The Difference in Equipment

dc bigdaddy

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
As I've mentioned, by boy shoots on 4-H and made the high school team this past year, even though, the tournament was cancelled. I bought a Mission Switch last November for him to shoot. I had to have it for his last tryout for him to qualify. He shot a 175 the first full round that he shot. All through practice he would shoot anywhere from 172 to 178. He could never get to that 180 score.

My buddy brought us a Mathews DXT at Thanksgiving but it had a 30" cam on it. We needed 28.5 or 29. He finally mailed me the cams and I got the bow set up last week with a drop away rest and a 5 pin sight. His first full round and keeping score he shot a 185. He has shot a 190 this week. I didn't know that the equipment would make that much difference.

The Mission Switch is a good bow, but it's not even in the same field as the DXT. I've adjusted the switch and my youngest is shooting it. Hopefully it'll get him in the right direction.

We are shooting 5 shots at 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards with a max of 50 points at each distance.

I've got him practicing out to 40 yards so hopefully he can shoot Match at 4-H this year also.
 

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Yes there is a difference in killing deer and killing targets when it comes to equipment and how that equipment is tuned especially. Fit and execution are huge but the flagship brands and dedicated target bows will help most peoples scores as they are just better balanced and easier to shoot accurately.
 

Hunting Nut

Old Mossy Horns
There are alot of things different for shooting paper... more than I know.
Outserts instead of inserts
Draw stops end up being huge, most times.
Arrows. The better they are, the better the score.
Consistent weights on arrows, outsert tips, fletchings, amount of glue used.
Releases. Types are paramount.

And yes, the bow. The better balanced it is, the better it will shoot consistently.

Best of luck to your son !

Edited to add sites...duh!....
Smaller pins or dots work better on paper.
 
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Triggermortis

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Things to work on now are stance, loading, anchor point, aiming, hand and face pressure, and follow-through. I do agree with the above about the pin size - .010 is good for target, especially for young eyes. Those can be hard to find in a fixed sight but available as a custom setup from different manufacturers.

I'm glad to see your son making some progress!
 

dc bigdaddy

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
At this time all we are killing is paper. Not really worried about deer.

We're working to get better.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Something else should be causing that score change.

Apples to apples, those two bows will both shoot 200s. Both of them will shoot 20x 200s.

Nothi else changed?
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Mathews has been making a good shooting bow for as long as I can remember.

Mathews and Hoyt have really made some great bows for shooters.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Concentrate on grip and how to break the shot. Trigger release?

the shot should be broken with the back and not the trigger finger.

I never had a coach but I think I would havedone much better with help at that age.

Don’t shoot for tens, shoot for xs
 

Firedog

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Same with a lot of sports.. you can get better always regardless of most things.. but there is typically an upper limit on the equipment you are using.. often times to make the next big stride you need better stuff.. then you figure out your old stuff was holding you back.. not always but many more times than most think.

First time I had a custom fitted set of golf clubs my handicap dropped by 3 shots almost overnight.. will never own another off the shelf set..
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Keep your eye out for one of the older target bows like a conquest. Long axle to axle. More forgiving. Bow torque and grip are the biggest culprits when making the changes you have talked about. The new bow probably fits better. Like a gun, that is about the most important part.

I’d like to see longrifle shoot the hunter safety targets with his equipment. I would bet a dollar to a doughnut he can hang a 190 or better with his stick and string combos. He’s the best I’ve seen in his discipline.

when it comes to compound bows.....Levi Morgan is impressive. I’ve shot beside him and a lot of other shooters...that ole boy can make it cry.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Best all around bow shooter I have seen in yalls area is Brian Conner. I don’t remember his home club, but I know he shoots out that way.

check on a sight out that is a circle like a peep sight. Target panic is easy to get shooting paper bullseyes.
 

Hunting Nut

Old Mossy Horns
I know a couple that lives near me. They both shoot competitively. I think they call it the "Senior games". Best shooters I've been around (compounds). Both sponsored by Hoyt.
The lady won the women's world championship several years ago. I forgot which year.
The guy has been shooting bows since '65 I think.
Unreal what they can do with a bow.
 

Loganwayne

Ten Pointer
have his arrows been nock tuned? now that hes shooting tighter with a better bow for him the next steep would be to tune the arrows. i saw a pretty significant difference in my shooting once i tuned my arrows.
 

Triggermortis

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
LIke you I'm trying to get my child to improve a little here and there. A couple of weeks ago I removed the kisser button and could see a slight improvement in grouping and score. Just picked up a new release and saw some improvement today but will see if it was just a better than average day and not related to the release.
 

Hunting Nut

Old Mossy Horns
LIke you I'm trying to get my child to improve a little here and there. A couple of weeks ago I removed the kisser button and could see a slight improvement in grouping and score. Just picked up a new release and saw some improvement today but will see if it was just a better than average day and not related to the release.

With the kisser button gone, you thinking about a soft knot to touch the end of nose ?
I've heard people do that to help with anchor point consistency.
 

Hunting Nut

Old Mossy Horns
If a person is shooting with a peep sight, then the anchor points should be roughly repeatable. Front sight and back sight like a rifle.

The main gist of this is that they are teaching and coaching young people in competitive contest shoots.
Developing the consistent muscle memory for contests is tough plus, the young people are still growing.

Every advantage helps.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The main gist of this is that they are teaching and coaching young people in competitive contest shoots.
Developing the consistent muscle memory for contests is tough plus, the young people are still growing.

Every advantage helps.

I understand this. I’ve coached people shooting that competition and have competed in that competition. I’ve been a state champion in that competition and had the chance to shoot at the national competition.

I still say some of the items like kisser buttons and brass nick sets are very unnecessary. If you must, use the nock set or a soft one as mentioned above. Keep extra stuff off the string.

Yes good form and start with the grip. Pull with the shoulder blades.

I don’t know what the diameter of the bullseyes are now. Used to be about the size of a .50 cent piece. I think the targets have been redone on archery and rifle.
 

Hunting Nut

Old Mossy Horns
I wasn't arguing with you. Even "liked" your post. I agree.
I have been taught several things by a competition shooter that also hunts.
I didn't start shooting in earnest until I was about 25. I only shoot my bows out to 70 yards to practice for hunting season.

I'm not that good. If you've done all those competitions, hook up with the kids and help coach them. I was just trying to point out small things I know about to maybe help the kids out.

I'm just an amateur. I don't know much at all. All I deal with is bowhunting and, I'm not very good at that. I haven't killed but about 40 to 50 deer with a bow.

You're the professional, and those kids are already posting near perfect scores. Hook up with them and it shouldn't take long for them to win everything in sight.

I won't try to help people being the amateur I am, I 'll leave that to the professionals.... Carry on.
 
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