Traditional Archery - Crash Course 

Prime RU-vid. No fluff or unimportant entertainment, just great advice from years of experience 👍

"Crocs will make you shoot better." Been saying it for years! Thank you!

Those overhead views are incredibly educational. Thank you.

Always appreciate these instructional videos. Would love to see a pacific yew stave selection, harvest, and curing video.

Clay how I have missed your archery vids man. I have an upcoming archery competition and boy I needed this vid. Thanks bro.🎉🎉

I watched your penobscot bow video and recreated it with a friend. I've always wanted to make a bow and arrow from scratch and it works really well. Thanks for all the great stuff man

The whole bit about the psychological trigger was mindblowing to me. It's so, so important to know the exact sequence of my movements before I start speeding them up and letting them become an instinct. Otherwise, I'll teach myself the wrong thing and it will be very hard to unlearn bad habits later.

I love these types of videos! It’s always helpful to review the fundamentals.

Put a clicker on my bow and my confidence is 100% now. My groups are fist size out to 30 yards. It’s incredible what it did for me personally.

I have been shooting traditional for 35 years split finger instinctive watched your video on 3 under gap switched last year l have never shot better thanks for what you do l appreciate it much and enjoy it

nah but for real a real outdoorsman the message you spread about the outdoors and hunting is admirable. your wisdom and mental clarity also never seizes to impress

I'm starting my journey into trad bow hunting so your page is perfect for. Super informative and I appreciate all you do!

Great video as always. Definitely helpful for those of us who are early in our archery journey.

Thank you for breaking down the basics, im just starting to dip my toes in the trad. world and you have cleared up many of my questions. Without realization, I naturally had two anchor points and a mental trigger used with compound that I have been able to transfer over

Thanks for the inspiration, Clay. I get crazy, flinging arrows this time of year, and short bow is already pinching my split-finger draw. I found your video on 3-under and think I have time enough this year to adopt it.

I have enjoyed seeing all the new avenues you are pursuing! However, traditional archery and bowhunting is what brought me here, thank you for returning--however briefly--to the roots! God speed

I wanted to reach out to you on your most recent video to express my appreciation for being willing to go on that show, make yourself vulnerable, share wisdom and experience out there sufffering those 74 days, and then share a video of your homecoming with your beautiful family. What a worthy person to win that show!! You deserved it so much. I can't tell you how excited I was to see you get that deer right out the gate. Incredible. New subscriber - I'm out here in the Seattle area cheering you and your family on in any way I can.

Can you do a video on how to add the tac to your grip?

Clay, thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge of archery. As a archer of many years and struggling through many frustrations over time, I have learned so much from your RU-vid videos. Stay strong and keep your videos coming. Clyde Shaver from Sandy Oregon!

Another great video. Thanks for your time and great information

Hey Clay, thank you for always sharing your experience with all of us. You have the most easy to follow advice for trad archery. I always send people to your RU-vid any time they have a question or are struggling with their shot. You're the shit buddy.

Excellent tutorial Clay. Thanks. That little tac is quite interesting. I'll have to look up more on it. Nate

This dude is really great in front of the camera. Learned way more than I expected to.

Thanks clay! Your videos really have helped me out

Shooting of any type is a simple concept, pulls the trigger (or release the arrow) without disturbing the sight picture and alignment. But simple ain’t easy. Very well presented and concise. Thank you.

You offer some really good perspective & principles! Great Video, Thank You! 💪🇺🇸

Great video Clay!!

Best quick and basic rundown of shooting a traditional bow I've seen. Well done!

Love your content Clay!keep up the amazing work and education. Thanks!

i absolutely love that psycho trigger thing. First time im hearing of it. As a very proficient marksman when you were talking about the separation of shot and the aiming process bells started ringing in my head. Thats exactly the same thing soooooo many marksmen get wrong now days. They refuse to separate the shot itself from the shot process. What you said "pressure, pressure, pressure *click* *realease*" its like mimicking the pull of a trigger and I friggen love that.

