I'm seriously considering chasing deer with my longbow next yr. I've got 30 yrs of experience shooting them with a compound, now I've got the itch to accomplish it with traditional gear.

My question is; can someone point me in the right direction to learn proper form to shoot a longbow? I figure I'm going to need lots of re-training of muscle memory to adjust from what I'm use to and might as well start with the proper form. What's your guys's favorite Youtube video's?

Thanks.

Sorry don't watch to much YouTube, but congrats for kicking off them training wheels. Welcome and hope you find traditional bowhunting challenging and very rewarding. I lost my wheels in 2009 and was the best thing for the love of the sport and hunt that I ever did....shoot straight

I haven't kicked them off yet, but I really want to. Just depends on if I can get comfortable shooting out to 15yds (as a hunter getting that close isn't a problem, but I better be effective at that range or I won't want to try it).

From what I've gathered there are several shooting forms and sighting techniques. I don't know which I should choose and don't want to have to go back and forth trying to decide...

I haven't kicked them off yet, but I really want to. Just depends on if I can get comfortable shooting out to 15yds (as a hunter getting that close isn't a problem, but I better be effective at that range or I won't want to try it).

From what I've gathered there are several shooting forms and sighting techniques. I don't know which I should choose and don't want to have to go back and forth trying to decide...

Look at John Schulz "Hittin 'em Like Howard Hill". And Byron Ferguson videos if there are any. There are lots of others and a lot of different styles. You will have to choose which style suits you. "Jeffer" on this site has some videos of his daughter shooting.

Check out Arne Moe's videos on YouTube. Arne is very dedicated to form and he possesses a great ability to critic and teach proper form. I posted a video on the shooters form forum on TG and Arne was kind enough to give me solid advice which has made a huge difference in my shooting. Also Jimmy Blackmon has a number of videos on YouTube that will give you some great guidance down your path to hunting-- particularly his gap shooting and fixed crawl videos. Good luck!

I'm not saying I'm correct, but I shoot okay. I learn to shoot stick from Asbells books. It helped tons!!!! I have read and reread them many times. Hope that helps....shoot straight

I suggest you look at a shooting style that matches your intended game and hunting areas. If you hunt on your feet (ground) or hunt small or moving game I suggest the Hill style from John Schulz's videos, or Jeffer (Jeff Kavanaugh). If you hunt static, can draw and hold, and/or can always shoot vertical, you might want to look at more of a "target" style form. When I hunted just deer and shot recurves, or longbows with recurve grips, Asbell's form worked well for me.

What Roadrunner said. In spite of what people tell you, there is no such thing as "longbow" form as opposed to any other type of archery form

Don't watch the Schulz video yet. SImply because if coming from the compound world, that method is likely going to turn you in to a terrible "snap shooter" the bad kind. (all you have to do is travel around the country to different shoots and you will see HUGE numbers of folks who are living proof of this fact) Same thing with the Asbell stuff. SImply put, the majority of people that watch the Hill video's think they are going to rush right out and shoot with the same tempo and accuracy as John. Ain't happenin'. They completely gloss over the part where John tells you that you need to practice that form for "several weeks" with no target on the backstop. That's so that you can actually ingrain the fundamentals of the shot.

The best thing for you to do is get a bow that you can actually handle, not just pull back and let the string go, get you some arrows tuned up, pick out qa couple of different styles you may be interested in, and go practice to work out what works best for YOU.

There isn'tr any 1or 2 right ways to shoot a bow, to anchor, to draw, to aim (or not) or anything else. All that matters is what is effective for you.

Truth is if you are TRULY going to limit your shots to 15 yards, it really doesn't matter, because virtually any process will give you softball/soccerball accuracy at that range as long as you don'r wave your bow arm around.

There is no special form to shoot a longbow. People who think that are mislead and end up struggling shooting anything but a sighted compound. It's a bow...nothing more, nothing less, and standard form will work. You can shoot a Howard Hill just like a Bear recurve and don't let anyone tell you you can't. B.S.

Well...you can be accurate with a compound to kill deer without ever really learning much at all that will help when shooting a non-compound...I know because I did it. LOL

Thanks for all the advice guys! I actually shot fingers for a very long time with my compound (it was somewhere around 46" ATA) but went to a release due to more accuracy and finger pinch... my fingers were starting to go permanently numb.

As far as style goes, I'll experiment with different stuff but are there any basics that I should pay attention to? Grip; Should I have relaxed fingers and an open hand? String hand; I use to draw with three fingers and then release with two. Is that good or should I do different?

