Tag Archives: bow

there were areas carpeted with primroses
Jul 20 2018

Shoot Report – Windrush – April 2018

Windrush shoot with archers massing.

Windrush shoot with archers massing.

Apologies to all readers and followers to this site for the delay in writing this shoot report up. Life has been doing it’s best to keep me busy but here it is at last.
The calendar may have showed as an April Sunday, but I think all who attended will agree it felt more like early February with the biting wind making temperature stay in the single figures all day. The irony of this being a week later we would enjoy the warmest early May bank holiday on record with a temperature swing of plus 20 degrees centigrade. The UK is presently enjoying one of the longest periods of hot weather since 1976!

Sharon on our first shot of the day

Sharon wrapped up warm , on our first shot of the day.

I don’t think the weather would help as it would prove to be a very slow day for our group, seeing us waiting on all but a couple targets as we made our way round the course. I guess this was just bad luck as I know other groups shot round with little or no hold ups all day, but I think we were one of the last groups in. Maybe putting 5 people on the peg (4 compounds and a bare bow) in one group in front was not the best plan. Then again I don’t know if the hold up was further on, but I personally find that waiting to shoot breaks the flow of the day.
One thing to remember if you ever shoot at Windrush is to keep an eye out for deer, who can often be seen running across the fields and woodland.

Not a great photo but there is a monkjack deer running here

Not a great photo but there is a monkjack deer running here

I would struggle all day with the cold and my form which was way off the norm. Looking back as I write this I believe some of my issues were partly due to being soaked on the Saturday. I had been running a coaching session in the morning for a couple of archers, on both the range and taking them round the wood. Despite being wrapped up I had got soaked and cold and Sunday whilst dry was cold.

first target of the day a standing 3D bear

first target of the day a standing 3D bear

Anyway enough excuses onto the shoot report. Windrush woodland is a pretty open wood with few bushes or cover to speak of. This would not be a problem on a sunny warm summers day, but on a decidedly chilly spring day it would prove a bit cold, with many archers and marshals taking the opportunity to warm themselves by the open fire at tea breaks.
The course would consist of 40 targets, all 3Ds, with a couple quite cleverly set, like the hyena by the fallen tree.

Sharon shooting at Windrush

Sharon shooting at Windrush

I feel I should mention that the course layers had gone to the trouble of setting wasp pegs for all 40 targets.
For those not familiar with wasp pegs, they are shooting pegs, set for crossbow and sighted compound archers. The idea being to offer them a replacement first peg, which would be more technical or challenging for their styles. So these archers would shoot their first arrow from the wasp, moving to the red and white pegs if they missed with their first or second.

I’m not sure that the inclusions had the result the course layers wanted. Often these pegs were set a few yards further back from the red, adding a little distance to the shot. In my experience and conversations I’ve had with other archers shooting in these styles indicates adding that extra distance does not make that much of a difference to many sighted archers. To be fair to the course layers there were a few shots where I felt the wasp pegs worked well, such as our first, a long standing bear. Here the wasp peg was not only further back by over cover making the distance harder to judge.

Sharon shooting at 3D

Sharon shooting at 3D

I think it is a shame as I don’t think it quite worked as well as the course layers had hoped as they had put the effort in and should be applauded for trying. I hope it doesn’t put them off from doing it again and takes these comments not as criticism but as observations. I know that wasp pegs are something I struggle to set at times and have spoken at length with archers and course layers about.

One of the more sheltered shots

One of the more sheltered shots

Though this may sound a negative shoot report I do hope to return to shoot Windrush again, as at the end of the day they can’t control the weather. There previous shoot I had really enjoyed and you can read the review here.

Overall it wouldn’t prove to be a great day for me. I have to say I was glad to climb into the car for the journey home, with the car heater on to warm us up.

We decided to treat ourselves with a Papa Johns pizza. Big mistake, as they messed up the order and resulting in us having to pay twice !! Not impressed with that or their customer service who as an apology sent us a token for £10 off the next pizza, but only if you spend £25!!

Thanks for reading.

Jun 28 2018

Hardest lessons to learn in archery – Why does my arrows comes off the rest

I’ve had this question come up a couple of times recently, so I thought I would put a quick reply up now in an attempt to help people out.
“Why does my arrow keep flipping off my rest or bow when I draw up?”
Okay there can be a few reason why this can happen, so I’m going to pick out the three most common ones.
  • Twisting of the bow string.
  • Throwing your bow arm.
  • Damaged rest.
Twisting of the bow string is probably the most common of all reasons the arrow flicks off your bow and occurs normally about mid draw. when you are drawing up.
When you are starting to draw up your hand is gripping the bow string, as you draw the string back you twist or rotate the string, this twisting results in the nock moving and arrow flicking off the rest. So if I explain this from a right handed archers perspective. A right handed archer with the bow held in your left hand, will draw back the string and in the process will twist the string effectively rotating it counter clockwise. This rotation is what causes the arrow to flick off the bow.
A solution to this is to ensure you are not gripping the string too tightly, try relaxing your fingers, before drawing up.
Throwing your Bow arm – Sometimes when people draw up, they end up “throwing” their bow arm, this can be due to you drawing up too quickly or enthusiastically. As you draw up you move the bow arm quickly and then abruptly stop when at full draw, however, the momentum flicks the arrow off the rest. I’ve seen this quite often with young children who are quite excited and energetic in their draw cycle.
The solution is to slow down your draw sequence, being more controlled in the draw, with less rapid movements.
I have also seen both of the above examples being as a result of the archer fighting the bow in some way, possibly because they are over bowed or not comfortable in their draw technique.
Hoyt rest

Hoyt rest on Sharons’ old bow

Damaged Rest – If you are using an arrow rest on your bow it is possible that the rest has become damaged and is no longer holding the arrow on bow. This problem isn’t that uncommon especially if you are using something like the Hoyt plastic super rests.
Close up of Hoyt rest

Close up of Hoyt rest

There is nothing wrong with these rests and I use them on my beginner bows and Sharon used to use these rests on her bows and would often replace them, sometimes in the middle of a competition if she saw it was wearing or damaged.
For this reason it is worth carrying a few spares in your quiver just in case  you need to replace them.
Okay, so these are some very quick tips and advice, I hope this helps and thanks for reading.
May 25 2018

The hardest lessons to learn in archery are…

I’ve had a great response to my question “What they feel is the hardest lesson to learn?” and for that I would like to thank all my followers and readers for their input.
I know that there are many people out there that will have your own opinion on what they feel is the hardest lesson to learn,but based on the responses, there are a few things coming up time and time again.
  • Aiming or rather, how do you aim whether you are a gap shooter or instinctive archer?
  • Stance and footing on a field shoot, where you might not be on level ground.
  • Coupled with aiming is distance judgement, which can be especially tough on a well set field course, where the course layer has used every trick inthe book to fool you.
  • I think the biggest one though has to be drawing down or coming down when you’ve drawn up on a target but feel you have to release, even though you know something is wrong.
  • I’m also working on a post about the importance of arrow weights and importance of not shooting too light an arrow.
  • Over bowing, being to identify when you are shooting too heavy a draw weight bow.
My hope is to create a post on each of these topics in the next few weeks.
I’m planning on covering aiming in a future article but for those interested check out one of the recent coaching podcasts from the guys at The Push, which covers instinctive and gap aiming.
Thanks for reading.