"Aim Small Miss Small"

Panoramic at the shoot

For me 3D archery shoots are a lot of fun! I enjoy getting out and surrounding myself with avid outdoors men and flinging a few arrows at some targets.  A couple weeks ago I went to my first archery shoot of 2015 with my brother and sister in law and I had a few thoughts I thought and tips I would share which helped me during the shoot.
 

















1st - Aim Small Miss Small - With no surprise, this well know adage can help a lot when shooting your bow.  At 3D archery shoots I am usually with my friends and family and the archery soon becomes 2nd best as I am able to build friendships and relationships with those I love, but no matter what I need to remember that practice doesn't make perfect... perfect practice makes perfect!  To take a few more seconds prior to pulling back to pick out a small spot you want to aim at will help your accuracy dramatically!

I use my Hawke Optics to pick a spot to aim at!

2nd - Visualize - Yeah that's right... I'm not saying you need to be the type of person who pretends to be hunting the animal and sneak up to the target before you shoot it, but if you take a moment to visualize the target as a real animal and a real situation then the intensity and focus is likely to follow! Visualizing the situation you may/hope to see yourself in this fall can prepare you mentally to not have "buck fever" as bad when/if you are lucky enough to find yourself there.

3rd - Don't Get Discouraged - Just as I've described in an earlier post, many of the shots at a 3D archery shoot can be pretty questionable.  Some of the shots have debris in the way, difficult angles, or may even be unethical.  If you don't shoot every target right where you want or think you should, don't get discouraged and start to hang your head.  Remember that you are out there to have fun and to get better.

4th - Take It Home - One big thing that I feel is important, is to not rely solely on sponsored archery shoots to get you ready for the season!  Practice, practice, practice...  Take your gear home and shoot your bow!  Make sure every piece of your gear is functioning exactly how it should and make sure you shoot your bow more than the 30-40 times once a month at an archery shoot.  I know some of my friends and family have been guilty of putting their bow away at the end of archery season and never picking it up again until the next season... I am plenty guilty of not practicing as much as I should and this is the area I am focusing on this spring/summer to become a better archery/hunter. 

These were just four of the quick tips and thoughts I had while I was at the archery shoot the other weekend.  I thought they would be good to share with those who follow my blog and, like me, want to become a better archer.  I have other goals I have set for myself on the off season that I feel I will share in another post.  If you have any tips, pointers, advice, or questions about 3D shoots or archery practice please share them in the comments and lets help each other get better! Be sure to check out my video I made at the archery shoot the other weekend!  I was spending more time thinking about camera shots than I was about arrow placement... Ignore my poor shooting!