Those of you who read this site and live in the UK will know that a few days ago the country was hit by Storm Arwen. This brought storm force winds and heavy snow to some areas, resulting in thousands of homes losing power for several days, some of these are still without power 5 days later. This was the first winter storm to hit the UK.
So what does this have to do with an archery? The impact of the storm on woodland has been dramatic to some clubs like The Redoubtables, who have seen countless trees uprooted, branches down and their course devastated. These are the obvious impacts from such storms, the less obvious issues such storms bring are the broken branches hung up in trees.
An example can be seen in the brief recording below I made when checking our field course.
I hope it goes some way to demonstrate how important it is to check your field courses for safety . It’s very easy to focus on the things in front of you, paths, trip hazards etc., but it is equally important to look upwards.
The second recording is more of a stroll round and hopefully provides you with an idea of the woodland we use.
If you check out my YouTube channel you will see a few recordings I’ve taken over the months.
In the previous post I wrote of the importance of feedback to course layers. In this post, I’m looking at some of the preparations that an event organising team should consider. These being both in time and the expenditure clubs have to fork out in advance before the event when it comes to target faces, 3Ds, shooting pegs, etc. I think a logical way to begin is with a few questions, based on whether a club has the necessary stores to host an event. This is even more important for newly formed clubs or a small clubs that have fewer funds to draw on and resources to draw on. So here goes with a simple question, or do you have enough…
Have you got enough target faces for the course? Remember you are going to need spares and replacements.
What about shooting pegs? Do sufficient in the right colours for all the shots?
Do you need to repair/replace any target bosses?
Are there enough scorecards for all attendees?
What about your 3Ds doe they need repair or replacement? Have you got enough securing pins?
The above is just a brief list, which can go on and on. So, I’m going to explore a single element in more detail, that of target faces and the preparation of these.
The Prep
Long before the day or even the weekend of the event, there is work going on at the hosting club and club members homes. Some of you may be familiar with the work in setting the course out, clearing paths, staking target bosses, etc. Away from these physical aspects of the course laying process, there is the planning for what faces are required? Where to source them from? Whether they are in stock or not at your preferred suppliers?. To give you an idea, we had to paste up over 70 target faces for our shoot ranging from small ones (group 4 ) to large ones that just fit on a 1300 mm square boss. This was for only 24 targets out of the 36 targets on the course in question, the others would be 2D or 3D targets. So why did we need so many? I will cover that a little later.
The club was hosting an NFAS open shoot, which means all targets were set on unmarked distances, ranging from 6 yards to over 50 yards. It would be a big game round, so all targets would be animal paper faces, 2D or 3D targets.
Pasting up
Mounting the target faces in itself takes time and ideally good weather; read warm, dry weather. We paste all the faces onto corrugated cardboard, so they last longer. We also paste an extra piece of card behind the highest scoring area as this tends to prolong the life of the target.
Card on the back
This means the first hurdle is sourcing sufficient cardboard to mount the target faces, which can be an uphill struggle in itself when you think of the sizes of some of the larger target faces. For our last shoot, we were very fortunate. You could say we hit gold twice thanks to a local Halfords branch and a couple of club members who secured loads. We’ve tried lots of different glues and found Hobbycraft PVA to be the most cost-effective if doing small numbers. The other alternative is to use diluted builders sealant PVA. You really need to factor in the time it takes to do this too.
Not only are you sorting suitable size cards, glueing the faces to the card. You have to trim the card down afterwards. Sort them to ensure you have the right ones for the right targets. This is where getting club members involved and helping can make a huge difference. We were very fortunate to have some great volunteers in the club who came around for several days.
How many faces are needed?
Scoring faces that are severely damaged by other archers arrows or have deteriorated to mush due to wet weather is not easy or fun. So to be fair to all competitors, you want to provide decent target faces that are easy to score. Add to this that small faces get shot out quicker due to the very nature of numerous arrows impacting into a small space. Wet weather and paper faces don’t mix. Carboard becomes sodden, ripping easily, glue gives up its adhesive properties, and so on. All this means you will need to replace them more regularly. Much as you hope for dry weather, you have to plan for all eventualities. This means for a shot that would be a group 4 target face, we wanted 6 to 8 copies. That may sound a lot but think of it this way. We capped the numbers of archers at 120 competing, all shooting at least 1 arrow, often 2 for some faces means probably 120 to 180 arrows. Divide 180 by 6 and you get 20 arrows into a small piece of paper. Factor in possible wet weather and the effect this has on paper. You begin to realise why you need multiple copies For group 1 faces (the largest), we ensured we had a spare on the day.
JVD Red Squirrel target face
Spares were stored either in bin bags behind the target bosses to keep them dry or back at the admin hut, so they were there when required.
One quick tip or advice I would offer is if the budget for the event can afford it, buy a few spare different target faces of the different group sizes. It means on the setup day, usually the day before the shoot, you can tweak shots. You might find a JVD wolf would look better than, say a Delta ram on a particular target. One thing to remember is, that setting a shot that looks good, adds to the enjoyment for the competitors.
Wolf picture
So that I hope provides you with an insight into the preparation and time required when it comes to target faces. In the following article, I’ll look at some of the physical aspects and considerations in respect to shooting peg positions to allow with all bow styles. In the meantime, please keep safe and well. Thanks for reading.
