Most Improved Award - #1 improvement you’ve made

[DanimalW]

Film yourself.

I think this has been my biggest help. Plus the kids love taping dad shoot. But honestly, this lead to form improvements (keeping shoulder down) and slight DL and peep adjustments that couldn’t really be made until form issues were taken care.

 

[EMAZ]

Practice at distance; repetition at 20 with a small 1” dot taped on target to reinforce aiming small (helps simulate longer distance shooting).

 

[Blockcaver]

1. Learning to shoot back tension with an index finger release. This was after shooting back tension with a Carter Evolution for a while.

2. Shooting a clicker back in my finger days, including hunting with my compound.

3. Accepting that an unsuccessful bowhunt just meant I got another opportunity to go hunt some more to fill the tag.

 

[S.Clancy]

Shooting short distances, like 20 yd indoor, concentrating on good release and shooting for score

 

[billysmals]

Shooting a hinge. I hated it at first and had tried several and sold them all. But when I stuck with it was amazing. That thing forced me to pull through and focus. Groups tightened quite a bit with that, especially at distance. Tried the resistance style and it didn't help as much.

 

[Loper]

I haven’t had any hunts come down to the last few minutes, however, I’ve had several fishing outings where I fish until the last possible moment and have been rewarded with nice fish.

 

[LostArra]

A lot of great suggestions here

Most of my improvement starts between my ears, not new equipment.

Practicing farther than my hunting distance
Learning to let down
Don't shoot too many arrows per practice session. "Too many" will vary for each person but mindless shots when tired don't help me one bit.

I especially like this

Keeping score for arrows shot.

That way you know what's actually happening.

Can be in competition, league, or on your own. You think you shoot good groups until you don't get to disregard arrows, cause they all count.



Keeping score allows you to track improvements, or tell what isn't working

This target does not lie. I try to shoot a 10 arrow round for a score once a week over the summer and thru the season. Before I retired I don't think I practiced enough during the season because of early sunset.

 

[DWD]

I learned how to properly shoot the releases I have. Spent a lot of time back and forth adjusting an index release In length. Also having a mental shot process in place.

 

[Ehiggins]

From the time I first picked up a bow, I have loved shooting longer distances. I can't help but think that that helps to improve one's shooting ability. I rarely shoot much under 40 yards year round.

This.

I shoot a handful of times in the spring at 20/30/40 to make sure nothing crazy is going on and to dust the cob webs off. After that it’s 50-60 yards minimum most of the summer. Any flaw is magnified at longer distance and once you’re comfortable at 80+, shooting at 50 is a breeze.


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[ELKhunter60]

When I was a kid (45 years ago), I got a crappy fiberglass recurve hand me down to start with. Compound bows were just becoming popular. I remember saving my birthday and lawn cutting money for a bow and calling around to different shops trying to find the right bow. I ended up going to a pro shop to get my first bow and the pro staff guy taking me under his wing to show me what good form looked like and coached me on my own form for free. I didn't realize at the time just how cool this guys was being for helping me, but 45 years later I still hear him telling me to follow through. "Watch the arrow hit the target before letting your bow down."

So to me, form and shooting distance as many have already said. Distance amplifies any mistakes you make and helps you really drill down to making good shots. I need to try the hinge sometime though. I see on here some guys have seen good improvement using it. Continuous improvement should be viewed as a journey, not a one time deal.

 

[Fowl Play]

I’ll add an easy one. Spending money on a high quality buy-once, cry-once setup and tuning it correctly. The forgiveness afforded by a top of the line setup, truly does make a difference.

I have never seen such an immediate improvement in my “ability” then switching from a budget setup to high quality setup and spending the time to tune it. Easily immediate 10 yard improvement on effective range.

 

[mod-it]

Setting up a bow myself and experimenting with what gives me the best hold / pin float.
For years I just went to a shop to get a bow set up. They would do their thing with setting to specs and timing, install d-loop (wherever they put it and whatever length they made it...within reason of course), install peep and tie it at the height that centered the sight housing after drawing with my eyes closed and then opening them. Pin float was whatever it was. A quick paper tune at 6' and I'd head home with it to finish tuning and sight it in.