That shoulder blade knot concept is hard to explain. I think you did a great job. I knew exactly what you meant. I've played golf my entire life and I'm a few months into archery, but they are so similar and I'm obsessed and probably shoot 200 arrows a day. I'm employed full-time. I buried a cable and ran power to my target for a light. My back yard isn't big enough to practice golf (maybe chipping), but I can obsess about archery and make myself more sturdy for WHEN the s**t hits the fan. Thank you for your videos.

Clay I’m u5 and have been watching you for 4 years . You inspired me to do trad vs compound bows. I’m an obsessed 3d archer . Thank you

This is the kind of video I long for from you, Clay. Know that I'm grateful. Best wishes to you and your family. Have a great fall.

I owned and operated an archery and firearms shop in WA for a decade beginning in late 1978. Season structures and lengths made archery an attractive option for hunting elk on the Olympic Peninsula in those days. One of the first questions I used to ask a new customer whom I was going to fit for a compound bow (compounds were nearly 100% of my sales) was whether they were right-handed or left-handed. In one instance, I was totally frustrated after more than three hours spent with a customer whom I found impossible to coach into proper stance and alignment. (I had a 15# recurve with long limbs that I used as a try bow for that purpose so that a neophyte wouldn't struggle against high-poundage draw weights or pinched fingers or risk dry-firing a compound.) We were able to determine a comfortable draw weight for the guy that exceeded the state's minimum hunting requirements; and I made a best-guess on the draw length. However, I finally had to tell the customer to just crank the poundage down to its minimum and practice his form in front of a mirror at home -- I would make necessary adjustments after he got that procedure down. When he came into the shop a day or two later he said that he thought his problem was that he was trying to look through the string with his left eye (he was right-handed). BINGO! After that lesson learned, my procedure with all future new shooters was to first determine the shooter's dominant eye! (Dominant eye doesn't always match a person's dominant hand and, surprising to me at the time, not everyone can close either eye at will while leaving the opposite one wide open for sighting. Thus, in addition to eye impairments, the reason for cross-over stocks on some shotguns.)

I like how even at your experience level and degree of success you're still willing to changes things in your style like adding the psych trigger. I recently changed from a pure instinctive style to a more considered method based on your videos after 35 years!

Great info Clay Thank you!😁

Ingrained bad habits is the biggest handicap I have seen in archers that never improved. I never got comfortable with a bow quiver and opted for a hip quiver. It is probably a mental thing but one I never got over. I also think the most important item in your video was proper anchoring. You are one the most knowledgeable archer I have seen. You are also blessed with the gift to be able to convey the information all archer should know.

Excellent video Clay! Right after watching it I went out and started shooting, paying special attention to getting good alignment. Up until this point, back tension has been elusive for me, but after watching this video it changed. Specifically the pre-draw alignment and rotational draw. It changed everything, and I can now feel the back tension. The draw seems easier, I can hold longer, and most importantly my accuracy improved immediately. Wow, I can't thank you enough!

Great video! Thanks for sharing this. 😊👍

You are a great teacher. Very well explained. 100% new to this and I caught everything you taught. Are you serious about the crocs? That psych trigger thing is fascinating. I guess it comes down to developing good habits that you can repeat for thousands of reps until it becomes natural. I was a woodworker for 30 years and can relate this to the way I use a table saw where in the beginning I developed safe good habits to protect my fingers. It wasn't until I was training other people that I realized there was a method to it. I'm trying to get my kids off the screen and out into the woods, so archery might be a fun thing for them to learn and a life skill that will serve them forever. Good work.

Great video, Clay. Been a huge fan for a while. As someone who has a lifelong problem with peeling my finger nails, it's very apparent that this psych trigger is impossible for me and dependent on ones fingernail length. But the importance of eliminating shot anticipation is not lost on me. I can attest that learning to breathe through a shot and "surprising" ones self with a trigger pull was ESSENTIAL in allowing me to win many metals with my roundball muzzleloader. Now to apply it to my bow!

