Got awake early this morning, made 3 eggs, looked on leatherwall a little. Decided to flip the light on at the front door and go out and shoot bow......in the dark.

I could just vaguely see the target in the light, but from where i was shooting in the front yard i could not see my arrow,(Our front light is not very bright) not even to nock it, only by feel, i also could not see the arrow in flight, just hear it hit the target.

ASL longbow sitka spruce arrows, i was pretty happy with the accuracy around 15-17 yds

lots of arguments about if instinctive archers see their arrow, i usually don't bother getting involved. I imagine in the daylight ya see it without realizing it, but i for sure could not see my arrow earlier this morning in the dark... I do feel if you want to shoot truly instinctive, you should not look at your arrow, but rather concentrate on what your hitting.

I can actually shoot both ways using the arrow or not, but it does kind of foul me up a little if i switch back and forth...If i shoot a recurve and aim with the arrow,then if i pick up my longbow and shoot it instinctive i tend to drift my arrows a little left till my brain gets re-programmed...My ASL are all 1/8th or better from center and i'm right handed.

But things were clicking pretty good this morning because i could NOT see the arrow, and i think your brain just simply takes over...probably for instinctive archers it wouldn't be a bad idea to shoot in the dark occasionally.

I am in bed when it is dark, not shooting my bow.

I'm a Big Byron Ferguson Fan and one thing ive read is he practiced in the dark shooting out the flame on a candle, so it's not as crazy as it sounds LOL because he could shoot a aspirin in the air so something he was doing worked....threading a wedding ring on a arrow was quite impressive also....

Ha, I was just doing that last night. Shot, shot, shot, then kept getting darker and kept shooting. Target was a black object and could not see the arrow. Still putting them in there. But, ya, the police say there is no such thing as instinctive.

After Dark in the evening, We put a light up on target, then back in the Dark we shoot , You focus on the target spot more. Have fun at it.

I shoot a lot after sundown by the time I finish it’s dark , my shooting improves in the low light. My target panic goes away when I can’t see the target.

Our club used to hold a ‘coon’ shoot each year at our broadhead shoot. We put bit of shiny tape on the vitals of a dozen targets and somebody in each group had a flashlight. It was tough but it forced you to pick a spot, follow-through and other “secrets” to good shooting.

I thought I was an instictive shooter by simply concentrating on the spot I wanted to hit . Then one night in my basement I turned off the lights and placed a small flashlight on the floor just in front of the target. My first few groups were larger than normal and not centered around the bullseye . I quickly realized that when at full draw the bow and arrow are subconciously in or part of my aiming technique .

I've shot in the dark a few times in the past for fun. If I can make out a little of the target, I'm usually ok. But I do not shoot instinctive.

I remember reading Fred Bear's writing, where he mentions, that you could shoot a bow and arrow, very accurately in the dark. Obviously, you have to at least be able to see your target somewhat or know where it is. When I read that many years ago in one of his books, I wondered how that could be, but I was shooting a compound with sights at that time.

Fast forward to the present, and I understand it now, after thousands of arrows shot in the last couple of years. I do practice some in the dark, in my yard, and I can't see my arrow, have to feel for the nock on the string, even, but the target is dimly illuminated. I shoot mostly instinctive now but do use the arrow as a reference in my vision, for shots past 10 to 15 yards. I can't always make a great shot, but sometimes I actually shoot better, when I shoot purely instinctive, even in mostly dark.

I have also noticed that when shooting 3D matches, I will often focus more on the tip of my arrow, and I shoot much worse. When I can let go, and let my senses take over, I will sometimes do better. Same when shooting out of a tree, if I try to aim too hard with the arrow, I will miss, instinctive is better for me at close ranges, anyway, most of the time. But at longer ranges, I am a loose gap shooter, I guess.

I learned this years ago. It seems like the older I get my eyes don't focus like they used to and its harder to ignore the bow and arrow etc. when Im shooting. I started carrying a small target with me on hunts where I was doing all day sits. With no time to shoot during the day I would shoot after dark by car light or yard light. I noticed that in low light conditions my focus on the target was intense and my groups tightened up a bit. Its a regular part of my practice now. give it a try it may surprise you. good luck men...

Seems to me there are legit tests years ago in the pitch black that proved Instinctive shooters still need to reference the arrow.

Who cares anyway? It just one ,more silly thing that seems to get some all riled up

my first "longbow" kill was at night, me up a tree, waiting om a feral tom cat to come in to my parent's place. They lived way out in the country with no neighbors for miles. This tom was interrupted by my mom as he killed most of her cat's new litter of kittens. My mother told me to get rid of him before he got the last couple of kittens. So, I hung a hang on stand up in a pine and sat with my longbow. I heard it before I could make out its form at about 12 yards or so. I drew and released, sending a 2216 armed with a Bear Razorhead its way. By the sound of it, I smacked him solid so after sitting there for a minute, I remember thinking that it was one of my easiest shots ever. I climbed down and using my headlamp, found him five yards from the spot. drilled his chest. My mom was happy, so the last two kittens made it.

I was shooting with a group of traditional archers/hunters at a club and in the winter we used a 20 yard indoor range. One "fun time" activity was to light a candle and turn off the lights and try to snuff the flame from 20 yards in the dark.

I miss that group.

I shoot all the time after dark with just the back porch light on. It’s off to my front side and slightly behind me like at 9:30/10:00 position if 12:00 is directly opposite the target. I nock the arrow by feel which I basically do all the time anyway. I use straw bales for a target with nothing on them. I can see the light reflection off of my bow/arrows, especially the light colored ones. Shoot instinctive but for sharp accuracy need to see where the point is in secondary vision.

