Well I took the plunge...

[tree_ghost]

Ok got my Martin X-200 40# @ 28" setup with fast flight strings and some 500 spine traditional shafts with 125gr field points. My upper knock point is set 1/2" up from center. I am starting out shooting with a fixed crawl method since my main intent of this is to hunt. From my research this will be the fastest most accurate way for me to ethically hunt this fall. I had a little extra time on lunch today and hit the range. This was my 5th flight of arrows from 15 paces. I felt pretty good much can tell with the inconsistency in arrow flight as it leaves the bow that I have work to do on mechanics! However I'm loving the way this thing shoots and can't wait to learn more. Ready for 3D to start so I can really get frustrated!!!!

 

[Andy S.]

Good luck, I wish you continued success going forward.

 

[Lost Lake]

You're gonna have it down pat in no time.

Form...then form...and more form!!

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Doesn't it feel good when it starts to come together!?! I really wish I would have started with an aiming technique when I first picked up a single string bow. Instead, I thought I'd learn to shoot instinctively and it was nothing but frustration. I shoot gap now.

 

[tree_ghost]

Doesn't it feel good when it starts to come together!?! I really wish I would have started with an aiming technique when I first picked up a single string bow. Instead, I thought I'd learn to shoot instinctively and it was nothing but frustration. I shoot gap now.

When the arrow comes out clean and hits the mark I'm holding on right on the nose, there's just something that feels right about it. It's a much more intimate and natural feel compared to a compound.

 

[TnTurk]

Totally agree. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

 

[tree_ghost]

Ok I'm having some trouble with getting
My nose out of the way of the string. I'm wanting to keep my typical compound anchor point because it's natural but I don't think it will work the same since I shoot a compound vertically and my recurve with a cant...I'm thinks maybe it's just improper head position...?

 

[user 972]

I have a friend that puts medical tape on her nose to keep the string from cutting it. She's a competition shooter and holds her now vertical.
You may be turning your head into the string to get the right picture that you want. May just need to adjust head position slightly.

 

[tree_ghost]

Here's a picture of me at full draw. This feels the most comfortable but it looks like my back shoulder is creeping forward and needs more back tension to pull it further around...?
Any tips on my anchor point?

 

[tree_ghost]

I have a friend that puts medical tape on her nose to keep the string from cutting it. She's a competition shooter and holds her now vertical.
You may be turning your head into the string to get the right picture that you want. May just need to adjust head position slightly.

I saw some competition shooters on YouTube doing the same thing. For target practice that would be fine and then I guess in the stand I wouldn't care if I let an arrow fly lol

 

[Lost Lake]

I use my middle finger to corner of mouth as my anchor. Seems to be more consistently repeatable for me.

 

[TnTurk]

More than likely your turning your head into the string. Look at your target with both eyes facing forward. Bring the string to the anchor point on your face when drawing, not your anchor point on the face to the string.

 

[tree_ghost]

Ok I'm starting to understand the frustration that accompanies this discipline...my nose feels like minced meat! I have attempted a few different anchor points on my face but none of them seem to get my nose out of the path of the string. Next I moved my draw hand up from the fixed crawl position 1.5 fingers below the nock to 3 fingers directly under the nock. When I anchored with my index finger to the corner of my mouth I was able to keep my nose out of the strings path 4 out of 5 times. However this position doesn't feel natural and moreover my sight picture is not as preferable from this anchor position. I have noticed today that I seem to naturally prefer the string to the inside of my "aiming eye" (I have both eyes open when I shoot) and I believe this is where my problem is lying maybe????

 

[user 972]

I have noticed today that I seem to naturally prefer the string to the inside of my "aiming eye" (I have both eyes open when I shoot) and

It looks to me you're trying to look right down the shaft. Have you tried the string on the outside of your eye?
It's hard for me to describe how I aim. I wear glasses and had some eye surgery that effects my vision focus. I concentrate on my target and "unconsciously" gap my point.

 

[TnTurk]

Here's a picture of me at full draw. This feels the most comfortable but it looks like my back shoulder is creeping forward and needs more back tension to pull it further around...?
Any tips on my anchor point?