Thanks for the great video, the pressure to switch to 3 under has been huge seeing almost everyone else do it but I think im going to stick with split this year.

i am a traditional archer like yourself even tho i shoot in an english longbow that its a tiny bit too strong for me (i'm out of shape compared to when i bought it). I liked a lot what you said about the fluid motion shooting videos and the anticipation of the shot. I also like your calm and nature bount relationship with archery. You build very beautiful bows. Last time i shot an arrow was 5 years ago. You made me want to shoot one today! There is only one thing that you do that i was expressively teached not to. I don't know the weight of that bow and you crearly are in a good shape to compensate but it seems to me that you linger a lot between when you open the bow and when you release. If i wait that long i start to move around with the bow hand and loose aim so i generally start the aligning and aiming process with the bow completely closed and i open it only to shoot imediatly and follow trough. I may be wrong tho, many years since i took lessons

Hello Clay Hayes,God bless you brother❤

Practice. Alot of Practice. You will shoot just as good as compound. I have trouble with day to day life. Everyday is different. Different people around. My bare mind i can bust knocks on and on. I like what your saying. Separating the left hand from right. And also anticipation. I believe my first shot I normally do good. My next few will have high anticipation. The calm back down and place arrows where they need to be. Anchor points are a must. I started about 4 years ago. My compound and even rifle shooting has increased accuracy since shooting traditional. Good info and. Keeping your arm inline with arrow. All good info. All things I have learnt also. 👍 clean release, a must. Try down sizing the target. Aim at small point. Will increase.

Hhmm interesting, i think and i wouldnt know unless a skilled archer sees my form that my shoulder needs to go back just abit more. Im right near the end of video, and found this really helpful. Thankyou for taking the time for this.

A 3 inch group at 30 yards is phenomenal!

Great video, thank's from Brazil.

You nailed it good, thanks Clay

I picked up that quiver two seasons ago. Saw it on one of your videos. Well worth the money. Well built, looks nice, and performs very well.

A little over 30 years ago when I read a few books , yes Saxton Pope's book and "The Witchery of Archery" but also "Instinctive Archery" by Fred Asbell and "Become the Arrow" by Byron Ferguson. Reading the last two books both came down to shooting a lot of arrows , practice practice and practice . Traditional archery requires constant practice it becomes a habit and enjoyment of the sport.

Clay you are the best teacher!😊

You are mentally very strong! Just stay focused on your cycle. Forget about the last shot(s) just get ready for the next one!

Very good breakdown of basics. I tried a clicker and shooting gap, cannot do it…at least not yet. Changed my form drastically and am now in very good alignment. Working now on separating pulling bow back, focusing and squeezing off the shot. Difficult to change years of ingrained bad habits. The journey of changing to good archery form is worth it!

I just bought my first recurve I gotta say I've only been shooting from 10 and 20 and I'm addicted! So much more rewarding to hit your target shooting this way I love it..

Great post- very helpful and no bs 🍺

Thanks you for this great video i'm getting into archery and this will help me

I needed this lesson even though I have been instinct shooting since 5 years old. I can hit good shots but consistency had always been a struggle. I never heard about the mind trick to get a better release. Thank you much!

First time I ever used a bow was 80lb all decked out $800 one. I hit bulls eye first try and fell in love. What's not to love about traditional silent weapon. Great video.

solid tip.... thnx! that's how you train your ''instinctive shooting''... kinda Zen thing... you focus on what you can control and let the muscle memory do the rest...