Thanks again for the advice and your patience.

"Just shoot the same way you shoot the compound except use your fingers."

X2, but take it a step further. Strip your compound of sights, peep sight, release, etc. Shooting a stick, recurve or longbow, won't be much different.

Or, just ditch the compound immediately shoot your longbow. It isn't hard. It's practice. Most of the things you have been doing still apply: Draw, anchor, release.

Catscrath,, sent you a pm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LceBNHj1FDM

I have all the books and some videos, to tell you the truth I did not learn all that much, and created bad habits.... If you can, get a good coach, or someone who knows how to shoot it...

save yourself a lot of time,,,,,

Form is form. If you were good with a CP go for it. Solid bow arm,loose grip,good consistent anchor,back tension are all the same. Using fingers and getting you sighting method down are all you need to practice. Gaping, string walking,or "instinctive" require practice.Good luck.Give it a go,then ask questions. I made the conversion. >>>----> Ken

I'm a big fan of Youtube videos and have learned a lot from them. I particularly like the ones made by Wolfie Hughes, an English archer. He is an excellent shot with what I consider almost perfect form.

Watch some of Jimmy Blackmon's videos on his channel, they are fun anyway, but he shoots everything from wooden sticks to Olympic bows, with basically the same form. A good T-form is all you need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LthFu6fxjeM&t=18s

Your biggest issue is likely draw weight for hunting. I would start at your state minimum, and even as low as some of those are, they can present a problem for archers. It is actually a myth that shooting sticks requires more strength than compounds, because the energy in on a similar peak draw weight, for a compound is higher, and a lot of stickbow shooters don't hold for long at full draw, so that nets out. Though comparing arrow velocities, a compound could be at a much lower weight, you just don't see that many guys with 40 pound peak weight compounds for hunting.

Use a gap or string walking/crawl technique as you presumably don't want, or need sights. If you learn to gap, then when you transition to instinctive (if ever) you will have programmed the arrow position for secondary vision style instinctive (explained in the Schultz videos).

15 yard hits are pretty easy, so your objective is reasonable. If you have the strength to hit with a stick, you should be on target pretty much from the outset.

So T form, use arrow tip as front sight.

Gapping would have your arrow nearly on the ground as a reference when aiming at a deer at 15 yards. With a fixed crawl, or with Dwayne's high nock technique...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LthFu6fxjeM&t=18s

you can place the arrow right on the target, and manage trajectory so you can use the arrow tip for a range of distances around you 15 yd objective.

If you already have a fingers release, you are good to go.

At short ranges, and known distances, the boys have stick shooting down to a science where it is as easy as a compound.

Thanks for all the responses! You guys have given me a lot to look at and ponder. Until I've gone through it all I'll start my form like I would with the compound.

Two things I would like guidance on now:

Can you guys list the methods of sighting? When I shoot my longbow I just guesstimate my aim. I would like a dependable method to go with.

Also, How do I pick arrows? I would like to use wood shafts...

Read what fdp said and then read it again and let it sink in.

In my opinion, UTubes are pretty much worthless. They show what should be done, but they don't show what's going on in between the ears. That's much more important.

Utube is better than the way most of us learned and that's trial and error with the emphasis on error. It's the worst way to learn.

Want to cut the learning curve get a coach. He'll let you know what SHOULD be going on between the ears. Go to USA Archery and start calling coaches in KS. There'll be probably more than 50 level 2 coaches. Call 'em and find one that will coach a split corner of the mouth anchor.

Bowmania

Catscratch You have experience and you have shot with fingers. That along with all the advice you got here,you have it pretty well sorted out. Watch or read about the aiming methods---- Instinctive,gap,string crawl,and even face walking. Pick one and follow their instructions. Jimmy Blackmon has videos of them all and is good at them all. Good luck and have fun.>>>---->Ken

Jason, i sent you a PM.

Youtube >>> "The Wedge" series.

also: videos by Arne Moe; Jimmy Blackmon; many others.

I agree with fdp and what Todd said,,,, like I said, find a coach, if you want to be good,,,, all my bad habits and such were from all these books and stuff.....

You tube,,, I love it, great entertainment for me,,, I like those made by Jimmy Blackmon, he seems like a sincere guy,,,,,

One day, I was at my club, indoors, and shooting,, a compound guy said, " you got a lot of bad habits, let me help you out"

little did I know, my club member was not only a top 3D compound shooter, but he was also a Olympic style recurve champion, been to IBO's and everything,,,, and he could shoot,,,,,

He moved, but I remember what he said " find a good coach, if you want to get out of the pie plate crowd,,,,, nothing more will limit your shooting ability, than accepting the low standards for that kind of shooting ......

