I want this discussion to be with you guys who shoot moderate to heavy bows. (70# and up).  I get tired of being berated by those who shoot light stuff whenever I post.  Anyway, when you guys are shooting what kind of rythm do you use in your shooting?  Are you drawing, holding for X number of counts or snap shooting?  I'm curious because my son and I shoot differently but pretty effectively.  He shoots his 92# bow with a slow draw and 3-4 second hold.  I draw faster and hold for about 1-2 seconds tops.  Both of us can shoot a 3-D tournament and run in the 80% area score wise consistently. Let me know and thanks!

I shoot heavy longbows between 70-85#.

My shot builds with a slow draw, holding at anchor for a pause of about 2 secs.   Release and follow through.  I try to touch my right hand to the angle of my right shoulder after the shot.

Hope that helps.

Jason

From your description, it sounds like I shoot a lot like you. I draw moderately fast hold for 1 to 2 seconds and follow through.

The heaviest bow I shoot is a 69# osage recurve. Regardless of poundage I draw slowly by pulling me shoulder blades together. When I hit anchor I start sighting and pull through the release. When I release depends on distance. Longer shots take longer to line up. I don't really use a rhythm, just hold steady until I have it where I want it.
Just ignore people who ask why shoot that heavy. Generally heavier bows give faster arrows and flatter trajectories which amounts to better accuracy.

No snap shoot but no excessive hold either. Locate the imaginary "+" & determine shot rhythm i.e. as in moving deer, draw in one motion to anchor, hold 1/2 or 1 count, then release pulling my glove hand straight back behind my head while continuously zeroed on the crosshairs. My release is much faster & smoother than with a light string which can be hard for me to feel in my fingers. Although, bowfishing is no trouble w/lighter recurve (55#) once I adjust usually inside 5 minutes.

My "heavies" are in the 70# range, so near the bottom of what you are asking about. I shoot them the same as any other bow. Moderate speed draw, hold a couple of seconds or so to confirm a solid anchor and steady my body, then continue to expand and relax my fingers without changing anchor point so that the string is released without much movement of my string hand (or my bow arm or the rest of my body), and then follow through by maintaining my position until the arrow hits its mark. On a bow that is around 70# the release is usually much crisper as the string is pulled from my fingers quickly and easily as they relax. I believe that is why Byron Ferguson shoots bows around that weight. Carefully watch him shoot and you will see excellent form. Of course, ones strength needs to be sufficient to allow a full draw and good form with the upper body expanding rather than collapsing under a draw force that exceeds the physical ability to control it. If I could properly shoot even heavier bows, I certainly would, but most of us max out at some point below what some of you guys can shoot, and my max has been about 75#, even at my strongest and fittest. No one should criticize you for your exceptional strength, any more than a person who is only able to draw lighter weight bows should be criticized for having less strength. God has given us all different abilities, and He only expects us to use them to their fullest, whatever they are -- in His service, of course.

Allan

My Dale Dye is 73# at my draw length. I would estimate I hold for about two to three seconds. Anything longer than that time frame, seems to interrupt my focus.

My heaviest is 80#.  I am much more cautious when shooting heavy bows.  Getting lapse on form really increases the chance of hurting something.  I have to pay special attention at full draw to make sure the arrow isn't creeping.  I hold for 1 to 2 seconds, just like I normally do with lighter bows.  This let's me settle into my anchor and get a good site picture before releasing.  I don't count or have a set rhythm.  I just have to be at full draw with good back tension and a good site picture.

Thanks guys for you input.  I've shot what people consider heavy bows since I started bowhunting back in '68 and taught my son to shoot the heaviest bow he can shoot accurately and don't worry about the poundage.  I'm glad to see how many of you shoot the weight and concentrate on the form too.

I have found that there is a poundage where I tend to creep more with fatique. At 76 # , draw and hold like 55#, but 80# I tend to creep. I Put tape on a bareshaft as a draw check. I draw and hold 1 to 2 sec, (train RH and LH for 15 seconds with the 80#),  snap shooting is not for me. I genereally bind bale with the 80 pound to specifically "strengthen" my form...but try to pay attention to fatique...and stop before poor form

my bow is 80# @ 28 and I draw 30 where it stacks like bricks and is probably around 100#. I draw slow and start feeling for the gap before I get to full draw where I hold for 1-4 seconds, however long it takes to get on target. Its all about the "feel" for me. I never mastered snap shooting but I do start aiming before I draw, if that even makes sense.
Jason

When shooting the heavy weight is the draw done more with the strength of your arm muscle or with the back muscles.

I don't snap or excessively hold either. I try and shoot heavies the same way I shoot my 60# bows.

Here is a video of my 120# War Bow.

Matt

 120# War Bow

How many arrows do you guys shoot at a practice session.

Raging Water, good video.  That's pretty much the same speed of shooting I do.  Amazon, you pull with your back muscles, also, I shoot as many as 100 arrows in a good stump shoot day or as little as half dozen if the weather is nasty.  I just like to shoot.  Raging Water, I'll get a video of my son shooting his 94# longbow.  He's about the size of one of you arms!

Thanks Longbowman55, I would love to see the video also, I used to shoot 80 lbs right handed but switched to left and trying to build up the poundage without hurtin.g something

QuoteOriginally posted by longbowman:
I get tired of being berated by those who shoot light stuff whenever I post.

If this happens here on Trad Gang....please hit the little 'report post' icon below the post and that will alert all the admins...and we can put a stop to the berating.

I shoot heavy bows from time to time....shoot them the same....I am a snap shooter....but will hold if game dictates for the scenario.

If I hold, I'm still maintaining rearward tension....or I am totally paused and start rearward tension as the shot appears again.

Right now I don't shoot anything over 55# "simply don't have one right yet" but I try to draw & hold as though I'm drawing on that deer, slow but steady & hold usually no more than a few seconds but that can vary depending on distance & scenerio.

I'm what might be called a light weight shooter - only 50# at peak draw - so sounds like some of you guys are drawing twice what I am!

Even though I'm light, I find that if I draw reaaaallly slowly, I tend to get more anchor creep near the end of my draw, and my shooting suffers. Does this happen to you guys too?

This is easily the best posting and answers I've had on T.G.  I thank everybody for their input.  I like getting opinions and hearing what others are doing out there.  I began bowhunting when that's all it was called since the compound hadn't been marketed yet.  I did take a season and shot deer in different states with the first cam bow that came out by Pete Shepley.  It was an 80# monster and it killed deer but no differently than my longbows and recurves so I went back to what I always shot.
    Being from the old school I always believed you should shoot the heaviest bow you can handle accurately and so I miss the point on people shooting light bows when they could easily shoot heavier but I'll never shoot a single thing with their bows so it really doesn't make a difference to me either way.  A good old friend told me once, "You'll never learn to shoot a .300 Mag. by shooting a .22 and you'll never learn to shoot a heavy bow by shooting a light one."  At that time his 90# wife was shooting 10# heavier than I was!