Tag Archives: 3d target

Jun 11 2026

Episode 149 – Shoot Report – Black Arrow Field Archers

Regular listeners and readers of this site will know I have a soft spot for Black Arrow Field Archers club (BAFAC). I do my best to attend as many of their shoots as possible in the year. It is a club I used to belong too for several years and only left due to moving house and was where I started my field archery shooting and coaching. Feel free to look back and read my last shoot report from there.

Links to the episode can be found below for Spotify and Amazon music

100 or so, archers would join us on the day to shoot BAFAC grounds and thankfully the wet weather promised earlier in the week never materialised, making for a cloudy but pleasant day. It was really good to catch up with people I hadn’t seen in ages, though it did feel a lot quieter than previous shoots. Especially Lynne

The course consisted of 36 3D targets arranged in 2 loops round the wood, with us starting on target 6, which was a 3d otter target.

The day started well with me shooting ok, not scoring the kill shots but hitting with first arrows. Sadly this would not continue as one one shot a few things triggered my down fall and I blanked what should have been an easy 16. I managed to get my head back in for the next but after the break I couldn’t get things to come together.

Speaking of break, I need to thank the catering team for the lovely chilli and baked potato I had for lunch. As always they put a lot of effort into the food and I think they probably had quite a lot left over due to the no shows on the day.

Now I know some of the people reading this will have seen the shoot results on NFAS page or on my Instagram feed and will know that I won my class, in fact all 3 of us would walk away with 1st (Sharon in ladies AFB and our son in U12 Unlimited). Whilst I won I feel it was a bit of a hollow victory as in myself I didn’t feel I shot well.

I had gone with my Hunting tackle rig and despite my best efforts, I would loose or break a few arrows. This time I would lose one, when it clipped the horns of the Wildcrete feral goat and skip off skyward into the depth of the woods, never to be seen again. Two others broke in tree roots, when I misjudged the distance and they slide under the 3D target. This seems to happen at BAFAC shoots as I often seem to break them there. Sharon broke one in one of their new 3D Chameleon target, when she hit a metal support tube.

Chameleon

The course was very similar to the last shoot and I think that got into my head a bit too as I thought I should be able to hit things as I did it before, so I was getting a bit frustrated when I wasn’t , especially in the afternoon, where my shooting was worse. It’s left me to do some serious thinking of what to do next.

Overall it was a good shoot, flowing well and with no significant hold ups throughout the day.

With fewer archers than normal we actually were all packed up and leaving the site by 4.30 and we were one of the last to leave. This was partly due to catching up and chatting to people we’d not seen for ages

Other topics mentioned

The Push

I did mention an episode of The Push, episode 426 with Ian Edwards that I am listening and relistening to and I’ve included a link to it below

Briar Rose Open shoot

We still have places for the Briar Rose open shoot is on the 19th of July and details can be found on the clubs website https://briarrosefieldarchers.wordpress.com/ It is open to all bow classes and members of the National Field Archery society.

NFAS coaches

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Most of all remember to enjoy your shooting and as always thanks for listening, watching and supporting.

Oct 29 2025

Equipment Review – SRT wild Boar 3D

In this equipment review I provide my thoughts on the SRT boar 3D target. The video focuses on the target our club bought a year ago from Merlin archery and been out on the range and used for our open shoot (https://www.merlinarchery.co.uk/srt-3d-target-wild-boar.html) It’s a group 2 target and retails at just under £320.

This is an impartial review and I don’t have any connections to Merlin or SRT.

Overall, I think it’s a really good solid target but there is one really big problem in my view with the design of this target. Please SRT stop using metal tubes in the legs, especially if these tubes end just below the central kill zone. You could use plastic tubes that would be much easier on arrows.

It’s had a few hundred arrows over the past year or so since we have had it and it is still looking good, though there are a wear marks on the ear.

Thanks for watching and most of all remember to enjoy your shooting and as always thanks for listening, watching and supporting.

Nov 5 2021

Course laying behind the scenes

Archery target in the woods
Course setting

In this and my next few posts, I’m planning on exploring some of the behind-the-scenes activities that go on for a National Field Archery Society (NFAS) shoot. Those activities which attendees may not be aware of unless they have been involved in hosting or running such events. Though this will be focused on NFAS shoots these activities are common to most organisations.

You might wonder why am I doing this, well personally, I feel it is beneficial for all archers to gain some knowledge of some of the activities that go on before the event so they have a clearer understanding of the process which are otherwise hidden on the day. In doing so I hope the attendees can offer constructive feedback.

The concept of feedback will be the focus of this post. This in itself may sound a little strange. Starting with the very thing that is provided after the event, but it is something which has an impact on all parties and can be both positive or negative, constructive or damaging, supportive or hurtful.

Many people love to offer their views and more often or not this used to be via conversations in the clubhouse. Now in the 21st century, countless social media platforms offer people the ability to post their views, thoughts and more. You are currently reading my views.

Reading all this can be difficult especially if it’s not positive pr constructive. Filtering through these reports is not always easy if you are a course layer. I often wonder whether as course layers you have to develop a thick skin. I mention filtering as people will post their feedback based on their point of view or perception of the shot, organisation of the event etc. The style or shooting class will play a part here too, so remember that.

There is an old saying which seems very apt.

“You can please some of the people all the time. All the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time.”

Feedback positive and negative is equally important.

Whilst it’s great to receive positive feedback from archers on your course laying abilities, sometimes the less positive feedback is more important. That may sound a strange thing to say as, after all, you are wanting to experience the feel-good emotion about all the work and effort you’ve put in. So, I will try to explain it and the logic behind this statement.

So here is the Why?

Well, negative feedback if constructive provides you with the opportunity to develop and improve. I firmly believe that learning from your mistakes is vital. Too often in today’s society, people are focused solely on the positive for self-esteem or promotion etc.

Constructive negative feedback should stop you from becoming complacent with your own ability and perspective if you choose to explore the reasoning and facts presented.

The first step is to listen to the feedback, ideally with a clear head and evaluate whether there is justification for what is being said.

Some will present feedback that is, let’s say flawed or not entirely accurate. An example might be a statement that’s a 35-yard stretched shot for the target face. Well, if you know the distance is actually 28 yards and then their justification is possibly flawed.

Admit when you screw up.

Course layers are not perfect, all are human and therefore can and do make mistakes. Sometimes you have to put your hands up and say you got it wrong. In fact, I believe it is very important to do this if you have genuinely made a mistake. To steal a phrase from one of my favourite podcasts, “Don’t be that guy.” Don’t try and cover it up or worse still, blame the archers. It is not fair on them nor is it the right thing to do. If you have to make a mistake accept and learn from it.

For those interested here is a brief shoot report on our clubs website https://briarrosefieldarchers.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/briar-rose-field-archers-shoot-report-15th-august-2021/

Thanks for reading.