hard choice for me. buying a left hand bow.

[elky McElkerson]

i HATE it!! i shoot fine. i\'m not going to win any shooting contest, but i wont embarrass myself at the range. i shoot fine. 3\" groups at 40 all day long, not much more spread at the 50 on a good day.

but i know my right eye is getting weaker and weaker. AND i am right handed - Left eye dominant. like a fool, i custom ordered my bowsight to have a red 0.10\" pin as the last pin. it is a slider sight, so that pin covers 40-100 yards. it is fuzzy as all get out. if i mock hold the bow with my right hand and peek at the pin, it is very clear. much clearer for sure.

so, the way i see it, i have a few options.

1. send the sight in and have the red pin switched to a 0.19\" green.
2. buy a lefty bow and start over.
3. keep it as is and wait until i cannot shoot anymore. the deer i killed last year was at 62 yards. i couldnt see the red dot clear, but i could see the end of the pin. i put the fuzzy \"end of the pin with the slight red glow\" on the deer and it toppled over.

any right with left eye dominance out there? feel my pain?

 

[elky McElkerson]

BTW..i stunk the bow range up today.

my arrows were tail wagging into the bulls eye. i got tiny groups, but i could see the tail wag. it was windy, and i did notice no wag when the wind died down. at home i tested with lipstick on the vanes and i got ZERO vane contact. dumbfounded.

i\'m gonna set up my paper tune rack and see if anything funky is going on.

 

[iccyman001]

YES YES YES!!!!!!

I AM GOING THROUGH THE SAME ISSUE!!!! GOSH IT\'S A PAIN

 

[iccyman001]

Cliff,

I went through the same battle at the beginning of this year.
I am right hand dominate and left eye dominate, but here is what I came up with.

I am too close to the season to go to the lefty bow.


Another thing is I have killed animals with my righty bow, so why change what isn\'t broken.


If you\'re still able to do it, I\'d say stay with your bow for at least another seasons.



Then if you are still worried about it, make the switch after your season ends so you have a full amount of time to get used to the lefty.

 

[timberland]

Sometimes a larger peep will reduce the fuzz of a smaller pin. Might be worth a shot.

 

[mtnmutt]

I am LED, but right handed. Plus, my right eye muscle is very weak. Since elementary school, I was instructed to do eye exercises for my right eye, however, i am poor at doing them regularly.

I knew all of this when I bought my first bow. I bought a RH bow knowing I was LED and that my right eye had a weaker muscle.

In January 2012, I started my quest to switch to LH. After a lot of issues with ordering, i had the bow in April. By the end of May 2012, I had the bow setup properly after a bunch mess ups by bow shop, including them insisting that I needed a 0.5 inch longer draw than my actual DL

I started bow shopping in January to give myself plenty of time to get used to LH and develop the strength on my left side. However, the bow shop\'s mistakes delayed my true switch (shooting LH) until May. I did not make it to my intended DW by opening day. I did not feel I had enough time to get used to it. I had a lot of form issues LH, so I had a couple of private archery lessons. 4 months later, I tore 2 tendons in my bow arm\'s shoulder because I was increasing DW too fast.

I have no regrets switching to LH. I see my pins better than when shooting RH. If I had the bow by March, I would have been all set by opening day in late August.

If switching, I suggest allowing at least 6 months before hunting season. Add in another 6-8 weeks to allow for ordering a new bow.

 

[Don K]

They also make peep site \"rectifiers\" and \" clarifiers\" . You may want to some research on these to see if it could help with the fuzzy pins.

 

[elky McElkerson]

I am LED, but right handed. Plus, my right eye muscle is very weak. Since elementary school, I was instructed to do eye exercises for my right eye, however, i am poor at doing them regularly.

I knew all of this when I bought my first bow. I bought a RH bow knowing I was LED and that my right eye had a weaker muscle.

In January 2012, I started my quest to switch to LH. After a lot of issues with ordering, i had the bow in April. By the end of May 2012, I had the bow setup properly after a bunch mess ups by bow shop, including them insisting that I needed a 0.5 inch longer draw than my actual DL

I started bow shopping in January to give myself plenty of time to get used to LH and develop the strength on my left side. However, the bow shop\'s mistakes delayed my true switch (shooting LH) until May. I did not make it to my intended DW by opening day. I did not feel I had enough time to get used to it. I had a lot of form issues LH, so I had a couple of private archery lessons. 4 months later, I tore 2 tendons in my bow arm\'s shoulder because I was increasing DW too fast.

I have no regrets switching to LH. I see my pins better than when shooting RH. If I had the bow by March, I would have been all set by opening day in late August.

If switching, I suggest allowing at least 6 months before hunting season. Add in another 6-8 weeks to allow for ordering a new bow.

