Better Archery Part 1: Anchor & Release

Hey guys! It's Dalton Vaughn here at Better Outdoors and in this video, we're gonna show you a few tips and a few tricks on anchor point and how that involves your release and what role they play. So stay tuned!

Now we're going to get into the heart of this video. We're talking about your anchor point and your release and how the two correlate. Before we get started, the main thing I wanna bust, the main myth I wanna bust, and I'm gonna keep doing this, is you want a heavy trigger with no travel to shoot correctly. 

Now that's not to say with back tension, you're squeezing the trigger or any of that. We'll get into shot execution later. But what we've found, and it's universal, we've found it in a bunch of people shooting, is the heavier you can get that trigger with the least amount of travel, the better off you're gonna be. You're not going to anticipate as bad, you're not going to target panic as bad, and you can also learn to shoot back tension better this method than other methods we've found. 

That's not to say the way you're doing it's wrong, but this is just a few form flaws we've seen in the shot and I've recreated and we're going to check 'em out and see if we can get y'all shooting better.

First clip here, we've got the draw length on this bow was set exactly perfect for me. But what we're gonna see here is the draw length it appears is too long due to the fact that the release is behind the neck to where there's no good anchor point. You want to take your knuckle and you want to put it right in this jawbone line so at full draw you're locked in here, deep on the trigger, able to touch your nose to the string in most cases, and squeeze, pull, whatever you do to make it fire and you're going to be a lot steadier.

In this one, the release is set too long so the anchor is behind the head, it's floating, it's hard to hold steady this way. So let's check out another little flaw that we see come in here a lot too.

Now this form flaw, it's one of my most hated ones. You have the thumb behind the neck to try to find an anchor point, and you've got the release still too far back, and also in both of these, I've had the release on just a little too loose (which is a common thing that happens). And the finger, notice the finger in both clips, it was on the very tip on the trigger. 

When you do that and try to shoot it like a rifle, you're going to anticipate the trigger at some point, you're going to end up getting target panic really bad. I've done it, my Dad's done it, all of the people I know that hunt religiously have got it and it's happened. We've worked through it, it's not that big of a deal, but this is one of the main things: a light trigger, and trying to squeeze it with the very tip. 

Now this next clip, this is going to be pretty cool. This is a little bit different than what we're used to doing, so you'll like this.

Now we talk a lot about being steady and aiming steady, so in this clip I've got the same release and same form that I had in the past two clips. I'm going to draw back my bow with this laser on the end of it, and I'm going to do my best to keep my bow steady and still. You'll find that it's a lot harder to stay steady when you're trying to fight having a not solid and very, very movable anchor. It's not any fun.

Look at all that movement. When you have that much movement, imagine what that pin's doing. Keep that in mind, 'cause when that pin starts moving around like that and you start floating, you start to wanna punch, anticipate, drive-by, there's a million names for it. But this is just one of very many things that makes your bow unsteady, makes you unsteady, and makes your shot cycle just blow up on you.

We don't want that to happen at the moment of truth, whether we're shooting foam, or paper, or my favorite - deer. 

So now we're going to move on and show you what I consider and what many consider in the archery world to be the correct way to anchor and shoot. Now like I said, there's a lot of ways you guys out there shoot, and a lot of you shoot really good doing it your own way, but this is for the guys that need a little help, need a little reference, something to go by. But we do know what doesn't work, we've seen that. So watch this.

In this clip, I went to a shorter release in which this particular model is the Scott Silverhorn, where we had the Little Goose. Now keep in mind that all of them do adjust and you can get them all short, and you can get any other brand just as short. So in this clip, I've got my nose on the string good, I've got that pocket found with my knuckle on my jawbone, I've got my finger deep on the trigger, and I'm able to execute and shoot and hold very steady. 

