How long should you be able to hold your draw?
"Just how long should you be able to hold your bow at full draw?" I thought while watching some of those elk hunting videos that were "vital" to my library. I had seen a couple of their hunts in there where it seemed like the guys were holding for at least a minute. So I timed them. You can sometimes hear them draw when they're off-camera, so it took a little educated guessing, but I still got the idea. I timed two of the longer ones, and one guy held for 30 seconds and this other fella held for almost exactly one minute...never getting a shot.
The first thing I thought was, "A minute! That's it? I can do that." Little did I know...
You know, I've done some shooting in my house to practice my release, which helped a lot, but I think the thumping and whatnot could be heard by my neighbors. So I try not to do that unless they aren't home, despite all their noise, I'm still a considerate guy. Believe it or not, it REALLY did help my release. You set up your target and then stand at a distance where you are very CERTAIN you won't miss...don't forget to account for the arc of the arrow, which means aim LOW. Anywho, so then your standing there and get into your position, bow drawn, proper sight picture; then shut your eyes and focus on either your fingers or your trigger squeeze. Make it as smooth as you possibly can. When you start getting good at this, I'd say after about 50 shots, your form will improve. Do it enough and it gets ingrained in your muscle memory, then shooting in the yard and cutting fletching gets REALLY fun.
On this day, I set up the target on the floor of my bedroom and kneeled about three yards from it (I have a small house.) I wasn't planning on releasing after seeing how long I could hold it because there was a bookcase, a wall, and a nice window waiting for the arrow if it decided to deflect due to my shaking. But I set this all up anyways, dryfiring, even on accident is never a good idea. (Ya, no kidding right?) I set up a stopwatch nearby and just waited for it to get to a minute so I wouldn't have to try and start it then draw and "account" for those couple of seconds. It hit one minute and I drew. Things were going really well for what seemed like thirty seconds, but then I glanced at the watch. "Fifteen seconds!" I thought. Already my back was getting tired. After what seemed like another minute, I peered at the watch again, "20 seconds!" I was starting to shake pretty good around 25 seconds and decided that my goal was 30 seconds. As soon as that watch hit 30 the bow was down.
Now I'm not sure how important this all is. I've heard different things from various sources; some say to learn to draw, aim, and shoot within three seconds. Other people seem to think that being able to hold your bow for a long time means you've practiced enough and you're shooting a bow weight that is right for you. I'm shooting a 60 lb bow with what I think is 80% letoff. So what's that?...12 pounds while holding at full draw? Not sure if that's how they do that math or not, but of course, now I can't seem to get my "shortcomings" out of my mind. I will probably work on that a little, partly because I'm paranoid and partly because I like improving no matter how trivial it seems. I'm still in the giddy state of mind where I need to have all my brand new ducks perfectly lined up. I'm sure this is all a mute point, but one can't help but wonder.
The first thing I thought was, "A minute! That's it? I can do that." Little did I know...
You know, I've done some shooting in my house to practice my release, which helped a lot, but I think the thumping and whatnot could be heard by my neighbors. So I try not to do that unless they aren't home, despite all their noise, I'm still a considerate guy. Believe it or not, it REALLY did help my release. You set up your target and then stand at a distance where you are very CERTAIN you won't miss...don't forget to account for the arc of the arrow, which means aim LOW. Anywho, so then your standing there and get into your position, bow drawn, proper sight picture; then shut your eyes and focus on either your fingers or your trigger squeeze. Make it as smooth as you possibly can. When you start getting good at this, I'd say after about 50 shots, your form will improve. Do it enough and it gets ingrained in your muscle memory, then shooting in the yard and cutting fletching gets REALLY fun.
On this day, I set up the target on the floor of my bedroom and kneeled about three yards from it (I have a small house.) I wasn't planning on releasing after seeing how long I could hold it because there was a bookcase, a wall, and a nice window waiting for the arrow if it decided to deflect due to my shaking. But I set this all up anyways, dryfiring, even on accident is never a good idea. (Ya, no kidding right?) I set up a stopwatch nearby and just waited for it to get to a minute so I wouldn't have to try and start it then draw and "account" for those couple of seconds. It hit one minute and I drew. Things were going really well for what seemed like thirty seconds, but then I glanced at the watch. "Fifteen seconds!" I thought. Already my back was getting tired. After what seemed like another minute, I peered at the watch again, "20 seconds!" I was starting to shake pretty good around 25 seconds and decided that my goal was 30 seconds. As soon as that watch hit 30 the bow was down.
Now I'm not sure how important this all is. I've heard different things from various sources; some say to learn to draw, aim, and shoot within three seconds. Other people seem to think that being able to hold your bow for a long time means you've practiced enough and you're shooting a bow weight that is right for you. I'm shooting a 60 lb bow with what I think is 80% letoff. So what's that?...12 pounds while holding at full draw? Not sure if that's how they do that math or not, but of course, now I can't seem to get my "shortcomings" out of my mind. I will probably work on that a little, partly because I'm paranoid and partly because I like improving no matter how trivial it seems. I'm still in the giddy state of mind where I need to have all my brand new ducks perfectly lined up. I'm sure this is all a mute point, but one can't help but wonder.
posted by geotracker12 at 6:13 AM
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