I feel instinctive style and snap shooting go hand and hand. If I think too much about everything I usually miss. If I just let everything be... success!
I have shot over 200,000 rounds through my shotgun. I was a competitive shooter for many years. I also hunted birds. I will agree in that the two things are very different. Each takes a different discipline. The way I see it, if you are hitting your target, who cares how you do it?
I'm so much a snap shooter and have been my whole life, I cannot do form archery to save my life. I could learn like anybody else, but it takes a lot of the fun out of it in my opinion. I've seen videos of other people talking about snap shooting. They always draw the bow so slow and proper like a form shooter. The only difference is they let go the second they hit their anchor point. I like to draw the bow as I'm raising it. By the time my bow comes up I'm already at full draw and letting go.
I'm a form shooter, and have been for many years, but really haven't seen the benefits of snap shooting until watching your video. I use laminated recurve bows only, just bc it's what I've always used. I'm seeing archery differently now after watching these videos. Gr8 stuff!!
Snap shooting is pretty much how most native tribes shot. You also release more kinetic force that way. Holding your shot looses alot of it actually. And more space for error and hesitation
Great video 👍 i like watching all of your videos and im glad you are talking on this subject. i am a disabled hunter and i can't do this hold anchor form type of thing like other hunters do because of my disability. I guess i would be considered a pure instinctive shooter without form but im doing pretty well with it harvesting 7 deer in my first 2 seasons in the woods. I'll be trying for a turkey next. I'll take advice from anyone but sometimes i have to do what works for me in order to stay in God's beautiful creation....the woods. Thanks for the video and keep up the good work 👍
I've shot instinctively since going to traditional gear back in the 80s, and now that I have again moved back to traditional archery after a 10 year wheelie hiatus and am now hunting with osage self bows that I am making, I am again shooting instinctively. The problem is now that I'm older and have hunted so much with modern gear, I seem to pay too much attention to my peripheral vision and let my brain get in the way. Regardless, I shoot my bows well and fairly accurately...just not as accurately as I did back in the day. I am in the process of making a new bow for this upcoming elk season. The abbreviated version of a long story of the build is that I ended up with a 62.5" recurve with good, slightly positive tiller that was pulling 67-69lbs at 24 inches. I was initially aiming for ~ 60lbs at 28". Before going any further with the weight reduction, I decided to make sure that the string would stay centered on the bellies of the recurves after shooting. I started with really short draws and releases and proceeded to pull it further and further, but I was never pulling to my normal full-draw anchor...I was basically snap shooting with a short draw not at all unlike what I'm seeing you do. The very eye opening aspect of the few shots I put through the bow in this manner...and this was with an unserved string with no nock having to hold my cane arrows between my fingers at a random nock high point on the string...the eye opening thing was that each arrow I shot grom about 15 yards hit within five inches of where I was looking, they all flew well (bow is beautiful stave and very much center shot), and it felt absolutely great. I realized that doing this eliminated the peripheral vision, brain getting in the way stuff that I was fighting with my traditional form-archery draw and release. The more I shot this at ~24" draw, the more tightly I was stacking arrows...only did this for 12 total shots from 15-20, I have sinew backed this bow, but when I get it cured and back to the tillering rack, I am going to re-establish the proper positive tiller I am looking for before doing a thing regarding draw weight reduction. I wish I had been able to shoot more with this snap shooting, instinctive, out-front method before backing the bow, as I am chomping at the bit to put a couple of hundred arrows through the bow using this technique, but I was worried about stressing the belly unnecessarily knowing I was going to back it. I truly think you are using a style of shooting that would greatly enhance and improve most primitive and traditional hunters enjoyment and effectiveness in the woods. Time will tell, because I'm going to give it a seriously legitimate go once this bow is cured out. It feels so much like what I do when I'm shooting moving or aerial targets...I never even consider trying to pull to my full draw and anchor when shooting aerial or moving targets, and that should have told me something years ago. I hope I find this to be what I think its going to be, because the advantages of this style of shooting in real hunting conditions...especially spot and stalk hunting in the thickity thick of the elk woods would be Yuuuuuuge! Thanks for your putting this out there. I look forward to checking our all your videos regarding this style of shooting, I'll let you know how it goes once this bow is cured out and flinging.
