One Eye Or Two
- Thread starter Swede
- Start date
iccyman001
New member
- Apr 30, 2014
- 5,489
One eye here, but it\'s only due to my unusual circumstances.
Right hand bow, left eye dominant
Right hand bow, left eye dominant
elky McElkerson
New member
- Mar 13, 2014
- 2,038
\"iccyman001\" said:
me too. sad.
i\'ve held a left hand bow, and i can keep both eyes open. the visuals are amazing. bright, clear..
i will change to a lefty just as soon as i get brave and rich enough to try it.
elky McElkerson
New member
- Mar 13, 2014
- 2,038
\"Swede\" said:
depth perception and more light..and it amazes me every time at the range how my closed eye gets so fatigued.
Billy Goat
Member
- Sep 5, 2017
- 332
I was taught to shoot with just 1 eye open, but have used two for some time now.
Buglemaster
New member
- Aug 25, 2017
- 334
Eyes wide open here. For years I shot with just one, but switched to both when I shot registered trap. It carried over to anything I now shoot. You have so much bigger field of view & as Swede said it\'s easier to keep track of the flight of the arrow.
Just seen this thread. I just started shooting with both eyes open yesterday. I shoot a left handed bow due to an injury but I\'m right eye dominant. It\'s going to be a learning process for me but I can see the target much better and follow the arrow much easier. When I learned to shoot a right handed bow I shot with one eye but being right eye dominant I had no problem seeing the arrow in flight. I think it\'s going to be an advantage for me to shoot both eyes open.
\"razorback\" said:
For elk hunting (mostly on the ground stalking/calling) , shooting with both eyes open is not as big as an advantage as it is when you are hunting bears or whitetails that tend to offer shots in more low light conditions. There is still an advantage though as shooting with both eyes open is not only good for depth perception, light gathering and balance. It also allows you to shoot a much more relaxed shot. Squinting or closing one eye is not natural and it adds stress into our shot. A good test to show someone or yourself this is to tell someone to close an eye and then just walk around and do normal activities. You quickly realize it is not near as comfortable as having both eyes open. Shooting with both eyes open is definitely an advantage for the archer.
You can even train your eyes to allow you to shoot with both eyes open while shooting cross dominant. It is not easy and at many times your eyes will switch dominance without you knowing (shooting cross dominant). The best thing to do when at full draw before looking through your peep is to squint your right eye (in your case) and acquire the target with your left. With practice and after the target is acquired you will be able to open your right eye and not have eye dominance switch. One thing to keep in mind is that peep alignment is extremely critical when you are shooting like this. Given the fact that your brain wants your dominant eye to be your sighting eye, something that obscures your vision slightly will cause \"aiming\" to shift to the dominant eye. Something as simple as a peep not turning to where you can see through it cleanly will do this. I know this from experience as I about cut my blind in half with a Magnus Bullhead a few years ago in turkey season. I had a big gobbler at 7 yards beating the crap out of my Dakota Jake. I came to full draw (I later realized my peep was not turning and caused this to happen) put my pin on his head and started pulling. The shot went off and I missed by 2 feet! I had no idea what had happened until I got home and checked my equipment and the peep issue revealed itself. It did exactly the same thing on a target at a similar distance.
I shot right handed for 20 years before I switched to lefty. It and learning to shoot with backtension (even on game animals) took me from being a sub par to average shooter to a pretty darn good shot.
I am going to attempt to shoot a back tension release in the off-season. I shoot decent but I would like to be a good archer. My son shoots a lot of 3D and is an awesome shooter. I would like to take credit for his ability but he is self-taught. He shoots a back-tension sometimes and swears it makes him better. That is one of my goals for next year-become a better shooter! :upthumb:
Umm, it depends?
For compound bow and rifles/pistols, I shoot with the non-dominant eye closed. I\'ve tried keeping both eyes open, yet can\'t hit the broadside of a barn and get a massive headache after a few minutes.
BUT, I shoot longbow and recurve with both eyes open. No headache and I shoot more accurately than with one eye closed.
It makes no sense at all. I shoot instinctive compound (no sight), and prefer ironsights on guns, so it\'s not necessarily an issue of sights/scopes vs. instinctive. No idea...
For compound bow and rifles/pistols, I shoot with the non-dominant eye closed. I\'ve tried keeping both eyes open, yet can\'t hit the broadside of a barn and get a massive headache after a few minutes.
BUT, I shoot longbow and recurve with both eyes open. No headache and I shoot more accurately than with one eye closed.
It makes no sense at all. I shoot instinctive compound (no sight), and prefer ironsights on guns, so it\'s not necessarily an issue of sights/scopes vs. instinctive. No idea...
