instinctive shooting

[birddog520]

Is it possible to be an instinctive shooter with a compound bow? I have practiced for a while and am pretty good but does the let off get in the way of being truly instinctive? With a long bow or recurve there seams to be a better feel. I have an old Oneida Strike eagle and shoot it canted like you would a traditional bow. Am I wasting my time taking the sights off my bow and trying to shoot this way? I find that after a couple of shots my shooting is accurate but I am worried about the first shot at an animal where I don’t get a chance to warm up first.
-Jeff

[Michihunter]

Is it possible to be an instinctive shooter with a compound bow? I have practiced for a while and am pretty good but does the let off get in the way of being truly instinctive? With a long bow or recurve there seams to be a better feel. I have an old Oneida Strike eagle and shoot it canted like you would a traditional bow. Am I wasting my time taking the sights off my bow and trying to shoot this way? I find that after a couple of shots my shooting is accurate but I am worried about the first shot at an animal where I don’t get a chance to warm up first.
-JeffYes it's possible. In fact I started out that way a whole lotta years ago before eccentric cams and letoffs. It's much more diffiicult with a compound nowadays than a traditional bow but it's certainly possible. If you plan on doing this a good amount of practice is certainly required.;)

[Kelly Johnson]

It's easier with some than others for sure.

Instinctive generally means your snap shooting.
A hard drop into a tiny valley, rock solid wall and 75%+ letoff(par for the course with 90% of the bows on the market the past couple years) is not very conducive to that style of shooting.

Dual cam or even better a wheely bow with a spongy wall can work great.

I have an old PSE Polaris that I shoot (poorly:lol:) this way.

The older (pre 99 or so) bow are mush easier to work with.

Not to say you can't do it...but it feels funny and aint as easy.;)

[DBart]

Its like throuing a baseball. it takes lots of throws [shots] to train you brain to just know what to do at different distances and angles. do not aim just point.

[DRTAUSTIN]

Yes...you can do it with the right amount of practice. I shoot bare bow and with sights, but I have to constantly work at the bare bow style. I also cant my compound, to about 1 o-clock, and have the nock resting on the tip of my nose. My arrow has to be directly under my right eye, as im looking straight down my arrow. Im more of a "gap shooter", keeping a trained gap in my mind for the shot. Im pretty accurate up to 20-25 yards but have never taken a shot @ a deer. Ive been playing around with this the first of the year, so im with you about that "first shot" being on target. Keep practicing.....thats what im dong. Good luck...

[Joe Archer]

I tried shooting my compound instinctively before. Sometimes I shot very well... other times I did not. I found it harder to be consistent while instinctively shooting my compound than shooting a recurve.
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[ohiobuckmaster]

It does depend on the weather and the amount of clothing that you have on as well............

[Lazy K]

You picked the right bow for instinctive compound shooting as far as I'm concerned. Shooting off the shelf is huge. I think it's the most important factor to be a good truly instinctive shooter. The closer you can keep the arrow to your bow hand the less it's affected by canting at different degrees and the less you have to "train" your instinct. I shoot an older Oneida Tomcat and it shoots really good off the shelf after I padded the outside of the shelf a bit to level it off. As far as I could find, Oneida's are the only modern compound you can do that with. I call it my "recurve on steroids" and the let off with a release helped me beat some snap shooting of my Widow caused by target panic. Stick with it...you'll get it.