Awesome video , I believe its all in the individual. I shot instinctive oneidas for 20 years which I came to full draw focused and released but when I switched to traditional I thought the same draw cycle would work which horribly did not. I found sandmans archery channel here on you tube and when I tried that style it clicked and I amaze myself that I can obtain the accuracy I can so quickly. Also I believe not having a static release helped me a lot too. Keep the great videos coming !
Sounds crazy but enjoy listening to you explain snap shooting, as others stated , we were told that is wrong , and of course not being experienced at the time believed them, so the struggle continued for years, then comes a time when ya fit to say BS , I like it and that’s the way it is, so thank goodness for your channel to straighten me out at 65 yrs old 🤪 never to late I always say 👍
I would think in a hunting context, snap shooting is going to yield the highest degree of probable success... Sure, if you're using a compound bow where you can draw and hold the draw for a while then you might want to get to that textbook anchor but for those ancient/primitive archers, by the time you get to a textbook anchor and hold, either your quarry is long gone or you're fatiguing and your form falters enough that any shot you get is most likely going to be a miss. I've watched quite a few horsebow demonstrations and from what I'm seeing, the fluid motion you talk about is what it looks like when an archer is on their game and shooting well... I don't know how an archer would draw and hold for a beat or two while galloping full speed on a horse. The strict form shooting I believe arose from Victorian era resurgence in archery in England which was a sport and didn't evolve from combat archery of the longbow. I would dare anyone to draw an 80lb or heavier bow, hold the draw for two to three beats and shoot accurately. Combat archery from Medieval battles didn't look like we think and what we think comes from movie depictions, doesn't come from evidence nor experimental trials. One of the important things you mention here is that fluid shooting does take a lot of work to master so I think that can lead to people determining that it just doesn't work, because they try it one afternoon and decide they just can't do it well. It's surprising what people can accomplish when their survival depends on it. The motivation of survive or perish is very powerful, much more so than doing something just for fun or just 'to try it out..'
I would say I try to practice as a quick form shooter, but the first deer I got with a bow was definitely a snap shot. A doe stood up from her bed 5 yards in front of me and all I can remember is seeing my arrow go into her armpit for a perfect heart shot. I was completely unable to recall ever drawing and releasing my bow. My second deer was a buck that I was able to walk within 20 yards of before he would get spooky, but he was watching me the whole time and I played it cool like I was just passing through. I took my time with that shot and don't think my luck would have been as good otherwise, but I'm very glad I can use both methods. Why would I want to limit my hunting skills tool box to just form archery? And there is NO WAY I could have taken that doe with a compound.
I snap shoot and feel really comfortable with it, but I still try to shoot with form archery for one reason. I really wanna hunt with the bow, but here we're I live in Denmark we have to pass a shooting test before we can hunt with bows. This test consists of shooting at 6 targets off roe deers between 4 and 24 meters. To be able to hunt legally we have to hit 5 out off 6 arrows in the kill zone, a roe deer is the same size as a really small whitetail deer, so this is a very hard test. I really feel like I'm forced to do from archery to pass this test, instead of going closer to the animal before I shoot :( Also we are not allowed to use stone points, or broad heads with less than 3 blades, and our bows have to deliver 40 joules of speed with a specifik weight arrow. It forces most off the danish archers to shoot with bows that are 50 pounds and up...
interesting how that works over there. I don't blame you. I would shoot the best way I could to pass the proficiency test. Lots of hoops to jump through.
Ryan Gill I just wish the test could allow us to chose our max distance, maybe it would be a limit, but there would be more trad hunters in the woods. They could just be forced to get closer before shooting and have a max distance of maybe 15 meters (if they can pass the test up till 15 meters), instead of being forced to shoot accurately at 25 meters even though they don't wanna shoot at those far distances. If I don't pass the test I could also go on a hunting trip in the US, cause I'm pretty sure I can kill a deer from 10 or 15 meters. If I can get that close of course :p
Ryan Gill no unfortunately not, if I take the test with a compound I'm only allowed to use a compound, I have to take the test again if I wanna use a longbow or recurve.
