Cold-snap Coming

[Doc]

Ok guys.... According to our weatherman here in Western NY, we are supposed to have a significant cold snap where temperatures will not be getting out of the 40's. There is even some talk about wet snow flurries (no significant accumlation) in the higher elevations.

So, we will all be getting a chance to put on some of that bulky winter clothing and see just what kinds of interferences and form difficulties we might be encountering with all that junk on. That's always an exciting bunch of experimentation for me each year. Sometimes it's no problem and other times it becomes a nightmare.

Lol ... anybody can shoot well in a short sleeved shirt. Sometimes those insulated coveralls can change anchors, follow-throughs, back tension, string/sleeve clearances, and all kinds of more mysterious problems. We'll soon be getting a chance to find out.

[silent death]

I say bring it on ... I would love to have snow on the ground for bow seaseon. something we rarely see here in the southern zone. we have snow for gun seaseon but not bow. that would be awesome

[G-Man]

I have snow for bow season every year...not nice as u think id rather have a cold frosty morninig with crunchy leaves than snow even during gun!! i can hear things coming a lot better than seeing them as for tracking....with a good shot nothing ever gets out of line of sight bow or gun.... i'm sure i will have a frost sat night and if they are calling for flurries in higher elevation i will definatly have snow... cuba and case lake are the first to freeze every year...great for ice fisherman bad for growing things...my corn could use a few more weeks to dry down.....

[nyantler]

It can snow from now until the last day of late muzzleloader as far as I'm concerned.

[5.9cummins]

I have snow for bow season every year...not nice as u think id rather have a cold frosty morninig with crunchy leaves than snow even during gun!! i can hear things coming a lot better than seeing them as for tracking....with a good shot nothing ever gets out of line of sight bow or gun.... i'm sure i will have a frost sat night and if they are calling for flurries in higher elevation i will definatly have snow... cuba and case lake are the first to freeze every year...great for ice fisherman bad for growing things...my corn could use a few more weeks to dry down.....

Loon freezes before Cuba.

[WNYBuckHunter]

It will be good to shoot more with the hunting gear on. Ive done a little with my light jacket and gloves, but none with any base layers and such on yet.

No way on the snow. The corn will never get harvested if it started snowing now. Ive been in the snow for opening day of bow, and you know, I wasnt that happy with it. Leaves on the trees, ice, heavy snow falling on my head off of the branches above me. Nope. Not what I enjoy early in the season.

[sweet old bill]

The real test is my 2 xl camo coverall still fit from one season to the next and or do I still have time to lose about 15 lbs prior to snow fall. I have scheduled the middle of this coming week for wash all the camo and air out the wool. A great time I heard about for wool is just put them in a larget plastic bad with a 1/4 box of baking soda and shake it around awhile and then pull the wood coat / pants out of the bad and let air for about two hours and he siad all human scent is gone. I am going to try it as I sure do not send my wool to the cleaners.He also said he sprays down the coat and pants with leaves of fall scent killer and also then put the wool in a plastic tote from Walmart that he puts pine in the bottom of the tote. I know that works as that how I store all my hunting items with pine in the bottom of a tote. I have 5 totes nowto handle the sizes from fat to real fat or 2 xl to 3 xl....

[Doc]

Well, today was the first of the colder-than-crap days and I did get a chance to wear the heavy bulky stuff. I have a few issues that will need more work. Groups at 20 yards moved about 3" right at 20 yards....... super consistantly. Not good. It all felt very uncomfortable and strange. I can't have a situation where I have to have different pin windages depending on what clothes I wearing, so something is going to have to be done about that.

[NYBowhunter]

Well, today was the first of the colder-than-crap days and I did get a chance to wear the heavy bulky stuff. I have a few issues that will need more work. Groups at 20 yards moved about 3" right at 20 yards....... super consistantly. Not good. It all felt very uncomfortable and strange. I can't have a situation where I have to have different pin windages depending on what clothes I wearing, so something is going to have to be done about that.

Doc your making it sound like this is your first year shooting a bow with bulky clothes, I would assume this is a thing that all hunters go through each year......I would think that if your form is true the clothes should only be an annoyance and not an accuracy issue. The only issue I see with bulky clothes is if the string slaps againt a loose fitting sleeve. May want to recheck the bow or your form, just a thought.....good luck.

[pawle76]

That's why they make arm guards

[Doc]

Doc your making it sound like this is your first year shooting a bow with bulky clothes, I would assume this is a thing that all hunters go through each year......I would think that if your form is true the clothes should only be an annoyance and not an accuracy issue. The only issue I see with bulky clothes is if the string slaps againt a loose fitting sleeve. May want to recheck the bow or your form, just a thought.....good luck.

Every year it is a struggle. I find that I tend to get tightened up by heavy layers of clothing. There is plenty of looseness in the size of the clothing, but it feels like going from skinny to the Michelin man.....lol. It's harder to draw back and get the same relaxation at full draw that I get all summer when I am shooting in just a shirt. I never feel that I am getting the proper back tension and the draw always feels a bit crunched up and constricted. Elbows don't hinge as easily with extra bulk around them. The relaxation into a full draw is not as fluid. Sometimes I get interferences with my sleeve which is easy to fix through extra arm rotation, but I also have to wrestle with string interference with the additional bulk in the chest area which then forces me to open up my stance a bit. These are all little adjustments that have to be made that do not necessarily correspond to the summer's form when all I had to worry about was a t-shirt. Every little adjustment and change effects point of impact and adjustments have to be made. It's just something that I have to work around, and these couple of days of cold weather are just what is needed to locate and fix these problems.

I have to mention that I am not talking about just throwing on some extra jacket. I am talking about foundation wear, an extra shirt, a sweater, a lined vest and finally a heavy insulated set of camo coveralls. Kind of a rig that sets me up for a day's worth of low 20s or 30s with high wind chill effects. Nothing on me bends or twists anywhere near the same as anything that I've been wearing all summer long. And yes, that does have an effect on my form and the arrows point of impact. And yes, I do have to make compensation for all that. Frankly, I am surprised that others don't encounter some of these same problems when they pile on the heavy clothes.

[sweet old bill]

Doc it may not be the hunting togs that cause the problem but when you put them on they sure does not feel the same as shooting in a t-shirt and 85 degree weather. A lot of guys go thru this as they seem to for some reason to with heavy hunting togs to overdraw there bow and also change how they ancor. That sure can make you change the right or left of the arrow as you change the position of the release on your ancor and also the peep position...

[Doc]

Doc it may not be the hunting togs that cause the problem but when you put them on they sure do not feel the same as shooting in a t-shirt and 85 degree weather. A lot of guys go thru this as they seem to for some reason to with heavy hunting togs to overdraw there bow and also change how they ancor. That sure can make you change the right or left of the arrow as you change the position of the release on your ancor and also the peep position...

One scary thing is that some guys never find out the effects of heavy clothing on their shooting until they have a deer in front of them. Over the last couple of days I got to work out a few things. Our little mini-coldsnap allowed me to check out a few things in that regard.