As a bowhunter, you have two reasons to scrutinize how you draw your bow. First, you should make every effort to reduce game-spooking motion. Second, you should strive to use the proper form so that when you hit full draw you are in the best position to make an accurate shot.

DON’T SPOOK THEM

Game animals have tremendous peripheral vision. For example, a whitetail deer has 320 degrees of visual coverage. You won’t get away with extra movement when attempting to draw your bow.

If you must reach your bow arm skyward in order to draw your bow, your draw weight is too high or you have learned bad habits on the practice range. Use the same draw sequence on the range that you would use if a buck were standing 20 yards away – point the bow straight at the target and draw the string straight back.

PROPER FORM STARTS BEFORE YOU DRAW

Any time you have to hand control of the draw force from one muscle group to another you introduce the possibility of an incomplete hand-off that will result in inconsistent shooting. Since you want your back muscles to hold the string at full draw, engage them fully in the process of drawing the string. Your shoulders will also carry some of the weight. Don’t try to draw the string with the muscles of your arm. You want these to remain as relaxed as possible throughout the shot.

I see many novice bowhunters re-grip their bows once they get to full draw. This is a big mistake. The only way you can be sure your grip is the same on every shot is to take the correct grip before you start to draw and then maintain it until the arrow is gone.

Repositioning major joints is another mistake. For example, don’t draw with the elbow of your release arm low and then raise it at full draw. Don’t draw with the shoulder of your bow arm high and then try to lower it at full draw. Instead, achieve the proper form right from the beginning of the draw and maintain it all the way through the shot.

The shot starts with the draw. Get started correctly and you will have the best opportunity for an accurate shot.