Find a coach that shoots bare bow.

Just go shoot! Then shoot some more You can pick the fundamentals up here and there but theres nothing better to find what works for you then shooting as much as possible IMHO

Learning bad habits does not help.

"Paralysis by analysis." Gonna remember that one.

I learned to shoot by shooting.

Shooting these single string bows, FORM IS EVERYTHING. I'd just suggest you start with a bow you can completely dominate (read that as a very light weight bow), until you build your shot sequence/form in a controlled manner.

"Paralysis by analysis". Lol, very true. Lots of advice coming here and it'll take me a week to sort through all of it. I'm not knocking it by any means and will learn a ton through this process. I'm not proficient in even the basic terminology, so I can't help but learn as I start to research this stuff.

Once again, I'm extremely thankful for you guys giving me advice with this. Thanks again.

Not everyone has a coach available, the finances,or time for it.Many don't do well with someone watching until they develop a little confidence.He has 30 years of shooting a compound. With the recommended videos,he will do very well. This is in no way belittling good coaching. It is great,just not necessarily needed by everyone. good luck but most of all have fun.>>>----> Ken

Let's not overdo things here. The guy can shoot, he knows what is going on between his ears, and how to stand with his feet on the ground. The changes to shooting a stick when you already have experience with fingers, is pretty much nil. If he was shooting back when compounds were long enough to preferentially shoot with fingers, he has been shooting for a long time.

On aiming. Assuming you want to aim which is using visual points of reference to align the bow and arrow to the target, then you have two choices: 1) a sight, or pin, or lines on the riser, shoot just as you do with a compound and sights, though you will not normally have a peep. So you are dependent on anchor and string alignment to the riser instead of a peep. (sights sorta make sense, but a lot of bows don't have enough room in the window to mount proper sights. Most longbows are handicapped that way. And 2) below works really well without the clutter of sights.

2) Using the arrow point as your pin. If you use an anchor where your middle finger is in the corner of your mouth, and you put the arrow point on the point you want to hit on the 15 yard target, you will fly one high. So you pick a gap, of say 20 inches bellow the target. Just put a secondary aiming point down there, or pick a feature on the target, on ground. Now aim with your arrow tip on that aiming point, and your arrow will presumably hit the center of the target.

The videos I suggested take this the further step where by altering your setup a little you can place your arrow point right on the target and have the allow land in the center of the target.

---------------------------

To get a feel for it:

You can whip out your compound, if you still have it, and place your 20 yard pin on a 20 yard target, now look down at where your arrow tip is in relation to that target. If you have a place to shoot, you could try using that arrow point on some secondary point, rather than the pins. The gap with a compound will be a lot more than with a trad setup because normally the anchor is along the jaw line, so don't be too discouraged if you are seemingly aiming really low. With barebow gear you will raise the rear nock by anchoring on some higher point on the mouth or face, and possibly using all your fingers below the arrow (3 under).

Well, I've watched a few video's and am pleased to find that I'm really not far off base with most of this stuff and what I already do. According to the video's I have a pretty good release. My bow arm/hand probably needs some work (always has) but shouldn't be too big of a deal. I'm noticing that most shooters in the video's wear an arm guard and I've always tried to have form that kept string slap from happening. If good form induces some string slap I'm going to have to make some changes.

I've always had a reliable and repeatable anchor but I've always had a back wall and a peep. These longbows don't have those!

Unfortunately coaches are not going to happen (unless I can send video to someone for advice). Time is a factor... in that I have none.

Once again, thanks for the recommendations and keep them coming.

Can you hit a pie plate at 15 yards with your first shot, every time? If so you have arrived, go with God and sin no more.

No you don't need an arm guard. Proper technique will keep string away from arm. I do wear one while hunting because of bulky coats, however through practice have never experienced string slap while hunting.

No you don't need an arm guard. Proper technique will keep string away from arm. I do wear one while hunting because of bulky coats, however through practice have never experienced string slap while hunting.

Also have someone video you while shooting, often we think we are shooting one way when in fact we are doing things differently. Really helps Me.

Which part of Kansas? We shoot a lot down south central.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Pie plates, no arm guards needed, and take video are all noted!

I'm South Central KS. What town do you guys shoot in?

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