A method that ive used in having someone watch you shoot to realize your true draw length while shooting....Those marks at measured increments that are used to measure....Make them different colors so the watcher can more easily differentiate,where you are actually drawing to.
It's crazy cause that's pretty much the only way I shoot a traditional bow. I grew up with my dad making our Native American style bows for us kids and we hunted and target practice with them.
In this same vein as doing what feels comfortable, I recently got a horse bow and I just feel so much more comfortable with it and the thumb draw vs my big form bow. The first time I tried it, I'm like, "yeah, this is it."
Dont know if I'm a snap shooter or not, but I like to be slightly overbowed and I shoot a shorter arrow, but I have to come back to an anchor point and everything must come to a stop exactly the same every time. I figure the stop is more mental than anything else and usually takes less time than snapping a finger. Probably somebody watching couldn't even pick that stop out but everything has to stabilize for a split second. Yep, it's all to do with muscle memory and consistency, and it's a lot of fun.
Honestly, I think often people who are perfectly good archers and having lotsa fun start paying attention to other people with ideas about how they should be shooting and then stop having fun.
I feel instinctive style and snap shooting go hand and hand. If I think too much about everything I usually miss. If I just let everything be... success!
I have shot over 200,000 rounds through my shotgun. I was a competitive shooter for many years. I also hunted birds. I will agree in that the two things are very different. Each takes a different discipline. The way I see it, if you are hitting your target, who cares how you do it?
I'm so much a snap shooter and have been my whole life, I cannot do form archery to save my life. I could learn like anybody else, but it takes a lot of the fun out of it in my opinion.
I've seen videos of other people talking about snap shooting. They always draw the bow so slow and proper like a form shooter. The only difference is they let go the second they hit their anchor point. I like to draw the bow as I'm raising it. By the time my bow comes up I'm already at full draw and letting go.
I’m not a bow hunter but your explanation just rings of common sense and practicality.
I'm a form shooter, and have been for many years, but really haven't seen the benefits of snap shooting until watching your video. I use laminated recurve bows only, just bc it's what I've always used. I'm seeing archery differently now after watching these videos. Gr8 stuff!!
thanks very much. Greatly appreciated
Snap shooting is pretty much how most native tribes shot. You also release more kinetic force that way. Holding your shot looses alot of it actually. And more space for error and hesitation
Great video 👍 i like watching all of your videos and im glad you are talking on this subject. i am a disabled hunter and i can't do this hold anchor form type of thing like other hunters do because of my disability. I guess i would be considered a pure instinctive shooter without form but im doing pretty well with it harvesting 7 deer in my first 2 seasons in the woods. I'll be trying for a turkey next. I'll take advice from anyone but sometimes i have to do what works for me in order to stay in God's beautiful creation....the woods. Thanks for the video and keep up the good work 👍
I’ve seen you shoot on you tube you’re a good shot on targets and animals FRED BEAR brought the archery into my neck of the woods and glad he did
I've shot instinctively since going to traditional gear back in the 80s, and now that I have again moved back to traditional archery after a 10 year wheelie hiatus and am now hunting with osage self bows that I am making, I am again shooting instinctively. The problem is now that I'm older and have hunted so much with modern gear, I seem to pay too much attention to my peripheral vision and let my brain get in the way. Regardless, I shoot my bows well and fairly accurately...just not as accurately as I did back in the day.
