So you’ve done your homework and selected the right bow, arrows, scope and other gear to compliment your shooting style. You’re ready to shoot at your first 3D target, your bow is drawn and…
‘Oh, how far away is that thing anyway?’
Judging ranges is not only an important part of 3D archery, but it’s a critical part of any type of archery. Some think that your ability to accurately judge ranges is as important, if not more, than how good your shot is.
If you think about it, it doesn’t matter if you have the best gear, form, shot sequence and aim – if you’re shooting ten yards off from the target.
There are many archers who swear that shooting lots of 3D archery not only improves your distance judging, but your overall shot as well. When you’re aiming and shooting at 3D targets, you’re training yourself to shoot at real, three dimensional targets – rather than flat pieces of paper.
If you really want to get good at judging yardage, you’ve got to be serious enough to commit to lots of practice. Learning to judge distances of targets usually takes as much time as learning to shoot properly, if not more.
You need to start practicing judging ranges as much as you practice your shot, so set aside a portion of each one of your practice sessions to practice guessing target distances. Also, you should read this for many great drills that’ll improve your judging distances.
If you have a rangefinder, you’ll be using it a lot in the following weeks if you’re serious about getting better. If you don’t already own one, a quality entry level rangefinder (like this one) can get you in the game for a reasonable price.
A good practice is to walk to a random distance from a target, guess the range of the shot, use your rangefinder to find out what the range really is – and finally shoot. Rinse and repeat this process over and over. Adding this to a your regular routine will steadily increase your ability to accurately judge ranges correctly.
Do this at targets that are directly in front of you, as well as targets that are uphill, downhill, partially obscured and at various angles. If you practice this regularly for a few weeks you’ll notice your skill increase pretty easily over time.
Another great trick that lots of archers use is to put small, bright colored plastic flags at ten foot intervals where you regularly practice your shooting. The helps you both consciously and subconsciously, as you’re constantly seeing where ten foot intervals are the entire time that you’re shooting.
If you do this, try shooting while standing in the same place – but move the target around at different angles (left and right) and different distances. This will help you to naturally see the difference in not only target size, but also being able to judge the ground distance as well.
3D Tournament Yardage Checklist
There’s a sort of go to ‘checklist’ that several tournament archers run through to quickly estimate the range of a target before each shot. You can use this as is, or modify it for your liking, adding in some of your own tricks if you like.
Start by quickly looking directly at a target and just note what your first, best guess estimate is. Don’t think to much about this, just take note of whatever the first number that comes to your mind is. (Your first guess will be way more accurate if you’ve been practicing the technique outlined above for a few weeks.)
Next, look at the very bottom of the target, where the target touches the ground. Follow the ground back to you and try to guess the very center of the ground between you and the target.
Now guess the distance between you and that middle spot on the ground, then just double that number as your guess on the distance of the target. Finally, compare this number with your initial guess.
How close are the two numbers? Is there a comfortable middle ground? If your first guess was fifty yards and judging the ground distance was forty five, it may be safe to assume that the actual distance could be around forty eight.
The reason that lots of archers use this method is because it’s a lot easier to guess the middle distance between yourself and the target than it is to accurately guess the full distance to the target.
Another variation of this technique is to first count on the ground five yard distances from you to the target – and then back again. (You can use ten yard distances if it’s easier for you.)
Then you judge the middle distance and double it, as described above. This way you’ve got three numbers that you can compare – your five yard distances to the target, the same from the target to you and the doubled middle distance.
If you have a local 3D range or club near you, a great trick is to take ‘mental pictures’ of the targets at various distances. Try starting at ten yards, trying to quickly remember what that target at that distance looks like.
Then move to twenty yards, thirty and so on. If you repeat this fairly consistently, you’ll start to naturally be able to judge the ranges of targets by sizes. You’ll start to be able to ‘just tell’ that the deer size target is about thirty yards from you, while the coyote target is at about forty five yards.
Again, a big part of being able to consistently judge ranges accurately is practice, and lots of it. It takes most archers years of constant practice over thousands of targets to really get good.
Make Judging 20 Yards Automatic
It’s important to get twenty yards mastered, where you can accurately judge twenty yards almost every time.
It’s important to be able to consistently judge twenty yards correctly, as it’s an easy distance to double or triple estimate by sight. Also, because it’s an easier distance to judge yardage by as there’s less room for error than there is when guessing several increments of five or ten yards each.
