Right Handed- Left Eye Dominant

[TheProvider]

So I'm about to get back into bowhunting after being away from it for a few years. Here's the thing I used to be right eye dominant but over the years I've become left eye dominant. I still shoot guns and rifles right handed. Close my left eye for shotguns however. Being in the market for a bow I'm debating switching hands. In highschool I switched shooting right to left handed in basketball and my accuracy improved. Just like some of your suggestions. With the basket ball it felt like a challenge at first but on caught on very quick. I should say I also write and eat with my left hand but most things I'm right handed.

[Bow Walker]

All I can say is to go out and try a left handed bow. Does it feel totally alien? You should be able to tell it switching is a do-able thing or not after a few shots.

Anyone up there left handed and own a bow? Or is it a trek into Boormans yet again?

[TheProvider]

All I can say is to go out and try a left handed bow. Does it feel totally alien? You should be able to tell it switching is a do-able thing or not after a few shots.

Anyone up there left handed and own a bow? Or is it a trek into Boormans yet again?

It might be a trek into a store, not too many left handed rifle hunters let alone a bowhuntes that I know, or archer shooter I should say. With basketball it felt totally alien at first and I had no power what so ever but the muscle memory came quickly

[Bow Walker]

I'm the other way around - being left handed and right eye dominant. I shoot, play baseball, golf, and almost everything else right handed - but I write, and eat left handed. Fortunately, it's a whole lot easier to get right handed equipment.

My brother is a true lefty.

[TheProvider]

Yesit sure is easier finding more right handed equipment and more selection aswell. The last bow I had was right handed just had to close my left eye, similiar to shooting the shot gun

[Stéphane]

I'm left handed, left eye dominant and I shoot with a right hand bow. I tried a left hand bow, but I have a problem with one of my shoulders and it wasn't right. So. I close one eye when I shoot and it works very well for me.

[ratherbefishin]

yup-thats me-right handed but with a left dominant eye.I do everything else righthanded except shoot a bow-which I shoot left handed,Funny,it was that way the first time I picked up a bow-I didn't even know why,when I tried to shoot a bow right handed it just didn't feel right.I didn't even know about a ''dominant eye''until another archer showed me

[greybark]

If one eye is weak , Simple fix . Get perscription glasses to even out both eyes then shoot your bow (sighted and unsighted) with both eyes open . .The Worlds best trap shooters do this .
One appreciable advantage is when shooting your bow during low light conditions . The peep sight takes away quite a bit of light but , the light gathered with the other eye is super imposed by your brain . This extends your shooting envelope .:-D

[Tripitaka]

Noob question then...with a rifle, if you hold it into your right shoulder, you are said to shoot right-handed and your right finger is on the trigger.

With a bow, is it the bow hand or the release hand that determines the left or right status? I'm fully right-handed, left eye dominant, shoot right handed but would pick up a bow with my left hand and release with my right.

[Bow Walker]

Tripitaka - you're right eye dominant. If you're shooting right handed guns, bows and stuff you're not left eye dominant.

A bow held in the left hand and shot, releasing with the right hand is a "right handed bow".

[Tripitaka]

@Bow_Walker - definitely left eye dominant, so I am told. Done a couple of (shotgun) shooting clinics back in the UK and both said the same. The test seems to be to hold a tube at arms length and with both eyes open, pick a target in the distance. Then, close one eye at a time. The eye that you can still see the target point with is your dominant eye. In my case, that is always the left eye despite being right handed in everything else (including bows, it would seem).

I ended up using one of these (http://www.frockstockandbarrel.co.uk/easyHit.htm) and I have to say, was a bit sceptical until I went through the first 100 clays but couldn't argue with the results after that; it made a big difference to the amount that I hit.

[Bow Walker]

OK, I stand corrected, you're left eye dominant.

Eye dominantcy(sp) is a funny thing. There are more and more people "surfacing" that have a cross-dominant eye. Me included.

It only points out the fact that a person should establish which eye is the dominant one before doing any purchasing. It makes things much more comfortable when using equipment, even though that person may have to earn to use the equipment "backhandedly"....

[Tripitaka]

Given that I haven't really picked up a bow more than 5 or 6 times in my life and it is something that I'd like to start in the next 12 months or so, I guess I should be looking to try a bow that I hold in my right hand and release with my left then (what I'll know know is a left-handed bow)?

Sat here, with one arm straight out as I would hold a bow, I can see that with a RH bow, my left eye would essentially be over my left arm whereas it would be in front of my right arm the other way.

In pistol shooting it is no problem as I sight with my left and hold the pistol in line with my left eye.
With a scope, I only sight with my right eye so the cross-eye dominance isn't an issue even with both eyes open.
With the shotgun, the Easyhit sorted the issue for me.

With a bow, I'm guessing that the solutions aren't quite as easy. Interesting stuff to consider. Hopefully, with the high-concetration of left-handers here on the Island, I'll have a good chance to try both.

[Bow Walker]

Many bow shooters with a similar problem simply wear an eye patch over the dominant eye so they can shoot with their non-dominant (or off-hand) eye.

You'd wear the patch over your left eye and shoot the right handed bow, sighting with your right eye and releasing with your right hand (holding the bow in your left hand).

It takes a bit of getting used to, but with a moderate amount of practice it will soon become second nature and you won't even notice it.

[THE BEAST]

i think you should try left first. if it doesn't work then try right handed. if you know someone that has a left handed bow to borrow (bowero) it would be good. if you buy two bows it can be pricey

[Tripitaka]

Thanks guys and apologies for hijacking the thread. Hopefully my questions helped the OP.