my setup.. is it ok?

[greenhorn]

ive had this bow for a while but have decided to get more serious with it. it is a traditional magyar horsebow, from wildwood archery. it is 40lb. my arrows are 11/32'' with 100gr field tips on them and have 4'' feathers. the arrows are 29'' long. they are port orford cedar. i am shooting nicley but just wondering if there is anything i could do to shoot even better! cheers.

[Coach]

Exactly what is

i am shooting nicley

? Pics , description ???

[greenhorn]

hahaha sorry what imeant was that im shooting well and consistent.

[Coach]

I give up

[Benny Nganabbarru]

If you're having fun, and are happy with your accuracy, there is nothing to change.

[Nephew]

I think Coach wanted to see a pic or two of your groups mate, so he could make an assessment and give you a tip or two. Anyway, do a little research into form and once you understand it, practice and more practice...and when you think you've practised enough, double it! It's the only way to improve shooting that I know of. That, and perseverance. I shot every day for nearly two years before I was anything like happy with it... I lost a few dozen arrows in the bush and some days I sprayed 'em so bad I wanted to throw the whole lot in the creek and save myself the embarrassment! Stick at it though and eventually you'll impress yourself! Another two years and I might be able to call myself an archer, y'know?

[Coach]

I think Coach wanted to see a pic or two of your groups mate, so he could make an assessment and give you a tip or two.

Glad someone understood
To come onto a forum and say

i am shooting nicley but just wondering if there is anything i could do to shoot even better!

without giving us any idea of how well they are shooting , is just a loaded question . For a start ,, what might be nice for him may not be nice for others , ie ,, are you shooting a ten inch group at 5 m or at 50m ?
You asked for information ,, but gave us none . Go back and think about the question mate
Sorry if that sounds harsh ,, but maybe it will explain why you got 6 replies and 96 views .

[ichiban]

haha your such a bully coach, didnt he just say that he was fairly new, basicly what he means green is do you have some pictures of your groups? and what distances do you shoot at if it where possable for you to provide us with pictures of you groups at various distances it would help, oh and welcome to the sport oh and dont worry about coach hes a ozbow istitution, hes twisted up tighter than his strings and ull learn to love him for it.

[Coach]

A bully I am not ,,, but I do like to help , but I cant do that without some info
So , give us some info /pics etc Greenhorn and we will steer you in the right direction

Ichi , as for being an institution ,,, I doubt that ,, but maybe I belong in one

[UPTHETOP]

You'd have to be careful because you could always put the word Mental in front of the word institution.

Cheers Wayno

[Gringa Bows]

thats his home address,Wayno.. .....................Rod

[Coach]

Yep , Mental was what I was referring to ,, didnt think I had to spell it out

[looseplucker]

I, for one, am delighted you could spell Mental, Coach.

Just on that wise Jeff, how would you approach the distance vs group thing? For example for plain field or practising for hunting what groups say, out of 3-5 arrows would you be expecting to see or set up as a challenge etc (plenty of permutations, go nuts) for 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 yard ranges?

And this is the thing for hunting though - sometimes it is not a matter of a group, but getting one shot in.

Would appreciate your thoughts - which might also help this thread out.

In terms of the balance of the equipment I cannot help as I don't shoot a horsebow. I myself use either a 68" ntn bamboo under glass flatbow (45#@28) or my 60" semi recurve spotted gum core, bamboo back n' belly hybrid (48#@27). 11/32 POC 5" helicals with 125gr field tips go well in that bow - the semi recurve shoots exceedingly well with 5/16 VA shafts with 4" straight fletch and 125gr field or broadheads. The flatbow shoots those arrows pretty well too.

[Coach]

Well , I did have some help John

For hunting ,, I reckon you should be able to hit within about 4-6 inches of the actual kill area on a goat ,pig ,Deer etc anymore than that and you are risking hitting shoulder blades etc . For Rabbits , you obviously want to do better than that
The above is just MY OPINION .


And yes you are right about getting the first shot right rather than grouping .

[looseplucker]

Well, riddle me this one Batman - on the weekend I had 5 shots for 5 misses (one arrow behaved like a North Korean test rocket). Now, on a static target I have no problems....in front of live game on the weekend after some bum-breaking stalks.....and shooting like I've never shot before - 3 high and 2 low....the alignment was right, because had the height been right we are talking double lung....go figure.

[Stephen Georgiou]

Hi there Greenhorn.
Are you a member of a club?

The best thing is getting some one on one time with an experienced person that uses a similar setup to yours.
I would be talking to the likes of Gavin "whitehawk" in terms of gear setup and when it comes to form issues, you can post small videos onto this site for critique or as suggested give us an idea as to what you consider as acceptable grouping of arrows that you wish to achieve. If target is your caper then scoring your shots at a club level or even keeping your own records to see if you are improving or not.

