I should hope everyone would answer this question with a yes, or you spent a whole summer doing something wrong.

In a couple of recent threads I've been mention the benefits of practicing with a bare shaft. On another thread Viper got me thinking about a tune (as in arrow).

Well, if you were shooting a tuned arrow in June and something changed in July and August (that made you better), what makes you think your September arrow is tuned?

I'm betting most don't check.

Bowmania

I meant to add that Viper mentioned that the arrow is not just tuned to the bow, it's also tuned to the shooter.

Bowmania

When it cooled off it was better shooting for me not having to deal with the hot and sweated up that makes it uncomfortable. Its a mood change that is the mental change that breaks your form down.

Same as heavy cloths when its cold out. Mussels tense and sliding on snow or ice? Not fun to me at one time we were extreme in dedication in shooting when younger.

Nothing held us back now everything does. Things eventually change.

Some times I think that we will adjust our form to the arrow,even if it isn't perfect for the bow.Just my thoughts.

I don't think so. If I was, that would mean I let my form slack for some reason and I don't want to do that.

I tend to get better toward the end of the summer. I attribute it to the fact that I practice more outside and at longer distances.

If my bow/arrow combination was tuned at the beginning of the summer, why would it not be tuned at the end of summer as well? I might put another twist in the string now and again to maintain brace height, but unless the arrow starts doing something weird, I see no reason to check the tune, so to speak.

I'm already obsessive/compulsive. I try not to exacerbate the problem.

i don't change arrows from year to year, I select the proper spine, my length remains the same and my points remain the same, I find no need to tune arrows beyond that from month to month or year to year. I do change clothes as the season progresses. I would ask the question, Do you shoot the same form with heavy cold weather clothes as you do in the heat of the summer? Do you shoot the same form when shooting steeply down from a tree stand or steep uphill or in awkward footing or in awkward shooting positions?

I shoot the same. I shoot pretty much daily; when it's to cold or to hot I shoot in my basement where I have a 18 yd range. So no I don't shoot any different.

One of the best things I've done for my whitetail hunting is to blank bail at a downward 45. Plus mid-Oct I add a heavy coat.

THe heavy coat is another tuning issue. Probably makes your arrow a little stiffer.

Maybe it's part of being in the Upper Midwest. I pretty much quit shooting in Jan. to Mar. I need some rest for my joints.

Shawn, what's the point in shooting if you don't get better after June? You shouldn't have to shoot your broadheads, because a well tuned broadhead is going to impact the same as a field point. I used to shoot a lot of broadheads, but now I don't see a point.

I think if you started shooting bare shafts, you'd see my point. I probably tweak my set up 3 to 4 times a year. But I'm a stickler for perfect arrow flight.

Bowmania

What Shawn is saying is he is good year around and shoots all the time. If you are better in the Fall, you must be slacking in the earlier months.

""THe heavy coat is another tuning issue. Probably makes your arrow a little stiffer."" It shouldn't do any such thing unless your string is hitting your coat...which it shouldn't be. Are you short drawing with a heavier coat? Todd...My bow shoots exactly the same no matter what I wear, as long as I pull the same length each time.

John Schulz told me once, that often the shooter needs more tuning than the bow and arrow. It does very little good to fine tune an arrow or a bow if the shooter shoots every arrow differently.

I can tell you about one time I didn't shoot better. I was in a tree stand on a very cold November day, I lasted all morning and looked up and a nice 8 point was coming right by the tree. He got about 15 yards and stopped broadside and I was so cold I couldn't pull back my 55 pound Kodiak. He left and I went home.lolw

I would answer yes, because all winter, spring, and summer I shoot many different bows. Come August, I narrow it down to the one or two I'll be hunting with, so all of a sudden I get a lot better with those two bows.

No difference. I've shot the same combos for longer than I can recall. After countless thousands of arrows, it gets rather automatic.

I shoot better at game when I skip breakfast or lunch. Nothing makes you bear down killer mentality to put metal thru the boiler room like being hungry. :)

I personally am a killer machine,,,, as a vegetarian that eats only wild game, I am well motivated, not on antler size but on meat quality

late season all doe fawns are in trouble

"Do you Shoot better in Sept than June?"

Nope, I shoot just as good.

I sweat profusely when it's hot which makes it more difficult to grip the string.

No, I shoot the same year round. My field points fly like my broad heads, as they should. So I have no messing around to do. I just grab sharp ended arrows and go hunting when the season is open.

I am always more focused and shoot better when the season is at hand. Spring and summer is for tinkering, fun shoots, trying new bows and arrows etc.

Late summer is focused practice, then its go time.

Of course Im not the shooter that most are on here.

I have shot almost every day for as long as I can remember so the sub conscious part I have down pat, its the mental part that I work on. Most people will agree that 90% is mental and 10% is sub conscious. So I have come to realize that the mental part is what needs more attention. Instead of just shooting over and over I have started concentrating on the process.Making every shot count. I set goals say for example five arrows in the bulls eye every time not just once in a blue moon.I have discovered that if you take care of the process and not worry so much about POI it happen more frequently.Also extending my distance to 40 yds.A well tuned bow hitting the bulls eye on a Vegas type target @ forty yards is amazing to me and by September I will be putting five arrows in the bulls eye so yes I will be shooting better in the fall.

December is the worst month for me,long time without shooting.

First of all NOBODY can make a blanket statement that covers everything on this site. If I said, "Crooked arrows shoot better than straight" I'd come into some agreement.

If you look at the average guy that shoots year round, he is NOT shooting the same hunting bow in fall that he shoots a 300 round in February. So if he's not shooting sights and switches to a hunting bow there has to be some relearning curve. So for Shawn maybe it's April to June. Plus I'll bet his intensity level goes up in Sept, maybe like a lot of us twice a day.

When you have a heavy coat on it's impossible to draw your bow back as far as when you have short sleeves. You have probably 3 inches of condensed cloth on the otherside of your elbow. Not to mention the constricting force on your chest/back/arms that hinder aligment due to sliding material. We're usually talking layers of clothing that HAVE to move. T-shirts only have to move agains skin.

I've measured things. I'm usually a 1/4 to a half shorter. I can draw that distance, but then the string hits the clothing on the front of my chest, not to mention the uncomfortable bind at the elbow. If you have a proper grip I don't think you ever hit the sleeve with the string. Well, at least until the arrow is gone, if then? If you doubt this, put a clicker on you bow and set it up with a t-shirt (make sure you have proper alignment). Then put on a couple of layers of clothing. You might not be able to make it go off. If you do the shot won't be as accurate.

I've run into the problem that Will Tell mentions concerning cold muscles, kind of. I've got the bow back to full draw, but it was such a foreign feeling that I didn't shoot. Once I started the blank bailing downwards at a 45 I've never run into the problem. Stiff muscles are most of the issue, but different angles on the draw add to the problem.

OK, all you guys that disagree with my opening statement, shoot a 300 round today. Post it. Then shoot another on Sept 1. Post it. If you're not better there something wrong with your practice routine. You should be better just because your muscles got stronger. The only reason I can see for not being better is you switched from the ground to treestand level.

Bowmania

When I played sports I always played better in games, than practice. I do the same when hunting. With me when I'm shooting at game, I'm in a different zone.

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