Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Can you learn instinctive shooting with a compound bow?

I was curios if anyone knows if it is possible to learn to be an instinctive shooter with a compound bow or is it only useful for the traditional archer? After shooting the compound for about 5 years with sights, I would wonder if it would be an advantage.

Curios about your thoughts.

Sure you can shoot instinctive with a compound. Back 'in the day', or back in the mid-80's, we shot 3-D (well really 2-D at cardboard target in front of dirt mounds), we even had a Bare Bow division.

There's just not a lot of bows out there with long enough ATA to shoot fingers with.

You'd be suprised at how accurate you can be, shooting barebow with a compound. My last bow I shot barebow with was a Matthews Q2XL and I loved it, wish I had it back.

Yes. In fact, just this year, Dennis Dunn completed the "Super Slam" of North American Game barebow...compound, no sights.

I believe Asbell covers it in Instinctive shooting 2 and the video. I know a couple of guys who do it, and they shoot very good.

For about 20 years, that's how I shot. Compound, no sights, fingers (with a tab).

I started with a sight for a few years. Then I bought a new bow one day. I ordered the sight I wanted, but had to wait a couple weeks for it to come in to the shop. Being young and impatient, I decided I had to shoot the bow anyway, just to get a feel for it. In no time, I was shooting well, with no sights. After a few days of shooting, I was as good (literally) as I was with a sight. Called the shop, cancelled the sight order, and never looked back.

Recently though, I've reverted back to shooting a recurve (obviously barebow). But my compound days without a sight were good times!

Yup, I started with a compound back in the late 70's with no sight. In fact, IIRC, my Browning Explorer didn't even have bushings drilled for a sight. I went to a sight after 3-4 years, but did kill my first buck shooting instintively with that compound. I still shoot with a finger tab and one sight pin sighted in at 25 yards.

I would take it one step further by putting leather or moleskin on the shelf, fletch up some feathers, lower the nocking point, and re-tune shooting off the shelf.

Al

Too close to my annual trip back home to WI for that. I do, however, shoot feathers, and they are far superior to vanes in my experience with them.

I shoot a compound with the usual peep. My problem is I wear glasses with bifocals now and when I look through my peep, I have a hard time locating my pin. When I do locate my pin , the pin looks like you are looking through one of those mirrors at the fair.
It seems like my bifocal line is right through my sight line.

I am much better off taking of my glasses but out in the woods that poses its own issues.

After this season I am thinking about taking the peep out and seeing if I can hit the broadside of the barn.

If I do this, is the crucial part keeping your anchor point consistant? This is how I do it. When at full draw, a vane hits me in the corner of the mouth. I have used this as long I have been shooting and I consider myself an average to above average shot out to 40 yds. My bow limits my shots to 40 yds realistically.

Any input you have would be appreciated.

Amen to this, especially if you are not using a release and shooting fingers.

my wife learned on her compound instinctive, i tried putting sights on for her once and she just could not get used to 'em.

a consistent anchor point is definitly critical.

WeimsnKs,
I've used sights without a peep for at least 20yrs. You've got it pretty much covered with the CONSISTANT anchor being the MOST critical factor. One thing I will suggest is that when at full draw and anchored if you look at your string it will be lining up with something on the bows riser or the riser itself. That is the "rear sight" replacement for your peep and that alignment will be the same every time as long as your draw and anchor are consistant. I shoot fingers,so the string is off to the side of my face and lines up with my riser when I draw and anchor. I use to check for that alignment every shot but have been shooting this way for so long I don't bother anymore. If you can get the hang of it you'll never miss that peep. GOOD LUCK!

til later

I learned on a compound to shoot instinctive. I don't know that it's purely instinctive, as I do use the arrow as a relative aiming point. I shoot 3 fingers under the arrow and anything under 35 yds is dead meat. Pie plates are consistently hit at 35 yds, I feel fine shooting a deer at that range, not to mention the number of bare bow class trophies I have from local 3-D shoots over the years... The guy that got me set up shooting bow told me, "If you can learn to shoot without sights, do it. Then you don't have stuff to go wrong when you hit the field, and you're always sighted in." He's right, never had a problem, even when switching bows.
Selmer

Next year I plan on buying a new bow and I plan on going back to instinctive shooting. It was so much easier not having to worry about my sights getting banged around and moved. Supposedly Dan and Guy Fitzgerald are coming out with a video teaching instinctive shooting techniques, not sure when though???

When I have a problem with my arrows not going where I want them to, I take the sights off my bow, and shoot the hay bales from ten yards back twenty. I can hit the bullseye, but I can do better with pins. If you concentrate on form, you'd be amazed how much of your shooting ability is instinct. I also picked up a stick bow this Summer and put three out of three in a little foam deer's vitals from a 20' tower on the 3D course. Ted Nugent and Dan Fitzgerald both shoot compounds without sights. You should give it a try, they land pretty close to where you'd think.