Alternatively If you are interested in hunting, a level of proficiency is "morally" required to ensure a clean kill. If you are wanting to go hunting I suggest that you hook up with some experienced bow hunters so that you can learn the ropes and be put into a position to take a confident shot.
Remember that hunting an animal is a serious pursuit and needs to be entered into with the animal's right to a clean kill being taken into consideration. Feral or trophy. As a predator think of how are animals dealt with in the animal world. The animal is dispatched quickly. We owe the same in our pursuits.

[looseplucker]

Cape Hunting Dogs actually disembowel their prey - which dies quite slowly. Other predators are seen to play with the prey before killing it.

Of course we, as humans, and having ethical responsibilities, do try to do much better - it is our obligation to comply with animal cruelty laws at one end and to be comfortable with our consciences at the other.

There is a book out about ethics in the animal kingdom - I'll get the title but I went through it the other day - illuminating on some issues.

[Stephen Georgiou]

True enough, But taking into consideration this animal is killing it's prey in a manner that to the dog, is the best way it can.
There is no benefit to a predator to have an injured animal on it's hands. Short of training of their young. I know from experience (unfortunately) that a critical injury tends to shut down the nervous system anyway so pain and suffering is subjective.

From Wikipedia

A few packs will also include large animals in their prey, such as wildebeests and zebras. Hunting larger prey requires a closely coordinated attack, beginning with a rapid charge to stampede the herd. One African Wild Dog then grabs the victim's tail, while another attacks the upper lip, and the remainder disembowel the animal while it is immobilised. This behaviour is also used on other large dangerous prey, such as the warthog, the African Buffalo, giraffe calves, and large antelope—even the one-ton Giant Eland. The dogs often eat their prey while it is still alive. This disemboweling was a reason to regard the African Wild Dog as repulsive, but recent studies have shown that prey of the African Wild Dog die more quickly than prey of the lion and the leopard [citation needed], which kill their prey by grabbing the throat and suffocating the animal.

The point of the advice was to offer a starting point to start thinking about the act of killing another creature. I am sure that the intention of all predators is to provide food, for itself and it's kin. Like an apple on the tree animals are part of the food chain like all living things. Harvesting, hunting, gathering are all natural pursuits that in the end, ends up with something being eaten, by the hunter or something else.

The question is, Has greenhorn thought about this and does hunting hold any interest to him?
If not then we are just dealing with semantics.
Which I am happy to do
Cheers SG

[Coach]

Well, riddle me this one Batman - on the weekend I had 5 shots for 5 misses (one arrow behaved like a North Korean test rocket). Now, on a static target I have no problems....in front of live game on the weekend after some bum-breaking stalks.....and shooting like I've never shot before - 3 high and 2 low....the alignment was right, because had the height been right we are talking double lung....go figure.

Live targets are a lot different to paper ones Adrenaline sometimes gets the better of you

[hue]

having shot the Tartar style asiatic bow for the last two years Greenhorn, there some things that i (and a fellow from Geelong archers David) have discovered that will help your style somewhat.
if you are interested, pm me and perhaps we can discuss it further

Hue

[looseplucker]

Went through my arrows last night - relfletched a couple, reset the heads on a couple more and then numbered them and shot them repeatedly at a post it note on a target at 10 and then 15 yards. Nothing discernible in terms of flaws in the arrows. If an arrow flew badly or struck the broadhead target at a weird angle I re shot it three or four times to replicate the effect - which I was unable to do.

So I think a mix of adrenaline and crappy technique were to blame.

I am going to continue 'proving' the arrows over the next week or so which will be good practice in any event.

BTW Coach I was grouping within 4-6"

The book is Wild Justice - The Moral Lives of Animals http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite ... key=368323

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/041612.html

As for my own viewpoint I see it more as my responsibility as an ethical view point rather than a matter of rights. Rights arguments often turn into issues around absolutes and, as a matter of logic, to talk about an animal's right to be killed humanely leads you, irrevocably as a matter of logic, into the question about whether the animal has the right to live.....a slippery slope.

[Stephen Georgiou]

good point
thanks for the link

[Jaydo]

Well, riddle me this one Batman - on the weekend I had 5 shots for 5 misses (one arrow behaved like a North Korean test rocket). Now, on a static target I have no problems....in front of live game on the weekend after some bum-breaking stalks.....and shooting like I've never shot before - 3 high and 2 low....the alignment was right, because had the height been right we are talking double lung....go figure.

Live targets are a lot different to paper ones Adrenaline sometimes gets the better of you

I found the exact same thing the first time i went hunting, it is so easy to under estimate the distance at which you are shooting when you are out in the bush,

does it just feel terrible after you stalk for an hour and miss the one chance you had

[looseplucker]

I had 5 chances