3D archery for bowhunters is about a lot more than flinging arrows at foam animals.
It’s one of the best ways to learn how to aim at a deer, elk, bear, whatever, that has no discernible bullseye, and where to put an arrow to make a killing shot.
Honestly, the best way to learn archery for hunting is to shoot a lot of big game animals.
But of course, we can’t control the animals to show up for such practice, and you might live in a place that doesn’t allow you to shoot many.
So what’s the next best way to get that practical experience? Going to a 3D shoot, where you walk through the woods and take shots at three-dimensional foam game animals at varying distances and angles. It really is the next best thing to shooting real deer.
What Is a 3D Shoot?
Three-D shoots come in all shapes and sizes. There are local club shoots, where the primary emphasis is on practicing for bowhunting.
There are state and regional competitions, hosted by any number of organizations including Total Archery Challenge.
And there are national competitions, primarily led by IBO, the International Bowhunting Organization, and ASA, the Archery Shooters Association.
Before diving into competitive 3D archery, let’s talk about what’s involved with the game and why it matters to bowhunters.
The goal is to shoot a three-dimensional foam deer, elk or bear in a spot that would produce a hit to the vital organs if the animal were real. It’s much more realistic than simply shooting at a 2-D paper target.
3D Archery Offers Realistic Practice
You can shoot the target at different angles and from different elevations, situations like you might encounter while bowhunting.
After the shot, you can walk up to the target and examine your arrow to determine what, if any, vitals it would have hit.
That’s valuable intel before you hit the woods to chase the real thing.
3D Archery Teaches Better Shot Placement
Another key bowhunting skill 3D archery will teach you is how to aim at something when there is no obvious aiming point.
When shooting at a bullseye target, the very center is brightly colored and your eye goes right to it. A deer is just brown all over its vital area. But you need to pick a spot that will send your arrow through the vitals and hold your pin on it.
This is trickier than it sounds. When you’re aiming at a bullseye target, you notice immediately when your sight pin wanders off the center.
When you’re aiming at a brown mass, you won’t notice that movement as readily because the pin stays on the brown mass, even though it might be moving several inches left, right, up or down.
Shooting at 3D targets, you’ll learn to recognize that movement because when you shoot, if your arrow doesn’t hit the spot you thought it should have, you’ll see it.
The more you shoot, the more you’ll learn to control your pin so it sits on an exact spot.
3D Archery Helps Bowhunters Judge Distance
You’ll learn about using your rangefinder and then adjusting your movable sight to the yardage reported, or about holding fixed pins high or low when yardages are in between the distances for which your pins are set.
Or, if you don’t carry a rangefinder, you’ll learn to judge distance on the fly.
Even if you do carry a rangefinder, I think it’s a good idea to practice judging distance because you don't always have time when bowhunting to dig a rangefinder out of your pocket or pack to range a deer.
Competitive 3D Archery Builds Confidence Under Pressure
Competitive 3D archery adds another skill that will benefit bowhunters: learning to shoot under pressure. There’s very little pressure to make good shots when shooting a 3D course at the local club with your buddies for fun.
When you’re shooting for score and trying to beat other people, there is pressure to perform.
Levi Morgan is one of the best competitive 3D archers on the planet, and he’s also an avid bowhunter. He has said many times that he has never found anything like competing in a tournament that better imitates the adrenaline rush that comes when you’re drawing back on a live big-game animal.
In competition, you either learn to deal with that adrenaline or you lose. For bowhunters who can’t handle the rush, things can go horribly wrong when shooting at a real animal.
You have to be able to control your body, settle your sight pin and focus your mind on the task at hand when your heart is pumping like a freight train.
So many bowhunters mess up easy shots on deer because they get overwhelmed in the moment.
READ MORE: John Dudley Q&A: Archery and Bowhunting Have Come So Far
3D Archery Classes for Different Setups
The IBO and ASA offer a variety of classes that allow for different equipment, including classes for compound bowhunting gear, traditional equipment and compound bows. Basically, whatever you use to bowhunt, there’s a class for you.
In addition to all these bowhunting skills you can glean from 3D archery, you’ll also be strengthening your basic shooting skills, which is critical to a muscle-memory activity like shooting a bow and arrow.
It’s a win on all fronts, and it’s a lot of fun. Give it a try this summer and see if you don’t find yourself a more confident bowhunter this fall.