consistent groups
 

any advice on how that i can shoot consistent groups and gradually get my groups smaller and any other advice on the mechanics of shooting?

Pratice!!! Being consistant with groups means being consistant with everything, your arrows all the same, your anchor, form, release, stance, and even your thoughts. If you are thinking of not hitting the center of where you want the arrow to hit, it will do just that!! There is no short cuts, pratice!

okay i have been practicing for quite some time. i mean i am shooting 6 inch groups at 60 yards but im not satisfied. its like that i cant break through some kind of wall. more than likely im not going to take a shot at a turkey or whitetail past 40 yards but you never know when you will have to.

WOW.. 6 inch groups @ 60 yards is pretty good! I would definately take a shot at 60 if I was confident it would hit within 6 inches. To me it sounds more like a confidence thing to you. Be confident that you can hit and take the shot. Everyone is going to skip a shot out of their "circle" no matter what the distance, but to me, its confidence of getting it within your comfort "circle" that make the difference. I aim small at anything within 40 ( 2" circle) 40 to 60 its a 4 inch circle... and will confidently take a shot at those ranges. Aim small, Miss small is a great motivator for me.

It isn't sold with the bow
 

It depends how calm you can become, shooting the bow. It depends on your practice. It depends on doing your shooting, the same way, over and over. It depends on your eyesite.

The inability to shoot accurately, can turn a $900 bow into a piece of junk.

And all of the preceding I've mentioned, isn't sold with the bow.

Shooting 6" groups at 60 yards while on the practice range, while good, is not the same as being able to do so in a hunting situation. Adrenalin makes the brain go dead. The body gets the shakes. It might be cold and/or windy out. You have on heavier clothes. The animal can move while the arrow is in flight. There are lots of things that can happen, and probably will to mess up the shot.

You make a statement that "you never know when you will have to". You never "have to". You don't even have to take close shots. You are given a brain to help you make decisions. What decision you make is something you have to make. There is no such thing as "have to".

I would imagine as you get more years of hunting under your belt and experience with bowhunting you'll come to the realization that bowhunting is a close range sport and you'll learn this and choose your shots accordingly.

thanks guys that really helps. and yes its more of a confidence thing. i mean this is my 2nd year of bowhunting and im still pretty green. I missed a buck last fall and it killed me. so i practiced and practiced and practiced. still to this day my confidence hasnt raised at all.
PS. the buck i missed was the biggest buck i had ever seen. 135" or better

At what distance was the miss? Never consider a miss as bad. It's better than wounding due to shooting beyond your acceptable accuracy limit.

I shoot almost all year long (weather permitting). I shoot from 20 - 60 yds in 10 yd increments to verify my sights are set properly. I normally practice at 40 yds regularly and can keep my arrows in a 3" circle. Now, knowing what I am capable of is half the battle when it comes to shooting at game. BG is right about the adreneline thing. But it is all the practice during preseason that puts you into 'autopilot'. And although I am confident out to 40 or 50 yds, you will not see me shooting at a deer past 25 yds. You shooting 6" groups at 60 yds is fine. And that may be the best that you can do with your equipment. Maybe a higher quality arrow might improve group size a bit. Or maybe a little more tweeking with your tuning. But IMO, you aredoing better than most.

35 yards. he got spooked while i was drawing back. i missed due to my arrow tail whipping. that was when i decided that if i was going to do something right, i wasnt going to cut any corners with my archery equiptment. i was shooting a reflex by bighorn hunter, cheap arrows from walmart, and a cheap release that i dont know the name of. so i went to a bow shop in mammoth cave ky to get set up this spring. so this year im wanting to be at the top of my game and i was just wanting some assurance from some seasoned archers.

ooh, those cheap walmart arrows will do it all the time, rarely straight, and brittle as all get out. I broke a full dozen just from impacting the target and brushing branches. Once I switched to Gold Tips I stopped missing.

I agree with Fisher with the exception of "have to"! If you did everthing right and something still goes wrong and a follow up shot is needed. It might just be one of those "have to" at 50-60yds. Keep praticing! Remember if everything is the same, your arrows have no choice but to hit the same each time.

yea i started shooting a 400 grain easton powerfligt arrow and im shooting dead on like field tips with fixed blade broadheads. lol i found put the hard way you get what you pay for.

First it's good to see you admit that you are relatively new to the sport. Also good that you are asking advice and trying to learn from seasoned hunter/shooters.

Now I'm going tmake some assumptions and you tell me if I'm wrong:

Thos echeap arrows you were using last year. Were they the proper spine for your bow? Had you spin-tested your broadheads on the arrows before tuning? Had you really tuned the bow/arrow combination with those broadheads attached? And I mean broadhead tuning, not paper tuning.

What I'm getting at is that the bad arrow flight might not have been the arrows so much as things weren't tuned as well as they should have been. Those arrows have to be made by one of the major arrow makers such as Easton, Gold Tip, or Carbon Express so they can't be all that bad. They might not have the tightest tolerances but if tuned properly most will perform well enough within average hunting distances.

Here's another one to test your knowledge. You say you're shooting a 400 grain arrow. Are you sure the arrow weighs 400 grains or is it a 400 (.400") spine? There is a difference. grains refers to weight. Spine refers to the stiffness of the shaft.

Hope you don't take offense here. I'm only trying to educate you to some terminology and other things you might not know, but will help as you learn more.

I will relent and agree with 3children. Long shots may be necessary in the case of a second shot on a wounded animal. In a case like this you really have nothing to lose. But I'll stick to my belief that the size of a deer's antlers does not justify haphazard shots or shots beyond your known ability. This is what we refer to as ethics and you are your own policeman while hunting.

If you don't already have one get a bubble level for your sight. PSE makes a nice one that is adjustable.