[grndhntr]

I've been doing this for the last 2 years as a way to get ready for hunting with my crossbow. I don't have a lot of people who I can shoot with so I play this game with myself: I shoot 5 shots off-hand from different yardages, 35yds, 15yds, 30yds, 20yds, and 25yds. Then I shoot those 5 again for a total of 10 shots per round. I have a bag target and I put a small stick in the target that I use as an aiming point. I usually shoot just 1 round per day but sometimes 2. In this game, anything within 4.5" of the stick is a killing shot (or a 9" diameter circle) and anything outside of that is a point (of course you want a zero score). I keep track of my score on a chart. The last 2 years I have used the same bolt for the entire 1,000 shots and then I used that same bolt to shoot a mule deer buck, both times the deer broke the bolt off after falling on it, but I guess 1001 shots is enough for 1 bolt. Shooting this many shots has really gotten me used to my crossbow and has given my a lot of confidence in my ability with it. Does anyone want to join me this year in the 1,000 shot challenge?

 

[grndhntr]

This is my 1,000 shot buck from last year.

 

[WallyD]

That would make one heck of a tournament curriculum.

Just think.

A one week long tournament with one round per shooter each day.

make it a series of circles radiating at 1 inch intervals out to the 9 inch main target circumference and add a quarter point for each radial from the center.

Low scoring contestant wins a prize.

 

[66606]

Sort of like a postal match you mean Wally?

Sounds good to me. The 1000 shots is a good idea, easy to set up and must improve your aim no end.

One question though, what exactly is 'Shooting off hand'?

 

[WallyD]

Sort of like a postal match you mean Wally?

Sounds good to me. The 1000 shots is a good idea, easy to set up and must improve your aim no end.

One question though, what exactly is 'Shooting off hand'?

Shooting free standing without a rest or a tri or bipod

 

[Moon]

I shoot 15 to 30 arrows per day unless

weather won't let me but rarely do I shoot the same crossbow 2 days in a row. I'm normally testing different arrow/point wieght combinations, etc. but like you said, shootig a lot certainly builds confidence levels for those hunting shots. I never shoot off bench rests. It's either stand up off hand or sitting down resting my elbow on my thigh or knee as these represent hunting shots.
I'm too unorganized to tackle a regimented ongoing shooting game

 

[Cossack]

Except for wintertime, I shoot every day. Have an awning over the deck so weather not an issue. Got slapped by a string yr ago, I can still 'feel' the pain, so shooting regularly is important to avoid flinch. BTW, have noticed some change in POI when air density changes.

 

[Moon]

POI change

Agreed!

 

[66606]

Shooting free standing without a rest or a tri or bipod

Oh right, that's what I have been doing. I never even thought about useing a rest of any kind.

 

[grndhntr]

Does anyone want to play?

 

[66606]

Does anyone want to play?

I'll give it a go. Just a stick in a bag target and take it from there yes?

 

[grndhntr]

Yep, 66606, Try to shoot from 15-35 yds. if you have the room for a 35 yd shot. If not, just go back as far as you can. I like to shoot only 1 shot at a time from one location and then move to the next. My routine is 35,15,30,20,25, pulling my bolt at each shot. That breaks it up a little and makes me think about what pin to use (I shoot with 3 pins and a peep sight). I will also sometimes role play a stalk or try to shoot from challenging positions (ducking under branches, shooting left handed or with the wrong foot foreward) just to mimic possible hunting scenarios. This game has also taught me how many shots one string serving will handle. When I started shooting my crossbow, a serving would last about 250-300 shots, but as I have shot a lot and I assume the catch is getting smoothed out, the servings are now lasting 500+ shots for me.

 

[66606]

15 to 35 yards is doable for me. I have close to 200 yards on the field I shoot, once harvest has gone I'll have a good 500 yards of free space to set my target up any where I want..

Not sure how long the serving will last on my bow, hoping quite a few though. It's a pain changing the string over, even with the bastard string I made.

 

[grndhntr]

OK, I'm up to 100 shots and yesterday had a miss (tried to shoot through one bush and over another one-got a little too fancy :^). 99% good shots so far for my 1000 shot challenge.

 

[66606]

So far I'm at zero. The weather has been bad for the past few weeks and today just s I was putting a nice new sling on my xbow I noticed the that prod was cracked. I'll get out there in a few days time.

 

[grndhntr]

What do you mean,"the weather was bad the last couple weeks"? Hasn't the weather been bad in the UK for the past 1000 years or so LOL...just kidding. My wife and I were over there about 15 years ago and actually had nice enough weather in Scotland to climb Ben Nevis (sp?) and do a boat tour from Oban.

 

[66606]

Hey, no bad mouthing our weather. It's only been bad for the past 800 years so there .

You know, Scotland is one part of Britain that I haven't been to yet. Still back on topic, ordered my new prod and as soon as it's here I'll be out racking up my 1000 shots.

 

[grndhntr]

OK, I just shot #200 today and missed another one. I'm disappointing myself, but I'll try to settle down and start shooting better. So, my score so far: 198 hits, 2 misses.