To shoot accurately, an instinctive archer must take a stance that ensures stability and a good view of the target.”No snap shooting,” Mike Fedora admonishes.

Pennsylvania’s legendary bowyer and one-time trick shot Mike Fedora has been a professional archery instructor for more than a half century. Fedora continues to conduct barebow shooting seminars and one-on-one clinics at his shop based in Richland, PA, where he renders this thing called “instinctive shooting” down to the basics. Over the decades he has helped countless archers master instinctive shooting.

“It’s like throwing horseshoes,” Fedora said. “Or bowling. It’s a very simple thing to do -- a very rewarding and challenging way to shoot.”

Fedora says many longbow and recurve shooters have good days and bad -- they suffer from inconsistency -- but they have no idea why. According to Fedora, the root of the trouble usually lies in plain view. Through his shooting clinics, Fedora has found that most people don’t even hold the bow correctly. Any one of a handful of problems can hamper improvement.

“In archery, the chief words are repetition and control. It’s about playing the instrument the way it was meant to be played,” Fedora said. He points out that none of his methods are new. Rather, they were hammered out in bowhunting’s “good old days,” the 1950s and ‘60s, when Howard Hill was “hunting the hard way” and target and field archery were the rage.

According to Fedora, the most reliable way to execute the shot -- from stance to grip -- has been forgotten or, worse, inexplicably ignored by the majority of barebow shooters today.

“Some of the best-known instinctive shooters even teach and unwittingly encourage improper form in their books and videos,” Fedora said. “If an archer is not practicing good form -- or has never learned what that means -- he can only get so good and will never shoot to his potential.”

Get a Grip
More than 50 years ago, when Fedora first began crafting custom longbows and recurves, he watched and studied the best -- Ben Pearson, Fred Bear, and Howard Hill. Looking to create the most accurate and forgiving bows, he took a major design tip from the master, Howard Hill, to craft the distinct grip and riser section that are now trademarks of Fedora bows.

According to Fedora, Hill was known for bows that measured as much as three inches across the back of the riser. Hill was a big man, but in the age before the “wrist sling,” target archers understood that a larger grip helped negate one of the biggest detriments to arrow accuracy -- bow torque.

While Fedora will make any grip style a customer requests, he favors his custom-designed, meaty-looking risers with meticulously carved thumb rests because they encourage perfect -- and consistent -- hand position on every shot.

“The fingers of the bow hand should be pressed evenly against the center line along the back of the riser so that when pressure is applied, the handle rests firmly in line with the palm,” Fedora said.

Pressure on the palm assures a firm hold on the bow while keeping everything aligned with the target during the draw and release. And it nearly eliminates erratic arrow flight caused by torque.

A larger grip also allows your hand and fingers to fall around the bow naturally. When you draw a bow with a larger grip, the bow pivots naturally in your hand to ensure the perfect degree of cant and elbow bend, shot after shot. This improves accuracy and maximizes clearance between the string and your bow arm and body.