Hey

I have been trying some gap shooting lately. I have always shot instinctivley, and was not getting the arrow accuracy , i wanted. So i have read some and tried some and would like to know any pointers from gap shooters. Or sites or places to get info.

I am shooting a martin stick Longbow. 45# @28 , 28 and a half arrows, carbon, 100gr point

Good shooting!!!

Hello
I wasn't satisfied with my instinctive shooting skills either, so I tried gap shooting. I absolutely love shooting this way because theres a reference point. My groups and hitting what I'm aiming at has been great and I can compete with my son who shoots a compound with all the bells and whistles.(shooting purely instinctively, he'd blow me away)
I'm no expert on this subject, but I shoot three fingers under with a 65" homemade laminated longbow at about 53#. I use a fast flight string while using a tab. I have a three finger under tab, but I use my old split fingers tabs as well with no problems. The one thing thats important to mention is that my longbow is centershot. When I made it, I purposely built up the handle width above the grip area so I could cut the shelf dead center with the string. So I have no estimating left and right the farther from the target I get. I anchor with my broken finger just touching the corner of my mouth and my outstretched thumb resting on my neck while my dominant eye is looking straight down the shaft. Using the tip of my arrow for reference, at 20 yards the tip will be about 8 inches below point of desired impact, 6 inches below at 25 yards and right on at 30. Once I have zeroed in on the target,the arrow becomes secondary and I focus on the bullseye. All these are just factors that work for me and my longbow.
Experiment to see what works for you. And keep looking on the net for expert advice on the subject, I'm sure its out there.

Happy Hunting
Dan

All my gaps were established using NFAA field archery targets. That's the only kind of bow shooting I've ever done where I actually used a gap system. See if I can remember... It's been some years now since I shot NFAA.

I adjusted my arrow length and anchor so that my point-on was at 50 yards. 45 yards was the point on the bottom edge of the target. 55 yards was point on the top edge of the target. 60 yards was the shelf splitting the bull. 65 was the shelf even with the top edge of the target. 70 was shelf on the top edge of the target, read the tip of the arrow, mark where it hit the target butt (or tree limb/weed on the hill/cloud/ whatever behind the target) raise the shelf to that point.

40 was point on the bottom edge of the target, read the shelf and mark where it points on the target (or on the ground in front of the target), drop the point to where the shelf marked the gap. Double that gap read for 35. I didn't have gaps for 30 yards and less; shot those instinctive. 80 was by guess and by gosh.

I had a REALLY complicated gap system for my compound that used the arrow tip and shelf, as well as the top, middle and bottom of a springie rest. I had aiming references for every distance from 5 yards to 80 yards. All memorized because you couldn't use written notes in the bowhunter class.

Thanks for all the opinions.

I was wondering why my arrows shoot left sometimes, your saying with a longbow , some of them, you gotta also estimate how much right to aim/, to offset the small shelf, which causes the arrow left of the center after shot?

Thanks for your outlook, it gives me another reference while switching to gap.