Archery aiming and shooting with both eyes open.

[grandmapatty]

From what I have been reading on the internet hunting pages, it is much more important when hunting to keep eyes open when shooting at an animal. So I tried but was not to good, until I changed to 10 yds. and got really good at that distance. Then I would move back and then I got the hang of it. I would put 5 inch balloons on my deer 3-d and bear 3-D targets and on some other targets and shoot at them at ten yards. Then I placed smaller and smaller balloons on them and aimed with both eyes open then I start moving back futher and futher and it worked really well. Hope this helps someone out also trying to shoot with both eyes. I only wear one contact in my right eye which lets me see at long distance and no contact in my left eye. My left eye can not focus long distance anyway so this also helps me. Some days I shoot my compound release bow, then other days I either shoot my finger release compound or my 55 lb. recurve bow. This works with them all. If anyone has any other techniques let me know . Grandma Patty

[mrs.Sniper]

hi patty,,,sounds like you have a good plan and if it works great!!!!...but for me ..i had to find out the hard way that im left eye dominant(and right handed) i wore a patch on my left eye for about 6 months when i was shooting, to train my right eye....under the patch, i never closed my eye it was always open...that was a very odd feeling..finally with enuff practice i finally learned that u cant shoot right handed and try to lean your head in to your sight to line up with your "good eye"....i think the first time my husband saw this..he fell over laughing and asked " WHAT!! are you doing????...lol ,,
now i shot with both eyes open no problem...i do close my left eye until im lined up and then open it to shoot.....works for me!!!
talk soon...Mrs.Sniper

[scooter]

Hey grandma..I have always shot with both eyes open so I really don't have a tip or a trick to it. Shooting a bow to me isn't much different than shooting a rifle. I know alot of folks that shoot with one eye open and alot of folks that shoot with both open so I think it boils down to what ever you're comfortable with. I'm no archery pro, but that's what I figure anyway.

[Valley Lad]

Some days I can shoot with both eyes open but other days I can't seem to focus on a single point very well and need to close my left eye. This goes for both bow and rifle.

I have no idea what I do when I'm actually shooting at a deer... I have enough trouble remembering to breathe sometimes!

[brian81]

I think it cmes down to personal preference, i`m extremely comfortable shooting with only my left eye open.

[ACC3-28]

"You must take two steps backwards in order to take one step forward". I have not found a quote that is more directly related to the sport of archery than this. Any time you make a change in form, equippment or sequence of your shots you will see a decline in scores before you begin to see and increase. The reason why both eyes are kept open while aiming is because it decreases muscle tention in the body. When your left (or right) eye is closed the body must use muscles to close one eye and keep the other open, this is because it is not a natural occurance for only one eye to be open at any one given time. When one eye is closed you increase your chances of flinching, grabbing the bow, or doing something wrong to make a poor shot.
I too began with one eye closed, mainly because I was used to shooting rifles and shotguns; but now that I shoot my bow with two eyes open I also shoot a firearm with two eyes open. The eaisest way to become comfortable with two eyes open is to "blank bail shoot", which is what I think your doing. Stand at 5 or 10 yards without a target and focus on the pin with the eye you are supposed to aim with. Try doing this as a warm up for 1/2 an hour at the beginning of every practice period. If problems aiming with two eyes persist your peep may be too small. The smaller a peep is, the less light it lets into your eye, and if your dominant eye is having trouble seeing your weaker eye will take over. In this case using a bigger peep will help. If you have any questions on what I have said don't be affraid to ask. I hope this helps.