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8:12 am
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August 21, 2013
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Now that I have my anchors and release more consistent (many, many hours of blind bale work and still more work to be done) I’ve found that my gaps aren’t as wild and crazy as they once seemed. My gaps are at 15 yards is 8 inches under, 20 yards is 4 inches under, 25 yards is point on, and 30 yards is 4 inches over.
If you gap shoot, does this sound similar to the gaps you use?
5:31 pm
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October 24, 2012
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When you speak of gap shooting I have my pins sight at 20-30-40-50-60 and I gap shoot for 25-35-45-55 by just splitting the 20 and 30 I am shooting 25 yards and so on but most of the time I try to hold the pin a little high or a little low helps keep my left and right on. I shoot fixed pins so I can shoot different classes with the same set up.
7:59 pm
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August 21, 2013
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That’s the same thing I do with my compound pins. But the gap shooting I’m referring to in this thread is using the point of the arrow as my aiming point with no sights.
9:07 pm
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August 5, 2015
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It will absolutely be different between archers. For instance, I can guess by your gaps, you’re probably shooting three under. You’re probably shooting around 150 FPS, and you anchor very high on your face with your arrow nock just under your eye. If you change any of those things, your gaps will change dramatically.
My point on is close to 65 yards because I anchor so low on my face. I wish I was point on at 25, but alas, when I anchor high enough, I black my eye with my fingertips.
It will be different with each Bow you shoot, but unless you change where you anchor, they should be close to what you have now.
Your brother,
James
9:15 pm
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August 5, 2015
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Also, as you start to take longer shots, your gaps will start to climb, somewhere around 35 yards, they will jump to more than double your close gaps. For instance, your gap change from 20 to 25 was four inches. From 30 to 35 May be as much as 10 inches. Good luck and keep slinging ‘em.
11:22 pm
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August 21, 2013
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Thank you for the great information.
I do anchor very high with split fingers (one over two under).
My first anchor point is my index finger on my cheek bone and my second anchor point is my ear lobe. I don’t know the speed of my 45 pound recurve, but 150 fps seems in the right neighborhood.
This morning I was shooting rather consistent, so I tried 35 yards. With the point just over the Deer targets back, I could drop my arrows in the 10 ring (if I executed a good shot cycle). With that success, I tried 40 yards. Wow, not what I expected. I stopped with the 35 yard victory. But now that you have shared with me that I should expect a greater gap at 40, I’ll see what I can do before church in the morning.
With point on at 65 yards, how far under do you hold at 20 yards?
8:35 am
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August 21, 2013
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James, you were right. My gap at 35 yards is 10 inches and at 40 yards it’s 22ish inches. Any little error at that distance is magnified greatly, so until I get my form better I can’t be certain. But it definitely gets me in the neighborhood. Thanks for the help.
2:32 pm
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August 5, 2015
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I’ve never measured my gap at 20 until just now. After I read your reply, I put my point on a dot at 20, and missed 48” high! I don’t exactly shoot “gap” because it is such a huge gap for me. I use my arrow to line up my left and right, and I use the curves on the inside of my sight window to get my height/distance. It’s kind of a bastardized gap method. Almost like using pins.
7:32 pm
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August 21, 2013
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Wow, that’s impressive. I would probably be using my bow arm elbow at 65 yards. 😀
9:07 am
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October 24, 2012
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I find that I am point on at 25 yards. 40# bow, three under. Shorter distances I shoot instinctive.
11:59 am
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August 21, 2013
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Yesterday I was shooting to the right with my recurve, which is usual for me. Shooting left is nothing new to me since I have a tenancy to pluck the string. Normally the only time I shoot to the right is when I don’t hold proper back tension and collapse on the shot. But I was holding good back tension and wasn’t collapsing, these were well executed shots. Actually shooting very nice groups, just to the right. I could aim to the left and put it in the kill of the Deer target. But what was going on?
So I picked up a 2X4 and was about to whack myself on the left side of my head to adjust my internal sighting system until I realized that the 2X4 was not sturdy enough to effect a head as hard as mine.
So instead, I started going through my shot sequence to ensure I wasn’t doing any thing wrong. Checked the way I set my fingers on the string, engaging my back muscles as a drew the bow, anchoring with my index finger just in front of my cheek bone 
…..wait …What? No, I anchored with my index finger ON my cheek bone. So I anchor in the correct spot (for me) and an amazing think happened…the arrow flew perfectly toward to Deer target hitting it exactly where I wanted it. I was missing my anchor by as little as a quarter inch and it changing my point of impact a good 12 inches at 20 yards.
So my take away lesson was a consistent anchor point is far more important than aiming system. Because without a consistent anchor point, no aiming system (gap, instinctive, string walk, or sights) will work. This also applies to compounds.
Another step along the path. 
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James Henderson2:22 pm
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October 24, 2012
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The path is winding and full of Murphy Laws, Grasshopper……
I believe the consistent anchor point is the most important part of trad shooting…..that, and the other 534 things….
I also found how important arrows are…weight, spine and point.
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James Henderson10:12 pm
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August 5, 2015
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I wanted to make sure you guys knew about the ALL TRADITIONAL tournament going on at Hoover Tactical this Saturday. Registration starts at 11:00 and shooting starts at noon. Pick from two classes, Longbow or recurve. It would be awesome to have a little more BHA representation. Join us.
7:20 am
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August 21, 2013
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Yes Sir, I’m planning to be there “slingin’ and flingin’ in the Recurve division.
I have 3 goals for Traditional shoot Saturday:
1) Hit most of the targets
2) Come home with most of my arrows
3) Have a bunch of fun.
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James Henderson
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