Judging Distance - I Need to Improve Fast

[GLB]

Lots of good ideas above. What helps me is stump shooting. I judge the distance and then make a shot. I will oftentimes range it with my range finder after the shot.

 

[archp625]

I think the best is to guess a range at the 3d course, shoot the shot, then range it afterward. this helps calibrate my mind.

I do this in the woods when I'm hunting too- pick something, guess the range then range it. Do this enough and you can get pretty darn good.

3d course I use a few strategies;

Judge the animal by its size [I've seen them plenty] and by what I can see scoring rings, etc
Judge it in increments I know pretty good. I use 20y increments but some guys use 10y.
I Split the distance only on very long shots

I'm pre shooting our 3d course today that we setup yesterday, The Briones Archers in the SF Bay Area, Big game Open is Sat and Sun, rolling start from 8am to noon both days. Come on out if you are nearby, it's a pretty nice course mostly in the shade. Our range capt. Thomas is the best- some of his handiwork.
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I wish I was in the area. I live just north of KC or I would be there. I do do business in Union City so next time I am in that area I will try to plan around a 3D shoot and just fly back later.

 

[Beendare]

I wish I was in the area. I live just north of KC or I would be there. I do do business in Union City so next time I am in that area I will try to plan around a 3D shoot and just fly back later.

I'm sure KC has 3d shoots.

Most of us are making the same point above-practice and you will shocked how good you can get. Funny, I shot our range this morning for the first time in a long time and my ranging was crap. There were years when I was younger I was never off by more than 2 yds all the way out to 50y.

Keep your RF with you during the day- plenty of chances to stop for a second, guess the range then shoot it with your RF.

 

[bisblue]

I heard Tom Clum recommend this. Shoot 1 arrow at 5 yards, step back 1 arrow at 10 yards, 1 arrow at 15 yards etc... helped me.

I haven't mastered it, but I also have a few fade outs on the belly of my bow. I can double check if I know about how big a target is if I glance at the arrow tip and the fade out.

I'm shooting a longbow, #51@31", 490 grain arrow, 161 FPS. Point on, 36 yards, so most 3d targets I shoot about the same gap 17-23 yards and can usually hit the 10 ring. The more I think about the gap and where my arrow tip is, the worse my up down is. I used gaps to learn, but now I only think about when I'm close to my point on

My 9 year old bet me to hit a golf ball at about 28 yards the other night. I don't really try to gap until I get to 31 ish yards.

 

[BBob]

Practice. Go on hikes with one. Guess stuff, range stuff. Rinse, repeat.

That and take it a step further. Make the guess then commit and shoot it. How was the shot? Now range it, to see how you did. Forces you to commit and be confident in the range and the shot.

 

[Sponge]

Another thing to note, judging range is different in a stand than on the ground. The horizontal distance is what matters most for arrow drop, but your eyes are seeing straight line distance.

I do what others have suggested, guess then check with rangefinder.
I also spent most of my shooting time without a range finder and learned to calibrate my pace to a yard. So I was always pacing off distances. Doing that I got to where I could visually estimate range to within 2-3 yards out to 30ish yds on a flat range.

When in a stand and I'm eyeballing range, I try to 'pace' my eyes along the ground in 10 yard increments. Not as accurate, but can work ok.

There may be trick where you figure out how much the width or height of your broadhead covers the body of a deer at certain ranges. If you mount your broadheads so they're vertical in your sight at full draw to use the blade as a sight pin that may work as a rough range estimator during the shot cycle. Maybe mark the back of the broadhead with paint pen where it's the height of a deer at 20yds (or whatever range)

 

[Sponge]

Just re-read OP, 3D, so broadhead ranging tricks are a no go, but could achieve same thing with marks on your riser.

And to close the thought loop on pacing distances, if you stretch or shorten your stride to exactly 1yd, or figure out the conversion of your stride to yards, you can turn every stroll around the neighborhood, job site, office, dinner date, etc into range estimation practice - no range finder required