And this is what I look for a lot of the times for our customers to do is to do their best to get in this anchor point right here, in this jawline, I'm gonna talk about it a lot with this first knuckle. We've also got customers too that shoot like this where they have their index finger over and they pull the trigger with their middle finger and that lets them lock in here like a handheld. So keep that in mind, that might be something to try. We've got some guys that prefer that over any other method.

Now we're going to move and we're going to show you just how steady that method is with a solid anchor that's repeatable every time, whether you're aiming down a hill, out of a tree stand, up a hill, anywhere. You can see how much steadier it is than the other method was.

Now for this clip, we're gonna draw back with a laser on our bow. Same bow, same draw length, same everything, we've just got the good solid anchor that's really repeatable that will help you shoot out of a deer stand, at 3D, here indoors shooting with us, just shooting with your buddies it don't matter, you want a repeatable anchor and that's what this. So check out how much steadier this anchor is than the other method was. 

As you can tell, the pin which is the same as the laser is just barely moving. The pin's actually going to move less, but unlike the other one this laser's holding so steady, it's staying just about within the 10-9 ring on this Vegas target. 

When you're able to do that, you're able to aim a lot better, you're a lot more calm, you've got a repeatable anchor that's a lot steadier, and you feel locked in. And when you feel locked in you've got confidence to make the shot you need to make. 

So try this out, bring your bow into the shop, we'll work with you, we'll work on your bow, work on your release. You may have to move your peep sight, but try this in the yard shooting or come up here to our range and try it there. I think you'll be impressed with the results. We've got a lot more of these videos coming out, so check those soon enough.

We're going to talk a little bit about the models from Scott that we recommend to fix your anchor and to fix your shot and to make you shoot a lot better. 

Well guys, as y'all have seen in the past few clips, you want a release that's as short as you can get it so that you can have a good anchor behind the jawbone with this knuckle. When you do that you also have a real deep hook on the trigger. The deeper hook you can get the better.

So we're going to make this a little bit simpler on you guys and show you a few releases from Scott which is the only release brand that we carry that we trust and that we sell every day that can adapt for all of those situations. For big hands and small hands and all things in between. 

We're going to start off, this is the Silverhorn. I've also got the Rhino XT in stock. The Silverhorn's probably going to be your shortest option. It's got just the hook which is very nice to hunt with. You don't ever have to take your eyes off the deer to nock your arrow and shoot and draw back to shoot, so that's really cool and those start at $99. 

The camo Rhino XT starts at $109.99. But as we go down, the Little Goose, which is another one of very most favorites, which is this cat here, it also adjusts the same amount, it goes up three notches and three in just like the Rhino does, but instead it's a single caliper rather than a jaw. This one too can get as short as you need it or stretch out there some, but you can always get all of your finger on the trigger, have a really nice comfortable strap, all of them do. This release goes for $79.99. Also available in camo.

We go down the line a little bit more to one that a lot of our customers are shooting and that's the Caliper. It's non-adjustable, rather than having the three notches, but it's non-adjustable, it's fixed. It has a dual caliper jaw instead of the single so it's different from the other ones. And this is more in line with what a lot of folks are used to shooting is the dual caliper. But these are really good, we've sold a boatload of 'em. I trust 'em and for $64 you really can't beat it. If you're looking to get a new bow this is a really good way to go. 

If you feel like that doesn't offer you enough flexibility with the length that you can set it so you can get a good anchor, good finger on the trigger, they also have the Samurai which has a nylon strap in the middle. Same kind of jaw head, dual caliper jaw, good trigger, all of 'em have a good trigger on 'em, you can set the tension really high which with any bow trigger and I'm going to repeat myself a thousand times, any good bow trigger needs to have a heavy trigger with no travel.

You can set most all of the Scotts fairly heavy, with the Rhino XT and the Mongoose XT being the heaviest set ones of the whole bunch. 

We hope this video has helped you guys out a bunch. I know I enjoy making these. We've got a series of these coming out so stay tuned for more. I hope you come by the shop before bow season and get to shooting, don't wait til the last minute.

Thanks everybody!