Rick James

I am just curious to see what you guys are scoring on your 3D shoots. I shot 2x shoots last weekend, unfortunately they will be my last till June when turkey season is over. On my first shoot (archery connection near Cobleskill) I shot a 238 out of 280......unfortunately I was told for the first 9 targets that I had to shoot from the same stake as the open guys.......and I was in bowhunter class........[:'(]. After those first 9, I managed to only hit 3x 8's and all tens from there out, first place when I left was a 260. Sunday I went to another down in Greenville and managed a 224 out of 280, it was a VERY tough course and I finished in the middle of the pack with the top score being a 249. These are my first 2 shoots in 4 years, so I am happy with that, but can't wait to start scoring in the top 3 later this year. My groups are certainly good enough, I am hitting a spot nearly every time at 40 yards on a Morrell bag and touching shafts nearly every time at 20 yards, so I simply need to shoot a bit better under pressure and work on range estimation out past 30 yards.

So what are you guys scoring and how do you place with those scores at your local shoots?

zak123

I shot 50 out of 5 targets. I missed the next two! It sure helps when you have a professional standing right beside you telling you how far the distance is!

Matt / PA

If your shooting is good on the range the way to take that accuracy to the 3D course and make it work for you are.......

1. a GOOD pair of binoculars. You can't hit what you can't see or reference. Find a spot and use it. If you are trying to score in a 3D shoot without knowing exactly where that X ring is you're already shooting points down.

2. Good range estimation...that you already figured out. Learn what 20 and 30 yards REALLY look like, guess ranges to everything, trees , targets, cars whatever and get a real good grasp of 20-40 yards. Then when you are on the stake, get a number in your head and COMMIT to it. If you are second guessing yardage just pencil in the 8 now.

3. Shot execution. Do the same thing on every target, control your breathing, nerves etc. Your entire shot process. If you get out of it, don't force the shot, let down and regroup.

4. Know your equipment inside and out, your pin settings, gaps etc. Learn to shoot gaps and what pin settings work for you. 20-30-40 is not always the best settings for 3D accuracy. This knowledge will be 1/2 of your confidence.......range estimation will be the other 1/2. Your shooting ability will become a non-issue. Knowing how far the target is and then knowing exactly where to hold your sight is the key. Sounds simple but precision is the goal.

5. Practice alot. That's the fun part.

Dairy King

Is there anyway I could do this at home, just to see what my score would probably be close to if I did it for real? Id like to try all of them. But I dont know the distances, the scoreing, or what the target looks like.

Kanga

DK.

The only way ya gonna know is get out there and do it. 3d is a lot of fun and you can meet a great group of people with the same intrest as you.

No need to get embarrassed with your score cause we all know that we too at one stage was a newby at 3d.

Just get out there and have fun

hoyt3

I've been to three shoots this year, and four in seven years. I've shot three rounds in the past month or so. for not shooting this course ever, I didn't do badly. first round (out of 440) I shot a 337. second round 355, third round 344. I use to be really into 3d and have placed as high as 25th out of 550. I have taken first at several local clubs in se pa, but like I said, I haven't shot in a long time. I figure there is a pro that shoots this one course and he shot a 423, so I figure that with my little hoyt mt sport and modest set up, I'm doing quite well against someone that has far more invested...including a range finder. (I'm just jealous about the range finder because I believe that mine got dropped in the field this year, ouch!)

IL Rancher

DK, each course is going to be so different it would be real hard to simulate one unless you had 20-30 3-D targets and a good amount of land to have someone else set them up on so you wouldn't know the yardage. Last time I checked that would cost a pretty penny. There are things you could do if you had 1 target like setting up different shooting stakes from different angles, elevations and distances but it won't give you the true idea.

Don't worry about being competative. I know lots of guys around here who go to the shoots, pay their money and don't even bother turning in a score card. Some of them shoot using rangefinders because they believe they should be emulating the way they hunt to the best of their ability because that is what 3-d shooting is about to them. Why bother shooting different equipment, arrows or guessing ranges is you wouldn't be doing that in October is their philosophy. That, and having fun.

ewolf

I have found that most people improve their shooting before they improve their ability to judge yardage. Here is how I started to shoot better scores. When I judged a target I would guess say 30. Then I would look at the target and say, if I'm off on my yardage am I off high or low? If I thought the target could be longer than that I would aim at the top of the 10, if I thought it was shorter than that I would aim at the bottom of the 10 (Or somewhere low, maybe not all of the way to the bottom of the 10).

You will improve with time. I still use the above method when I have problem guessing on a single target. Matt made a great point, when you pick a yardage just shoot. If you are still thinking about yardage when you are shooting, you will shoot bad.

BGfisher

Being as many courses are set up with a different amount of targets actual score can vary a lot. So I've been using a percentage average for years. I don't count 11's or 12's because most places score 10-8-5 and use the 11 ring as an X for tie-breakers. So in this respect my scores are about 90% of whatever is possible, eg. 270 out of a possible 300.

One thing that helps one improve over time is to never compete against anybody but yourself. The most important thing I've learned about shooting is to not keep score, don't shoot score. Shoot form and the score will take care of itself, getting better as your form improves and gets more consistent. Shoot with better shooters. You often shoot up or down to your competition. And Have fun.

HuntingBry

In the mid-90's I was really into 3d and was competitive in my class. Then I went away to school and got out of it. I've been doing mostly local shoots the last several years and use have been using strictly hunting equipment. On a 30 target course without 12 rings (10, 8, 5) that totals 300 I usually score between 265 and 280. My last shoot I was the first of this year and the first with my new bow and I scored one of the best scores I ever had with a 286 out of 300. The previous winner on this course scored a 290 so I feel pretty good about that score. Matt/PA gave some great advise. The one I need to follow is letting down when it doesn't feel right. I always force shots and drop points because of it.