Thanks Clay, I always appreciate your common sense approach👍 🎯 🚓🚒🇺🇲

I am a traditional bow hunter, I use the instinct shooting method but after watching your videos, I realize I need to switch up to using my tip to aim. Love the way you explained the difference! I am also going to switch to 3 fingers under the nock and push that arrow up closer to my eye. I have the same issues you did with accuracy. I grew up in Nampa went to school there and graduated and even went to bsu for a spell. But im from Colorado so I live there now. Love your explanation of using the traditional way of hunting. Great job. Loved you in alone! Keep it real.

Interesting because Jake kaminski also does this method of having his finger nail on the part of his grip. This is great info, I've just changed my stance to this because at moment I'm self learning, soon be doing a course but for about 7 weeks been practicing from youtubers like yourself who give great information and guidance to us new to archery. I'm building up my channel putting some archery into it, it's basically just what I'm learning and showing what a learner goes threw and learns on their journey, not done many vids but my last one was on my stance. And a small review of my new bow Samick sage, wonderful bow for the price. Thankyou for sharing this valued content

First bow shooting video from you I´ve been watching. Seen a lot of your other videos and they are all excellent. You don´t disappoint. Opening up new territories for me! Thanks for this Clay, gotta get me some crocs 😁 Oh, and slowly start thinking about bow building. Cheers, Alex from Berlin

Great Archer 🏹 👌😊

Love the Channel!=, and great diverse content. I sold my Compound set up, and I am going back to my roots this year. I think a 60 lb, 29 inch will fit me the best, I am a Lefty though.

Great stuff! 👍😃✌️🇺🇸💪🏹

Great video! I’ve tried a few different triggers. Currently on the clicker again but don’t care for it. Use it to train myself to maintain anchor but always take it off a few weeks before hunting. Really need to commit and try something like you are using. You committed and it shows. Great shot process and accuracy. Good luck in September, look forward to that vid every year!

Awesome thank you

good stuff man. thank you

Thanks a lot Clay.

For those of you who don't know the physcological trigger thing is used in olympics, but it is a "clicker" instead of a pin.

Clay you need to collaborate with Steven Rinella. My two favorite woodsmen. You both have inspired me so much, I haven't taken any game with traditional archery. I am easing in to it though. Thanks for all you do.

Thank you.

recently purchased 2 of your books Clay cant wait to receive them. youve inspired me. CLAY HAYES IS MY IDOL lol

Well presented 👍🏻

I use a couple aiming methods that I learned over several decades of shooting. Which one I use depends on the shooting situation. But the 1 single thing that eveybody needs to learn is how to relax and let the shot happen.

thanks, I'm going to try this

Hey Clay how are you, I just wanted to say that I'm very excited and look forward each time you upload a video to watch it and learn new things and see great manufactured bows , I just have a question if I'm having trouble with stringing my bow (recurve) ,each time I string it it springs back and the string touches the handle can I have some tips for this situation , Thanks as always🤍.

I noticed by extending the bow holding arm forward and extending the draw it also solidified the the arm reducing aftershot movement. This is when the arrows piled up.

Another great point on not drawing back correctly, and imo this also goes to poundage of bow you should be using as a bigginer..my horror story is my first bow was a 60lb bow, and i pulled it back using my arm muscles not my shoulder or back, what happened was burst blood vessels in my draw arm, that was a huge learning curve for me. So spent a few days researching how to pull back a bow, found the right way, got a lower lb bow and now i don't have arm issue because I'm using correct form, well i hope i am lol, it feels like it, but until i get to my coach no doubt ill be doing something wrong, but hopefully not enough to course injury now or in the future.

Archers! At 5:57 notice how Joel in the Grey Tee shirt lines up his draw arm elbow with the point of his arrow to prevent short drawing his bow and have his shot sequence the same and repeatable with each shot. Enjoy! 🏹🦌🏹🦌 You can also see the narrator at the very beginning of this post line up his draw arm elbow with the point of his arrow. This seems to be rather effective.

