Keeping the bow hand steady after the release.

Jaco Wessels, the current South African longbow champion and silver medalist at the World Field Archery Chamionships, reflects on the art of shooting the longbow and getting the best out of it.

I cannot believe that it was two years ago that I made that shot. It was the North Gauteng Bowhunter championships and I was shooting with four or five other guys. On the way from one target to the next, we entered an open field. The green grass was just reaching to our ankles. From where we stood to the other side was quite a distance. One could shoot an arrow as far as one could, knowing that it could never reach the cars parked on the other side of the field. In the field, there stood a lone, white column, about a metre high and about 150 millimetres wide.

I asked everyone to hang on. I wanted to see how close I could get to that inviting target. I drew my bow and let the arrow fly. Every eye followed the arrow’s flight. After the arrow had turned to the ground, my brain was working in overdrive, recalling all the information there was about trajectories and trying to pinpoint where the arrow was going to hit. I realised that it was heading true towards the target. The arrow hit the column and bounced off. Wow!

It was one of those shots that happen very few and very far between. We paced off the distance and if my memory serves me, it was about one hundred and sixty yards. I will have to ask the other guys if they remember what the distance was. If I had to make that shot again, I don’t even want to take a guess how many arrows it would take. There are just too many variables that have an effect on the arrow.

Practice and variables
The more arrows you shoot, just for the fun of watching arrows fly, the more often will you start having those shots that have a special place in your memory. The more you shoot, the better your special shots will be. The more you practise your shooting form, with well-matched equipment, the better your shooting will become and the more often you will make good shots. I had a conversation with a friend some time ago about the reasons why some guys just outshoot other guys. I told him that we all make great shots. That one shot, even from a short distance, that goes exactly into the spot you were looking at, cannot be improved on. It is a perfect shot. The reason why some people shoot better than others, is simply that their bad shots are not quite as bad as those of a not-so-skilled archer’s. It is as simple as that.

The more variables you eliminate from your total shooting system, the better you will shoot. Compare the longbow with a rifle or even a cannon. The best marksman, using the best weapon, will never achieve the consistency he expects if he uses ammo that doesn’t match. My friend Henk told me about a black-powder gun that shoots half a pound of lead, using something like 650 grains of powder. A two-bore gun! I would like to know some statistics about the projectile. The momentum must be phenomenal. If the shooter of this gun uses loads of 100 grains, 200 grains, and so on, up to let’s say 1 000 grains (I don’t know the technicalities of guns, so this is purely theoretical), he will never be able to shoot consistently. I am sure that the world’s top snipers use ammo that is almost identical. If the world’s worst marksmen (that is one shooting contest that I would rather not attend), shoot with the best weapons, they will still be bad. If the good guy uses good weapons, you can expect good things to happen. Put him on one of those fitness machines that shake pounds off people, and let’s see what he can do (another shooting session I will not be going to.)

Matching
In order to shoot well, you have to use matched arrows with a well-tuned bow and you must also have a solid shooting form and a good aim. Let’s not consider external factors, like the wind. If you shoot identical arrows in the exact same way and the arrows are pointed in the same direction, you will be shooting them into the same hole. Every time. However, this is impossible to do in practice. The best we can do is to eliminate as many variables as we can. Each one of us is the master of his own destiny. How far do you want to go?

Let’s start with the bow. With a well-made, one-piece longbow, not much can go wrong. The more parts your bow has, the more things can go wrong. If you have a take-down bow, make sure that it is assembled correctly. (I have much respect for compound archers. The number of things that can go wrong, and much worse, that must be brought into tune with each other, will drive me crazy. So crazy that I might just attend any kind of shooting contest.) So, if your bow is the same from shot to shot, one variable is gone. The string of your bow is next. Do not think that all strings are created equal. Make sure that your string is consistent.

Wooden arrows. Oh, I love them almost as much as the longbow, but it’s been a bumpy ride. They are difficult to get to shoot well – more so than carbon or aluminium. Spend the time it takes to get arrows that match your bow. Carbons are the most forgiving. The nature of the material makes for fairly good arrow flight, with minimum effort. To get really good arrow flight though, you have to spend some time on tuning. Aluminium shafts are also very good. If I have to give up wooden arrows, I might choose aluminium over carbon. No matter what shafts you use, make sure that they fly really well. If your arrows fly badly, you will never notice problems with your shooting form, and your brain will not be able to master an aiming system.
Once you have your bow and arrows tuned, the hard work is over. From now on, just go back to your records, whenever you get a new string, or have to buy new arrows. Your set-up will always stay the same.

Shooting form
Your shooting form is a little more work. Actually a lot more work. The more consistent you do every aspect of your shot, the better your shooting will become. Only work on one thing at a time. If you have problems with your release, stand close to the target and work on your release only. Once you have that problem sorted out, you can move on to the next one. I always recommend that you shoot in the naturally most correct way. You must be comfortable while shooting. You want to get your form so practised that under all circumstances your body does what it knows best. Under high-pressure circumstances, like taking a shot at an animal, your instinct takes over. When the big kudu bull presents a shot, you want to trust your shooting form, and concentrate on picking a spot.

With equipment that is well matched and well tuned, and with a shooting form that is good, your brain will learn to aim with rapid progress. There are a few ways to aim without sights. Instinctive and gap shooting are the best known. Very few archers openly admit to being ‘gap shooters’. It just doesn’t sound as cool as ‘instinctive archer’. I wonder what the two terms would look like in sign language. I bet you that ‘instinctive archer’ will look the coolest. Whether you aim consciously or unconsciously, your brain does the same thing. Through experience, it knows what the sight picture should look like. When you draw back the arrow, your brain waits for the picture from your eyes to match the imagined picture. It is like superimposing two images. When they match perfectly, the shot will be good. This is the reason why some people suffer from short draw. The two pictures match before they reach anchor and their brain yells shoot. If your form is not good, you will make the shot. I had it bad, actually. My draw got so short that my arrows started bouncing off 3D targets. I once had a kudu cow about fifteen yards away, unaware of me. I told myself that I was going to draw back, hold the bow and pick a spot, then let the bow back down. I reasoned that if I could do that once, I should be able to do it again, only to actually take the shot after picking a spot the second time. So I started the draw, got to about 24 inches, and the arrow was off. I made a good shot, with just enough penetration to go through both lungs. The arrow should have landed on the ground on the other side, making for an easy-to-follow blood trail.

Make sure
Not long after that I decided to not hunt any more, until I sorted out my shooting problem. It’s been three years since I last drew on an animal. The coming hunting season is going to be a good one for me. If I get a shot that is closer than my personal maximum distance, I will shoot – with confidence.

If you are going to hunt this year, make sure that your equipment is right. Make sure that your shooting form is good and, finally, only shoot when you are absolutely sure that you will make a good shot. If you have any doubts, do not shoot. It is much better to wait for another shot than to try and find a wounded animal.