Helpful Tips - Lake Macquarie Field Archers Inc

Bow hunting is a great activity. If you use a compound bow, you want to take special care of your investment. It doesn't take much work to care for the compound bow, but simple maintenance can guarantee many hours of fun with your bow. No matter how much you practice to improve your archery skills, you'll always have a bit of a handicap if you don't take proper care of your equipment. Fortunately there are a few easy steps you can take to help you get the most mileage out of your archery equipment.

How to Pick An Archery Bow

Step 1 Decide how you will be using the bow. If you're a bow hunter, you will want to put emphasis on the arm length and physical weight of the bow, since you will probably prefer it to be less cumbersome to carry through wilderness and to fire when in tight spaces. If you're a target archer, on the other hand, you may prefer longer bows in order to increase your stability and ease of draw.

Step 2 Choose whether you would prefer a compound bow or a recurve bow. While compound bows are easier to aim and become easier to pull the further you draw, recurves become more difficult as you draw back and rely heavily on skill and experience for accuracy. Even though compound bows are more popular, recurve bows are a much better choice for beginners, since they will teach proper shooting skills without relying on the built-in guides and gadgets on a compound.

Step 3 Evaluate your budget before deciding on a type of bow. Recurves are often much less expensive than compound bows, and the accessories needed to get started with a recurve are far fewer.

Step 4 Determine your draw length, which is the distance that you can naturally draw a bowstring. To get a rough measure of your draw length, stretch out your bow hand as if you were drawing a bow, and make a fist. Place that fist against a wall and assume proper shooting posture, and then have someone measure from the wall to the corner of your mouth. Note that if you're right handed, your bow hand will be your left hand, and if you are left handed it will be your right.

Step 5 Find your best draw weight. This is the amount of force it takes to pull back on the bow string. Target archers will want to remember that they will be firing many rounds in succession, so they should choose something slightly easier than a compound bow so they won't tire quickly. An average-strength man should pick a draw weight of around 50 lbs., while a woman of average strength should choose a draw weight of around 30 pounds.

Step 6 Buy your bow from a reputable archery specialist. To make sure you are getting the best equipment and the best advice, seek out a store that has an experienced archer that will help you pick out the perfect bow, as opposed to a larger, less-specialized store where the sales associates may not be as knowledgeable.

Taking Care Of Your Compound Bow

Step 1 Clean your bow after each use. Never put it away wet.

Step 2  Never lay the bow on the ground. This can cause dust and other materials to damage or ruin sensitive parts of the bow.

Step 3 Wipe the bow periodically with a soft cloth to remove any dust and lint accumulation. Take care to wipe the cable guard and to keep it free of dust. As you wipe the cable guard, make sure it is running smoothly and that it is not catching on anything as it moves.

Step 4 Rub lightweight oil on the metal parts of the bow to protect them. Wipe any excess oil off with a damp cloth.

Step 5 Use minimal amounts of lubricant. It's best not to lubricate anything but if you must lubricate a part of the compound bow that is stiff, use white lithium grease or some other lubricant that doesn't have a scent to it.

Step 6 Apply a high-quality bowstring wax to your bowstrings before each shooting session. Apply the bowstring wax to the cable system as well. This process can protect your compound bow from wear, separation and abrasion.

Step 7 Replace the bowstring and cable each year. Both items are under a lot of pressure and can stretch over time which can result in less effective hunting for you.

Step 8 Store your bow in a cool location. Never expose your compound bow to the hot temperatures found in an automobile on a hot day

How To Care For An Archery Bow

Step 1      Wax your bow strings. A good sign that your strings need to be waxed is if they begin to appear frayed or fuzzy. Attentive care of your bow strings will go a long way to keeping your equipment in top performing condition.

Step 2      Wax your bow as well. Lightly rubbing your bow with a wax specifically made for the purpose will help prolong your bow's life by keeping the finish sealed and helping the bow resist moisture.

Step 3      Dry your bow off immediately if it gets wet. Even if your finish is waterproof, if your bow has any inner metal parts, they may become rusted and cause your bow to malfunction.

Step 4      Use a bow stringer. Most professional archers strongly suggest that you use a stringer instead of stringing your bow without one, because the potential for breaking or misaligning your bow while using other techniques is high.

Step 5      Tighten the arms of your bow gently if you have detachable arms. Overtightening can make the arms become extra rigid, which will not only shorten your draw length, but may also break your bow.

Step 6      Shoot only with properly weighted arrows. Using arrows that are lighter than your bow was designed for has essentially the same effect as dry firing your bow. Heavier arrows will result in severely reduced distance and accuracy.

Step 7      Unstring your bow when you aren't shooting. The only exception to this step is if you have a traditional recurve made from one solid piece of wood--these kinds of bows can be left strung to help them retain their shapes.

