A bow and arrow is pretty tough piece of equipment, but there are certain things that can mess up a bow. I know because I’ve probably made every mistake with a bow that any one person could make, including backing my car over one bow.

Don’t ask why it was lying on the driveway in plain sight or why I forgot about it. Duh!

I’ve used a haul rope to pull my bow up into a tree stand. Somewhere between the ground and me, the wheels fall off and the bow plummets to the ground. Often the bow lands on the end of one limb, and numerous bad things can and do go wrong.

Major bow problems

The string can break, it can knock the bow entirely out of fine-tuned condition, and in many cases the bow may need a complete overhaul. If the bow lands flat, it can knock the sights out of kilter, and necessitate sighting it in again.

A week ago I picked up my bow, checked the string as I always do to make certain there are no frayed ends, a serving that is coming undone, or any other visible sign of a problems. The bow string looked perfect.

I nocked an arrow, came back to full draw, and on the shot the string broke. One of the nocks came whipping back and hit me on the hand near my thumb, and made a slight cut.

That’s good. I’ve seen times when the string breaks where a bow literally self-destructs. All kinds of bad things happen, and it requires the aid of a talented bow tuner to put it back together again.

Get professional help with bows

I took my C.P. Oneida Eagle bow down to Marion to Claude Pollington’s Buck Pole Archery Shop, and although he was still in Colorado chasing elk, I had the string replaced. Then came the crucial test: shooting it to determine if the bow was still on or way out of whack.

I shot several shots on their range, and the first two arrows hit side by side in the bulls-eye. Skill, talent or good fortune? One always hopes for the former but must sometimes settle for the latter.

I nocked another arrow, aimed carefully, and stuck the arrow smack in the middle of the bulls-eye. Several more shots produced a grouping of arrows in the target that probably would have made The Whitetail Wizard happy with me.

The bow was brought home after the minor repair, and I’ve shot the bow in my basement target range, outdoors and most importantly, off my front deck at a target 15 feet below and 15 yards away.

I concentrate even harder on the downward shots, remembering to maintain my proper anchor point and bend from the waist. If a person doesn’t bend from the waist when shooting downward, the chances are very good that the anchor point will shift and the shots will go high or low. Seldom will the shot be accurate if your anchor point moves.

I’m not as good at shooting targets as I would like to be. Granted, as happened once the new string was attached, I shot a good group but I am not consistently as good as I feel I could be.

The bottom line for me is that I don’t concentrate enough on targets. It isn’t totally meaningless because I don’t shoot in leagues or major 3-D shoots, so I find myself not concentrating hard enough. However, it’s a completely different story when shooting at a bear, caribou, deer or other game.

My concentration is much better on game

My shots are picked well and I never take low percentage shots. My shots are always taken at a high-percentage angle, and in all sincerity, I can’t remember missing a bow shot at a whitetail in many years.

Of course, I wait for what I want to shoot at, and don’t miss. There are two reasons I don’t miss a deer or other game animal: I know how and when to draw on game, and I never rush my shots. I also know my bow and my ideal distance for a shot.

It’s far better to pick the time and place for the shot, and when the situation is perfect, ease back to full draw, hit your anchor point’s sweet spot, aim and make a smooth release. I’ve learned that shooting with a release aid gives me a consistent release that I never had when shooting with fingers.

Don’t follow what I say when I mention I’m usually not very good when shooting targets. Don’t do as I do; do as I say, and shoot as much as possible at targets. It will make most people a better game shot.

It doesn’t work for me, but when the time comes to shoot a buck, I don’t miss. And I take great comfort in making clean kills.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors