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Style is fine as long as it doesn't include elements that are detrimental to accurate shooting. My fear is that many use style as an excuse not to learn the proper way. Pride is a hard thing to loose.

No, I'm not talking about anyone here, but on some of the Archery boards it is rampant. Facts get spun quicker than a presser at the White House.

I suppose if you want the MTV version then you can watch the MBB series. Good info there, but they assume you already know what is going on. Youtube has some good and some awful videos - very difficult to figure out what is what when your new.......Jimmy Blackmon has a few that are outstanding and will show you what potential really exists with a stick and string. http://archersparadoxdotorg.wordpress.com/

If you have actually read the book you would find that after the first chapter or two he suggest getting out and working on some basics..........a bit like school, if you actually read the text book there really is some useful information in there. Up to the user in the end - but at least you know where you can look when a question comes up. Make me wonder how well this book would be received if old G Fred would have written it?

Like I said before, if you want a book on how to stalk, set up a tree stand, blind, etc then this is not the book for you. If you want to learn to shoot with good form and achieve repeatable accuracy this is a good start. Now FWIW I have nothing to do with this book's sales or whatever, it's just the best resource (by far) that I have yet to find. I'm always open to other books and DVD's and try not to be 'narrow minded' about my approach to shooting Traditional bows with accuracy.

R H, I think you and I are on the same page. Ever wonder why these experts never show up to an indoor shoot? Every excuse in the world comes up but in the end I don't think they can walk the walk. It would be embarrassing for these trad heros to stink up the place. Too bad, because it really is fun - most are just there to get better, waiting out winter and practicing so when you do get a shot at a nice buck you make a good one........I kind of feel sorry for them. They get put up on a pedestal and may or may not be able to live up to the reputation. There is more to lose than gain so they pass on what they love to begin with - shooting your bow with friends........

10-4 It's all in one place, easily understood and accessed. All bound up and available for $20.

What I don't understand is why some think the transition from target archery to hunting is nearly an impossible leap. Sure a target archer needs to learn all about hunting, but the things that make up the actual shot shouldn't be that different.

centershot: 5 arrows at 25 yards, photo taken by my wife. I just don't shoot competitively anymore. I've been called out by folks that came too my shop to see me do this on more than one occasion.

Well Bill that is nice shooting, I did not have you in mind when I stated 'expert', but it looks like you do. That's a nice group, what do you shoot on the NFAA 300 round?

R H Clark, Target shooting and bowhunting go hand in hand, why as soon as you take the wheels off your bow it no longer is useful to shoot targets or keep a score? Interesting.

Never claimed to be an expert. As I stated earlier...I don't compete any more. The last time I shoot an NFAA round was back in the 80's.

I haven't shot a compound in 15 years but I started with recurves and went back after a brief experiment with wheels. I just don't understand why so many bowhunters foo foo the target shooters and claim they are a completely different sport.

Why not? I'm curious as to why guys don't shoot indoors any more. There are a few trad shooters around, a few show up at a 3D's but hardly ever indoors - I see them in the local shops but they rarely want to shoot. I'm just curious what happens. Not enough time, bored? Most agree that shooting is fun, but getting them together to shoot is like pulling teeth. Like I stated above I think a lot of them are embarrassed to shoot with others. I find that a shame and hope it is not the reason. Bill you appear to be a trad bow veteran, why don't you compete anymore?

Around here we have several trad only 3D events that draw close to a thousand shooters each year. I don't know of a single place though I can go to shoot a field event or indoor within a few hours.

Field rounds were the big deal when I started out. Shot in several different leagues. I guess one thing going against it now is the real estate needed for a 28 target range.

Valid point.

You need to have an understanding/execution of the fundamentals.

Exactly! You have to have proper alignment, A steady bow arm that doesn't drop at the shot. Do these while staying relaxed with as little muscle involvement as possible to stay in alignment. A good release, and a properly tuned bow are also needed. If you have all these down all that's left is a good anchor and sight picture. If you remove any one of these elements they all fall apart. If your arrows aren't properly spined you won't hit the target in the center, even if all other elements are spot on. If the other elements are off , it's difficult to even tell if you are properly tuned.

When everything is working together, it will all be down to distance estimation. You won't miss left or right anymore unless you improperly execute one of the elements of form. All your misses will be high or low and then when you shoot groups, you should only miss high or low with the first arrow, after that you should have the correct distance down.

