During each practice session, be sure to spend some time practicing at each distance. While I may spend most of my time practicing at long range, I always take a few shots at each distance (and at distances that force me to gap between pins) so I remain confident at each.

Monitor Your Bow
If you know your pins are set perfectly, don’t move them if you are shooting poorly unless you can prove the bow has changed. This brings up a key part of this column, the ability to monitor your bow quickly and precisely so you can tell when something changes.

When you have the bow perfectly sighted-in and shooting great, take several measurements. First, measure and record the exact position of the nocking point relative to the bottom of your arrow rest groove (or the cushion plunger hole if you are shooting a fall away rest). You will need a T-Square to do this properly. Next, measure and record the distance from your nocking point to your peep sight.

With the arrow resting properly, measure and record the distance from the front of the rest shelf to the bottom of the arrow. Next, do the same from the side of the sight window to the side of the arrow. You can also take a few measurements of your sight, but short of a bent pin, or loosened bolts I have not seen any sight body failures when using sights of rugged construction.

If you spend the time to make sure that your bow is deadly accurate and then log all the measurements, you will know quickly when poor shooting is the result of poor form or the result of changes within the bow. You will feel like a pro. This is the way to greater consistency on the range and greater confidence in the field.