Can only practice at 20 yards. Tips/tricks/drills?

[durangobrad]

The new house I moved into is in Downtown Durango and therefore I can only shoot out to 20 yards. Being a western hunter obviously I need to be competent much further than that. Aside from finding a place to shoot longer distances are there any tricks / drills that I can do at home?

 

[ofl0926]

I would like to hear this as well

 

[jackwagon]

I live in the upper midwest and this time of year, about all I get to do is shoot to about 20 yards (primarily indoors as it has been sub-zero quite a bit lately), but I do some stuff that I feel keeps me pretty sharp. If you just feel like shooting, get some blaze orange golf tees (or the smallest target you can still see) and plug those into your target. The whole goal of course is to be able to drill those tiny targets, which will really make a guy work on his form till you can stack arrows on it repetitively. Or, I like shooting 5 spot competition targets the most probably. Pretty amazing to see what shooting at tiny targets at just 20 yards can do for a guys downrange shooting. And if you haven't already, you can give walk-back tuning a try. Makes broadhead tuning a lot easier when the time comes.

 

[5MilesBack]

And if you haven't already, you can give walk-back tuning a try.

He's not going to get much walk back tuning done at 20 yards. But I do agree with shooting at golf tees. I stack 4 or 5 of them together even shooting at 60.

Here's some more drills you can do as well to get you ready for hunting situations. Draw and hold for a minute and then shoot, and then repeat for five arrows in a row. And you can also do a longer hold like 2-3 minutes and then shoot. See what your groups look like. I generally throw those into my routine about July or so. But if you've got nothing else to do right now......I'd do them now. I can't stand just normal 20 yard shooting, and hate shooting indoors.

 

[xcutter]

I like to shoot spot targets when shooting indoors. Check out the Vegas spot targets. That baby X is good practice. Plus you can play it as the a game. Do this shooting 30 to 60 arrows for practice. You will feel the burn. LOL.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=vegas 3 spot target

 

[Jason Snyder]

I also do the spot targets and/or golf tees.

It doesn't matter that n you can only shoot 20 yards. Right now I shoot in my basement and can only shoot 7 yards. What really matters is this.

Don't just throw a bunch of arrows down range so you can say you shot 50 arrows a day during the winter. Unless you are truly focusing on making every arrow perfect you are not getting full benefit from the practice.

I think there is a lot more value to shooting 10 perfect arrows every day than 50 arrows that aren't. Spend the time developing your shot sequence and make sure it is perfect every time.

The biggest problem I find myself doing in the winter is dropping my bow arm. Shooting at close range doesn't allow you to see the effects of this and I find that I really have to be cognizant of this form issue.

Edit: I got a link off of Archery Talk years ago that allows you to scale size the Vegas Face targets based on the range and your arrow size. You print them out.

 

[mtnrunner260]

I like the idea of holding at full draw. Maybe shooting with a pack on after you hoof it around the block to get your heart rate up?

 

[durangobrad]

I like where this thread is going... Some great ideas so far. Thanks!

 

[ofl0926]

I like the ideas too. Gonna try the golf tee idea when I get my elite

 

[elkyinzer]

I am in the same boat, I can shoot out to about 25 at my house in the city.

For me it's all about replicating perfect hunting form then taking that to practice sessions at longer distances which I do at a local park. I really aim to shrink my groups at closer distances and shoot for 1/2" diameter circles most of the time. I also printed some dartboard targets and I'll periodically play cricket or 01 games on those with friends which is fun. I also will take a couple shots in the middle of a workout to replicate shooting under stress and keeping my form good. I keep most of my practice sessions under 10 shots or so and really focus on that first shot, that's the one that matters when you have an animal in front of you. I had an issue this year where I was presented with a very quick shot on a whitetail and made a bad shot because my with practice shots I settle in and float the pin for a good 5-10 seconds. This year I'm throwing in some drills to settle the pin and shoot a lot faster.

Just be careful you have a good spot to shoot and backstop, you will miss eventually, I yanked one really badly once when I somehow hit the trigger while drawing back and I shot a hole in my Jeep soft top parked beside the target...whoops but that could have been worse.

 

[OR Archer]

Get some vegas face targets. Start at 5 yards. Shoot that distance until you can clean the target every time then move back a few yards and repeat until you are at 20. Its a lot harder than it sounds but it'll make you concentrate on each arrow.

 

[bwlacy]

I also really like shooting at small targets to work on form. I used to shoot a lot of 5 spot to work on my X count, it really helps with the aiming process. Just stare at your spot and let the shot happen. If you can and really want to play shoot from your knees, or from a chair and see how it affects your groups, your draw, etc... We never get to shoot standing with perfect form in the woods, doesn't matter if you are out west or in a tree white tail hunting.

 

[jmez]

Just shoot. The only difference between a 20 yard shot and 100 yard is the size of the target. If you perfect your form at 20, once your pins are set, strong form should carry over to the longer distances.

 

[kodiakfly]

I shoot in my garage at less than 20 yds. More like just under 10. This time of year if I can't shoot outside due to weather, I'll do all the "boring" training and drills you read about. I'll shoot with my eyes closed and just concentrate on form and execution. I'll do stuff like you might see on the TTH page...I'll do 20 pushups and then take three shots, repeat. I'll shoot sitting on the floor, standing on a chair...all the things I don't want to do outside when I can shoot, but it's raining or snow on the ground.

 

[MUDDYCRICK]

I shot 5 spot targets that were made for 10 yard competitons, but shot them at 20 yards. Did that for a month. Went aND shot a 300 tourney on Sunday and won the bow hunter class. I'd say it worked