It all comes down to these simple elements of the shot. I think many of the traditional gurus have tried to turn trad archery and shooting without sights into some kind of mystical experience. We shoot instinctively, as if it's some sort of gift we are either born with or not. We must become the arrow, as if shooting is some sort of mind over matter equation. Yes, concentration and muscle memory are important but it all comes down to the fundamentals of shooting, aiming, and practice.

Well, centershot, I started shooting recurves before it was called traditional. At one time I was president of 4 separate clubs. I traveled all over the east coast to shoot competitively which got expensive. Indoor-outdoor it didn't matter to me as long as I could shoot against someone. I got turned off with tournament shooting when I kept hearing, "Well, Bill's shooting, I guess 2nd is first place for me." Which really was disappointing and aggravating to me. Why anybody would even think that, let alone say it out loud so I could hear it, just flabbergasted me. Instead of complaining that 2nd is the best they can do why not practice harder to get to the point where you can beat me? So it just got to the point where I just ran tournaments, so the complaints would stop and we would have more folks showing up. But they didn't. Basically it got real old. My life priorities changed and I got out of the tournament/competitive shooting.

I started shooting competition to become a better shot. I shot several different recurve bows that were setup for every class in the NFAA. Everybody shot compounds back then, in all classes. I was the only recurve shooter. I would shoot which ever class had the most competitors, a lot of times I'd shoot one class up, giving myself a handicap. Limited to free style for example. It made me a better archer for sure. But I felt it really did not help me in my goal. To be a better hunter.

Today, I just don't have time. Most of the time I can't get out of the shop to even hunt. For the first seven years, building my business, I worked 7 days a week 10 to 12 hours a day. Sometimes even more. Since I'm in the industry I just am not interested in competing. My time off is now spent with my wife, doing whatever she wants to do.

Mr. Clark,
Very nice post! "I think many of the traditional gurus have tried to turn trad archery and shooting without sights into some kind of mystical experience." & "it all comes down to the fundamentals of shooting, aiming, and practice."

To the best of my knowledge nobody has ever said; you can't use a sight on a recurve or longbow. Or some other aiming means; gap, point, string walking, face walking, split vision, etc.
Whatever method gets you to where you want to be as far as your accuracy. If you don't get instinctive then try something else. But you need to have solid fundamentals. And those fundamentals need to be practiced a lot until they are instinctive.

Wild Bill 375 you must have shot one time or another at either Hall's Arrow or Algonquin Archers. So more then likely are paths have crossed.

Interesting Wild Bill, I understand 'burnout' and traveling to be the only trad shooter (I have shot State Indoor Tourneys twice - both being the only recurve).......frustrating. I come from a different time where I learned to shoot with a compound and have done so for 30 years at this point. Had several setups to shoot indoors, outdoors and hunt. But the last 3 or 4 years I have been seriously shooting (1-300 arrows per week year round) traditional bows. It has really revitalized the hobby for me and I very much enjoy it. I was pretty lucky in that I found good instruction early along with a bow that I could easily draw and shoot for many arrows without fatigue working on the form and fundamentals mentioned above. I find shooting indoor rounds all winter to be just the place to work on the form and fundamentals required for consistent shooting. I am currently trying to put together a traditional night at our local club. I am hoping to get some of these guys (that I know are around) to get out and shoot. I suppose that is behind my badgering of folks and asking why they don't shoot anymore or have lost interest.

RH Clark, that is an excellent post. Fully agree - there is no magic dust or spell. Accuracy with a stickbow has to be worked at and is probably never totally mastered, but good repeatable form is the very basis of repeatable accuracy. This is what makes it hard to believe that the book is so 'unaccepted'. If a guy does not have a coach how do you learn to tune? what good form is? etc. It's all right there, just read it and then do it. No it does not tell you how to sneak up on a whitetail, but when you do figure that part out you should be able to make a confident shot. Personality diputes aside, it's a good book - the best most comprehensive that I have found. If there is better I'd love to get my hands on it also. Shooting trad bows is fun, hitting what your aiming at is even better!

Won a Silver Dollar shoot at Art Hall's! Butch Free & I traveled down there from Bangor Maine. If I remember correctly in 83, it was a long time ago. Never shot in Woodbury. We talked about going one year and it feel apart after Butch had a heart attack.