How to Shoot a Compound Bow Accurately
Are you getting concerned about how you keep missing the target when you shoot your arrows? Well, this is an embarrassing and frustrating experience that no archer would want to face.
Hitting your target brings a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. The reason you miss could be because there’s a problem with your bow (or arrows) or because you are not good at shooting. A small problem with your bow or arrow can affect your accuracy. It gets worse if your target is very far away.
Here are eight actionable tips that can help you shoot your compound bow accurately.
Contents
- 1. Tune the Bow
- 2. Challenge Yourself by Changing Your Limits
- 3. Practice The Form
- 4. Vary Your Targets as You Practice
- 5. Use stabilizers and sights on your bow
- 6. Adjust The Bow Grip
- 7. Maintain a Good Follow-Through
- 8. Work On Your Draw Length
- Final Words
- Watch The Video To Learn how to shoot a compound bow accurately
1. Tune the Bow
Tuning your bow is the first step in getting excellent shots. As an archer, you might have ignored your bow for too long, making it lose its quality. The two parts of your bow you need to consider are the center-short alignment and timing.
Timing is only relevant to double cam bows. The cams should rotate well and be in sync.
Center-shot alignment concerns the bow's nock placement and rest. They should be placed such that the arrow leaves the bow, heading straight to the target. If you don’t know how to tune your bow, you can hire an expert. However, a good archer should know how to tune a bow.
2. Challenge Yourself by Changing Your Limits
When bowhunting or practicing target archery, your shooting distance will always vary. You’ll also be shooting under different conditions. So, try to practice shooting from different ranges and situations.
When you are used to shooting only a nearby target, you find it difficult to hit targets far away. And when you are used to shooting targets far away, you likely miss the closer targets. That’s why it’s advisable to shoot from different ranges and angles until you perfect your shooting skills.
3. Practice The Form
Your accuracy in shooting doesn’t depend on how expensive or fancy the bow is. A good archer can shoot from any bow. If your form is bad, your shooting won’t be accurate.
Things will get worse the farther the target is from where you are. Having a good form requires you to be relaxed and comfortable while shooting. Shakiness or heavy breathing does not help matters. Be focused, and remember to breathe the moment you are drawing back the bow.
You also need a good stance to get a perfect shot. Standing awkwardly will reduce your level of accuracy. Stand straight with your body perpendicular to your feet. And your feet should never be too close or too far apart.
When your feet are close together, you’ll be unstable and will lean to one side. When your feet are too far apart, you’ll wobble back and forth as you shoot, and this will make you miss the mark.
4. Vary Your Targets as You Practice
Very large targets are easier to shoot and may not be good for your practice. But this doesn’t mean you should avoid them completely. The best way to go about it is to vary the size of your targets.
Small targets are the best when practicing for accuracy. Once you master shooting small targets, you’ll find it easier to shoot at large targets.
Apart from varying the size of targets, you also need to use both 2D and 3D targets for your practice. Remember that if you concentrate on 3D targets only, you find it difficult to shoot 2D targets like the bull's eye. And when you only practice with 2D targets, you’ll not be able to shoot at 3D targets accurately.
If you are a hunter, you also need to practice shooting moving targets. Practicing with 2D, 3D, and moving targets will make you a good archer and hunter.
5. Use stabilizers and sights on your bow
Whenever you shoot an arrow from your bow, some vibrations will occur. These vibrations may make you miss the mark.
To reduce the vibrations and toque, you can add stabilizers to your bow. A stabilizer is an accessory that dampens vibrations, making your bow to be more stable.
Sights are also necessary to improve your accuracy. With sights, you’ll be able to aim more precisely the longer the distance between your eye and the sight pin. However, you need not add a lot of weight to your bow because this will again reduce your accuracy.
6. Adjust The Bow Grip
Shooting a compound bow accurately requires that you hold the bow firmly. This is particularly important if the target is very far away. Holding the bow firmly doesn’t mean the grip should be too tight. It only means it shouldn’t be too loose.
As you pull the string, you should feel the bow pushing your palm. With a loose grip, there will be more vibrations, and the bow itself may also slip and fall. A good grip also reduces torque, thereby increasing stability.
7. Maintain a Good Follow-Through
The biggest mistake many bowhunters and archers make is to drop their arms immediately after releasing the arrow. Doing that greatly affects accurately. After you release the arrow, hold the bow in position for a few seconds before bringing your arms down.
This will ensure the arrow leaves the bow with no interference. This is something that requires practice because many archers are very eager to see how their arrows move towards the target.
8. Work On Your Draw Length
The way you draw your bow may also affect your accuracy. As you draw the bow back to full length, you need to be steady. If you are shaky, the arrow will obviously hit off the mark. You also need to work on your muscles. Strong muscles ensure you can draw your bow easily without shaking.
Final Words
As you can see, shooting a compound bow accurately is something that requires a lot of practice. Dedicate your time and energy to be a good archer or bowhunter. Hopefully, the above tips will help improve your shooting accuracy.