Step 8      Avoid dry firing your bow at all costs. The arrow is designed to absorb the shock caused by shooting a bow, so firing your bow without an arrow can cause internal damage from the bow having to absorb a shock it isn't designed to take. Even if your bow appears to be fine after a dry fire, damage you can't see could cause serious injuries if you try to shoot the bow again.

Step 9      Store your bow in a cool, dry place. To care for your archery bow properly, you should avoid any extreme temperatures, especially heat and humidity. The wood can easily be warped in extreme temperatures.

Step 10      Replace your string at the first sign of wear.

Tips & Tricks
Eager to practice your new hobby, you make your way to the archery range and start shooting. Your shots are not going where they’re supposed to go, frustrating you. This occurs with many beginners, and to help, here are the most useful 6 archery tips that will help you improve your abilities and precision:
Consistent anchor points: An anchor point is the place on your face where you pull the string back to consistently. This anchor point should be exactly the same all the time for a consistent grouping of shots. The most common is putting the index finger right below your chin with the bowstring barely touching the tip of your nose, but you should test different anchors and find the most comfortable anchor points for you.
Bow Handle grip: Your grip on the bow handle should be lax and comfortable. Your first instinct might be to grip the bow hard to stabilize it, but it has the contrary outcome. A hard grip on the bow will cause it to twist and rotate, leading the arrows to lean right or left.
Follow through: It is important to follow through with the shots by keeping your bow arm up and keeping your focus on the archery target until the arrow lands. Otherwise, it is very common to lower the bow earlier than you’re supposed to which causes the arrow flight path to be changed downward, leading innacurate shots.
Focus and concentration: Whether you’re doing target archery, 3D archery, or bow hunting, it is vital to concentrate and focus on one precise spot that you want to hit. You will unconsciously aim at that specific area. It is difficult to stay focused all the time, but all you need to do in archery is concentrate on that spot for at most 10 seconds as you aim and shoot.
Relax: Easier said than done for most people. Relax and clear your mind before you take a shot. A great way to do this is to inhale deeply as you’re about to aim, followed by one last big breath, and let it out gradually right before releasing the bowstring. A deep breath will calm your nerves and allow you to aim better. When uneasy or nervous, your technique will worsen and you are more likely to suddenly move the bow and ruin your aim. Being relaxed will easily help your focus and concentration on the target.
Practice: Practice is exceptionally important because it allows you to put in use everything you learned to perfect your technique. You can search for all the tips you want, but if you don’t practice them, and you don’t consistently do it, then your abilities will not advance. A great quote I had read before about practice and mastery: “At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path.”There is much more to archery form and technique, and there are more aspects of archery that come into play when in the field, but these archery tips will go a long way in helping you improve your skills and precision.

Setting Your Sites

Most compound bows have 2 parts attached to a bow that are used to aim with. The 1st part is called the peep site and is a small piece of plastic with a hole in it. This is attached to the string and it is critical to have it in the correct location.

To set the peep site - draw your bow back with your eyes closed and use your normal ancor point for your release hand. I use the back of my jaws when shooting with a release. Then open your shooting eye and you will be able to see if the peep has to move up or down on the string.

Most sights mounted to the riser of the bow have a round outer plastic frame. line this outer round plastic frame with the small hole located in the peep site on the string after you have drawn back the bow. I will always set the tip of my nose on the string when looking through the peep.

Different sights have different numbers of pins and can put you in seperate classes if you shoot in competion.

Most high powered bows have very little varience between 0 and 20 meters so most archers set ther top pin at 20 meters. Then every 10 meters after that so the 2nd pin is 30 meters and so on until all have been set.

The old rule of thumb when adjusting pins as stated above is

Follow the arrow.

If you shoot 6 arrows and the grouping is to high, raise the pin.If you shoot 6 arrows and the grouping is to low, lower the pin.
If you shoot 6 arrows and the grouping is to to the right, move the pin right.
If you shoot 6 arrows and the grouping is to to the left, move the pin left.
All the pins should be in a perfect vertical line up and down. Some sights come with a small wire straight down the middle of the site.

To "stack" your pins for those long shots I will use an example.
Say you have 5 pins 20,30,40,50 and 60 meters, but you need to make a 80 meters short.
Place your 60 meters pin on the target and look at the location of your 40 meters pin(60-40=20 meters).
Then move the 60 pin up to were the 40 meter pin was (adding 20 more meters -- 60+20=80)and take the shot.
You may have to raise that pin a little higher due to the bows power starting to drop off if shooting lower than about 230 FPS.

Most sights have a level at the bottom of the frame. One other little trick I use when shooting 5 pins is to start by setting my level at 70 meters then work backwards from my 60 to 20 meters pins as stated above.
Once set you should be good to go with 1 final note. Say you break a D-Loop or knock point on your string. Most sites have ajustments to move the whole site up/down and left/right. Make sure your fletchings on your arrows clear the site.