Newbie Arm Pain

[nhbowhunter21]

Monie is right. Not that I'm any good but I try to get out and shoot 20-35 in a setting and if I start to stray even a little with my shots I stop.

[YorkArcher]

I only shoot about 12 arrows at a time.

Durring 3D season I'll shoot a few more just to get the stamina up.

If you are just getting started find your way to a few 3D shoots. Nothing will build your confidence more (except hunting). Don't worry about the score or missing. We all do it!

[daking1970]

Originally Posted by BRIAN34

Yes, those are new muscles you are using, just need to break them in, and you will be fine. The more you shoot the less pain you will feel!!!! Shooting is fun anyway!!!!!! shoot straight brian

I took the advise of my brother-in-law and swallowed my "manly" pride and started with my bow turned down. As I get used to shooting I will be turning my bow up soon. I have also seen a item advertised in one of the major sporting goods catalogs (Bass Pro Shop Archery or Cabelas Archery) that simulates shooting a bow to work those muscles out.

[Monie]

With that said...remember Ted Nugent can and does pull 70lbs. However, he mostly hunts with his bow set around 50 lbs.

Just because you CAN pull 65lbs or 70lbs doesn't mean you SHOULD.

One thing to remember, especially since you're new at this, when hunting season rolls around, you won't be practicing as much, it'll be cold and at times you'll be sitting for hours. When the time comes, there's a really good chance you won't be able to pull your bow back if you leave it at your current draw weight. If you can, you'll likely struggle and spook the deer. Why? When you're sitting on stand for several hours in cold temps your muscles aren't as useful and cooperative as you'd like them to be. Coupled with that is the fact that your baby (your bow) is cold, too. Colder temps make bow limbs stiffen. The stiffened limbs increase your draw weight. Increased draw weight + cold muscles usually = no deer. I know this for a fact! My very first deer was 10 yards away. I'd been sitting there in the cold, "toughing it out". I couldn't pull that dang string back to save my life! Off she went, blowing and blowing and blowing. Yeah...my struggle with the bow kinda spooked her. lol

If it will make you feel better to shoot more weight, then you should work up to it. At this point, you really need to be concentrating on your form. Even if you could shoot 70 lbs all day long, it won't matter if your form sucks. If you decide to keep the draw weght up there, just remember to drop the weight a couple of weeks before deer season gets under way, so you can get your bow and broadheads tuned in. Like I said, it's easier to form good habits than it is to break bad habits.

To see if your draw weight is too much, do this: Sit on a chair, hold your bow directly in front of you and pull straight back. DO NOT point the bow to the sky/ceiling to draw. If you can't pull straight back without struggling or pointing your bow upwards, to get more leverage, then it is definitely too much. Your draw should be smooth from start to finish.

[Owaatta']

The lowest draw weight my bow will go to is around 60 lbs. Will five lbs. make a significant difference or do I need to buy new limbs?

[YorkArcher]

You should be fine. Just take it slow.

[Monie]

Originally Posted by Owaatta'

The lowest draw weight my bow will go to is around 60 lbs. Will five lbs. make a significant difference or do I need to buy new limbs?

There's no need for different limbs. Believe it or not, 5 lbs will be noticeable. You could probably even get your bow technician to get it down another pound or two beyond that. Do not try to do it yourself. There's a possibility of the limb bolts coming out if they're backed off too far. You don't want to get beaned on the noggin with a limb! Your bow technician will know what to look for when reducing the draw weight.

Once the bow's draw weight is down as far as it'll go, just practice. Concentrate on your form. If you are shooting archery targets aim for the x. I know that seems dumb to even suggest, but some people aim for the general area of the x and not the x itself. You'll be surprised how much your groups will shrink once you aim exactly at the x. If you don't have an x to aim at, stick a golf tee in your target or a little piece of tape. Don't over-do your practice sessions. When you start to feel tired and/or sore, stop.


When you're sick and tired of being technical, mix it up and have fun. Tie a piece of string to an arrow and on the other end tie a plastic bottle cap (poke a hole in the cap). Jab the arrow into the target so the cap dangles in the middle of it. If available, and you're indoors, get a box fan, turn it on low and aim it at the cap. Once the cap is fluttering around, step back and have fun trying to bust that little sucker! It's a good idea to have several caps on hand to replace the broken ones. This is addicting!

[Colorado Rick]

No offense to Monie, but the bottle cap thing, although a GREAT idea, really only resulted in busted egos at our place. That's not to say that later on it wasn't/isn't used. I think we moved to that before we should have, and got very frustrated VERY quickly.

Before we moved to bottle caps, we got a role of masking tape and tried to group in that at 16 yards. Once we had all 12 shots in the masking tape roll, then we moved to a smaller ring (shower curtain ring), and a smaller ring (I don't rememeber what we used now... stupid alzhiemers!), and eventually got to the bottle caps.

Now... I say this not to irritate or contradict my good friend and confidant in Indiana... but more to the point, it helps you establish a progressive goal structure, achieve the goal, and move on to the next challenge. During the progressions, you achieve more and more confidence with your bow, and you KNOW... without a doubt... what that bow will do, and won't do.

Once you've become proficient and confident with it, but before moving to the bottle caps, I would purchase a 3D target of some kind, and work on shot placement while working on the bottle caps. I suggest "while working on the caps" because by the time you get to this stage, HITTING the 3D target should be a snap. But we want to make an ethical kill on the animal, so... simply HITTING it isn't enough.

Finally, once you've accomplished the bottle caps, and you are able to ethically kill the 3D target from various angles both horizontal and vertical, then I would work at taking a moving target with your bow. Animals move. You want to be ready for anything so when the time comes... you don't suffer, and niether does your target.

Again... I started in January of this year. Literally. We took advice from EVERYONE here in one form or another, and this is what worked for us. Just something to consider.


MONIE: Hey where was the box fan idea when I was asking this stuff??? That's awesome!

[YorkArcher]

If your just looking for fun try balloons. We also did milk jugs tied to a string and let it sway.

There is always follow the leader but that only works if you shootin with someone else and you don't mind messin up a couple arrows....

[Monie]

No offense taken, Rick.

Took the bottle cap thing too seriously, huh? lol...sorry. I do it to just plink and have fun. I think your idea is much better.

Like I said before, you're than man! Shh, don't tell Cheri I said that!