In the advertising field it is firmly believed that con­stant repetition of the merits of any article is needed to attract and hold the attention of the public. The endless repetition of commercials on radio and TV, we are told, are good selling techniques. At the risk of being criticized, and in a much less blatant manner, the technique of repetition has been used throughout the text to attempt to implant firmly in the mind of the future bow hunter certain factual information which it is necessary to understand and accept before attempting to master the art of shooting a bow.

So much misinformation has been circulated about the kind of bow required for use in the hunting field that beginners, al­most without exception unless guided by the advice of an ex­pert bowman, will buy a bow on the false assumption that success in the hunting field will be measured by the effort it takes to draw and release an arrow from the bow. The title of this chapter is intentionally misleading. Instead of Shooting a Hunting Bow, it should be written, Shooting a Bow in Hunt­ing. The hunting bow as a distinct weapon does not exist. Any type of bow can be and is used in the hunting field. Even after a novice has acquired the technique necessary to shoot a bow in the light weight class, the weight chosen for the hunting bow should never exceed that which the bowman can draw without overtaxing his strength.

Recently I was shown a plain self long bow which the owner said he purchased from an Indian for the sum of fifty dollars. The Indian assured him that the bow had a drawing weight of seventy-five pounds. The owner had been unable to string or brace the bow and sought advice as he wanted to learn to shoot. When a man has been taken that badly, it requires a lot of diplomacy to get him squared away on the right tack without giving offense. Perhaps in time he would be able to string that bow, if there would be any satisfaction in so doing, but I for one had no intention of using his bow to demonstrate the method. Fortunately a bow with a drawing weight of thirty pounds was available and I used it to put him through an elementary course of instruction. At the end of a half hour his opinion of the thirty pound bow had increased considerably and muscles unaccustomed to the strain of drawing a bow were beginning to complain.

It may be and seem that I have been unduly laboring an ele­mentary point. It is elementary but the novice seems to ignore it when he purchases a bow. How can you learn to shoot a bow that you cannot bring to full draw without straining every nerve and sinew? Unless you do learn the technique of shoot­ing a bow and are able to hit a mark with some degree of reg­ularity, it will matter little or none at all what weight of bow you are shooting. A lot of deer have been missed at ridiculously short distances by men carrying sixty pound bows who have never learned to shoot. In the hands of an experienced bowman the bow is an accurate weapon. At a recent indoor shoot one contestant placed ninety consecutive arrows within a circle with a diameter of nine and three-fifths inches from a distance of thirty yards.

 Too many people have formed their opinion of the power of a bow from the childrens archery sets which they see dis­played in a toy store. On the contrary, regardless of its draw­ing weight, the bow is a deadly weapon and should be treated with respect. The rules of safety that apply to the gun are equally applicable and necessary in shooting a bow. A Penn­sylvania woman killed a deer during the special archery season in 1951 with a lemonwood, fibre backed bow drawing thirty-five pounds which sold over the counter at that time for $12.00. The first recorded deer taken by a woman in Wisconsin was killed during the 1943 season, and in 1950 twenty-five of the successful bowhunters among the estimated 12 to 15,000 who killed 383 deer were women. Any bowman will shoot best with a bow that he can handle comfortably. The correct drawing weight will, therefore, vary with the strength of the individual. Accuracy is of first importance and drawing weight is only secondary.   

Having read this far, a question will arise in the reader's mind as to whether any benefit accrues from shooting the heavier drawing weight bows in the hunting field? The answer is, "yes." It is not that the light weight bow lacks killing power, but for an entirely different reason the heavier bow is an advantage when hunting. Using a rifleman's phraseology, "Point blank range" is increased as the drawing weight of the bow increases. At reasonably short ranges the bowhunter will not have to worry about compensating for elevation and can sight directly at the target. If the arrow is shot under the same circumstances from a lighter bow, it must travel in a vertical arc in order to hit the target. Any obstruction along this line of flight will probably be above the archer's line of sight but it will serve to deflect the arrow from the mark.

If I were permitted to give but one piece of advice to every beginner it would be: "Learn to shoot with both eyes open." Hand a novice a rifle, a shotgun, or a bow and he will invari­ably shut one eye and sight down the barrel of the gun or the arrow in case of the bow with the other eye. One eyed shoot­ing is a definite handicap, a clearer picture of the target and consequently better results will be obtained if the bowman keeps both eyes open during the entire act of shooting. Each of us has a master eye which without any conscious effort on our part will take over the work of aligning the weapon with the target. In the late summer and fall, deer and other game blend naturally into the background and the bowman needs full vision to distinguish the game in its natural setting.

 Learn to shoot at moving targets with both eyes open and focused on the object you wish to hit. Since the bow is a low velocity weapon, the bowman will need plenty of practice before he can consistently hit a moving object. Fortunately the arrow is visible in flight and the bowman can quickly cor­rect errors in lead. You cannot expect to obtain standing shots at game animals with any regularity, and your chances to make a clean kill will be increased if you take plenty of time to prac­tice at moving targets prior to the hunting season. Running small game may be imitated by kicking a large rubber ball along the ground or having a shooting companion who will take turns tossing the ball.

To register hits consistently on a moving target try the fol­lowing technique. On a crossing shot, bring the bow to full draw behind the moving target. Swing or twist your body about the hips, letting the bow move in the direction the target is moving. Swing the bow in this manner and let it pass through and out in front of the moving target. Release the arrow while the bow is swinging and do not attempt to stop the swing of the bow arm until the arrow is well on its way to the target. This system automatically takes care of the speed with which the target or the game is moving. The distance in front of the target at which the arrow is released is of course directly pro­portional to the distance the bowman is stationed from the target. The correct point of release at any distance can only be determined by each individual through trial and error, and ability to hit a moving target consistently will come only through practice. The technique is similar to that used by the bowman who shoots without the use of a sight on the bow. He has learned through practice to judge the elevation neces­sary to project the arrow to the target at an unknown distance, and he will quickly learn to estimate the lead necessary at which to release the arrow in order to score a hit on a moving target.

Bowhunting is a relatively new sport and it has attracted a number of experienced archers. One or two hunting seasons is a short period of time in which to make a deer hunter out of an experienced archer, and too much blame should not be attached to the failure of these bowmen to come within bow shot of a deer. After all, the majority of the bowhunters, with the exception of some of the former gun hunters, are novices in the woods and woefully ignorant of the ways and habitat of deer. Gun hunters who use the driving method of hunting deer are in the same category. Either group is lucky if they see a "flag" disappearing over the nearest crest of land.

It is harder to excuse the new crop of bowmen when they miss a deer at ten paces. Too many hunters, who would not think of taking their rifle to the hunting field without knowing exactly where it shot at different ranges will buy a powerful hunting bow, a half a dozen broadheads, and a quiver, and take out for the big woods fully convinced that they will bring home a deer. There will always be exceptions but the general rule still holds for the majority. You have to be able to hit them after you find them. The drawing weight of your bow may be some­thing you enjoy talking about, but it is of secondary importance to your ability to hit the point at which you aim. Ability to hit a mark with a bow is acquired through intelligent practice and lots of it. Just as there are right and wrong ways of han­dling a rifle, so there is a definite technique to be learned before you can become a marksman with a bow. Start right. Good habits are easily acquired and bad habits once learned are diffi­cult to break.