Getting back into bowhunting - need some help

1. I can't seem to be real stabile with the bow, holding on target. If I use the same method I use to free-hand rifle shoot, then I am fine with shot placement. That is start above the target, slowly bring your sights down until you hit the top of my orange sticker, then squeeze the release. Is there a better method or a way to become stabile? If I try to hold the pin in the same spot I feel like I am somewhat doing circle.

Not many can hold like a rock, but some can! coming down on the target is a good thing! dont worry about pin movement! dont concentrate on your pin! just the spot you want to hit..the arrow will go there! you concentrate to hard on the pin and try and control pin movement your setting yourself up for target panic.

2. How do you know if a string is bad or not? Seems good to me, but ignorance is bliss I guess. I do notice I need to add a lot of wax to eliminate the fraying.

PSE Strings on that bow are not very good but will work fine, keep it waxed, watch your timing mark on the Cam, they will stretch a tad and cam orientation will get off a bit! I know had the same bow!

3. Drop away rest - I notice my odd white fletching is leaving a mark on the rest - is that normal? I guess when they state drop away rest, the fletching would not touch it at all?

If your getting fletch contact..the rest is setup wrong! if its attached to the cable with the football clamp you can fix it, what rest is it?

4. I did not buy new arrows for this bow, and my old ones stick out about 1-1.5" past the rest. Is that an issue? Like I said, seems to shoot fine. They are carbon with the small fletchings ~ 2".

Your arrows are fine it will hurt nothing, but if you want you could shorten them a bit and get new inserts.

5. Something not related to the bow, but more bow-hunting, what do people use for binoculars? I have a set of 10x42 I really like for deer-hunting, but they feel a bit bulky for bowhunting - don't want anything in the way when I shoot.

Alot of good glass out there without spending a arm and leg..especially for treestand hunting, Checkout Google Zen- Ray,Alpen,Vortex brand optics cant go wrong with either. or head to cabelas and start looking through all the Glass and find something thats good in the price you want to spend, Im using Zen- Ray ZRS HD 10x42s and love them and ZR stands behind there product..i test it lol!

Appreciate all your hel

It shouldn't matter what placement you have your fletchings on a drop away, as the purpose is to take away all contact with the rest. You can try turning your nock to see if it helps eliminated fletching contact, but you most likely will have to take it into a pro shop.

To check your fletching contact, you can sprinkle talcum powder on the fletchings and after the shot inspect your rest. If you see powder, you have a problem. I had similar issues and no matter which way I turned the nock I had contact. I shot a trophy taker drop away, and the proshop tightened the spring since there were bounceback issues with the rest. I would suggest taking to a proshop if you have fletching clearance issues, as this will make you more consistent.

For shaky bow arm, I struggle immensely with that. If you are shaky by nature like I am, just practice and accept the shakes. If you have target panic like 100% of archers have at some point, draw back on the target, aim, and let off without releasing the arrow. Practicing this over and over allows the brain to adjust to hold steady. You can also shoot at a target 5 yards away and don't aim at anything, just practice the release without aiming. This does help me a bit too.

Thanks for the feedback - keep it coming.

I am shooting 60#'s. My last bow was 67# and this one is much faster.

On the drop away, is the odd fletching up or down? Maybe I have it the wrong way?

I do have a rangefinder - use it a lot for turkey hunting and will probably come with me in the stand this fall as well.

Welcome back!

1. The way you do it is the way a lot of people do it but is not the way I prefer to. I try to hold steady on the target and slowly squess the trigger (I use a thumb release and found it much more accurate - for me) No one will be able to hold steady like a rock so just accept that there will be some movement of the pin. You'll be surprised how accurate you are that way even with the pin moving. Also what poundage are you shooting? With today's bows heavy poundage is not really neccessary. If your new bow is 60lb and your 15 year old bow is 70lb you new bow is probably shooting the same weight arrow faster than your old bow even though it's 10lb. heavier in draw weight! I have always shot heavy bows (70-95lb) and my last two bows were 60lb max and I love them! With light arrows they are flat, accurate and can be held back forever and shot more accurate. I'm seriously considering a 50lb for my next bow. And I'm not little weakling -6'2" and 350lbs! I could draw back much more but it's just not neccessary.

2.New strings are pretty darn good and unless you are having issues it's probably fine. I'm different than most people in that I wax my string a bare minimum, more wax allows more movement of the string. I use Scorpian lube which is a liquid instead of an actual wax and have put it on once in three years that I've had my current bow.

3. Turn the nock on your arrow, there should not be any contact on a drop away what so ever. If there is contact it defeates the purpose of the drop away.

4. 1-1.5" isn't a big deal at all, I prefer mine about 1" in front of the rest at full draw. Are you sure they are the correct spine for your bow? For whitetails I prefer to go with the lightest weight possible as long as they are stiff enough.

5. I have a pair of 10x42 Swarfskis and a pair of 8x30 Swarofskis, both SLC models. I found the 10x42's are just to big for day in day out treestand use so they got left in the truck instead of being around my neck so they were basically useless for bow hunting (to me) the image is amazing but that doesn't do me any good when the buck is 200yds in front of me and the binos are in the truck! The 8x30's give up some magnification but the quality is the same and I find they are the ones around my neck most of the time. I wouldn't be afraid to get an even smaller pair just for treestand use as I don't really think I need the 8x magnification. Maybe a 6x30 or 6x25 range.

One more note on the binos. I strongly recomend getting a laser rangefinder, they're relativly cheap and very accurate. But they will not replace your binoculars. I bought a top of the line Leica rangefinder thinking I could leave my binos at home - no go! The fact that it's a monocular instead of a binocular means you have no depth perception and it's hard to find the object through them. Great theory - poor reality!

I'm not an expert by any means when it comes to archery, but I know a little bit. I started out learning to shoot on my own without any guidence from anyone else. When I first started to shoot I was suprised at how good I was right off the bat. I could hit within a couple inches of the center at 30 consistantly. The best way to get better is to just practice and get in a patern when you're shooting trying to repeat everything you do. I now can shoot tight paterns at any distance I would feel comfortable taking a deer at. One thing I would look into if I was you would be to get a longer stabilizer. I went from a basic 4 1/2 to a 10" and I noticed I was able to shoot more relaxed and I was getting slightly better groups.

1. Most of the people i know shoot classic form. You pull hard into the wall, load the trigger and push the bow towards the target. I would join a club,or spend time at a proshop.A stabilizer can help, along with the correct draw lenght and setting your release at the correct length. If you post pictures it would be easeier to evaluate. 2.If you are worried I would replace it. A few strayed strands are normal just keep waxing it. Again, take a couple of photos and this is easier to evaluate. 3.You are correct there should be no contact with the rest. You will need to have a proshop set the rest correctly. 4.The arrows are probably fine, but you should double check. Go to the arrow companies website and make sure the arrows are correctly spined for your bow. You will need: arrow length, draw weight,tip weight. You have a single cam bow so the cam type is going to be hard. 5. I use 10X42. Find a pair you like