The way you shoot and I shoot using a higher split vision/Secondary Aiming or Instinctive Gap is perfect to use on a no sight compound like a Gen--X, Vortex/H20, some Fishing compounds Like the Cajun models and others that have a fixed draw weight of usually 45 pounds but adjustable draw or a no sight leverbow. If I had to give up using a traditional bow, a then current Cajun compound is what I would looks get, the one model of Cajun Compound they make for left hand Archer and get it fixed for my draw length just so I could still use a 45 pound bow.

Crocs… finally, you shared the secret!

Awesome video Clay! Appreciate it. I need to grab my bow & put this into practice. Now where are my Crocs!

Like that psycho trigger tip!!!

Clay, the suggestion of the trigger is a really great tip! I will try it and see the results! Always great to see you shoot! Thanks a lot!

Thanks. I had been struggling with my bow from my youth, its righty I'm lefty. Could not get an anchor and had been short drawing with the biceps and spent hours with the complications derived therefrom. Blood blisters on the fingers type of trouble. Opened the stance to full draw and string to the face with index finger between cheek bone and nose. The arrows began to pile up. The full tension seemed to automatically eliminate torque somehow.

Great lesson! I think that I just need to get some crocs now...

Hi, thanks for the video, that's great. I have one question about the grip sear: at full draw you concentrate only on the movement of your finger on the sear, but do you extend your draw (expansion) at the same time, or do you just keep back tension without increasing it? Tks

Hey @ClayHayes, can you do a video explaining how and where to put the tack and what you used as your tack please! I really want to try this but don't know how to not mess up my bow in the process. Thanks man! Love your videos!!!

The crocs comment. Im def wearing my crocs next time i shoot!

Hi Clay, Appreciate the videos! Super helpful. I'm getting a lot of wrist-slapping and wonder if you have any suggestions for this. Brace height is ~ 1inch longer than thumbs up, handle in the "V" as you say, been shooting since I was a kid, so consistent (if potentially not great) body alignment/anchor etc... but also consistently have a bruise on my wrist. I noticed that it looks like your string seems to just kiss the SIDE of your wrist, while I always get a sloppy smack in the MIDDLE of my wrist. I also probably cant my bow just a little more than you I think. Wondering if my handle thumb is maybe too low and wrist slightly bent? Current bow is a ~#60 sinew-backed osage mollegabet that is a hair off-center (to the inside - which doesn't help) but also with a little shelf, although I've had the same issue with the past several bows I've made regardless of center shot or not. Any words of advice?

Clay, make a video covering FOC and the importance of having proper weight and spine stiffness up front to get adequate penetration. Most guys think they can shoot light carbon shafts with a 100gr head out of a 40 pound bow and get the job done.

My psychological trigger is a cold beer. Get’s me every time.

Could you expound a little on why you have to aim 5" below what you want to hit? and also when you say aim, Does that mean you're putting the tip of your arrow 5" below of where you want to hit? Great video and very informative! In my opinion, with no sights at 30yds that was an amazing group. I hope to be able to achieve that at some point. Thanks for sharing!

Back in middle school I learned about bow making. Seeing one of your video rekindled that interest. Looking to pick up a recurve bow to learn with. What would you consider to be a lightweight bow? What is the draw weight range you consider light weight. I wanna start right and get something light weight but not sure what that would be.

Great vid thanks Clay. Mate I’ve tried the grip sear a lot and really find it a great physco trigger. But I find that as I’m pressing through it, it causes me to build tension in my bow hand and has me anticipating the shot even more because I was trying to get this thing to pop. Have you experienced this when u were learning the grip sear? It’s the trigger I want to use but I haven’t managed to gel with it yet. Interested if you or anyone else has come across problems like that with it where it’s almost doing the opposite to what you want it to do. Thanks again for all your great vids. Learnt a lot from your channel. Cheers.

Okay Clay, I'm gonna try the trigger. Season is less than 8 weeks away.

I use a clicker. Same concept, works great.