Tag Archives: archers

Apr 7 2014

Shoot report – Wolverine – April 2014

Kong from a distance

Kong from a distance

It was an early start on Sunday as we packed the car and headed north up the motorway. No bright spring sunshine instead we had a grey start to the day, though the heavy showers forecast stayed away until our journey home.
We were heading to the Wolverine club which is based not far from Stoke-on-Trent and is a club we have visited a few times (previous shoot reports can be found here 2013, 2012)
Indirectly we did suffer a little from the heavy rain which had fallen overnight as the parking field got very slippery and provided an interesting experience to get out of. The course paths too were very slippery under foot with a few people falling, fortunately no one was seriously injured.
The club had laid on a 40 target course with a mix of 3ds and paper faces. Of course Kong was out in the field.  Even managed to hit it this time, although it was with a third arrow.
3D crocodile in the grass

3D crocodile in the grass

There were over 150 archers braving the weather and hillside climbs that made the Sunday trek.
3d wolf in the bush

3d wolf in the bush

Our shooting group on the day included myself, Sharon, Sue from Long Eaton club who we had shot with before and Rich from DW longbow who was only on his second open shoot.

wolverine shooting group as we trekked up the hillside

wolverine shooting group as we trekked up the hillside

Wolverine’s grounds are in 2 woods on a  hillside with a small field half way down. This made for lots of walking up and down the hillside which left everyone tired by the end of the day. It also allowed the club to set up some very nice up and downhill shots. If you have read my past reports you will know that Wolverine always have a lunch break for their shoots as the course ground doesn’t allow for a shoot through. This meant lots of archers trekked up the slope for lunch and then back to start the second half.
3d bear at wolverine

3d bear at wolverine

My only criticism of the course is they had a few targets with the boss frame on the top and bottom. This resulted in us and others spending time digging out arrows which had missed the target but stuck in the wood frame.
Sue shooting

Sue shooting

The course was a challenging one with the mix of uphill and downhill shots, with archers working for every point. Targets were hittable so long as you kept your focus. The only hold ups we encountered were down to the group in front having to dig out stray arrows on a couple of target so in all it flowed well.
Bedded deer at wolverine

Bedded deer at wolverine

My shoulder is definitely playing up as I struggled a bit with back twinges in the latter half of the day but in all had a good day. Probably not helped by helping at our club on Saturday to shift heavy stuff before our shoot next week.
Sharon at full draw

Sharon at full draw

Sharon came away with a first in ladies Hunting Tackle (HT). I managed a second place in Gents HT.
Thanks for reading. Next weekend we will be helping to marshal our club shoot.
Apr 2 2014

Shoot report – Hanson March 2014

Hanson shooting group Steve, Sharon and Barry

Hanson shooting group Steve, Sharon and Barry

Last Sunday saw the Hanson club outside Derby organise a shoot which we attended.
With the clocks changing this past weekend to BST (British summer time) we decided to not have the even earlier start on Sunday morning and went up Saturday and stayed over in Derby.
The nice thing with staying over in Derby was it gave us the opportunity to call in at one of our old clubs Black Arrow, allowing us to catch up with friends we hadn’t seen for a while and shooting round the course.
Kevin at black arrow

Shooting with Kevin at Black arrow on the Saturday

As always with Hanson the food was great and reasonably priced. We were also very fortunate with the weather, with it being a bright early spring day.
Sharon preparing to shoot

Sharon preparing to shoot

The challenging course was a mix of 3Ds and Paper Faces made up of 38 targets not the normal 36/40.
There were some well set shots including this 3D beaver.
3D beaver set in wood pile.

3D beaver set in wood pile.

My one criticism of the course which I didn’t have chance to mention to the organisers was with their target placement on a few shots. A number of 3d targets had either no boss behind to catch stray arrows or small ones that would not catch many. Maybe I’m sensitive to this as on one target which lacked a boss I snapped an arrow in the tree directly behind the target. There is ample space on there ground to avoid this.
3D bird though not sure what bird?

3D bird though not sure what bird?

I think it would be fare to say I didn’t meet the needs of the course. I came away very disappointed with both my score and performance. Didn’t feel right or comfortable all day. Shoulder and back aching almost from the start, just hoping it’s not my re-occurring shoulder problem.

Thanks for reading.
Mar 13 2014

Course and Target Laying – Distance

In this series of posts I’ve been looking at course laying and shot selection.  The last post covered some thoughts on elevation and in this one I’m going to cover distance.

Society Rules

In the NFAS (National Field Archery Society)  you shoot over unmarked distances so it is down to the archers own skills in distance judgement to calculate how far the target is. You aren’t allowed to use any range finding equipment and only a few classes are allowed to use sights. I know other societies allow the use of range finders or shoot marked distances. Likewise some societies specify you have to have x number of 30 yard shots, y number of 40 yard etc.
On this topic some would say the role of the course layer is to try and make the judgement of distance difficult by using dead ground or the like. Personally I would say a good course layer should be able to lay a course that encourages sighted archers to change their sight marks or pins.

What effect does distance have?

Well the further the shot the longer time in air the arrow has and therefore more chance for environment to effect the arrows flight. What I mean by environment is  maybe gust of wind or when  shooting in the rain. The other thing to consider is a shot can’t be too close.
Why?
Well think of the archers paradox, you need to give the arrow chance to straighten, for this reason I would say never put a shot in closer that 3 yards. Look at this weasel shot form the 2013 Nationals.
Paper Ermin

Paper Ermin

It was only a few yards away from the shooting pegs but the level it was set at and height off the ground along with proximity to the stumps made you think.  It goes to show that a long distance relative to target size is obvious but sometimes a close shot can challenging.

Below is a good example of a medium shot of just about 30 yards. The reason I include this here is it also highlights the effect tree branches can have. If you putting a longish shot in keep a thought for overhanging tree branches, you might need to clear a few to ensure the shot is safe.

First view from Red peg

First view from Red peg

Stretched shot

I can’t cover distance without saying a word or two on stretched shots. Stretched shot are not challenging, simply beyond the distance it should be. This differs from a long shot, which can be challenging if there is a good chance of hitting.
The 3d tiger was a long shot as far as distance is concerned being over 50 yards but as it’s a large target its still hittable.
3D tiger from red peg

3D tiger from red peg

Wolverine Archers are famous for their long shot Kong. Just to give you an idea here is a video of the distance
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What is long or is considered long varies. Personally I think anything over 40 yards is boarding on long for most archers. Don’t get me wrong I like the occasional longer shot, so long as the target size is appropriate.

In the next post on course and target planning I will address the ideas and issues associated with identifying suitable target size.

If you find this useful or have any questions then please contact me.

As always thanks for reading.