guessing yards

[jackal]

Hello all just wondering what methods everyone uses for judging the yards for a shot .If everyone tells there little secerets for judging yards we might help each other . Myself I judge the half way point and double it then I judge in every 10 yards and average the 2 diff ways that I judged and come up with the yards. or should I say hope I have the yards .If you want to be a better 3-d shooter it is a must to be confident in your guess .

Jackal

[scooter]

I just simply guess. I find that I always go with my 1st guess, because every time I have second guessed myself I screw it up. I am usually within a 1/2 a yard or so when I do it that way.

One of the ways that I practice yardage is I shoot at a foam ball or a tennis ball. Just give it a throw and where it ends up..shoot it...if you hit it, pace it out and see exactly how far off you were...If you miss, pace it off and see exactly how far it is. Make sure you're paying attention and remember how it looked from your eyes straight to the target. Don't use the ground as a judge as it may be uneven and play tricks on ya.

[WOOKIE]

I practice estimating distances. IfI am walking somewhere, I will choose an object make a mental estimation of the distance and then pace it off to see how close I am. It works well and if I keep up with it I find that I get better and better at it.

[sniper]

I like to find my 20 yrds. And then go from there.
I also take just a quick head judgement, and then combine the two.

I play a Video Game called PC Archery, and believe it or not it actually helps with yard estimation.

[Dillershortbow]

Small animals dont give me to mutch greif its the big grizzlies or moose out across a ravine at 53 yards or across water that give me the most trouble i under shoot them

[Mikey]

I suck at guessing Yardage ....I am good to about 25 ...then again after 60(Differance between a Sand wedge and a Pitching wedge I guess) ....its that middle ground that I need work on ..... Probally because I am not confident in my guess so I second and triple guess myself

But for Practice I do a Combination of Scotts tactics and Trevs Tactics ... I never even thought of Jackals Tactic of Guessing the 1/2way point and the doubling it ... That should work great fer me

I will try it and see i see

[tecspec]

:-) 8) :wink:
I like to carry my rangefinder when I'm out walking. I'll guesstimate the distance, the check it.
When I'm on stand, I range to distance posts (tree, fence, rock, etc.) That way I'm not moving when a deer is in close.
PC Archery is good too, it keeps reminding me of the visual differences of different sized animals.

[HoagieAB]

I judge yardage similar to Sniper and Jackal. I like to find my 20 and then work out in 10's from there. I think one of the most important things is to make sure you always judge the target. If you are shooting the same course in the afternoon, don't try and remember what you shot the target for in the first round (if they just move the stakes). I have been guilty of this before. You know you shot it for 25 in the first round and the stake is only 5 yards from the old spot.........it must be 30!!! Unfortunately, if you don't judge the target and take a look at the position of it (is it now 1/4ing vs. broadside) you can quickly take a nickle on a target that you were "sure" of the yardage on.

[willyqbc]

I basically use a lot of the same methods as above, with a little extra trick thrown into the mix that seems to help me. At the beginning of the day while making chit chat I will find out how fast everyones bow is shooting. If I'm lucky enough to have someone in the group relatively close to the same speed as I am then I can use the sound of how long it takes for the arrow to get to the target to give me a little extra help, as i know what mine sounds like at given yardages.

Chris

[petew]

Constant practice.When walking opick out something and pace it off to see how close you are. A rangefinder is a great checker too, look,guess and range.

I do use the ground to judge ,it is easier to guess 3- 10 yard spaces that 1- 30.

[WalkingDown]

Lots of Practice doing the things mentioned above. I like to break it down in ten yard increments too.
A post I read on the Easton Archery forum went something like this

"who needs a range finder, I can throw a ball playing catch and dont have to pace it off each time to throw it and hit my mark".

Im not sure if the guy was being sarcastic or what.
I thought about it and it kinda makes sense but there seems to be something missing. Sure I can throw a ball and instictively know how hard to throw it to get it that distance. Maybe the problem is that we dont associate lineal distance of measure with our instinctive perception.

So maybe if I play catch with my boy and pace off a distance of say 20yrds, and each time i throw the ball mentaly say to my self 20yrds I'll be able to combine my known lineal distance with my instictive perception of distance.

Just a thought. Ill give it a try and let you all know how it goes.
If im way off base here, pick me off. (a little pun)

[tyee]

I constantly guess yardage while hunting by guessing 20yds. and leap frogging by 10 or 20yd. increments to the target. I then use a range finder to check my results. When shooting 3-D I leap frog , but I also check to see how much of the target is covered by my pin diameter the further out the more the pin covers the target if you put the same target face at 20 yds. and move it from 30,40,50,60,70 you'll see what I mean. :roll:

[fulldraw]

I basiclly do the same as the rest,pick an object tree,trail ect,of 20yards or so then go by 10yard incraments, seems to work most of the time,the times it doesn't [need a new arrow] :lol: