Tag Archives: off the arrow shelf

Apr 13 2015

Shoot Report – SVYF – April 2015

SVYF - archers waiting to go out on course

SVYF – archers waiting to go out on course

The weather stayed dry but the wind was ever so present.
SVYF is our club and this means this shoot report will be from the view of the organisers rather than competitors. You can read some earlier reports here Autumn 2014, Spring 2014.
Helping to run a shoot is a lot more tiring than shooting and it gives you a great insight into the work involved in setting courses.
The course this time comprised of 40 targets mostly 3Ds with a few paper faces. I’ve loaded some pictures on my Tumblr site (http://offthearrowshelf.tumblr.com/) already but here are a few more. Sorry there aren’t any action shots was a bit busy.
Predator prey shot

Predator prey shot

3D boar

3D boar

We delayed the start from 10 due to an accident on the motorway that delayed many archers’ arrival. As it was we only had 3 no shows, resulting in over 180 archers attending. It was great to catch up with so many fellow archers, friends and a few readers of this blog. It is always great to meet up with readers of this site so please if you do see us a t a shoot pop over and say hi. (Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for the shoulder)
Ever present tiger 3D

Ever present tiger 3D

The wood surrounds a couple of over grown ponds and is quite sheltered except on one side where the edge of the wood is exposed to open fields. Archers on this side would be battered by exceedingly strong winds, making the archery challenging to say the least. I think the compound archers suffered the most as their arrows were flicked off their rests.
Frog 3D between the trees

Frog 3D between the trees

Besides the high winds the only other problem which was partly under our control was the running repairs on bridges.
Can you spot the 3D Cobra

Can you spot the 3D Cobra

In SVYF we have over 13 bridges ranging from only a few feet in length to over 100 feet. We run regular checks on the bridges, replacing planks etc, but with over 180 archers trekking across them, plus organisers we had a few planks break. The only problem was they seemed to all go on one bridge, we had seven go on one bridge in the space of 20 minutes. Added to this was that target was 40 shot was across the bridge so we had our work cut out for us, cutting new planks, removing old ones and replacing them.
Bedded deer 3D

Bedded deer 3D

Overall the day seemed to run well, with archers enjoying themselves. Sadly not everyones day went as well due to delays on the course, we finally traced these delays to one group that were being very slow in shooting and scoring.
SVYF next shoot is in early October, hopefully it won’t be so windy.
Thanks for reading
Apr 6 2015

Shoot Report – Wolverine – March 2015

No shooting over Easter Weekend,which was a shame as the weather has been wonderful, bright warm and dry. This enabled us to finally set the range up in the field. A complete contrast to the previous week. With the clocks changing last weekend to British summer time, it was an early start for us on Sunday as we headed north to the Wolverine club grounds not far from Stoke on Trent.
Anyone who attended the shoot will agree it was wet, very wet. I think it stopped raining for about an hour over the whole day. Added to this was the strong gusts which blew in and the Somme like mud in parts.
Despite the weather and mud Wolverine did their best to put on a good course.
The weather had a negative effect on the archery with scores for most classes being significantly down.
As for the course I thought it was overall good maybe not the best they have set as I  feel there were a couple of shots that could have had arrow nets or bosses up to catch stray arrows. This would have sped the search for arrows up for many. I  also think there were a couple of shots where the overshoots had not been fully considered. I don’t think they were unsafe but it is very distracting to see fellow archers collecting or searching for arrows in your peripheral vision when on the peg about to shoot.
The course was the standard mixed 3d and paper faces with a couple I think slightly stretched for the size of face. Our group was made up of the two of us, John shooting crossbow and Richard shooting freestyle. Overall it wasn’t too bad a course or day despite the British weather.
One entertainment feature of all the rain was watching a variety of cars trying to drive back up the entry slope. Of the several that attempted it only a couple were successful. Just to explain, Wolverine car park is in a field which you enter from a slope which tends to get quite muddy with all the traffic. Archers exit the car park from a different route, the only problem is due to the size of the car park, cars have to be parked in front of the exit, resulting in no-one leaving until the blocking cars leave. A few people decided not to stay until the end and tried to leave via the entrance slope.  The rest of us waited until after the end of prize giving and left via the exit route.
Neither of us shot particularly well and think it was lack of  practice and conditions.
Sorry there aren’t any photos of the course, but with the wet weather I had my phone buried under lots of layers to keep it dry. I did get a copy of a  photos from a friend and fellow SVYF member showing the muddy paths.
Muddy Path

Muddy Path

The video is a bit of fun and shows a friend of ours trying to get up the bank.
Thanks for reading.
Aug 19 2014

Equipment review – Mybo boss

Over the last few weeks I’ve been doing some coaching with a couple of new archers down at the wood which has been great fun. Been good to get back to doing some coaching.
One of the students was asking about getting a practice boss for their garden and what to get, how much to spend etc. This got me thinking, dangerous I know.
Well, a while back I wrote a piece on setting up a practice boss and the safety considerations. (Here is the link if you are interested.)
This was based on a layered foam boss, but there are bag targets out there and a few months back I picked one up from Merlin archery store. You can see the Archery Adventures  video review here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVx16sYH2JE) .
So I thought it a good time to write a review of how we have found it.

So why did I buy one of these?

We were after something we could use not just for the recurves and flat bows but also the compound. Whist at Merlin I got chatting to the guys about target bosses and how our old tuff butt had seen better days and we were looking to replace it. They showed me the then new mybo sureshot  target boss range they had started to stock.

The staff demonstrated its stopping power by shooting a compound crossbow at about 5 yards into it. The result was about an inch or two of the bolt sticking out the back of the smallest boss. Not bad and a good demonstration of its stopping power.

First few arrows

First few arrows

Cost wise they aren’t bad. I believe replacement covers can be bought from Merlin.

90 cm are £75 and 70 cm are £49

There are three sizes are available. We have the mid range one. (70cm)

The mid range one isn’t to heavy,  manageable by me  to move round so can’t be that heavy as I’m not the strongest archer in the world. There are a couple of handles on top to make it easier to move. I’ve used these with some rope to tie ours in place.
The larger one needs a couple of people to move more due to the bulk than weight.
I’ve put ours on top of our current boss so you have a size comparison.
Mybo bag target

Mybo bag target

Initial tests are positive we’ve been using for a few months now shooting at it a couple of nights a week.

  • Arrows are easy to draw too.
  • Weave hasn’t frayed yet and the holes appear to close up quite well but can still be seen after drawing the arrows.
  • The arrows don’t penetrate too far at least from our recurve bows.  Haven’t tried my compound yet as concentrating on practice with recurve for upcoming National champs in September.
Hole after drawing arrow.

Hole after drawing arrow.

I think it works well for a practice boss and has lasted well from repeated shots though I haven’t shot it with anything other than recurves and flatbows. Although I do think you need to occasionally to shake the bag up so that the contents resettle themselves (bit like when you fluff up a pillow)
Whilst I don’t think you could replace foam bosses with these for a shoot.  I think they work well for practice at home or for a club indoor range potentially.

Top tip

One tip I would give is to get some heavy duty plastic sheets.  I’ve got a load I use in the garden and when I’m not shooting at the boss I cover it to protect it from the worst of the British weather. It also helps prevent birds or other wildlife using it as a scratching or scent post.
I hope you find this useful and if you have one of these or experience of them then let me know. Please remember when setting up a target consider safety above all else.
Thanks for reading.