I just finished this book and my shooting has inproved ten fold, so thaks to who ever recamended it. I was shooting instintive and getting groups of about 10 in at 15yard and at 25 I was all over the place. After 3 days of shooting I am getting groups of 2 or 3 in at 15 with most in a 1in bulls eye. At 25 I ither shoot high or low but I am dead center. Even after only two days I hardly have to line up the arrow with the center. This book works if anyone is having a hard time getting diled in.
I havent "become the arrow" yet.

Congrats! I think Ferguson's method will work for most folks, especially starting out.

Chad

What specifically did you get out of the book that you found the most helpful?

I've just finished my first read, and honestly nothing is jumping out at me other than pay attention to the relationship (gap) between the desired point of impact and the arrow point. Other than this one statement, he doesn't seem to expand on much.

I hope I'm missing something obvious, cause right now, I'm kinda dissapointed...

The few things that realy helped me out were the section on Canting, shooting form (mostly the getting all your points in a straight line) and most of all the gap shoting stuf. I also mad the bullseye on my target about the size of a quarter, I dont get to many in it but they are never that far off. Also My draw has lenghthened and my arrows are flying a little better.
Goodluck

I loaned my (signed) copy out a few years ago, never got it back and can't remember who I loaned it to, so it's been a while since I've read it. I don't remember much on the specifics, but I do remember it was clear, easy to read and understand, and helped me quite a bit. Steady bow arm, release, follow through, picking a spot, etc., all written in a way that most anyone can understand.

Guss, don't become too dependant on that tiny spot on your target--practice picking out a spot and focusing on it, even when there doesn't seem to be much of anything to focus on. Targets at a tournament or animal in the woods won't have a little red dot over the kill, so you have to be able to pick a spot without it. Practicing this really does help--I draw my "air bow" on cattle, birds, dogs, etc., mainly to practice picking a spot. You will get some funny looks if you do this at a zoo (don't ask).

Chad

I guess I was expecting more in depth and specific info about gap shooting. Oh well...

Gap shooting, in a nutshell, is using the point of your arrow like a sight pin. If you used to shoot a compound, it's like using one pin. You have to be lined up (proper form) to get the left and right, but other than that you just have to be consistent with your anchor, release, and follow through (as with any bow), and you have to be a pretty good judge of distance. Then you just hold the "pin" over or under the target, depending on the distance. The gap is how much you hold over or under at a given distance. At 20 yds, you may need to put the point of the arrow 6" below where you want to hit--that is your gap at 20 yds. The range where you put the point of the arrow exactly where you want it to hit is your point on distance. Lots of the better target archers gap. I only use it on long shots these days, but it helped me be consistent as I developed my form, and can be a big help as you learn to shoot "instinctive".

Chad

Perhaps that's my problem, I understood what you summed up before I read the book. He used about the same amount of words to do so, for some reason I was expecting more

Part of my problem is I'm currently shooting inside with stuff I DON'T want to hit as a backstop. I need to get out where it doesn't matter and just let fly, to get a better grasp of what I'm striving to become

LMAO at LBR about the ZOO comment! I can just picture some animal rights whacko giving you the dagger stare! LOL

I have read the book three times and get more out of it each time. It's a simple book, but it gets to the point. I thought he was crazy for saying "don't lock the elbow", but today I did exactly that and I made a lot of improvement. I'm not going to stop with "Become the Arrow". I still want to read other books, and I'll probably combine different techniques and add a twist of my own.