String picture

Paul Walters

New member
What is the usual string/sight picture for ELB? I've been shooting a while with mine now, and managed reasonable scores with a sort of instinctive style, where I looked at the arrow tip and offset it against the target... worked ok out to about 30 yards., but at 40 yards I'm struggling to get scores more than high 20's each end, and last night shot 3dozen, with only 1 end with all 6 on the straw.... a fellow longbowman suggested I sight between the string and the outside of the bow limb, which at least allows me to look more directly down the arrow.. but when i do this, if I'm not really careful about eye dominance, I send the arrow way off to the left, and in any case then have to set the bow way off to the right of the target to sight. I use an O ring for elevation.
I am right handed and VERY right eye dominant... left eye only has partial vision, and I draw to the underside of my chin (years of recurve shooting)
Is there something else I should be doing ?
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
I'm assuming this is target rather than field, so not my discipline.
Personally I can't see the string as I angle the bow slightly and anchor fairly well back, but what i can see is the arrow lined up from exactly beneath my eye and pointing at the target, either below ,on or above depending on range.
Del
 

Paul Walters

New member
I'm assuming this is target rather than field, so not my discipline.
Personally I can't see the string as I angle the bow slightly and anchor fairly well back, but what i can see is the arrow lined up from exactly beneath my eye and pointing at the target, either below ,on or above depending on range.
Del
Hi DtC, yes, target at the moment, though my ambition is to get into field once the World opens up again.... I draw to the chin in recurve style, but do bring the string in line with my right eye.... the string is generally fuzzy and I try to look through the bow and focus entirely on the target, but I'm not getting it right.... hence the question really.
 
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Deleted member 7654

Guest
What I usually suggest is to draw up in front of a mirror to check alignment.
Eye, nock and point should be in line with the reflection of point, nock and eye. It can be very revealing.

Don't do what my old archery mentor did which was to draw up in front of the wardrobe mirror... he pulled through the clicker and shot the wardrobe :ROFLMAO: .

Drawing up like that lets you experiment with anchor point, slight tilt of the head or bow etc. I'm a great believer in a slight cant to the bow it allows a clearer view of the target without really effecting your o ring elevation.
Del
 

4d4m

Active member
Wouldn't canting (assuming to the right) have the same effect as moving a sight pin to the right, ie move the arrow impact to the left?
 
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Deleted member 7654

Guest
Wouldn't canting (assuming to the right) have the same effect as moving a sight pin to the right, ie move the arrow impact to the left?
Not if you are only using it for elevation and you are using the arrow itself for lateral aiming!
It's like having 2 sight pins ( or cross hairs as they are sometimes called!) if you like, one giving elevation, one giving lateral.
Del
 

4d4m

Active member
Not if you are only using it for elevation and you are using the arrow itself for lateral aiming!
It's like having 2 sight pins ( or cross hairs as they are sometimes called!) if you like, one giving elevation, one giving lateral.
Del
Oh I see, makes sense. So you draw up with the point on target to get the windage, then drop to align the o-ring to get elevation? I've not done actual aiming with unsighted bows. I usually (try to) shoot instinctive.
 

4d4m

Active member
You can get banished for using terms like that.... or thrown to the guinea pigs.
Meh. Some people get really exercised over an innocent word and (a limited interpretation of) its strict dictionary definition. They need to get over that. Words have different senses in which they're used, and these change over time. Always have, always will. Either way, we're not gonna stop using it. ;)

This from Collins:
1. of, relating to, or resulting from instinct
2. conditioned so as to appear innate
an instinctive movement in driving

Sense 2 seems quite apposite to me.

What really happens in the visual cortex and cerebellum of someone shooting in that manner? Nobody can say except the archer, and that's only a perception. People are "wired" differently. For myself I'm sometimes aware of the arrow and the bow in my visual frame, and sometimes not. But I'm not a great instinctive archer; I don't practice anywhere near enough to get good. I just enjoy shooting that way more than consciously aiming. My air rifles satisfy my needs for precise aiming.

Interestingly but irrelevantly, use of the word instinctive in English peaked around the 1850s, and again in 1924, and is now rising after an all time low in the mid 1980s. :cool:
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
Interestingly but irrelevantly, use of the word instinctive in English peaked around the 1850s, and again in 1924, and is now rising after an all time low in the mid 1980s
It is not irrelevant. In those years archery was increasing in popularity compared to other times. Instinctive archery was discussed at great length during those years as archers argued over the best ways to aim an arrow or bow. It may sounds strange for the 1980's to be included in that list, but that is a direct consequence of the new wealth in GB and increase in sport in general plus the tendency to question status Quo and a desire to be different from the norm.
It is rising again now, mainly due to AIUK
 

4d4m

Active member
Hmm, as a theory it’s not “out there” but I’d take some convincing that archery was the reason for the peaks in word usage. It’s too niche.
 
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