For Example: A target is 50 yards away – One archer judges 20 yards, doubles it and sees that the target is about half the length of another 20 yards further – so he judges the target at 50 yards.
Another archer judges distances by increments of 5 yards at a time. He therefore has to estimate 5 yards, then 10 yards, then 15 and so on. He would have to guess 10 separate distances (each 5 yard guess – all the way to the target at 50 yards).
Whereas the first archer only had to guess three such estimates. That’s a lot less room for error!
Take that Rangefinder Wherever You Go
The great thing about rangefinders is that you guess what a range is – and immediately check to see if you’re right. Years ago archers used to use ropes with marks at every ten yards, tape measures and all other types of tricks to practice judging ranges. It’s much easier today!
Plus, rangefinders help by showing you accurate distances on all different types of terrain. They’ll help you improve your range guessing uphill, down hill and across water, etc.
Take your rangefinder with you on a walk in the woods. Just pick a random tree at any distance and guess the range. Check your guess with your rangefinder and repeat this over and over. If you take two or three walks a week (a half hour to an hour each) you’ll notice your guesses getting more and more spot on.
You can even keep your rangefinder on you at all times and use your daily walks around town to help you guessing the ranges of random buildings, parked cars, etc. Just be conscious of when and where you do this – you don’t want to freak anyone out!
For many archers it gets to a point where they’re no longer ‘guessing’ or ‘trying to figure out’ what the range is – they just instinctively know it. This comes with lots and lots of practice.
Enter Some Known Yardage 3D Tournament Shoots
A great way to get in practicing your judging ranges, without the tediousness that often comes with it is to enter a known yardage 3D shoot. This way you can have fun shooting, while paying close attention to the ranges of all of the targets – and how they look out in the wild.
You’ll be able to see what they look like on all different types of terrain. This will greatly help you see the difference between yardages that aren’t in a straight line at all. You’ll start to get a feel for a target slightly uphill at 50 yards, or a smaller target at 30.
A lot of archers say that after shooting in several known yardage class shoots their ability to judge yardage had improved greatly. So if you start getting bored with all of the different ways to practice judging distance – give it a try! You’ll get to socialize, shoot and have a little fun, all while improving your ranging skills.
The Unknown Range Game
I know a few guys who came up with their own game to make estimating yardage a bit more fun. They’ll sometimes play this before their local shoots, they all like to mess with each other – and winning the game becomes a sort of bragging rights thing for the night.
You take some index cards, poker chips or other such items that are small to medium size and all feel the same. Write different yardage distances on each of them: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 – you can mix this up and add however many you like. So you could have one 10 yards two 20 yards, two 30 yards and one 50 yard card. Set these up however seems the most fun yet challenging to you.
You can also write specific numbers if you want to make the game more difficult, like: 22, 26, 35, 39, 45, 51 and 55.
Put all of these cards in to a bag or a bowl with a towel covering it so that no one can see what each player is drawing. Each player reaches in without looking and draws a card. They then have to walk to what they think is that distance away from the target and shoot it.
After they’ve shot, they will range the target with a rangefinder to see how close they were to the correct distance. Then it’s the next players turn.
If you’ve got some buddies that are into archery, and if you’re all trying to improve your accuracy – this may be the game for you guys to try out.
By now you’ve learned a few different ways to judge the yardage of targets. I’ve put together this list of them from not only the most commonly used methods, but more importantly – the techniques that seem to create the best results for the largest amount of archers.
As I’ve said before, being able to consistently and accurately judge yardage correctly takes lots of time and practice. It may take years to master. But if you’re serious and you put the work in, even if it’s just a little at a time, the results will pay off.
Even if you only practice guessing yardages two or three times a week, over time your consistent effort will compound. After a few months when thinking back at where you started, you might just surprise yourself.
So start now, and stick with it. Just make the above exercises a part of your usual target practice routine. Even if it’s only for a few minutes at each practice, I assure you it will pay off in the long run.
I hope that this has taught you a thing or two, and that it helps you impress yourself with your shooting in the future. It’s a pretty satisfying thing to guess a range, shoot it and find out that you were spot on target. And all with no rangefinders, or other gadgets – just your skill alone. I want you to have that feeling too, so start practicing today.