are saying, IBM. Honestly, if I had more time during the summer and a place to shoot, I probably would be shooting just for the fun of it - probably recurve though and not the compound.


Never said they were all deer that I shot. And yes, shots go bad. To assume no blood means I placed a bad shot isn't that smart. No disrespect, IBM, but think about the factors we face afield during that critical moment - twig we didn't see, deer jumps the string, deer is startled by another factor we can not control - other deer, other people, other animals, etc... So my point is, a shot will go south no matter how accurate or precise your shooting level. That is part of hunting. Part of hunting - the biggest part to me - is learning how to track an animal regardless of the circumstance. Say the arrow lodged in the shoulder after blowing through both lungs. This deer will leave very little blood on the ground after 30-50 yards. But the deer is running dead and will pile up after 80-100 yards or so. You gonna stop looking after finding no blood after a short track? No. Just something to think about.

i dont start shooting until about a month or so before season starts i start out shooting from ground 20 25 30 yrds making sure bow and form and eyes are ok. my brother and i also go to the woods with 3d deer target and treestand. while one of us climbs tree with our bow the other moves deer around for different shots to take. we like to practice the way we hunt. to each his own.

You tell me?

This 'no need to practice' baloney is the exact reason our archery club is 80% traditional for the first 6 months of the year, then 80% compound the last 6 months. It's been that way for the past 6 years.

Why do so many compound shooters hate shooting their bows? I say that because it's human nature. When people enjoy doing something, they make time available to do it. So, since these folks refuse to shoot, then they obviously hate shooting.

So, you folks that do not shoot archery but still bowhunt, I'd like to know three things:

1)What is it about compounds you hate so much that you refuse to shoot any more than you absolutely have to?

2) Since you dislike shooting a bow, why do you even mess with bowhunting to begin with?

3) What gives YOU the right to come on websites like this, where people who live and breathe archery hang out, and start whining about folks not seeing eye to eye with your attitude?

It's the folks that live and breathe archery who have the right make the rules, not part time, relunctant participants. Yes, that is the classic definition of elitism. I believe in it, wholeheartedly.

I don't shoot year round, however, I wouldn't mind it. I'm a Patrons license holder in Wisconsin which allows me to hunt almost everything legal. I spend a lot of time pheasant hunting, duck and goose, turkey and grouse. It is more of a time issue with me. I start shooting on my property casually in June and get more serious every month up until the season starts in mid September. It defineltly wouldn't hurt to shoot even more however.

-Mathewsconquest2