So I was messing around this weekend and decided to try shooting three under with my middle finger in the corner of my mouth. I wanted to try gap shooting.
I currently shoot split finger and don't intentionally use the arrow to aim in any way.
So anyway, I drew back anchored and expanded until the fletch touched my nose and released. I dang near ripped my nose and lip off. I then decided to try again with the same result. The second time hurt worse so I went back to my old way of shooting. I'll give it another whirl once I forget about the pain from my first experience. I was hoping to extend my range by gapping.
I sympathize. It happens to me from time to time, even though I've shot 3 under for years. The thing is, even under the best of circumstances, the string is never very far from your nose. A tiny rotation of your head can move your nose into or out of the path of the string. Brass nocks make it worse, at least they hurt more than tied on nocks if they hit your nose or lip. Pressing hard into your anchor makes it more likely you will hit your face with the string, and is also likely to deflect the arrow, so keep a light contact with your face. If you try to release the string, rather than just letting your fingers relax, it can roll the string into your face. Lot of stuff to try and figure out.
Now you know why John Demmer III wears that tape on his nose! On the bright side, he's a world class champion so it's just a matter of mind over a little pain. And if you want to make the same kind of fashion statement, Bandaids come in Sponge Bob, super heroes, Dora, etc.
Sounds like you are anchoring too high. If you are anchoring high to the point where the string is hitting your nose there's also the possibility of catching a nock in the eye due to nock failure.
It's one of the reasons why string walking is banned at some clubs.
I shoot three under, anchor with middle finger in corner of my mouth. I've never hit my nose. Sounds like you are turning your head too far into the string. With head straight and the arrow right under your eye, the string is a good 1.5 inches from the nose.
Roy, bear mentioned in his first post that he touches his nose to the fletch as an anchor and/or draw check, as I do. That limits how far away from the nose the string can be. The answer, as you state, in most cases is to rotate the nose out of the path of the string. Using the nose as an anchor just makes it much more of a precision operation than it would be otherwise, and makes other small errors, like rolling the string into the nose, more likely to happen.
I also anchor nose to feather and will hit my nose if I don't remember to tuck my chin into my bow arm shoulder and keep my face square with the target-- tilting your head to get your eye over the arrow is okay, but turning your head toward the string can lead to pain.
Thanks for all of the input. I'm planning to give this another go as the weather warms up, I'm thinking the pain will be a little less on warm skin as opposed to cold. That's what I'm telling myself anyway:)