Paige Pearce has a video where she talks about everything she does when setting up a new bow, all the things she does to improve the hold/pin float. Timing, arrow height in relation to Berger, d-loop height and length, peep height, tiller, cable tension, holding weight, and probably a couple others I'm forgetting. Before ever putting a stabilizer on the bow.

I bought a new Solution when they came out in 2021. Had the dealer set it up. I fought shooting that bow for a whole year, just held terrible for me. So much pin float! I got frustrated with it and stripped all my gear off it and stuck it in the closet ( I have a couple other bows).
A few months ago I took the Solution back out and decided to mess with it as I had time, trying the "Paige Pearce" (all Pros do these things) stuff on it that I could without a press. Took it to a shop and had the timing set dead even, made sure it made peak poundage, axle to axle and brace height in spec, and set a peep in the string but left it untied. I messed with it as I had time, arrow height, d-loop location and length, peep height a 1/4" up/down from where I'd normally set it, cable tension setting, and holding weight using Lucky Stops.
It is now one of the best holding bows I've ever had. Amazing difference. I will never not set up a bow like this in the future.

 

[cjdewese]

I would say that the ability to tune my bow or make changes as I need to and shooting at longer distances.

Once I got a bigger target I felt I was safer shooting at distance, doing so seems to make the shorter distances easier.

 

[DanimalW]

Setting up a bow myself and experimenting with what gives me the best hold / pin float.
For years I just went to a shop to get a bow set up. They would do their thing with setting to specs and timing, install d-loop (wherever they put it and whatever length they made it...within reason of course), install peep and tie it at the height that centered the sight housing after drawing with my eyes closed and then opening them. Pin float was whatever it was. A quick paper tune at 6' and I'd head home with it to finish tuning and sight it in.

Paige Pearce has a video where she talks about everything she does when setting up a new bow, all the things she does to improve the hold/pin float. Timing, arrow height in relation to Berger, d-loop height and length, peep height, tiller, cable tension, holding weight, and probably a couple others I'm forgetting. Before ever putting a stabilizer on the bow.

I bought a new Solution when they came out in 2021. Had the dealer set it up. I fought shooting that bow for a whole year, just held terrible for me. So much pin float! I got frustrated with it and stripped all my gear off it and stuck it in the closet ( I have a couple other bows).
A few months ago I took the Solution back out and decided to mess with it as I had time, trying the "Paige Pearce" (all Pros do these things) stuff on it that I could without a press. Took it to a shop and had the timing set dead even, made sure it made peak poundage, axle to axle and brace height in spec, and set a peep in the string but left it untied. I messed with it as I had time, arrow height, d-loop location and length, peep height a 1/4" up/down from where I'd normally set it, cable tension setting, and holding weight using Lucky Stops.
It is now one of the best holding bows I've ever had. Amazing difference. I will never not set up a bow like this in the future.

Funny you mention this. My last bow the shop set up crazy good. My new bow definitely required more of what I’d call microtuning just to get me to the same playing field. But if I didn’t take that additional step I probably would’ve been disappointed. A quarter inch of DL and slight peep adjustment seem to make life a lot easier.

 

[Lytro]

My last new bow was bought in 2018. I threw a stabilizer on it and got to shooting and hunting. Fast forward three years and I decided to take the stabilizer off of it for some reason. I quickly learned that this bow is practically dead in my hand without any weight in front of it and removing the stabilizer actually made it much more stable. Funny how that works.

 

[rclouse79]

Instead of shooting a bunch of arrows at once I have been shooting just one arrow many times through the day. I remind myself I only get one shot, and focus on making it a good one.

 

[fatlander]

Sticking with a bow that I shoot well. I like to tinker, and for that reason, I’ve gone through a lot of bows the past decade. This will be the first season for me that I’m hunting with the same bow as the previous year in almost 10 years. That bow killed a lot of stuff last fall. Right now, I’m shooting the best I ever have. Can’t wait for September!


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