Thanks. I did try a left hand bow once. My friend loaned me his extra bow and I invested the money for my sized cam. I went straight to 70 lbs. it felt easy enough. What got me was loading the thing. It was a challenge. I gave it up. I was too impatient. I regret it. I gave up an opportunity to try the switch for free.

I should have shot that bow for months.

Maybe I keep both bows and be a switch hitter.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

 

[mtnmutt]

Thanks. I did try a left hand bow once. My friend loaned me his extra bow and I invested the money for my sized cam. I went straight to 70 lbs. it felt easy enough. What got me was loading the thing. It was a challenge. I gave it up. I was too impatient. I regret it. I gave up an opportunity to try the switch for free.

I should have shot that bow for months.

Maybe I keep both bows and be a switch hitter.

Great, your muscles are already there. Mine took longer than I expected. In hindsight, using hand weights would have greatly helped in my switch from RH to LH.

Yes, the loading of the arrow was awkward for a bit of time. Just like picking up a bow for the first time, eventually the routine of preparing for a shot becomes ingrained.

I was already occasionally using my left hand and arm for things like writing and chores. One winter, I injured my right arm x-country skiing. For 6 months, I had to use my left arm for chores. Try using your left arm for some every day tasks. Since injuring my right shoulder, I use my left arm more than before, especially when vacuuming. My work computer has a right handed mouse. My personal computer has a left handed mouse. After awhile, your brain gets use to it and it becomes second nature.

Go shot pool LH. I hear that is a big help for switching from non dominate hand. Playing darts LH is also another good training exercise.

Initially, my LH bow peep was not set properly and blocking the pins. I had a nice hole in my drywall from that setup mistake. Fortunately, it only happened once during the first week of shooting the LH bow.

I kept my RH bow. I continue to shoot it occasionally. Currently, it is my backup bow.

Once you go lefty, you will never go back.

 

[elky McElkerson]

MT.

i totally love reading your responses. nothing substitutes true boots on the ground experience. over at AT, it\'s all speculations.

some history about myself. culturally, it is frowned upon to be left handed. it is felt that left handedness is a handicap..hahah..

so my loving mom took it upon herself to swap me over. everytime i tried to use my left hand to do something, she would stop me and make me do it righty. talk about trying to screw with the left/right brain thing..

i can do some bizarre things lefty. like use chopsticks. and write. somethings are burned in my brain. like trying to put my watch on my right wrist is darn near impossible. i will have to do this if i go lefty due to the wrist release.

maybe i\'ll keep my eyes out for a lefty used bow. buy a cheapo for experiementing.

 

[mtnmutt]

MT.

i totally love reading your responses. nothing substitutes true boots on the ground experience. over at AT, it\'s all speculations.

some history about myself. culturally, it is frowned upon to be left handed. it is felt that left handedness is a handicap..hahah..

so my loving mom took it upon herself to swap me over. everytime i tried to use my left hand to do something, she would stop me and make me do it righty. talk about trying to screw with the left/right brain thing..

i can do some bizarre things lefty. like use chopsticks. and write. somethings are burned in my brain. like trying to put my watch on my right wrist is darn near impossible. i will have to do this if i go lefty due to the wrist release.

maybe i\'ll keep my eyes out for a lefty used bow. buy a cheapo for experiementing.

Thank you! AT\'s Coaches Corner forum has more real life archery help than the other forums on AT.

40-50 years ago, the shame of being a lefty was widespread in the US. You may too young to know this. My cousin faced this. In the 80s, someone opened a lefties store in Baltimore Inner Harbor. It is hell writing LH in notebooks. The binding gets in the way. Weird how a little thing makes it more difficult for lefties.

If you can use chopsticks left handed, you far surpass me in my left handed abilities.

Women are more likely to be crossed eyed dominate than men. I see far too many women shooting cross eye dominate. Some Pro bow shops are detrimental to women taking up archery for the first time. For purchasing my LH bow, I made a mistake using a Denver Bow shop that I had no experience with. That was my mistake. When I wanted to switch to LH, they insisted I needed to stay RH and that I needed 0.5 longer DL. I was stupid not to dump them before I ordered the LH bow from them. With 24DL, it is nearly impossible to find shops with bows to try out before purchasing. Trying out 24DL LH bows, I can forget it. That is another reason I still shoot my RH bow. It will help if I want to try new bows. At least they stock some RH 24DL bows.

My coach gave me this suggestion when I had LH form issues. Make a string bow. Take some paracord. Make a large loop for your meaty area of your thumb/palm. At the other end, make a small d-loop sized loop for connecting the release. Trial and error to get the correct length. Stand in front of the mirror. My new place has bathroom mirrors 90 degrees to each other so I can see my side and front at \"full draw\". Go to full draw, hold, aim and release. It won\'t damage the mirror shooting at it with paracord. Perhaps doing this 30 days before buying a LH bow will make it easier.

Next year, I bet you will be shooting out to 100 yards.