I am in the process of making a new bow for this upcoming elk season. The abbreviated version of a long story of the build is that I ended up with a 62.5" recurve with good, slightly positive tiller that was pulling 67-69lbs at 24 inches. I was initially aiming for ~ 60lbs at 28". Before going any further with the weight reduction, I decided to make sure that the string would stay centered on the bellies of the recurves after shooting. I started with really short draws and releases and proceeded to pull it further and further, but I was never pulling to my normal full-draw anchor...I was basically snap shooting with a short draw not at all unlike what I'm seeing you do. The very eye opening aspect of the few shots I put through the bow in this manner...and this was with an unserved string with no nock having to hold my cane arrows between my fingers at a random nock high point on the string...the eye opening thing was that each arrow I shot grom about 15 yards hit within five inches of where I was looking, they all flew well (bow is beautiful stave and very much center shot), and it felt absolutely great. I realized that doing this eliminated the peripheral vision, brain getting in the way stuff that I was fighting with my traditional form-archery draw and release. The more I shot this at ~24" draw, the more tightly I was stacking arrows...only did this for 12 total shots from 15-20,
I have sinew backed this bow, but when I get it cured and back to the tillering rack, I am going to re-establish the proper positive tiller I am looking for before doing a thing regarding draw weight reduction. I wish I had been able to shoot more with this snap shooting, instinctive, out-front method before backing the bow, as I am chomping at the bit to put a couple of hundred arrows through the bow using this technique, but I was worried about stressing the belly unnecessarily knowing I was going to back it.
I truly think you are using a style of shooting that would greatly enhance and improve most primitive and traditional hunters enjoyment and effectiveness in the woods. Time will tell, because I'm going to give it a seriously legitimate go once this bow is cured out. It feels so much like what I do when I'm shooting moving or aerial targets...I never even consider trying to pull to my full draw and anchor when shooting aerial or moving targets, and that should have told me something years ago. I hope I find this to be what I think its going to be, because the advantages of this style of shooting in real hunting conditions...especially spot and stalk hunting in the thickity thick of the elk woods would be Yuuuuuuge!
Thanks for your putting this out there. I look forward to checking our all your videos regarding this style of shooting, I'll let you know how it goes once this bow is cured out and flinging.
Awesome video , I believe its all in the individual. I shot instinctive oneidas for 20 years which I came to full draw focused and released but when I switched to traditional I thought the same draw cycle would work which horribly did not. I found sandmans archery channel here on you tube and when I tried that style it clicked and I amaze myself that I can obtain the accuracy I can so quickly. Also I believe not having a static release helped me a lot too. Keep the great videos coming !
Sounds crazy but enjoy listening to you explain snap shooting, as others stated , we were told that is wrong , and of course not being experienced at the time believed them, so the struggle continued for years, then comes a time when ya fit to say BS , I like it and that’s the way it is, so thank goodness for your channel to straighten me out at 65 yrs old 🤪 never to late I always say 👍
Love your shooting style Ryan. I do the same thing. Awesome!
I would think in a hunting context, snap shooting is going to yield the highest degree of probable success... Sure, if you're using a compound bow where you can draw and hold the draw for a while then you might want to get to that textbook anchor but for those ancient/primitive archers, by the time you get to a textbook anchor and hold, either your quarry is long gone or you're fatiguing and your form falters enough that any shot you get is most likely going to be a miss. I've watched quite a few horsebow demonstrations and from what I'm seeing, the fluid motion you talk about is what it looks like when an archer is on their game and shooting well... I don't know how an archer would draw and hold for a beat or two while galloping full speed on a horse. The strict form shooting I believe arose from Victorian era resurgence in archery in England which was a sport and didn't evolve from combat archery of the longbow. I would dare anyone to draw an 80lb or heavier bow, hold the draw for two to three beats and shoot accurately. Combat archery from Medieval battles didn't look like we think and what we think comes from movie depictions, doesn't come from evidence nor experimental trials. One of the important things you mention here is that fluid shooting does take a lot of work to master so I think that can lead to people determining that it just doesn't work, because they try it one afternoon and decide they just can't do it well. It's surprising what people can accomplish when their survival depends on it. The motivation of survive or perish is very powerful, much more so than doing something just for fun or just 'to try it out..'
i also love this style of shooting, because i can shoot very short bows using this style. thanks for the video!
