Tag Archives: wooden arrow

Apr 21 2023

Shoot Report – Thornbury – March 2023

Thornbury NFAS shoot

The trip to Thornbury would prove to be an early start for us. The drive on a good Sunday is well over an hour. Unfortunately, we were aware of several patches of road works on the motorway. In addition to the estimated travel time, Thornbury had promoted an early start to the shooting of 9.30 am. Ironically they had to delay the start of the competition for some late attendees to arrive.

If you are interested you can read a shoot report from an earlier visit to this club. The good news was we enjoyed good weather for an early spring day with only a slight chill in the air. 

The course would consist of 40 3D targets, (to be more accurate there were 42 targets out. I’ll get to that later in the write-up). We would be joined by Mark shooting traditional bowhunter. Mark would prove to be a great sport and companion throughout the day. 

Thornbury is another club that set out wasp pegs, but not on every shot. They also have all compound classes shoot from these wasp pegs, not just sighted ones. I would rather see wasp pegs on all shots if they are to be used, even if they are next to the red peg.

Those of you who have shot at Thornbury or read one of my previous posts will know the course has a tall tower shot which is probably one of their signature shots. This time, adults would shoot at a large grizzly 3D and Juniors at a 3D turkey at the tower’s base. I enjoy that shot, simply for the opportunity to shoot something like that. The only downside is I shot all three arrows as I couldn’t see where my arrows had landed. The sound of the impact made us think I was hitting the boss behind. I was in with my first. Guess I need to go to Specsavers for new glasses.

There were some nicely placed targets, designed to catch you out. Maybe it is me not shooting as much but I did feel that some of the targets were a long way for the red peg and maybe moving some of the junior pegs forward would also help. I wonder whether clubs are having to increase the distance to offer a challenge to the compound classes. I don’t know. It could equally be me not being used to shooting as much as I used to.

Shot between the branches at Thornbury
Bear between trees at Thornbury
Sharon about to shoot 3D coyote ac
3D bear

There were several shots requiring you to up your game and focus, such as the standing bear 3D between tree trunks, there was a clever use of a large legless 3D dear or elk making it look like a bedded deer.

Another particularly challenging shot, at first sight, was the standing hare 3D through a hollow tree trunk. I know a couple of people I spoke to commented on some of the 3ds being quartered, making them a greater challenge. 

Thornbury shot through the circle at 3D Hare

The woodland the club occupies is a mix of open woodland allowing for longer shots to quite dense areas making for darker shots, through the undergrowth. There was only one area where I mentioned to the marshals I thought was a bit tight on space and I think this might have been due to a recent tree fall.

The day flowed quite well in the morning especially, though there was a bit of confusion at food stops. The organisers had decided to allow jumping. 

Jumping

Here is a quick definition of jumping for those who have not heard the term before. Normally when you get to food stops, you check to see who is in the group in front of you and wait for them to have their food. Following them out after you’ve given them time to clear the next target. This also gives you time to eat and rest, the group behind you waiting for you to have your break and so on. You note when the group in front of you goes off to the next peg and leave them time to shoot it, score and clear that before you set off. The group behind you doing the same.

Jumping is when a group behind you doesn’t want to wait for you when you stop and instead goes straight to the next peg. Hence the term, as they jump past you. The advantage is that faster archers can jump past slower groups. The disadvantage is if archers at the end of the shoot are helping by bringing in the targets, you could have 3D targets removed before everyone has shot them. Another disadvantage is you can have archers finishing earlier because they have jumped several times and then want to walk off the course while several other groups of archers are still shooting. Since Thornbury had said there was nothing to bring in they were allowing archers to jump. This made it a little confusing when at food stops as you weren’t sure who was in front of you. 

Overall, it wasn’t a big problem just a little confusing for those who have been jumped.

Very sociable gathering

It was great to catch up with some archers I haven’t seen for a while, especially Patrick who was marshalling on the day. Patrick and I have known each other since doing our coaching course over 10 years ago. Speaking of marshals, I have to say how friendly they all were, chatting and walking with us as we went around the course. They really seemed to make an effort to help archers enjoy themselves.

Special shot 

As I mentioned the organisers had designed a special shot as part of the course, which was in fact 3 shots. You had 1 minute from standing on the 1st peg to take a shot, then walk to the next peg identify where the 3d target was, and shoot it. You then move on to find the 3rd and final peg, identifying the target and shoot it. The third target was very cleverly set, hanging upside down under a fallen log across the stream, back the way you’d walked. So not that obvious to spot or gauge, being in shadow.

I wasn’t sure about this or how well it would work when initially explained at the start of the shoot. As it was it would be one of our last shots of the day.

I felt it worked very well, offering a different form of challenge with cleverly placed 3D targets. The distance between pegs worked well as did the selection of targets. Well done, Thornbury course layers on introducing something different.

Personal performance.