Okay so this is not strictly an archery related, actually it has very little to do with field archery at all, other than it takes place in woodland. This post is part review and part my thoughts following a bushcraft experience day I spent in sunny Wales. Yes, I did say sunny Wales before you wonder if your eyes are deceiving you. It was a warm, dry day spent in the woods with the experts from Original Outdoors (https://originaloutdoors.co.uk/) Some of you may know that I have for many years had an interest in bushcraft and associated skills. So, for a birthday gift Sharon bought me a bushcraft experience day. Now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial date and plans were put on hold for a few months. This meant it would be early August before I was able to journey up to Wales to attend the session. The course was based in North Wales, not far from Ruthin, with the first challenge being finding the secluded spot where the instructors would meet you. We would then take off into the wooded hillside for a mile walk to what would be our base camp for the day. The woodland they have access to is a huge private wood, ideal for covering the variety of bushcraft topics they run courses on.
Me doing my best to prop up a tree while listening to Richard
So, what does bushcraft mean to you?
This was one of the interesting questions we discussed with Richard our main instructor for the day, as we walked to base camp. Though along the way there were multiple stops to examine local edible flora or fauna, along identifying which trees make the best tinder, how tree sap can be used in fire lighting and more. Before I go any further though, I’d like to apologies to the lady who was the other instructor now, as though I spoke with you my memory for names istruly awful. I think her name was Amy but not 100% sure. Sorry I could blame my age but I’ve always been terrible with names. Anyway, back to the question of what is bushcraft? We discussed how it varies depending on what you have read or where you might be in the world. What we in the UK think of as bushcraft skills might be considered basic skills in other areas of Europe. The thing is the subject is one that generates different views from people. Some see it as core survival skills, others see it as simply being resourceful in the countryside. Whatever your viewpoint I think the instructors on the course would be able to tailor something suitable for your needs. From my perspective it is simply having some skills that make being out and about in woodland more enjoyable. I guess less survival skills and more outdoor skills in my view. I’ve also been interested in learning near forgotten skills whether those be bushcraft or others. So back to the course. The first topic was that of fire lighting. Our instructor Richard took us through different fuels and ignition methods, along with the importance of preparation of the materials and surrounding area.
Richard explaining axe sharpening
These are key principle of fire starting and important factors to consider, along with other less immediately obvious ones, such as location of fire with respect to tree roots if in woodland, what rocks might be in the surrounding area as some will explode when heated. There are a few YouTube videos I’ve seen of this happening. Along with the time spent in sourcing dry tinder and preparation of the materials you are going to use.
I made fire and yes, it’s harder than it looks.
There is something very satisfying about being able to make a fire with limited resources. Whether this be using a single match to start your log burner on a cold winters day or getting a campfire going, to while away the hours when camping with friends. After the course I was thinking about what was covered and it brought back memories of childhood.
So I made fire you can see I’m happy
I think I can count on one hand the number of times I have used fire lighters to start a fire, whether this be in ours or my Mams wood burner, in one of our garden fire baskets or a campfire. It’s not meant to sound like me boasting, it’s just the way I way taught to start fires. I can still remember being about 4 or 5 years old and my Nan showing me how to use scrunched up newspaper and sticks to start the coal fire in our living room each morning for heating and hot water. Yes, I am that old thank you. Having said this lighting a fire without a match and in the middle of a wood is a whole different ball game to trying to light one in your own home. I had lit fires using a ferrous rod and striker before but by striking it into cotton wood or mixed tinder bundles. I had never used birch bark as the fuel before and it took some perseverance and expert guidance, but after a few attempts I managed to ignite the bark and start the fire. If you check out their YouTube channel they have it listed as the six-bundle fire lay method. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQLeFTp6x9Y&feature=emb_title)
I was smiling to myself when doing this as the effort it initially took, is not always reflected accurately on different TV programs. In addition to starting a fire you were instructed in how to safely extinguish the remains of the fire to ensure it was completely out and remove signs of the campfire. Other topics we covered were the creation of simple string. Cordage is something all civilisations have always needed and we were able to try our hand at making string from stinging nettle stalks. This was something I was very curious about as I can recall my grandfather mentioning how they used to use nettle stems as string in the garden to tie up plants. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to cover friction fire lighting which was a shame, but there are only so many hours in a day. To be fair to the organisers, we were given the choice of whether to cover that or tips on axe / knife sharpening. As a group we opted to go for knife and axe sharpening.
fires out so time for some simple wood carving
We also did some simple wood carving for a pot hook. I have to say that brought back memories of my early teens when I would find a decent size stick and spend hours, removing the bark, smoothing the surface and use it as a walking stick. Even made a short one for my Nan who was too short to reach curtain and draw them easily. So, I made up a small stick long enough for her to reach the curtain and light enough so she didn’t struggle holding it.
Okay so not the most exciting thing but a pot hook
Like most organisations these days they also have an Instagram @originaloutdoorThey also have a podcast the Angry Badger which is quite entertaining to listen to, being available on Spotify and other platforms. As I said they have their own YouTube channel too (https://www.youtube.com/user/originaloutdoorvideo) . I felt the small group size really helped with interaction, I know they were operating on reduced numbers due to COVID-19 restrictions limiting the number of attendees.
Personally, I felt part of the enjoyment was confirming things I thought I knew, with the opportunity to just experiment and learn some new skills in an incredibly friendly and welcoming environment. All in all, it proved to be a really good day. Thank you for a great birthday present, even if it was a few months late. The best thing of the whole weekend though, wasn’t the course, but the opportunity to see my Mam for the first time in months due to the COVID-19 restrictions on travel in Wales. Thanks for reading, stay safe.
My Archery Experiences 