What stance is best for recurve hunting?

A slightly open stance — front foot a half-step back from the target line — suits most traditional hunters because it pre-rotates the torso and relieves bow-arm strain. Feet hip-width, weight balanced. More important than the exact stance is building form from the waist up so it survives kneeling and seated positions.

How long should I hold a recurve at full draw?

Two to four seconds maximum. A recurve has no let-off, so holding is a countdown to collapse. The shot cycle is draw, anchor, expand, release — continuous, not a hold. If the window does not open by anchor, let down slowly.

What is a good anchor point for traditional archery?

Any position you can verify by touch and repeat exactly: index finger in the corner of the mouth for split finger, middle finger for three-under, ideally plus a second contact like thumb under the jaw or string on the nose. A feeling is not an anchor — a place is.

Why do I shoot worse from a treestand?

Almost always because you dropped the bow arm to reach the steep angle instead of bending at the waist. The fix: draw level at full T-form, then hinge at the hips to come down onto the deer. Practice it from an elevated position before the season.

Recurve hunting school · Form

Recurve shooting form that survives the woods

Range form is easy. Form that works kneeling in deadfall with your heart at 160 is a different build — here is the whole sequence.

Form is the machine that delivers the arrow: stance, posture, draw, anchor, expansion, release, follow-through. Olympic shooters build this machine for one position — standing square on a flat line. A hunter needs the same machine to run kneeling, seated, leaning around a trunk, and bent at the waist twenty feet up a tree.

The solution is not a different form for every position. It is a form built from the waist up that is identical no matter what your legs are doing. Get the upper-body sequence right and your legs become scenery.

Sequence: 7 steps, same every shot
Core rule: Form lives above the waist
Stance: Slightly open, feet hip-width
Anchor hold: 2–4 seconds maximum

Stance and posture: the platform

Stand with feet about hip-width, weight balanced fifty-fifty, body perpendicular to the target line. Most traditional hunters shoot best from a slightly open stance — front foot a half-step back from the line — which pre-rotates the torso toward the target and takes strain off the bow arm at full draw.

Posture is tall, not rigid: head level and over your spine, shoulders down and back, chest neither puffed nor collapsed. The most common hunting-posture fault is leaning back away from the target at full draw, which lengthens the draw, collapses the anchor, and sends arrows high.

Test your posture with the pick-up drill: close your eyes, draw to anchor, open your eyes. If you are not looking at the spot, your head moved during the draw — and your anchor is not real yet.

Jackmalott / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The seven-step shot sequence

Run the identical sequence on every arrow — range, stump, or deer. The sequence is what transfers under pressure.

11. Set your feet and confirm the stance — weight balanced, slightly open.
22. Set the bow grip: pad-only contact, knuckles 45°, fingers relaxed.
33. Hook the string and raise the bow toward the target as you begin the draw.
44. Draw in one smooth motion to anchor — no creeping, no settling in.
55. Confirm anchor contact points and expand: draw elbow moves a quarter-inch back as the chest opens.
66. Release by relaxing the fingers — the string pushes them away.
77. Follow through: bow arm stays up, string hand stays at your face, eyes stay on the spot until the arrow lands.

The draw and anchor: where hunting form is won

Draw the bow the way you will in the woods: start with the bow already raised toward the target so the draw covers the shortest possible arc of movement. The sky-draw and the big sweeping draw from the hip both wave motion in a deer's face. Practice drawing slowly — a ten-second draw that a bedded deer's eye cannot catch — and quickly, for the standing alert animal.

Your anchor must be a place, not a feeling. Split-finger hunters commonly anchor the index finger in the corner of the mouth; three-under shooters use the middle finger. Add a second contact — thumb under the jaw, string touching the nose — and you have a verifiable, repeatable position instead of a memory.

You cannot hold a recurve. At full draw you have two to four seconds before form collapses, so the sequence is draw, anchor, expand, release — a continuous cycle, not a hold. If the shot is not there at anchor, let down slowly. Grinding through a shaky eight-second hold is how arrows end up in guts instead of lungs.

Mishler, N and MJ, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Form faults that cost deer — and the fix

Fault	What it does	The fix
Leaning back at draw	Arrows high, anchor collapses	Hips forward, head over spine; re-anchor
Dropping the bow arm	Arrows low, watching the arrow	Arm stays up until the arrow hits
Creeping at anchor	Weak, right-flying arrows (RH)	Keep drawing through expansion
Plucking the string	Random left-right fliers	Blank-bale release drill
Bending the bow arm down from a stand	High misses on close deer	Bend at the waist, keep the T-shape

Learn from the experts

6 expert video lessons on posture & shooting form

We hand-picked the best instruction on this topic from the most respected traditional archery teachers on YouTube — each embedded here with our notes on what to watch for.

Video embedded from YouTubeClay Hayes

Recurve Bow Shooting Stance and Posture

Clay Hayes — Clay builds the traditional shooting platform from the feet up — the exact sequence above.

Video embedded from YouTubeClay Hayes

Traditional Archery Tips — Archery FORM

Clay Hayes — The full traditional shot cycle with the hunting-specific details most form videos skip.

Video embedded from YouTubeClay Hayes

Traditional Archery Anchor, Release & Follow Through

Clay Hayes — The back half of the shot — anchor, clean release, and the follow-through that makes it stick.

Video embedded from YouTubeJake Kaminski

Closed Stance vs Open Stance — Archery Basics Explained

Jake Kaminski — An Olympian's biomechanical comparison of stances — useful even though his context is target recurve.

Video embedded from YouTubeWorld Archery

How to Get the Perfect Archery Posture

World Archery — The international federation's posture fundamentals — the skeleton your hunting form hangs on.

Video embedded from YouTubeJake Kaminski

Recurve Form Series Ep. 4 — Set Position: Stance and Posture

Jake Kaminski — Part of Kaminski's full form series — deep detail on the set position before the draw begins.

Questions

Frequently asked

What stance is best for recurve hunting?: A slightly open stance — front foot a half-step back from the target line — suits most traditional hunters because it pre-rotates the torso and relieves bow-arm strain. Feet hip-width, weight balanced. More important than the exact stance is building form from the waist up so it survives kneeling and seated positions.
How long should I hold a recurve at full draw?: Two to four seconds maximum. A recurve has no let-off, so holding is a countdown to collapse. The shot cycle is draw, anchor, expand, release — continuous, not a hold. If the window does not open by anchor, let down slowly.
What is a good anchor point for traditional archery?: Any position you can verify by touch and repeat exactly: index finger in the corner of the mouth for split finger, middle finger for three-under, ideally plus a second contact like thumb under the jaw or string on the nose. A feeling is not an anchor — a place is.
Why do I shoot worse from a treestand?: Almost always because you dropped the bow arm to reach the steep angle instead of bending at the waist. The fix: draw level at full T-form, then hinge at the hips to come down onto the deer. Practice it from an elevated position before the season.