Most folks like to say that instinctive shooting is the “only” way to aim a recurve or longbow, but to be honest, there are many other acceptable styles of aiming the bow. One of the more popular styles is to shoot with three fingers underneath the arrow (Apache Style), and aim down the arrow like the barrel of a gun. At first, start at close distances from the target (5 to 10 yards) until you’re satisfied with your groups, and then move back 5 yards at a time until you reach your desired hunting distance. In a short time, you’ll be amazed at how your brain will calculate the distance automatically and your arrow will be hitting where you want it to.

Practice, Practice, Practice

During the off season you should practice, practice, practice, and ALWAYS practice on a 3-D deer target. It does you no good to shoot dots all year and then come hunting season you climb up the tree and start shooting at deer. Shooting that 3-D target will train your brain to find the kill zone without even thinking about it during a stressful hunting situation. Also, you need to be doing your practicing from an elevated position such as a deer stand. It does you no good to shoot from the ground all year and then climb 20 feet into a tree come hunting time and expect you’re going to hit what you’re shooting at. Always practice how you will hunt. A good thing to do as hunting season approaches is to cut yourself back to 2 shots per day—once in the morning and once in the evening. This is a path to success and a way to keep you from just repeating your bad shots over and over. If you take the shot and miss, the pain from it will help you concentrate even harder the next moment it’s time to make the shot. We all know that 99.9% of the time YOU ONLY GET ONE SHOT, so let’s make it count.

The Fun Factor

The author harvested this "slickhead" with his 'Black Widow' recurve on Nov. 1, 2009 while hunting private property in Arkansas.

The most important thing about traditional archery—above all else—is to have fun with it. Break away from the compound bow, even if it’s only for a short amount of time, and experience what stickbow hunting has to offer. Take the time to learn how to loose some arrows using your fingers instead of a release aid, thus allowing you inner traditional spirit to soar to new and exciting heights. If at first you’re uncomfortable hunting deer with traditional equipment, then just do some stump shooting with blunt tips in order to build up your confidence until you’re ready for the deer woods. Again, it’s better late than never, so if you’ve ever considered stickbow hunting, take the plunge now. “It’s too late this season” is no excuse. Go get’um!