When a Bad Shot Isn’t Bad
FIRST
■ ■ ■ SHOT
BY CHRISTIAN BERG
A
fterslowlycomingto full
draw, I settledinto my
anchor position,looked
through my peep and stead-
iedmyaimonthedeer’s vitals.
Holding my sightpin carefully
behind the buck’s shoulder,
I pulled through the shot and
watched as my arrow sailed
downrangeandhithome.
“Heart shot!” my buddy Brian
exclaimed.“That’sa greatshot—if
youwerebowhunting.”
The onlyproblem was, I wasn’t
bowhunting.I wasshootinga team
3-Dtournamentatmylocalarchery
club.Anddespitethefactmyarrow
wouldhavekilleda realdeerwith-
in seconds,I waslessthanthrilled
withitslocationonthefoamtarget.
Inthe3-Dgame,missingbyevena
fractionofaninchwillcostyoupre-
ciouspoints.Andonthistarget,I not
onlymissedthe12-ringwhereI was
aimingbutfellbelowthe10-ringas
well,forcingBrianandI tocard an8.
Nevermindan8 meansyouhitthe
animal’svitalarea;onthe3-Dcourse
8sarekillers,andnotina goodway!
To be truly good atthe 3-Dgame,
even12sreallyaren’tgoodenough;
youmustbeabletoconsistentlyhit
the 14-ring, which measures about
thesizeofa 50-centpiece.
Now,I’mno“targethead”whenit
comesto archery. I’ma bowhunter
firstandforemost,andI tendtoeval-
uateeveryshotwitha bowhunter’s
mentality.Inotherwords,wouldthe
arrowplacementbesufficienttore-
sultina quick,cleankillonanani-
malinthefield?If theansweris yes,
I’mgenerallysatisfied.
However,I alsohavegreatap-
preciationfortheaddedprecisionit
takestosucceedintarget shooting,
andoneofmygoalsfor 2019 wasto
domoretargetshootingleadingup
tohuntingseason.Toward thatend,
I got myfirsttrue targetbow —a
PSEPerform-X3D—andcarriedit
withmethissummerfrommyown
backyardrangetolocalclubshoots
totheMTNOPSCourseattheTotal
ArcheryChallenge.
Alongtheway,I hada lotoffun
(the 3-D game can be addicting),
improvedasa shooterandcameto
a deeperappreciationforthemen
andwomenwhoconsistentlyreach
the victor’spodium.Although you
certainlywon’tseemeontheASA
Pro/Amtouranytimesoon,that’s
notthepoint.Thepointis thattarget
shootinghelpstrainmybraintonar-
rowitsfocusfroma pieplate-sized
vitalareatoa verysmallspotwith-
inthatzone.Astheoldadagesays,
“Aimsmall,misssmall.”Andwhen
youplaythetargetgame,you’llfind
yourselfaimingsmallerandmissing
smallerthaneverbefore.
Thatmindsetis a tremendousasset
inthefield,becauseit keepsyouin
thekillzonenotonlywhenyoumake
a goodshot,butevenwhenyoumake
a “bad”one.Knowingevenyourbad
shotsaredeadly?Now,THAT’sconfi-
dence!Andconfidencekills.
8 PETERSEN’S BOWHUNTING 09 • 20 19
PUBLISHERJeffWaring
EDITORIALSTAFF
EDITORChristianBerg
ART DIRECTOR MarkOlszewski
ASSOCIATEEDITORTaylorPardue
EDITORIALASSISTANTSallyBurkey
ASSISTANTARTDIRECTORJasonHenning
FIELDEDITORS
HUNTINGSOLOEddieClaypool
CROSSBOWSBobHumphrey
GEARTESTINGJonE. Silks
BETTERBOWHUNTINGRandyUlmer
BOWHUNTING 101 Bill Winke
ADVERTISINGSALES
ADVERTISINGSALESMANAGERMarkThiffault
(720)[email protected]
ADVERTISINGSALESREPJeffMillar
(717)[email protected]
PRODUCTION
MANAGERBrittanyKennedy(717)695-
[email protected]
COORDINATORLeahJaroh(717)695-
[email protected]
ENDEMICADSALES
nationalendemicsales
JimMcConville(440)791-
westernregion
HutchLooney
NATIONALADSALES
accountdirector– detroitoffice
KevinDonley(248)798-
nationalaccountexecutive– chicagooffice
CarlBenson(312)955-
di rectresponseadvertising/non-endemic
AnthonySmyth(914)693-
http://www.bowhuntingmag.com
BOWHUNTING, (ISSN # 1049-9768) is published
9 times a year, including one double issue; Jan/Feb,
Mar (Gear Guide), Apr/May, June, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct,
Nov/Dec, by OUTDOOR SPORTSMAN GROUP®, 1040 6th
Ave., 12th Floor, New York, NY 10018-3703. Periodical
postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing
offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change (form 3579)
to Bowhunting, P.O. Box 37539, Boone, IA 50037-0539.
Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 500 Rt. 46
East,Clifton,NJ 0 7011.CanadaPostPublicationsMail
AgreementNo. 4 1405030.
AnOutdoor Sportsman Group® Publication
̈
SUBSCRIPTIONS INQUIRIES: Should you wish to change your address,
order new subscriptions, or report a problem with your current subscrip-
tion, you can do so by writing Bowhunting, P.O. Box 37539, Boone, IA
50037-0539, or e-mail us at [email protected], or call
TOLL FREE (800) 800-4269. BE AWARE THAT PETERSEN’S BOWHUNT-
ING ONLY ACCEPTS SUBSCRIPTION REQUESTS FROM AUTHORIZED
AGENTS! WE MAY NOT HONOR REQUESTS FROM UNAUTHORIZED
AGENTS, AND YOU THEREFORE MAY LOSE YOUR MONEY IF YOU BUY
FROM AN UNAUTHORIZED AGENT. If you are offered a subscription to
Petersen’s Bowhunting, please call 1-800-800-4269 to determine if the
agent is authorized. For more information on subscription scams, please
visit http://www.ftc.gov.
Subscription rate for one year is $17.97 (U.S., APO, FPO, and U.S. pos-
sessions). Canada add $13.00 (U.S. funds) per year, includes sales tax
and GST. Foreign add $15.00 (U.S. funds) per year.
Occasionally, our subscriber list is made available to reputable firms offer-
ing goods and services that we believe would be of interest to our readers.
If you prefer to be excluded, please send your current address label
and a note requesting to be excluded from these promotions to:
Outdoor Sportsman Group® • 1040 6th Ave., 12th Floor, New York, NY
10018-3703 • Attn: Privacy Coordinator or email your label informa-
tion and note to [email protected]
FOR REPRINTS: For Reprints/Eprints or Licensing/Permissions, please
contact: Wright’s Media - TOLL FREE (877) 652-5295.
CONTRIBUTIONS: Manuscripts, photographs and artwork must be sub-
mitted to the Editorial Office with a SASE. The Publisher assumes no
responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited material. Please send to:
Bowhunting • 6385 Flank Drive, Suite 800 • Harrisburg, PA 17112-
(717) 695-8085 Fax: (717) 545-
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
One of the most enjoyable ways to
become a better bowhunter is taking
up target shooting in the off-season.
Here, Editor Christian Berg shoots his
PSE Perform-X 3D.
