Reddit reviews Hunting the Hard Way

I don't see why you couldn't practice stalking an animal. See Hunting the Hard Way.

Re moving targets I personally would not take a shot at a moving animal but I can't speak for others.

This isn't going to help you much immediately, but there's no one right answer for longbows. What works for me and what works for you might be completely different, and that's the beauty of the longbow form (it's really more about discovering what works for you and understanding why it works)

I too shoot longbow and it works out best for me when I cant the bow. Mechanically, how much you cant the bow doesn't really affect arrow flight that much (because archer's paradox and the right spine of arrow will correct for pretty much any cant you have on a longbow), but the reason why this works best for me is because the more I cant the bow, the greater my field of view (and target picture) is going to be, which allows me to focus more on the target. Focus is everything with traditional shooting styles.

Some people shoot better with the longbow held almost vertically, some people do best when they hold the bow flat. Part of the reason why I think longbow is the hardest style of archery to learn is because unlike olympic/target/compound shooting, there's no one right form to learn because so much of your longbow form is dependent on your body's make, shape, strength, etc.


That being said, if you're shooting longbow, it really helps to set your anchor so that the arrow is straight in line with the middle of your dominant eye-- this allows you to use your secondary/blurred vision to line up the arrow with your target (all of your focus needs to be on the target). This means you might have to lean forward and hunch over the bow a little


Some helpful books:
http://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Hard-Way-Howard-Hill/dp/1568331460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410501267&sr=8-1&keywords=hunting+the+hard+way

http://www.amazon.com/Become-Arrow-On-Target-Series/dp/091330509X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410501281&sr=8-1&keywords=become+the+arrow


And some videos:
(part 2 of 4-- skipping part 1 because it's mostly a rant about traditional shooting)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98fuYYD5LOM

(part 3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJKOZ6KfRRs

(part 4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jJh15ErDII


(also I tend to cant the longbow at slightly more than 45 degrees, unless I'm shooting while crouched (bow's held mostly parallel to the ground) or over an obstacle (bow's held almost straight up))

I think it comes down to what kind of experience you want to have. Pick up an issue of Traditional Bowhunter. Read through it. What do you think? Are you drawn to the old ways or do you want to go high tech? I'm a longbow guy, but I respect both approaches. The compound route gives you access to a LOT of really fun, effective technology. Rangerfinders and all of those things are really fun to use.

I chose longbow because I get a deer (or two) every year with my gun. For archery season I wanted to go to the absolute other end of the spectrum and try to hunt the hard way, as Howard Hill puts it. I might never get a deer with my longbow, but that's ok. Spot and stalk with a bow that weighs 1 pound and a quiver full of cedar arrows is as much fun as I've ever had in the woods.