springgobbler

I posted this in the IBO forum, but no responses. I need some help in trying to teach my 13 year old stepson to judge distance, and please don't say rangefinder.

He shot his first round of 3D with me yesterday and loved it...

Any suggestions for 'games' etc that I can do with him to help him (and me) learn to judge would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

legacy22

Well, I havent had my first cup of coffee yet, but practice will help him judge distance. Once you start shooting at 10 20 30 40 yds.....etc... you tend to become a pretty good judge of how far things are. Perhaps set up some markers in your yard (if possible) and just let him go to town.

rcd567

Actually, the use of a rangefinder is important with either of these two ideas. I've used them with my stepson with good results. He's sixteen. First, start at your target and step back. Range 20 yards, put out a flag, do the same from 30 and 40. Have him shoot at these known ranges. Do it until he's comfortable shooting from these ranges. Then remove the flags and start shooting from around the area.

The other option is to go stump shooting. Again take a range finder. Sometimes range the distances before shooting, and sometimes after if he misses it. Repeat these exercises until the rangefinder is no longer necessary. Good Luck!

stevensondrive

Gosh! I'm 32, I could use this game!! I am thinking I need a way to judge distance. Any suggestions guys??

legacy22

Oops, I should have mentioned to have those markers at known distances. Sorry 'bout dat.

adams

I agree with legancy on this one. What I often do after my normal shooting is move my target to a new location and walk a few paces away from the target then just turn around and shoot from diffrent random spots(unmeasured distances). If you shoot 20, 30 and 40 yards alot becomes easy to judge after a while (almost second nature). If you're going to be putting him on stand this fall I'd suggest giving him "landmarks" to judge distances by. In the woods 25 yards often looks a lot longer than 25. If you measure out to a certain tree or rock and you can say for sure that tree or rock is 20 yards judging beyond that it easier. This is what I did when I first got into the sport.

Hope ths helps some.

rangerwade

...and when you can't go out to shoot, PC Archery.com helps a little. I used to practice judging distance when I was outside, by picking out an object, judge it, and then pace it off. People used to look at me crazy, but it kept down the cost of arrows!

bowhuntinoh

we use the tape measurer and a couple sticks to mark the yardage

legacy22

To follow up on adams post about landmarks, you could also put out ribbons on trees to correspond with the pin colors even. That way, when a deer comes in, there wont be any confusion. Like Adams said, it will become second nature in no time. Good luck.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Here's a couple suggestions to check and double check your yardages while on the 3D course.

1. Judge the yardage to the target in 10 yard increments.....

2. Most people know what 20 yards looks like, judge 20 yards and then how much more to the target.....not another 20 so I'll pick 10 yards beyond the 20 yard mark and then what's left to the target..... or if it's not another 10 yards, micro judge it.

3. Pick half way, judge the distance to the half way mark and then double it.

4. Judge 20 yards back from the target.....pick a spot that would be 20 yards from the target and then judge from that point back to where your standing.

5. Simply go on impression of target..the more you shoot the more you'll learn what a target looks like at different distances....it's instinct then double check it with the methods above.