Month: March 2018

String walking or fixed-crawl for hunting?

 

Traditional bows are not known for producing blistering arrow speeds. Shooting at anything beyond 20 or 25 yards creates a beautifully arched trajectory that we can follow with our yes. One of the reasons I love shooting a longbow. It does however create a dilemma. Not for those fortunate few that can just look at target, pull back without thought, let one rip and hit the ten-ring, regardless of distance; but for those without that talent, the aimers and gap-shooters. At close distances we generally need to aim pretty low to get good center hits; so low sometimes that the connection with the animal is lost and it becomes awkward and difficult, resulting in poor shots.

Enter string walking. String walking is a method of shooting and aiming that creates smaller gaps at the shorter distances. By sliding your string hand down the string, grabbing it s short distance below the nocking point, at full draw the arrow will be closer to your eye. The change in perspective makes that you can aim closer to the animal or target. At longer distances, you go back to the traditional method, where you grab the string immediately below the nocking point (string walking usually means you are shooting “three-under”). When you create one defined point where you grab the string at shorter distances, it is also referred to as a “fixed crawl”.

The guys at The Push Archery created a movie a few years back that explains all this in detail: The Push – A Traditional Archery Film

Sounds good? Sounded good to me when I first learned of it. Who wouldn’t want to have the best of both worlds: aiming point close to the point of impact at all distances. But wait; all distances? Just how far are we shooting in hunting situations anyway, and does this approach really have practical value?

Lets examine. I have read claims of archers whose “point-on” (the distance where the point of the arrow at full-draw covers the point of impact) is 50 yards or so. This has to be a result of one of two, or a combination of two things: a high-poundage bow, and a light-weight arrow.  From a hunting perspective a point-on this far makes little sense to me.

How many of us can consistent hit the ten or nine ring at 50 yards? How realistic is it to expect that you can hit a whitetail deer consistently at 50 yards, when your arrow speed is such that it has time to hear your string drop, locate the source of the sound, look you in the eye, do a pirouette, flip you the middle hoof, and duck down, all before your arrow gets there?

I’ll pause here and say that the above is based on my own limited view of the world, and for every generality postulated above, there will be plenty of exceptions. However, most people probably have no business shooting at an animal beyond 30 yards with a longbow or recurve. Accepting that as fact, I really see no need for string walking or setting up a fixed crawl.

The solution: shoot a heavier arrow. Why inconvenience yourself with large gaps at short distances, for the idea of having a flatter trajectory out to distances at which you will never shoot during hunting? Find your maximum distance (and for most that will not be 40 or 50 yards), and build an arrow with a “point-on” around that. Obviously your arrow will drop quickly after your point-on distance, but practically you will still have another few yards where you can keep the aim on hair (depending on the size of the critter), and for closer shots your gaps will be a lot smaller. You won’t have to remember to grab your string lower (I am sure I would mess that up in the heat of the moment), and you can create a better-penetrating arrow: higher arrow weight, and more opportunity to put more weight towards the front. All advantages for a hunting set-up.

That was my approach anyway, once I realized that shooting at 40 yards or more was not for me (yet?). I’m getting to the point where I’m getting consistent out to 30-35 yards, and I built my arrow around that.*

Disclaimer: This is just one guy’s opinion, and in my small world it all makes sense. Feel free to tell me I have it all wrong in the comments. I am here to learn and get better, and have fun doing it.

*since I wrote about my arrow set-up my technique has changed a bit, and my point-on increased to just below 30 yards.

Shooting 3D – Progress Report

There is a gentlemen that walks his Springers behind my house, exercises his falcon within earshot of my backyard, is the husband of one of my son’s teachers when he was in high school, and, as I found out a year or so ago, shoots a longbow. He’s quite friendly to boot. He told me about the 3D league that the local archery club was putting on, and I didn’t need too much convincing.

We’re just over half way in the league, having gone through 7 out of 12 shoots (I missed one; only 10 out of 12 count for the total score), with a different set-up each week. The club owns a variety of targets from most of the local wildlife to more exotic, including a crocodile (or alligator, it’s hard to tell), and we shoot at 12 of them from 6 stations, two rounds each night. The compound guys get one arrow per target to make it happen; the trad guys are expected to be not so accurate, so we get two arrows per target, each round, so 48 shots.

Here are some quick impressions and lessons learned so far:

  1. Despite my generally ornery disposition and dislike for crowds, I am enjoying this.
  2. Low light and distances stretching out to 40 yards make that I can barely read the numbers identifying the targets; that has to have some influence on accuracy. A visit to the laser people may be in my future.
  3. Having two tries per target really helps. It’s probably not a good reflection of a hunting situation, but it makes our scores look less dismal.
  4. Out of five trad shooters, I am the only one deliberately aiming.
  5. Despite having two arrows per target, of which only the best arrow counts, I still had six 5’s on the last scoring sheet, on 24 targets; a five meaning a hit outside the kill zone.

 

 

So, for the remaining five, here is the plan:

  1. Aim for the X! Regularly I find myself aiming for the animal, and not for the 11-ring. Focus, focus, focus!
  2. Keep trying to execute, and fight the TP*. Sometimes I have trouble releasing the arrow.
  3. Shoot at least one evening using only one arrow per target. My inflated 75% kill shot percentage may not look so hot when I don’t have a second arrow.

*Target Panic