Instinctive Shooting II (1993)

[In light of G. Fred Asbell's 2011 release of "Advanced Instinctive Shooting for Bowhunting (his third book on the subject), I decided to revisit his first two texts with a quick overview. This should help compare and contrast the books for those already familiar with the series. Here is the second.]

Instinctive Shooting II by G. Fred Asbell

G. Fred Asbell’s 1993 Follow-Up to his hit book “Instinctive Shooting”is not a re-write of the original, but it is not strictly a sequel either. It was written to expand upon many of his thoughts from the original where it was necessary. This means that some topics are explained again in full, other topics are reviewed with references back to the original, and new topics are added as well.

The book is only 25 pages longer than the original, but the content is more focused on instinctive shooting. When the first book was published, Asbell felt it necessary to give some background and information on traditional archery itself, as well as his shooting methodology. In this follow-up, the content is more focused.

“Instinctive shooting is shooting a bow and arrow using only the ability of the bow hand, eye, body coordination, and instinctive memory.” With that definition, Mr. Asbell again sets out to explain and teach instinctive shooting, but with the aid of 5 additional years of questions and experience on the topic. The result is a book that again covers the basic components of shooting from beginning to end – but with chapters (or multiple chapters) for each component. Check the Chapter List below to see the details.

Two noticeable additions in this book are the chapters dedicated solely to the Longbow and Compound. He gave these bows brief treatment in his first book, but expands on them here in detail to account for the differences required when shooting them instinctively.

In summary, Instinctive Shooting II is a book that allows newcomers the chance to learn the Instinctive Shooting technique in detail, while also giving even experienced shooters information that they can use to improve their shooting. Reading the first book (Instinctive Shooting) is helpful, but not necessary, to understand and practice the methods that Fred Asbell describes. If you shoot a longbow or compound specifically and want to expand your instinctive shooting abilities, then this is the book to start with. But if you hunt with any traditional archery equipment at all, then this book should be considered required reading!