Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

By Rod Parsons.

Instinctive shooting is best practised at unmarked distances since knowing the yardage is of no concern to a real instinctive archer.

For an instinctive there are really only two distances, near enough and too far.
It is simple enough to define these distances, simply put, if you are certain of the mark, it is near enough, if you have any doubt, it is too far.

Since hunting is the main application it is best to rehearse by only ever shooting a single arrow from any one position or distance.

Shooting repeatedly from the same distance should be avoided, since repetition tends to lead to looking at the gap or interval between your point and the mark in order to reference the elevation.

A good basic exercise is to start by shooting from walk up positions on flat ground, but in a random fashion, since it is better to work upon concentration and consistent shot execution than to put yourself in a situation where you might start pacing out the distance or figuring out a gap.

Put a small mark on a blank surface and take shots from varied distances and positions, standing, kneeling, leaning out to one side or another.
I like to use small (24mm) Blic fluorescent stickers that can be got from a stationery store, I use them when teaching and find that they help in developing the habit of looking at a very small mark.
After a while you can see one that isn't even there without trying too hard.

The key is to lock on to the mark and execute a clean shot, then move to another distance or position and do it again.
Don't look at your point of aim or think about the distance, just keep working on concentration and making a clean shot until you can hit the spot or very close to it every time.

Then you can go from practising on flat ground to shooting up or down hill, through tight gaps, under and over obstructions, from a stand, in fact from any kind of situation that you might conceivably run into in the field.

If you have friends with whom you can practice take turns to pick a distance and stance, sometimes just throwing arrows down at random and shooting from where they fall.
Or go stump shooting.

It won't hurt your accuracy to stretch the distance a little from time to time, but in general you should keep the distance to within your comfort zone and practice what you will shoot in the field.

Don't get hung up on a bad shot, recognise what you did wrong, move on and make the next one right.
Learn to honestly recognise the cause of your bad shots when they happen and knowing that you can do it right, put it behind you, move on and take the next shot.

Do not rehearse bad habits. When your form gets bad or your shooting sloppy, which it will, go back the bare boss and work on your physical form, rhythm and mental state.
This is the normal cycle in practice.

When you hunt you don't want to think about missing, so when you practice don't THINK about hitting because when you think about hitting you will next think about missing. It's inevitable.

Learn to understand the essential difference between THINKING about hitting and KNOWING that you will hit.

It is very important that you come to think of hitting your mark as being the normal state of affairs.
Do not be too upset by your misses, nor too pleased by your hits, since this is just another way of creating un-necessary mental pressure.

Rod.

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

Thats a damn good article burnie! We usually get a bunch of us together and do allot of stump shooting, its excellent practice and its fun!!!

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

Good article, thanks for sharing.

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

It's got some good points, but also some that IMO stink. For instance, what's wrong with finding a gap, especially if it helps? I'm not a concious gap shooter, but the most accurate archers I know are. If you aren't concious of yardage (or somesort of distance referance), how do you know what is "too far" and "near enough"? I think practicing beyond your comfort zone is a very good thing to do, as it magnifies form mistakes (so you know what to work on), plus it makes the closer shots much easier. It's really lousy advise for someone just starting out to move around and never shoot two arrows at the same position or distance--you have to work on form and consistency first, else you have no idea what you are doing wrong.

I do very much agree with this part though: Seems to me that some folksget hung up worrying about being "instinctive", rather than simply being accurate. I rather gap and hit the spot than miss "instinctively". Just my 2 cents.

Chad

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

Honest question - whois Rod Parsons?
Familiar, but I'm just not placing him. CRS is working tonight.

Steve

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

LBR.
I feel he is refering to pure instinctive. For things like bird hunting and the likes. The kind of shooting that you dont have time to judge a gap or distance. Ive done this kind of practice with throwing discs and shooting at them with fluflus.

Steve
Im not sure. I read this on another site and thought Id share it.

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

Could be Burnie--but since he talks about "walking up", putting a small sticker on the target, shooting from different positions, etc. it didn't seem that way.

I'm not knocking anyone who shoots "instinctively"--I like to shoot aireal targets, and bowfishing often requires a quick shot......but for someone who is trying to get into the sport and learn how to shoot, IMO most of it is really lousy information and is going to discourage more than anything.

That first comment--"Instinctive shooting is best practised at unmarked distances since knowing the yardage is of no concern to a real instinctive archer."--set a bad tone for me right off the bat--comes across like he's talking down to anyone whoshoots differently (a big peeve with me). Get right down to it, nobody is a "real" instinctive archer--instincts are genetic, shooting a bow is something you learn to do, whatever method you choose.

I realize that "instinctive" is just a loose term for not purposely or conciously aiming--maybe I'm just reading more into it than I should. A big thing with me is folks getting bad information and some folks who are a lousy shot using "I shoot traditional" or "I shoot instinctive" as an excuse.

If you practice enough, gap shooting becomes so natural that you don't have to think about it, at least on closer shots--even moving shots. At Cloverdale a few years ago I was watching the aireal shoot. The absolute best shot in the crowd (the only time I saw him miss at all was when someone's arrow beat his to the target and knocked it out of his arrow's path) is a dedicated gap shooter.

I'm not saying that gap shooting is "THE" only way to shoot, but most folks are going to have a hard time (and probably give up) trying to learn to shoot according to the article.

It is interesting, I just don't agree with a lot of it.