What kind of aiming technique are you using? My suggestion, fwiw, is to go purely instinctive. It's not as hard as it seems with proper practice techniques and much more beneficial in my opinion given different shooting situations.

 

[tree_ghost]

It looks to me you're trying to look right down the shaft. Have you tried the string on the outside of your eye?
It's hard for me to describe how I aim. I wear glasses and had some eye surgery that effects my vision focus. I concentrate on my target and "unconsciously" gap my point.

I'll give that a try tonight and see if my nose is the beneficiary!

 

[tree_ghost]

What kind of aiming technique are you using? My suggestion, fwiw, is to go purely instinctive. It's not as hard as it seems with proper practice techniques and much more beneficial in my opinion given different shooting situations.

Well in one picture I'm using a fixed crawl and in another I'm just 3 under. I prefer the ease of aiming with the fixed crawl. But I feel like it exposes my nose to contact with the string more so than 3- under. I really haven't played with instinctive shooting very much...the neighborhood wouldn't appreciate stray shafts lol

 

[user 972]

This was my method of learning instinctive. 3-5 steps from the target, 1-2" spot. One arrow. Shoot until consistently hitting spot. Then a step or two farther. Repeat. DON'T shoot until your arm is tired. 10 shots and stop for awhile or stop on a good shot. come back later. You're creating muscle and eye memory.
I have a good friend to give me this advise on shooting. I've had people to look at me like I'm crazy when I tell this but this helped me more than anything, after I make sure I had the correct arrows.
" Go stump shooting. Get a set of arrows with blunts, judo points or whatever, get in the woods, shoot at rotten stumps, logs, root balls, whatever. You will learn more about your shooting and develope your own style of shooting. Go ahead and learn different techniques of shooting/aiming but in the long run you may combine something from all of them."

 

[TnTurk]

^^^^This is great advice.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Do you have a head-on pick with your gap grip? The reason I ask is that it looks like your using the arrow shaft as another contact point for a consistent anchor point (consciously or unconsciously). This is actually a good thing if it's not tearing up your face. When you anchor with your crawl grip, the arrow rests against your nose higher up, on a more narrow part of your nose and the string catches more of your nostril on the release. With 3 directly under your nock, your shaft rests further out on the side of your nostril and your string tends to hit it less.

Fletch an arrow with the feathers about 1/2" further back than they are now and, shooting 3 directly under the nock, use the chocolate chip cookie feather resting against the tip of your nose, instead of the shaft against your nostril, and see if this doesn't help (this is how I know I've reached full draw and have a consistent anchor). Shoot this way until you're muscle memory makes a consistent anchor point, then experiment with moving to a crawl.

 

[tree_ghost]

Ok did a little playing around when I got home this afternoon. First off I put some tape on my nose to give me a little protection as I continue to make adjustments. My goal will be to eliminate the string contact and use of tape if possible but in the meantime the tape will serve its purpose. A commentor on another site said it seemed as if I was "gun barreling" the arrow. This made sense to me as my natural sight picture wants to gravitate to directly above the arrow to subconsciously control the left/right trajectory of the arrow. Unfortunately I don't think my god given accoutrements will allow for this...so I decided to move my head position to where the string laid to the outside of my aiming eye instead of to the inside of the string. This did a couple things right off. First it cut down the amount of contact on my nose by 50% and I liked that but it also changed my sight picture to where the arrow no longer stacked up perfectly vertical in my sight picture. This was very unnatural at first. It took me a few flights to mentally adjust to the new image my brain was viewing but I quickly noticed since the arrow wasn't stacked vertically in my sight picture, but instead the knock end was off to the right, this allowed me to see the angle of the trajectory the arrow would take from the bow. Once I realized that my brain was able to process both lateral and vertical trajectories at the same time I began to relax and my groups actually tightened up some! Now I still had some nose contact but nuthing like before and if I consciously made the effort to rotate my head even more toward the target I was able to eliminate the contact all together. This position will have to be learned by me because it's not nearly as natural feeling as my draw cycle before but I think with practice will produce better results in time...? This was my 3rd flight from 20 yards. First low arrow in the flight helped me adjust my gap and the next 4 felt real nice.

 

[user 972]

All I can say is you're grouping better than me. Other than curing the nose issue I wouldn't change too much.