Hill style of shooting, it's all in the approach Pt. 2

     When we approach the Hill method of shooting and aiming, we listen to his advice in the later years' teaching after he'd made the switch totally from field archery and tournament shooting to hunting and the occasional exhibition.  During those later years is when he taught the Schulz brothers to shoot and according to John, at no time did Hill talk to them or instruct them in the split vision aiming method.  Schulz said that Hill emphasized to "bore a hole" through the animal/target.  Concentrate on the spot.

    In fact, Schulz taught in his video to "Bore a hole through it, concentrate on it, try to black out everything else...."  Doesn't sound like someone teaching us to be aware of the arrow tip, does it?  Neither does it sound like someone that is concerned about thinking about executing perfect shooting form and shot process.  When you combine his teaching of being Fluid and flowing, shooting in a smooth continuous motion you can see how it's nigh impossible to be aware of the arrow tip and placing it on a spot on the target for a secondary aiming reference and still keeping fluid.  Not saying it can't be done, because I do believe Hill originally shot this way.  However, as John said, the longer Hill shot, the more Instinctual his shooting form/aiming became.  It became second nature and most of the sight picture during the shot, I believe, was done via the subconscious and muscle memory.  Just like a trained musician eventually reaches the place where they do not think of the mechanics of playing their instrument, they just allow the body and mind to work together and the hand fingering, or drumming, or whatever action is accomplished without conscious thought.

    But how to reach that level while shooting a bow?  Well, therein is the blank bale practice that Hill taught Schulz.  Weeks of daily practice with no target on the bale to divert the attention while the muscle memory is being learned.  Hill and Schulz said you can't work on form, and concentrate on hitting a target at the same time.  Once the form is ingrained, then it's time to go put it into practice...away from the target bale.  Remember, Hill is teaching Schulz the hunting method, not the target method.  Taking a Schulz bowhunting class, the student realizes that at no time is a target face used to shoot at.  It's either a stack of blank bales (at short range) to work on form,  or the practice was on three other types of hunting shot accuracy.  The wand, the sticks of intricate shooting, and the moving targets. 

    Schulz's method of teaching hunting accuracy Hill style (after form was evaluated at the blank bales) was to first shoot around the area at various bushes, stumps, etc under his watchful eye, always careful to make sure the swing draw motion was fluid and casual. No stressing about missing, no holding or interrupting the fluid draw motion to adjust aim, just continual practice of smoot, fluid draw and release upon anchor...both hands stationary. No matter the shot distance or difficulty, always the same rhythm and bore a hole.  Let misses go, and congratulate the hits. Always a positive vibe, each shot in some way made to imitate shooting an animal. Then practice went to the long wand shoot around 100 yards. Same idea, fluid smooth rythmic shot process. This is where things can fall apart because the archer doesn't like to see the misses. But after a few shots, a few quivers full, it's amazing how quickly the eye/hand coordination starts bringing the arrows in line with a 4" wand. Still no holding at full draw or mention of gaps, seeing the arrow tips, or anything but just bore a hole at the wand and shoot, AND... Holding proper form until the arrow lands.  When the emphasis isn't on a target face, it's actually quite amazing how accurate you can shoot at that distance. Target faces can induce a certain fear in archers who have based all their practice shooting at some kind of target, in a setting where accuracy is measured by the groups of arrows in the bull. Remove the target face, remove some fear and you start making it fun and with that comes a relaxed casual approach which in turn results in a more fluid shot.  It all goes hand in hand.

    After the wand practice got the archer whizzing arrows near to, or hitting the wand, practice went to the intricate shooting at sticks. The target was a horizontal stick or a vertical stick, about the diameter of an  arrow, suspended above the ground horizontally or stuck in the ground vertically. Shot at about 10 yards. No safety net backstop to catch an errant arrow until it skipped to a stop against a distant hill. This fine tuned the archers eye to narrowing the focus at a fine point, howbeit that fine point was suspended in the air. Very much like the shooting one would do if hunting squirrels or birds perched on limbs with no backstop. As target archers are used to shooting for groups at a small spot on a target face, arrows safely nestled in the backstop, there is something that affects our psyche when we have a chance of losing or destroying an arrow with a miss.  This action can cause fear and TP and the archer becomes static, and can have erratic form in the grip of fear...it's good training to learn to relax, and continue the fluid smooth shot process when trying to hit a stick floating in front of a distant fuzzy backdrop.  "Bore a hole in it " the constant Schulz reminder.

    Finally the archer gets to shoot moving targets. This is where the fluid Hill style shot process shines. Shooting tossed discs allows the mind to forget about form. No way to think of anchor, release, etc when there is a disc moving vertically for 1.5 seconds. You have to follow the target with your eyes, draw and shoot while relying on the muscle memory built in from the thousands of shots at the blank bales. No way to observe how tight your arrow groups are,. therefore target archery is forgotten.  But the practice is ingraining the mind, eye and body to follow the target and without conscious thought, doing the act of shooting a bow like the musician plays the instrument. The shooting form process and all it's nuances and reference points gets relegated to the subconscious, which is actually, very able to handle it... If we allow it to.

   Final shooting is at a running deer target. Ohh, the tough one. Hard to retain composure, hard to keep fluid and not dwell on form, yet not just winging an arrow either.  The shot process HAS to remain fluid and casual... Yet maintaining proper form and follow through.  This is where all the hours and thousands of shots at the blank bales pays off.  Follow the spot in the deer you want to hit, from the very first you see the animal. "Bore a hole through it, try to black out everything else."  Nothing else exists but that spot. When that commitment is made, it's absolutely amazing how accurately a bow can shoot an arrow into the chest of moving animals. The archer that's committed to the fluid Hill style and has put in the practice of shooting without a target face on a backstop, can absolutely shoots very well and accurately with no thought of form, and will not know if he touched anchor, gripped the bow correctly, released smoothly, kept the bow arm on target, etc.  All concentration is on the spot to hunt. All. No matter what.

     This system is not willy-nilly.  It's a commitment to shooting many dedicated hours in front of a blank bale, ingraining proper form by slowly and fluidly shooting arrow after arrow while thinking through each step. It's a system that requires the archer to trust the muscle memory that was ingrained and not overthink and double-cross the process. The blank bale shooting isn't a drudgery any more than the musician practices the scales over and over. It's part of the game... But there cannot be the influence of a target to distract from the attention to the each aspect of form.  Then, as Hill said and what the hunting practice that Schulz taught... " At No time while making a shot in the bush do I ever allow myself to think about the mechanics of shooting. All thoughts at such a time are concentrated on the game and on aiming the arrow"   This kind of practice reinforces that idea... Bale practice equals no target thinking, all other shooting equals no shot mechanics thinking. 

     Schulz was adamant about boring a hole and having utter, complete concentration on the spot to hit. With that type of concentration, the archer has no recollection of reaching a perfect anchor point, or worrying about the release hand when shooting that squirrel hanging out on the limb. No worries of proper back tension when that buck walks into view. No conscious thought except starting the draw and seeing that spot. We all have this ability in us. Exercise it. Practice it, learn it and you too, in all hunting shot situations can

Shoot straight.