Christophe of Grey
Leathersmith/Archer
Tricks Of The Trade
Every good archer has a few tricks of the trade they use to improve their ability to hit what they aim at. I’m going to share a few of my favorites here.
In the SCA we typically shoot at known distances – 20, 30, 40 yards. While the rules state that we can not use sights they do not rule out range marks. Range marks are simply marks on your upper limb for the set distances. To get your range marks, get a very small piece of tape and put it on your upper bow limb. Shoot some arrows at a target 20 yards out. The objective is to have the tape spot horizontal to the target center. If your arrows go left or right, don’t worry about it now. The objective is to set the spot on the bow limb such that if the bow is held with the mark horizontal to the target center and you release, your arrow hits on the horizontal line of target center. Now move out to 30 and 40 yards and repeat. Realize that these marks will be accurate for the day you set them. Wet, humid, cold, hot days the air density changes and the range marks will change. But now you have a starting point. Sight down the arrow, line up the horizontal range mark, release, score 5 points. At least that’s the concept!
The next trick is to mark your best arrows. First number all your arrows. Then shoot them at the target aiming at the target center. Do not correct your technique if the arrows don’t hit center. Chart where each arrow hits. Repeat until you have shot each arrow about 10 – 15 times. You will begin to see a pattern. Some arrows go high, some low, some left, some right. I put a black ring just ahead of the nock on the arrows that most consistently hit target center. Hopefully out of a dozen arrows you’ll get six that are accurate. Use these six for scored rounds.
One of my favorite archery exercises is shooting at unknown distances. I use a Styrofoam block about 8 inches square. I start with the block at 20 yards. The objective is to put four arrows in the block (more than four and I start splitting arrows). The beauty here is only the first shot is at a known distance. After you hit the block it flies back to some unknown distance.
Stumping is when you walk through an area with a friend. Each of you see something then challenge the other to hit it, leaf, branch, trash, whatever. It’s best to arm yourself with arrows fixed with blunt tips and painted a very bright color so they are easier to find.
There are two things that are challenging in speed rounds, getting the arrow on the string and coming to aim quickly. I practice the coming to aim part by putting the arrow on the string, hold the bow down, draw hand fingers in the grip position. Taking my time, I then concentrate on the target and in one smooth, quick movement, raise the bow, draw and release. Getting the arrow on the string quickly takes practice. You should be able to do it without looking, I can’t just yet. However, I also see archers on the line holding the arrow in the middle of the shaft, trying to nock the thing. Please! Grab the arrow by the nock, then your fingers will guide the arrow onto the string. It makes little difference if the cock vane is away from the bow or on the bow side. Feathers compress nicely and result in little kick of the arrow. It’s better to get an extra arrow or two off scoring a point or five than one less arrow. I prefer a side or ground quiver for speed rounds so I can grab the arrows by the nock. If I’m using a back style quiver I just grab the fletches and nock the arrow.
In other articles here I've talked about the release. One school of thought says when you release your draw hand remains at your anchor point. This is called the dead release. A second school of thought is that your draw hand actually moves backwards as you release. Some people say the thing to do is to move to your second anchor point which would result in your finger tips resting on your rear shoulder. Recently an archery friend pointed out that the proper way to do this "live" release is to actually pull back NOT with your draw hand but with your draw arm elbow. this causes you draw hand to move in the same line as the arrow shaft and your line of sight/aim. You simply start the draw/release by drawing back with your draw arm elbow as you ease your hold on the string. Remember, you don't release the bow string, you simply stop holding it. It wants to pull back to its rest position anyway.