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Sumitted by Wil Rienhart, River Valley Archery Club

THE DISTANCE TO SUCCESS

Use Multiple Systems To Determine Distance

EDITOR'S NOTE: Many hunters prepare for hunting season by shooting 3D archery. Several critical elements will help you win 3-D archery tournaments, including your bow's ability to perform flawlessly, skill at holding the bow steady through the shot, control over your nerves and emotions in the face of high-pressure competition and the ability to judge your distance from the target. 3-D tournament archers often find judging distance the one chink in their armor. Misreading the distance even by 1/2 to 1 yard can determine whether you hit the 12 ring or the 8 ring. Most of the nation's best 3-D archers utilize more than one technique to judge distance to a target. Here are some of their secrets.

Pete Works of Southside, Alabama, has won the IBO World Championship, shot as a member of the World Champion Manufacturer's Team on the Cabela's circuit, finished second in the IBO Nationals and had several other top 10 finishes.

"Most of the tournament archers I know, including myself, have more than one system for judging distance," Works said. "Although each of us favors one system of yardage estimation, we all recognize that under various course conditions, different systems of yardage estimation may be more accurate. My primary system is to ground-judge the distance I am from the target. I use 5-yard increments. When I first walk up to the stake, I get my first impression based on the size of the target as to how far I think the distance is to the target. Then I start at the stake and look at the ground, mentally measuring off 5 yards of distance all the way to the target. This is the best way for me to judge distance on flat ground. However if I'm shooting rolling terrain, I go with my best estimation of yardage without using my ground-checking system. I look at the target, I look at the stake, and then I try to look at the stake and the target at the same time and determine the distance between those two points.

"One of the techniques I use during practice is to walk through the woods, look at a tree, say aloud the distance I believe I am from the tree and then check that distance with the range finder. Sometimes I'll nock an arrow, walk away from my target in different directions, then turn and instantly guess the distance and shoot. One of the hardest distances to judge is the distance to a target on a hill across a valley from where you are. If you try to judge the yardage in 5-yard increments on the ground, the yardage will be much further than the target actually is. In this instance, you have to judge distance by looking at the target instead of at the ground."

Each tournament pro has a slightly different method of judging distance. However, all the pros seem to use more than one system to come up with their final distance estimations. Choose the systems that fit you and your style of shooting best to shoot more accurately in 3-D archery tournaments and a field with your bow.

THE DISTANCE TO SUCCESS

Judging Distance

The Association of Professional Archers has ranked Randy Ulmer of Cave Creek, Arizona No. 1 several times. He also has won Cabela's Shooter of the Year award, the IBO National Triple Crown Championship and the title of "3-D & Target Archer" Male Shooter Of The Year a couple of times. An avid hunter, Ulmer also has taken a Boone and Crockett elk with his bow that scored 375 6/8-points.

"Most of my yardage estimation is based on my perception of how far I am from a McKenzie 3-D target," Ulmer said. "In the past, I've imagined a 20-yard-long pole that I lay on the ground to know how far 20 yards is. By simply turning the pole over mentally, I can estimate where 40 yards is. If the target is at more than 40 yards, I'll judge the distance in 1-yard increments. At work, at home and everywhere I go, I'm always pacing off 20 yards.

"When I was in high school, I was a pitcher," Ulmer said. "Because the distance from the pitcher's mound to the catcher's glove was 20 yards, I've always had a real good mental picture of what 20 yards looks like. However, after having shot McKenzie targets, probably at least 100 times each for the last seven years, I feel very comfortable when I look at a target. I'm assured that I know the range, whether that deer is at 22 or 45 yards. I'm much like a basketball player who shoots hoops. If you take a basketball player out to a court that doesn't have any marks or lines on it, he still can shoot the ball accurately because he's shot from so many positions on the court for so long. He knows how far the goal is from where he's shooting, and he'll shoot accurately. When you've shot 3-D archery enough, you get that same sense of knowing the distance you are from the target that the basketball player gets of knowing the distance he is from the goal. Today, I judge distance by knowing I can depend on my visual calculations based on the size of the targets to shoot accurately. When I walk up to the stake, I look at the target, estimate the distance and immediately set my sight. I'll next use my imaginary pole to judge the yardage in 20-yard increments. Then I'll use what I call my half-way judging. I'll look at the ground, pick out a spot and say that spot is half-way between me and the target. Then I'll mentally lay my 20-yard pole on the ground and determine where that spot hits on my mental 20-yard pole. Judging the yardage by using several different methods means I'll very rarely shoot a 5. If I judge the yardage using these three methods and each method gives me different distances, then I'll back away from the target and start all over again. I'll know something is wrong with my system.

When I step to the line to shoot the target, I set my sight for the distance I've decided on. But then, before I draw my bow, I'll ask myself two questions. Can that target be further away than what I have judged, or, can that target be closer than the distance I've judged it to be? If I get a really strong feeling that the target is closer or further than what I've judged it to be, I'll readjust my sight by 1/2-yard or maybe as much as 1 yard. However, once I've made that final adjustment, I forget about judging distance. When I draw the bow, I believe I know the distance. I try and concentrate on the shot and the arrow placement and forget that yardage judging is just a guessing game. I have to believe that I've judged the yardage accurately. I don't make any adjustments or try and compensate once I have my bow drawn. I shoot the target as though I know for sure the exact distance.

THE DISTANCE TO SUCCESS

Stepps' Methods For Judging Distance

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In 1997 David Stepps of Phoenix, Arizona, has won the ASA Shooter-Of-The-Year award, the Metropolis ASA Championship, the South Carolina ASA Championship and finished in the top four in numerous ASA tournaments. He also has won the IBO National Championship and the IBO World Championship in the past.

"When I step up to a line and first look at a target, a distance will immediately pop into my head based on my knowledge of that particular target and the number of times I've shot that target," Stepps commented. "Then I judge the distance on the ground in 10-yard increments. Once I get the yardage from me to the target, then I judge the yardage in 10-yard increments from the target back to where I'm standing. Most often the distance from me to the target and the distance to the target back to where I'm standing will be within a yard or two of each other.

"If I'm really having a good day of judging distance, my first impression, the yardage to the target and the yardage away from the target all will give me the same number or numbers very close to each other. If the numbers are different, then I'll average the three numbers and shoot the averaged distance. On my first impression, I'm usually accurate to within 2 or 3 yards. When I judge the distance to and from the target, I generally can judge within a yard of the actual distance. In most tournaments, to shoot in the top 10, you have to be able to judge within a yard of every target on the course."