Why Cant a Traditional Bow, longbow, recurve, or selfbow? 

After watching the video it makes a lot more sense, but before, the title thoroughly confused me

Before I started watching your videos I rarely hit my target, but after watching one of your aiming videos just once I started nailing it at least 2 out of 3 shots every time. Thanx

I think the canting of a traditional bow that is not center shot helps compensate a bit for that too...along with allowing a better sight picture...three fingers under As far as line of flight canting does make sort of an equation that allows a bit of arrow correction due to being a half inch or so away from being a center shot

Your tutorials and tips are helping me a LOT and making trad bow more fun. Keep it coming my friend!

50 years shooting stick bows, today learn't something about arrow behavior from canted position. Thank you.

Thanks Clay 😊 for sharing your wisdom and experience ! 😊

I learned to shoot on old fiberglass recurves with no shelves. On those bows, for a kid starting out, canting kept the arrow from slipping off your grip hand. I guess the habit has just stuck with me all these years.

Good stuff Clay. Appreciate all your content man!

Good explanation! Also thank you for your quick answer to my previous question about this topic. Greetings from Hungary! :)

Very informative, thank you.

Excellent observation Clay really made a lesson for lay people like me. thank you very much hugs

This may sound preachy , but I learned years ago to learn from my own EXPERIENTIAL knowledge and go with accurate and optimal results . 40 years ago - I dumped the 3 fletching for the 4 ... or even 2 for close range . This eliminates orientation of the fletchings' and knock to the string and is just as accurate if not more accurate + faster reload and target acquisition time . Great video Mr. Hayes and Respect sent . Lefty

Thank you for sharing.

Sweet. Love the archery videos :)

I just can't cant I've tried

The title confuses me, I thought it's a typo of "can't" but the entire question doesn't make sense, then I realize it's written in capital so it must be a name, but after watching the video it's clear that "Cant" means not straight up. Lmao.

I've shot bows for years. Self taught. I didn't even know anyone who used a long bow like me. I shoot instinctively I guess you'd call it and I didn't know what "canted" meant. But it is how I evolved to shoot. For me it wasn't about sight window at all. It seemed to give me another sighting angle. horizontal, vertical, and the canted angle. I never was a robin hood by any means, but I've killed most of the deer I've shot at. Oh , I shoot modern recurve , no sights. Almost took it out this year, but no practice, no hunt. My 1 rule.

I anchor to the side of my face to get the bow out of my line of site. To me it doesn't matter if I have my bow vertical or horizontal, as long as my bow stays square with my face, I can see and shoot straight. Of course when I do can't, I must adjust for the change in flight, but years of practice is comes nature. We all have own system of styles though.

I have a red oak flat bow, my cant is nearly 45*. It seems excessive to people who see me shooting, but because of the limb width, by canting the blow I don't have as severe an aiming gap. At 40 yards I'm aiming a good 2' to the left in an upright cant. At a more drastic angle, I can cut that gap in half, which is more manageable to me for adjusting my aim.

Yep🎯

Thanks Clay, great video. On one of the bows you say it can be shot vertically - have you fitted an arrow rest or are you shooting of the shelf?

I didn't know there are as a word for that, but I do it, canting the bow. Because I learned by practicing with other peoples' worn out plastic? Fiberglass? Not sure what they were made of? ...bows. The grip/shelf area was worn from beginners' arrows sliding across it and sloped downward, so that your arrow would fall off as you were trying to nock it, and there was no window. I started canting just to keep the arrow in place. XD

Good information as usual, keep it up. shoot straight

I've recently returned to archery after a 20 year absence and am shooting a center shot bow for the first time. I'm left handed and learned archery shooting off the left side of a long bow, so literally NOTHING is coming naturally for me here. My normal draw (how I draw without thinking about it) twists my arrow off the right side of my shelf, and I can't seem to get the arrow directly under my eye with my usual anchor point unless I cant the bow slightly left. Any thoughts on these issues? I can get it done and shoot decent groups but it takes more time and effort with each shot than I feel it should.

I've clicked this video probably 30 times the past year trying to figure out why they can't, Stop it RU-vid! SMH

Thanks Clay. Question, Have you ever got tendonitis from shooting your bow?I got it bad on the top of my draw arm elbow and the bottom for my bow arm elbow. Very pain full. I you have do you have any tips for strengthen, so I can get back to shooting.

just wondering, is there any difference to gap or trajectory etc from shooting off a hook rest vs shelf?

Great tip.

I have a cheap recurve takedown by sas and use an arrow rest..but I'm finding I'm better with a canter

I shoot thumb release off the right hand side of the bow (no shelf). I still cant to the right. It just seems more natural.

What is your take on cross eyed dominance with instinctive shooting? I find that canting my bow allows me to shoot better.

I find canting my bow adds an unwanted side affect ... I seem to be twisting the string when I draw (3 under)

Hey Clay, I'd like to build a mini recurve self bow (ca. 70 cm long) to fit it in my backpack and was thinking of attaching a string with a knot at the end to the serving to hold as a substitute for the missing draw length, would that work? Also, with such short arms of the bow, would it be more important to have them at the same length each or have the arrow sit exactly in the middle, as I don't wanna use 30 cm on the riser to accomplish both? Thank you for putting out such great content :)

If you're a procedural shooter, then aligning the bow vertically is just another step you can take to reduce the variation in your shots. It's a checkbox in your list, bow is vertical? Check. Procedural canting is much harder to tell if you're on the same angle every time, and your head will naturally compensate, so now you have body position variations, also from canting. If you're instinct shooting though, canting removes the bow from your view, so you can better focus on aligning eye/tip/target.

Canting a bow is the only way to stay consistent.

why can you not just shoot instinctively without looking down your arrow?

What is that material on your arrow rest?

Is that a hoyt satorie?

not saying what you are doing is bad, I think feeling where the arrow will land is just a different way of doing it and in my opinion (as I shoot warbows where I cannot look down the arrow) quicker to aim

Thats a left handed bow if im not mistaken. If it was a compound bow that would be a lefty bow my friend

Why cant you cant a bow that cant be cant?

I literally point and shoot.... Seems to work.

Why Can't a Traditional Bow, longbow, recurve, or selfbow what?

What you should be asking is "why CAN a bow?"

What brand longbow is that?