New to 3D

[MikeD]

My club has been putting out 3D targets on their unmarked course. I fancy having a go, but none of the guys in the club, that shoot 3D, shoot compound so advice is a bit lacking.

Is it practical to shoot unmarked 3d with a scope and sight marks and guestimate the distance?

What arrows should I use? I'm thinking ACCs might not survive too well if I estimate badly and go high or low. Cheap carbons seem a good idea (if they can find wooden arrows, I should be able to find carbons...)

[Haywain]

There are plenty of people who shoot your style on unmarked 3D's. Guestimating the distance to target takes practice, but I'm sure that once you get that part right you will be hooked.

Something I try is to find something which is about 20 yards away (a distance i can guess at quite easily), then see how near or far the target is from that marker. It's not exact but it helps.

[iscap_boy]

Originally Posted by MikeD

My club has been putting out 3D targets on their unmarked course. I fancy having a go, but none of the guys in the club, that shoot 3D, shoot compound so advice is a bit lacking.

Is it practical to shoot unmarked 3d with a scope and sight marks and guestimate the distance?

What arrows should I use? I'm thinking ACCs might not survive too well if I estimate badly and go high or low. Cheap carbons seem a good idea (if they can find wooden arrows, I should be able to find carbons...)

3D is very cool..about arrows,you can get some goldtips, or carbon express, they aren't very expensive

[robtattoo]

Originally Posted by MikeD

My club has been putting out 3D targets on their unmarked course. I fancy having a go, but none of the guys in the club, that shoot 3D, shoot compound so advice is a bit lacking.

Is it practical to shoot unmarked 3d with a scope and sight marks and guestimate the distance?

Yep. You even get your own class Compound Unlimited. Range estimation is an integral part of all styles of field archery.

What arrows should I use? I'm thinking ACCs might not survive too well if I estimate badly and go high or low. Cheap carbons seem a good idea (if they can find wooden arrows, I should be able to find carbons...)
ACCs work fine as field arrows & better than most cheap carbons, due to the ally core they're a lot easier to find too! Just put some BRIGHT coloured fletches on them!!

............

[Field Archer]

Mike, most compound archers (IFAA & NFAS) who shoot unmarked distances, what ever style they shoot, tend to use carbon arrows. They are relatively cheap compared to the carbon/ally arrows. There are also some very light carbons which will help shrink your sight marks, making distance judgement a little less of a problem.
Like Haywain said, just walk around guessing distances, it won’t take long before your close enough to hit most targets.

[Old Bloke]

If you are not sure of the distance on the 3D targets play safe. With most 3D targets having a centre section with only a 1-2 meter drop, you have to be pretty accurate on your judging to get the arrow into the Kill/wound zone. Not so difficult for the compound guys because the arrow speed helps with "drop off" trajectory. Much harder to hit for those with slower bows (including recurve) because of the parabolic flight of the arrow. Many of the standing 3D have the head, shoulder and legs (the legs support the animal in most cases) all vertically above one another so it gives you a better cahnce to hit within this area even if your are quite a few meters out on your distance judging. Better to hit the toe and get a 16 pointer than to skim it's back, missing the killing zone by inches and get nowt. Again, if not sure aim for the biggest spread of the animal.

[MikeD]

I'll give it a go with my ACCs then

We've got a Stamp Round on Sunday, so it'll probably not be until next weekend.