Left eye dominant/right handed

[dentguy]

I'm right handed, but can't close my left eye and keep my right eye open. I tried exercises, and someone suggested a patch, which I don't want to try quite yet. I shoot pistols and rifles lefty just fine. Way back when... I used to shoot righty before peep sights and compounds and all the new stuff. I went to a pro shop, and they convinced me to shoot my new PSE lefty. So they set me up and tuned me in, and I was getting 2" groups at 20 yards in the shop first day with a release. (please bear with me) For the past few weeks I have been hunting from a tree stand, something new to me. I'm getting more comfortable up there, but don't like heights much, and I'm finding a few new things out.

1. With my back against the tree, my available arc of swing is only 90* between 12:00 and 3:00 to the right.

2. I seem to have enought to worry about up there without fiddling with this new release (which I have no problem with on the ground). Also, loading an arrow with my left hand is really spastic.

3. If I don't use the release, I can draw as well left as right handed, increasing my arc of swing to a full 180*. However, I have to forsake the sights shooting the left handed bow righty.

SO.. for those still with me. Is there a way that I can set a rest up on BOTH sides of the bow, and maybe run 2 sights off of where the stabilazer mounts? (I don't use one but the screw hole is there).

Things seemed a lot simpler with the old recurve. I can hold my own very well on flat ground against my buddies, but in a tree, the left handed thing is a big handicap. But I see how being up there is a huge advantage, and want to get used to it.

Other than using a ground blind, any suggestions for setting the bow up ambidexteros? <sp I think I could use one of those brass knuckle style releases with the post and loop okay, and just switch hands with it.:help:
Thanks ahead.

[ScottC]

As for tree stand hunting, a big help to me was finding a bow club with a "tree stand" set-up. My club has a 'deck' at various heights to practice from. Also, on the BH course there are a few tree stand stations. I am the same way about being new up in a tree and skiddish about it, but I found doing several practices from up there was a BIG help when I actually got up a tree. It gives a safe area to work out the release, angling down for the shot, etc...

BTW, I am naturally RH, but left eye dom, so I shoot my bow, long guns, and pool lefty. :lol:

Releases: I am doing well with my release, but during the off season I plan on using a back tension release during the off season. Doing so is supposed to help with 'target panic' and to help be more accurate with the shot.

Building an ambidextrious (sp) bow??? I have never heard of it being done. Maybe others have...

Hope I have helped some.

[erodrig4]

i am also left eye dominate but i shoot my bow right handed....just feels better to me for some reason....when i first started shooting about 9 years ago...every once in a while i would wonder why my shots were so far off...but then i realized that i would shoot with my left eye open...took some practice but now i am shooting very tight groups at 20 yards....not sure about building a bow for right and left hand shots...good luck

[cjric]

I too am left eye dom. and shoot right. Something I have just started doing the last couple months is instead of concentrating on the sight pin first, and placing that on the target. I have started picking out a spot on the target and then bringing the bow up and using the pin more for distance than anything. 20-30, pin "floats" on the kill zone. Shorter distance, and Im looking over the pin at the point I want the arrow to go, 30 and over, Im looking under the pin. Kind of hard to explain, but it has helped my groups, and Im keeping both eyes open. I havent had to move my pin, or compensate at all, other than mentally.

[jrmarfia]

Cjric,
That's exactly how I set up to shoot. My sight pin is used only as a distance reference. At first I had 3 sight pins, but either became a little confused "in the moment" or became too distracted by the use of more than one pin. As far as I'm concerned, the targeting method you've described has helped me immeasurably in both my longbow and compound shooting. It's more instinctive shooting now. Also, since I've taken up the longbow, I now three finger shoot the compound. Just one less thing to go wrong and it feels more natural to me this way.
JRM

[Backwoods-Savage]

Building an ambidextrious (sp) bow??? I have never heard of it being done. Maybe others have...

I believe it was York that used to make a bow that you might find interesting. The arrow went throught the center, that is, there was a large cutout and you could shoot either left or right. You had to load the arrow from the front or rear. I once knew a fellow who made a recurve this way and he loved it.

[dentguy]

Good tips, thanks all. I heard of the center load bow, but the person didn't know who made it. That gave me the idea for adding another rest. Our sportsman's club (Weymouth MA ) burned to the ground some years ago, and the new one is just up and running now. There used to be a target course through the woods, and I remeber one of them having a stand. When we blaze the new trail which is all grown over now, I'll suggest putting a permanent stand at one target. I'll also try leaving both eyes open on the RH shots. I used to have one rule about climbing. I'll go as high as you want me to, as long as I can keep one foot on the ground. :evil: But being in that tree the past few weeks, I see all this nature going on around me... squirrels and mice and birds right below, and they are clueless as to me even being there. I like this tree thing, and I'm determined to make it work. Thanks for the tips.

Oh ya.. the guy I'm hunting with suggested losing two of my three pins also. Sounds good to me.

[ST.PATRICK]

PUT THE RED DOT ON YOUR BOW SHUOT:yikes: BOUTH EYE OPEN