At these nighttime sessions am mainly working on form but it is amazing how well one can shoot like this. With no light whatsoever I wouldn’t even think of trying to shoot.

Yep, it's very simple to figure out if you need your arrow for reference or not when night shooting.. I've always shot better in low light, probably cause there's less distraction in my peripheral vision? Who knows.. Everyone shoots differently..

If you actually want to see if you can shoot in the dark and shoot purely "instinctively" put on a blindfold. Look at the target, pull down the blinfold. Nock the arrow and shoot.

There are a very, very few who.can do that.

I would say that most people who say they shoot instinctive, really don't, but for the few that do, however, they can shoot in the dark without seeing their arrow.

fdp...i dont think that's quite the same thing as what most of us are saying.

with a blindfold on you cannot even focus on what your aiming at.

in the dark say with a candle, or a target you can barely see...you can see what your aiming at.

Right Shade mt that makes absolutely no sense at all completely different

Ehh..just all about how you look at it I suppose. If you look at where the target is before you pull down the blindfold wouldn't you instinctively know where the target was which would allow you to aim instinctively at it? I just about guarantee to you that 9 put of 10 of us that shoot in total darkness with -0- residual light to reference the arrow either directly or in our peripheral vision or our bow hand will mostly hit the wall behind the back stop.

But folks are free to think what they will.

You people are arguing about shooting in the dark?

LOL!!!

Folks are free to think what they will.. At this point in the game with a lot of us old timers here been shooting since at least the 60s You don't think we have tested ourselves? Nobody is claiming to be super natural here, it all comes down to simplicity actually, on not allowing the arrow.to becoming involved in the aiming process, in the way most folks do. Either you can do it or you can't.. Unfortunately, it seems for those who can't, deem it all impossible and for them I say, folks are free to think what they will..

Yep..Ive been shooing a recurve since 1968. Back then you mostly shot with sights...or not. . ..

might be some trick shooters out there that can shoot wearing a blindfold...i'm not one of them i'm sure (i gotta see what i'm aiming at least a little)..never even tried blindfolded honestly.

wonder what that makes me?...think i honestly care? mmmmm, nope

but it was dark enough i couldn't see to nock my arrow, nocked it by feel, but could vaguely see the target....now what does that make me?

it makes me a guy, nutty enough to shoot his bow in the dark, when most sane people were still in bed.....instinctive or not....

I do all of my shooting in the dark. I dimly light the target so it simulates an after sunset shot at a deer.

Joe

Maybe someday someone will come up with a word to replace the word instinctive. I believe the word itself is the root of what gets everybody’s parties in a bunch.

I don’t remember hearing or reading anyone saying they could shoot in total darkness where they can not even see the intended target.

I use the term “instinctive” in the sense that my entire focus is on the intended spot I want to hit. I do not consciously estimate yardage, look at my bow, my arrow, my arrow point, or anything else. Can I say I do not see any of them in my peripheral vision. No. But when I see my intended target, be it a 3d target, paper face spot, a squirrel, deer or whatever, I focus solely on the spot I want to hit, and that is the only thought in my head.

So my question is, what should I call my way of shooting that will make all my fellow archers happy?

I wouldn't worry about making anyone else happy, just do you.. Well here we are creeping up on Halloween again and at this point just about anywhere you go in this country there is a dollar store or equivalent if I'm not mistaken? So one just needs to go inside an purchase anything small that will glow in the dark, won't be hard to find, and when darkness falls upon your archery range place that said item on your bale and.... Have at it..

bentstick54 according to Webster nothing about a LEARNED process is "instinctve" and doesn't fit archery at all. But who actually looks up words and definitions anymore? Professional writers I guess.

I shoot "Barebow" and how so many want to define shooting a bow without sights and the aiming process gives me a headache.

Bob J. I agree. My point is “ Instinctive” is just a word. I shoot with guys that shoot competive barebow. They stringwalk, gap shoot, use point of aim, know or estimate yardage, and so on. I don’t care how anyone shoots, or what methods they use. I just find it funny that people get so caught up on the word “ instinctive “. And nobody can come up with a better one word description.

I can’t believe I’m explaining this again, but…

Your peripheral vision is A) more sensitive to low light and B) usually used to process information on a more subconscious level. I used to amaze my friends with my ability to follow a game trail in the dark without tripping over things… until I told them to just follow me and look at the back of my head. Suddenly they were as sure-footed as I…

The thing about seeing in the dark is that you literally cannot see the exact spot where you’re looking…. But you CAN see all around it… it’s just that most of that information is processed subconsciously….

And I just love it when people tell me that they absolutely know for a fact what information they can/do/cannot/do not see subsonsciously…. LOL

Bottom line is that shooting barebow in very low light works very well. You can argue over how it works (even though the science is settled) or you can just go do it. You don’t have to believe in the science for it to work for you. Science is funny that way… It doesn’t care what you think…

Actually,I believe the science would insist on me using a headlamp, or maybe a flashlight... Lets not get carried away.. :)

I think that when I cast my fishing lures, I do it instinctively.

I promise to try an eliminate the word instinctive from my shooting style description . : )

It’s just hand-eye coordination; some folks seem to be more coordinated than others, just like any sport, but it’s not purely innate, and all of that “uninstinctive” stuff about Proper, Consistent Form is the fastest way to cultivate it.

What it’s NOT is mystical, supernatural, religious or Reserved For The Chosen Few…

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