I would say I try to practice as a quick form shooter, but the first deer I got with a bow was definitely a snap shot. A doe stood up from her bed 5 yards in front of me and all I can remember is seeing my arrow go into her armpit for a perfect heart shot. I was completely unable to recall ever drawing and releasing my bow. My second deer was a buck that I was able to walk within 20 yards of before he would get spooky, but he was watching me the whole time and I played it cool like I was just passing through. I took my time with that shot and don't think my luck would have been as good otherwise, but I'm very glad I can use both methods. Why would I want to limit my hunting skills tool box to just form archery? And there is NO WAY I could have taken that doe with a compound.
I watched this and,despite you mentioning it,I've copied your style and can honestly say,I've improved my shooting ALOT!
I love your character i learn a lot from you thank's your right about not forcing people to conform we learn more by staying open minded
much appreciated, thanks very much
I snap shoot and feel really comfortable with it, but I still try to shoot with form archery for one reason.
I really wanna hunt with the bow, but here we're I live in Denmark we have to pass a shooting test before we can hunt with bows. This test consists of shooting at 6 targets off roe deers between 4 and 24 meters. To be able to hunt legally we have to hit 5 out off 6 arrows in the kill zone, a roe deer is the same size as a really small whitetail deer, so this is a very hard test.
I really feel like I'm forced to do from archery to pass this test, instead of going closer to the animal before I shoot :(
Also we are not allowed to use stone points, or broad heads with less than 3 blades, and our bows have to deliver 40 joules of speed with a specifik weight arrow. It forces most off the danish archers to shoot with bows that are 50 pounds and up...
interesting how that works over there. I don't blame you. I would shoot the best way I could to pass the proficiency test. Lots of hoops to jump through.
Ryan Gill I just wish the test could allow us to chose our max distance, maybe it would be a limit, but there would be more trad hunters in the woods. They could just be forced to get closer before shooting and have a max distance of maybe 15 meters (if they can pass the test up till 15 meters), instead of being forced to shoot accurately at 25 meters even though they don't wanna shoot at those far distances.
If I don't pass the test I could also go on a hunting trip in the US, cause I'm pretty sure I can kill a deer from 10 or 15 meters. If I can get that close of course :p
it is possible to test with a compound and then just hunt with your trad bow?
Ryan Gill no unfortunately not, if I take the test with a compound I'm only allowed to use a compound, I have to take the test again if I wanna use a longbow or recurve.
I hear ya there. It's very obtainable with practice as you know. How about a 40lbs longbow with a sight? lol
A method that ive used in having someone watch you shoot to realize your true draw length while shooting....Those marks at measured increments that are used to measure....Make them different colors so the watcher can more easily differentiate,where you are actually drawing to.
It's crazy cause that's pretty much the only way I shoot a traditional bow. I grew up with my dad making our Native American style bows for us kids and we hunted and target practice with them.
In this same vein as doing what feels comfortable, I recently got a horse bow and I just feel so much more comfortable with it and the thumb draw vs my big form bow. The first time I tried it, I'm like, "yeah, this is it."
cheers for the wisdom brother ive deffently leart somthing cheers
Thanks for sharing!!! Great video and info
Dont know if I'm a snap shooter or not, but I like to be slightly overbowed and I shoot a shorter arrow, but I have to come back to an anchor point and everything must come to a stop exactly the same every time. I figure the stop is more mental than anything else and usually takes less time than snapping a finger. Probably somebody watching couldn't even pick that stop out but everything has to stabilize for a split second. Yep, it's all to do with muscle memory and consistency, and it's a lot of fun.
Honestly, I think often people who are perfectly good archers and having lotsa fun start paying attention to other people with ideas about how they should be shooting and then stop having fun.
ive always called it instinctive, draw , fire, when i aim,i miss,arm shakes and all, just draw ,shoot, bullseye!
Thanks heaps!
Preach brother
Canting the bow feels right aswell
Check out Jeff kavanagh
You know, if you practice shooting at seed ticks from 5 yards shooting a rabbit at 15 yards ain't no problem.
See Ryan Gill's nsw video on snap shooting as it calls it like it is.
Those ppl getting mad must be leftists lol
Never mess with people's ideology, it is their religion.