Chad

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

I'm still pretty green when it comes to archery, but I agree with him, and I practice in a nearly identical way to what he describes. I'm not the authority on it that someone like LBR is, but if I had to think about what the distance was or what the gap was I couldn't hit the target because I'd get a rousing case of target panic. I shoot instinctively because of it's simplicity, thinking and calculating is just as distracting to me as using a sight would be. My shooting dummy is placed near the base of a rim of the sinkhole in front of my house, this allows me to shoot from varyng distances and elevations, and many different angles. It must be working, because when I aim that first arrow at the target, after a winter of not shooting at all, I nearly always hit within a few inches of dead center regardless of the range.

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

No one did say Traditional shooting was going to be easy though, heck thats why allot of people put the compound down and pick up a Trad bow for the challenge. If a persons not up for it, then there not up for it! Its not for everybody.

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

PSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! (The sound of the spray from a can of BS repellent. ;))

It doesn't hurt to shoot a LOT outside your comfort zone. The better you get outside it, the more your comfort zone expands. When I'm stump shooting I split my shooting about 50-50, half in, half out.

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

I'm no authority--not by a long shot. I get lucky here and there at tournaments, but mainly I know some of the best shots alive and a lot of well above average shooter. I usually go to a lot of tournaments (3-D) in several different states, and I like to talk and ask questions. I watch other shooters, and try to figure out what they are doing right (or wrong). The most accurate are very controlled, deliberate,and obviously use some sort of aiming system--concious or not.

I know there are exceptions to pretty much every rule, but I've been in and around the sport long enough to see and experience what works for the majority.

I don't think I've met Rod Parsons, although the name is familiar, so it's nothing personal. I'd like to shoot with him sometime though, just to satisfy my curiosity.

Chad

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

I am just took a renewed interest in traditional archery and had not shot barebow for maybe 15 years or so. I bought an inexpensive recurve and am relearning how to shoot one. The article is good for me as are the comments from all you shooters.

I think everyone has to try different methods and find out what works for him or her. Some have their style ingrained in stone while others experiment and experiment trying to come up with a winning combination or perfect what they are doing. So I wouldn't be too hard on someone if their style doesn't fit yours.

My shooting was just so so in the few weeks I have been practicing with the recurve. I almost wanted to go back to the compound. Then I read a post on shooting what he called "Indian style" with three fingers under the arrow. I had never tried it before. I am right eye dominant and shoot lefty. I close my right eye and sight down the arrow shaft. It made a world of difference. That works for me. I would have never thought to try it had it not been someone else's style that would not work for everyone. Just my 0.02.;)

I noticed several words are spelled English style so the author might be from UK.

McPhee

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

It was a interesting artical worth the read but I am one that will practice at marked distiances 10-15-20 but it is only a half doz or less at each one then I just walk around(within 30 yrds) and take shots.I find this to be very helpfull to me,I am lucky enough to have a small hill on my property so I can shoot down and up(it rises 14ft in 40 ft)just a nice angle to challange a guy a little....

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

if you want to prove "instinctive" go out on a pitch black night and shoot at a lit candle at 25 yards

that will tell you right there if you're shooting pure instinctive or if you use a sighting method

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

funny you mention this. I shoot in evenings alot on the weekends. And I try to squeeze all the daylight I can out of my shooting. At the edge of dark, where I cannot see where I am hitting, I all the sudden start grouping great, but alway high. So actually, mental gap shooting is probably messing me up. Its hard not to notice the fuzzy vision gap.

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

Shooting a group means you are doing the same thing every time--consistency. That is important, but not the same thing as accuracy.

Don't set the candle up at 25 yds. Have someone set it out for you at an unknown distance, or use the small glow stick stuck into a target (where all you see is a glowing dot).

McPhee, I agree that some things work better than others, depending on the person. However, there are some basic fundamentals that, if properly applied, will make anyone a better shooter--consistency, back tension, follow though, etc.

Again, the main thing that got me in the article was the phrase "real instinctive shooter", as if that is some holy grail to reach for. Accuracy is (or should be) the goal, not some label.

Chad

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

Well, I don't shoot groups, let me put this this way. I rove all around my yard at various distances. And I kept hittin the exact same spot. My poor 3d deer's spine was all beat up.

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

You got me--I misunderstood that you were shooting for groups.

Hitting high is where the gap would come in--it shouldn't affect left and right. I'm sure someone smarter than me could figure out what's going on, but I couldn't say. I know I shoot better when I can see the target, and where I'm hitting.

Back later--going to take advantage of these last few days of deer season!

Chad

RE: Interesting article on instinctive shooting.
 

[quote]ORIGINAL: McPhee

I think everyone has to try different methods and find out what works for him or her. Some have their style ingrained in stone while others experiment and experiment trying to come up with a winning combination or perfect what they are doing. So I wouldn't be too hard on someone if their style doesn't fit yours.


i couldn't agree more. In my mind, "judging distance" is the same thing as instinctive shooting. The only difference is how fast you do it and how precise the shot will be. obviously the greatest shooters aren't secretly pulling out a rangefinder. it's all about practice and "getting a feel" for how to aim for a particular target. it's all calculations that your actually doing in your head without realising it. you get used to your bow's speed and from there you can shoot moving targets. you get used to how flat of trajectory your arrows have and then you judge/"get used to" different distances
~just something to think about