Over and over again my arrows kept hitting to the left. So, naturally, I ended up adjusting my bow sight, only to then experience an occasional impact point that was now to the right. After a lot of unnecessary tinkering, I later put the pieces together that I was anchored too hard into my face. This was affecting my archery accuracy with inconsistent left/right misses in my archery accuracy.
For a right-hand shooter, like myself, if you are anchored too hard into your face, then your string will kick off of your face to the right. This will cause the front of your bow to kick left, thus causing the hits to the left. For left-hand shooters, the opposite will occur. The misses are visible at shorter ranges but are really magnified when you step back farther. And if you aren’t in tune with this face-pressure business, these misses can be quite maddening.
Right on the surface the most obvious thing to do is to just be aware of the amount of face pressure you are applying with your string at full draw. This is what I did and it’s amazing what the results are making this tiny adjustment.
Your face should really just touch your string. The string shouldn’t dig into your face. If you’re unsure about this, take a video of yourself. Notate the string on your face and then pay attention to if your bow is kicking left or right depending on if you’re left or right-handed.
There are also a few tools out there to help. One is the Bowmar Nose Button. This is essentially a spikey addition to your string that you set to your nose height at full draw. The spikes ensure that you don’t press your nose into the string too much, which inevitably keeps the face pressure at bay.
Something that helped me long ago was a certain release. Now, to be fair, I don’t know if they make this anymore, but it is worth mentioning just for context. There were also some mechanical issues with it, but hey, maybe a release company will read this and make one of their own.
I used a Stan Xtinction 2 index-style release for about a year. A unique feature was the hook was on the opposite side hooks normally are. Most of the time hooks are on the side of the release closest to you. On the Stan, it was the opposite. What this did was it helped keep the string away from my face just enough to not affect my shot. Going back to a normal index with the hook on the inside actually took some time to get used to and I found myself applying too much face pressure, unlike with the Stan.
Did you catch episode 1 – Beating Target Panic?
Cracking the code on what is killing your accuracy is a pursuit that will never cease to exist. Everyone wants to hit what they’re aiming at and it’s somewhat crushing when it keeps not happening. I’m no exception here. The times I’ve spent not being accurate were equally times I spent trying to crack the code I mentioned. And in all honesty, I don’t think I’ll ever have it all figured out. That’s one of the beauties of archery/bowhunting. There is always room for improvement. If there weren’t it would get boring. So, I say, “keep on cracking.”
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Want to learn more about backpack hunting? Check out my book Becoming a Backpack Hunter: A Beginner’s Guide to Hunting the Backcountry.
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