Bowhunting, 3D archery and field archery all have something in common – in most cases the distance to the target is unmarked. This introduces a whole new challenge to shooting your bow. A wrong assessment can mean the difference between hitting the target exactly where you aim to and missing the target completely. In this article we\u2019re going to discuss yardage judging, so you can quickly train to be an expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The skill of being able to precisely estimate the distance to your target is really important. Especially if you want to get involved in 3D archery, field archery or bowhunting. As I’ve covered in my post about archery tournaments<\/a>, most field archery 3D archery competitions have unmarked targets and don’t allow rangefinders usage. So how do expert 3D archers learn to judge yardage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a few methods that take advantage of perspective to estimate the distance to the target. Most archers split the distance to the target into smaller chunks, and estimate the distance between each one. In the end, learning yardage judging comes to training your gut feel, so you can eventually assess the distance to the target just by looking at it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In this short guide, we\u2019re first going to discuss beginner yardage judging methods – these can work as some sort of a crutch, only to be temporarily used until you develop a true sense of distance judging. After that we\u2019re going to cover the best ways to train your gut feel, so you can practice like an expert. You\u2019ll even be able to estimate the length of this article. Well, that\u2019s probably a bit different… but let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Highly experienced archers can simply look at a target, and know exactly how far away it is. This kind of sixth sense is what every archer should aim (wink wink) to develop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basically, after years of shooting from any distance to various targets, at different environments, you can learn to trust your gut and accurately judge the distance<\/strong>. This ability is not based on tricks and methods – it\u2019s just pure skill. You can work to develop this skill as a part of your bowhunting skillset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a beginner archer, you should aim to work on your distance judging skills while learning to use the bow. Many beginner archers who fail to do that have a really hard time developing this skill later on, since it requires a lot of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The simplest way to start practicing your yardage judging is simply by positioning yourself in various unknown distances in the range, guessing the distance to the target and checking how far off you were. After checking the actual distance – take the shot. You can use a cheap rangefinder to start off at a fair price. I actually recommended my top rangefinder picks in another post<\/a>. Practicing this way will help you improve significantly over time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Try to constantly mix things up; use different targets (different face sizes, 3D targets, etc) and different positioning. Try to find locations to practice uphill and downhill yardage judging, and practice at different angles and environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s a short video I really liked that explains both the idea of practicing your gut feel, and the distance splitting method that I’m going to detail in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPractice your gut feel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n