Tag Archives: wooden arrow

Jan 16 2015

Making and doing archery madness

I firmly believe that a successful club is more than just a field or wood and group of people who shoot there.
A good club supports its members, nurturing and developing their skills and interests. I believe it should also be somewhat of a social gathering.

It is very easy for a newbie archer to get lost and confused with friendly offers of advice or to be too nervous or embarrassed to ask for help. Ideally you want new members to be intimidated as little as possible but not everyone has the confidence to ask questions or seek advice.

Learn from the past
Many years ago, I was a member of the Black Arrow club in Derby. In fact it was the  first ever archery club we joined. Kevin the club chairman and Cherrie the Secretary organised a making and doing session for all the new members who had joined. It gave all present the opportunity to learn the basics of arrow making, string making and how to serve strings. It proved a great success being both instructional and social with Cherrie and Pete (her partner) providing food for all.
Over the Christmas holiday of 2014 Sharon and I organised a similar event at our house, with the objective of giving a few of the newbies some guidance on making or repairing arrows and a variety of other topics.
It proved to be a very sociable afternoon  and evening, helped by the contributions of everyone who came and Sharon’s expert cooking. Yes, not only is she a cracking shot but also a great cook.

Nigel showing his expertise on straightening wooden arrows.

Nigel showing his expertise on straightening wooden arrows.

We covered topics of how to make wooden arrows including fletching arrows, attaching piles and nocks. Having a number of experienced archers there proved really useful as each explained how their technique was slightly different from each other enabling a great spectrum of knowledge to be displayed and discussed.  The discussion on whether to varnish the arrow prior to fletching or fletch then varnish was one hotly debated topic. An equally debated topic was the merits of different glues for attaching piles to wooden shafts with some preferring  hot melt over epoxy glues. All the advice and comments were provided freely and in a relaxed atmosphere.

Jason showing how to use fletching tape

Jason showing how to use fletching tape

Whilst arrow making was going on in one room, arrow straightening of aluminium arrows using our straightening jig was being demonstrated in another. There was also just enough space to demonstrate applying serving to a bow string.

Discussions went on long into the night on different techniques and it was a very sociable evening. Our thanks to all who contributed their time and advice.

Greta making her first arrows

Greta making her first arrows

With everyone at the wood the following day even more discussions took place, this time with archers showing off their arrows they had made previously and again citing the merits of varnishing first or other such topics.

So if you have the opportunity to run something similar to this at your club go for it. It doesn’t take much planning and benefits can be huge.

Thanks for reading and to all those that attended. Special thanks to Kevin and Cherrie who set the bar so high all those years ago.
Oh, Kevin if you are reading this remember the glue.

Dec 16 2014

Shoot report – Spirit of Sherwood – December 2014

Spirit of Sherwood Christmas shoot

Spirit of Sherwood Christmas shoot

Seems ages since I wrote a shoot report but then again it’s been ages since I’ve been to a shoot.

Spirit of Sherwood were hosting their Christmas shoot and it was to be a wooden arrow only one. It’s a long drive for us but Karen kindly put us up for the Saturday night returning our hospitality for when she crashes at ours for Svyf shoots. Huge thanks for cooking us a great meal, camp fire stew yummy.

We hadn’t shot Spirit of Sherwood for a few years and the club has struggled recently due to forestry work taking place in their woods. Considering that they put on a great course with some clever shots using tree stumps from which you shot or on which positioned the targets. Loved the longhorn ram, looked great.

3D Longhorn Ram

3D Longhorn Ram

Our shooting group would be made up of Dave and Lynn Sabo who we had had the pleasure of shooting with before and Paul who was on only his third nfas shoot having just swapped to wooden arrows.

The course was to be a mix of 3d and paper faces set in a clover leaf formation so you would pass catering 3 times. The result was an easy flowing day with no hold ups or delays with everyone having finished and getting away by 3:30. Not bad when you consider there were over 140 archers. We were also lucky with the weather having only a brief shower in the afternoon.

First target was not a great start for me. I  blanked it,  think the lack of practice and distance judgement being to blame as my arrows flew over and under.

Second target of the day, shot off an old tree stump.

Second target of the day, Dave taking shot off an old tree stump.

There was a really relaxing atmosphere and good spirits, maybe it was the festive season or simply because everyone appeared to be having a good time.

There was an interesting moving target which was a large 3d crocodile wished I’d taken a photo of that now. Suspended on pulleys a few inches off the ground it looked really good as it slid down the slope.

Sharon won ladies hunting tackle so has another trophy for the mantlepiece. I only managed second in gents class missing out by 6 pts. Still a personal best for thirty six targets 686 despite a blank. Would like to make a special congratulations to Chris Harley who shot her first round with no blanks. Well done Chris.
Thanks for reading, have a Happy Christmas and Good luck for new year.

Aug 22 2014

Shoot Report – Wolverine – August 2014

Kong from afar

Kong from afar

Last weekend we headed up to Wolverine Archers outside Stoke on Trent for their August shoot in weather that felt more autumnal than high summer.
I must admit to having second thoughts about going.  Not because of the course but because for the previous few days I’d not been very well and had less than 8 hours sleep in total for the past few nights. The previous day I’d been coaching which had left me very tired so I wasn’t feeling my best.
But the option was to either stay home feeling rough or to try and work through it. So we loaded the car and set off.
The course comprised of 40 mixed 3Ds and paper faces. You can see previous reports here.
Shooting group

Shooting group

We had a really good group with Zeena and Dan from Lyme Valley joining Charlie from Hanson and ourselves.

Shooting Group

Shooting Group – Charlie, Sharon, Zeena and Dan

I learnt two things from this day. The way to stay looking young is to drink Guinness as evident from the very youthful Zeena. The other is that Charlie should stick with shooting longbow rather than crossbow as he is a natural.

Charlie shooting at 3D beer

Charlie shooting at 3D beer

The Wolverine team always put on a good course and this was no different. Shots were challenging and not stretched,  with Kong making an appearance as always.

Charlie moving on to shoot

Charlie moving on to shoot

The only thing that marred the day was Sharon falling down a slope half way round the course. Fortunately she wasn’t injured but now has a scratch on her bow that will need seeing to. Could have been much worse and like many archers she was more concerned about her bow than herself. Note to Sharon when reading this. “Bows can be replaced,  you can’t.”

Dan shooting

Dan shooting

We came home having had a lovely day but I must admit to feeling shattered and having an early night. Despite her fall Sharon came first in ladies hunting tackle and I somehow managed to scrape a third place despite dropping 50 points in the second half as fatigue and lack of sleep started to play a part in my shooting.
We also came home with a new friend. Robin a’Dale who is travelling round the country visiting different shoots and keeping a diary of his adventures.
Thanks for reading.