I shot better than I was expecting, with this being partly down to my current mindset or outlook when it comes to archery. I know I haven’t been shooting often and went with no expectations of doing well. I blanked one target on the course but I worked at not letting that get to me. Reminding myself that I hadn’t been shooting much and should not expect to hit things. I was feeling tired for the last 6 or 7 shots, as it was a long day.

I was able to try out my new hoodie I picked up from Northern Movement stand at the Outdoor Expo show at the NEC the day before. It was very comfortable to shoot in, large enough as to not offer any restrictions to movement, but fitted enough to keep you warm. 

 In summary, it was an enjoyable day but a long day. We were all glad to get home.

Thanks for reading.

Archery Backstop Net
Apr 9 2020

Archery backstop nets – some thoughts

In an earlier post I provided an overview of a few of the sort of things to consider when you are setting up a target boss. In this one I am going to talk about my views of backstop nets, including trying my hand at  busting some myths associated with them.
Backstop nets can be a useful addition to any range, but there a few things to consider about their use, so I will start with some mythbusting on the topic of backstop netting and what they can do.
A backstop net will stop the arrow. 
Not always. I shot a 11/32 diameter wooden arrow from my 45lb flatbow, which comes out at 180 feet per second. So it;s not as fast as an arrow off a barebow or compound bow, nor is it as small a diameter as a carbon arrow. Yet my bow has launched an arrow through backstop nets on more than one occasion and said arrow has travelled a considerable distance beyond.
The net, if hung correctly and in good condition may slow and possibly stop an arrow. Key words there are “hung correctly”, “good condition” and “possibly stop”. There are no guarantees.
Putting up a net make a dangerous shot safe. 
WRONG in so many ways!! If a shot is unsafe then adding a net isn’t going to suddenly make it safe. Nets are not there to make dangerous shots safe, they are there to reduce the risk.
Stretching out a net to cover as large an area as possible does not increase safety.
In fact it makes the net less effective as it needs to be both free hanging and pleated, much like a net curtain in the window. So if you have a 5 metre gap to fill you need a 10 metre wide net.
The more material the more likely it will slow an arrow.
It doesn’t matter if it’s trailing on the floor.
 Ideally you want the net to be free hanging and only just touching the ground so it can move slightly when the arrow hits, thereby absorbing some of the arrows energy. If the net is taught or lots of it is on the ground, then it won’t be bale to move.
Old  carpet work just as well. As someone who is using some old carpet as an extra layer of protection to stop arrows, it may sound strange to say old carpets don’t work. The truth is they don’t work as well a proper net. I use a double thickness carpet at the end of my range. The thing to remember is this is 60ft behind the target boss on the fence line. Before any arrow gets that far it has to go through 50ft wide copse of trees as shown in this photo.

Close up of Sharon shooting

Close up of Sharon shooting

Lets have a quick look at a set up as an example. In this photograph we can see a net hung ready to be used. What do people think? Can you see any problems or issues?

Archery Backstop Net

Archery Backstop Net

Here’s a thought, what’s behind the net? You can see from the second photo there are vehicles behind so any arrow passing through the net is likely to impact one of the vehicles.

Archery Backstop Net - different angle

Archery Backstop Net – different angle

The other thing to consider is the net is strung up quite tight, with no pleats so any arrow hitting the net is likely to pass through.
By the way, this is not where the net normally hangs as I had just put it up to dry out after it being used on our clubs course the week before.
I hope this provides an insight into the use of backstop nets. It’s not a definitive list of topics but hopefully an eye opener.
Stay safe and thanks for reading.
3D deer in field
Nov 13 2019

Shoot Report – Barry Cheadles’ 3D course October 2019

Sun through the trees

Sun through the trees

This was another shoot where I would be behind a camera rather than a bow, but I wanted to get something written and out there as I feel its worth promoting. This isn’t an NFAS club by run Barry Cheadle who does all the course laying and preparation.
Situated at Bower Hill, Nr Button Oak its about a 45 minute drive for us, depending on the traffic. In fact it wasn’t the traffic that delayed us but the weather, as when we were packing the car to leave we were having to scrape the ice off the outside, that was  once we got that far as the padlock on the gate was actually frozen. Anyhow lets get back to the shoot report.

Groups mustering

Groups mustering

The course consisted of 30 targets, all of which were 3D targets ranging in sizes from some small rabbits to wolves, not forgetting the small carp set in the stream.
The grounds are a hillside which comprises a mixed woodland and sections of confers, offering a variety of terrains and lighting.

Archers in the woods

Archers in the woods

One negative comment I will make and to be fare was completely outside of Barry’s control. The previous day the area, like much of the UK had had very heavy rain. This made some of the paths and routes through the course quite treacherous underfoot, with them resembling streams rather than pathways. I know Barry is looking at this for his next shoot and as I said I don’t think he was expecting the weather we had the day before.

Archers waiting for the off

Archers waiting for the off

This wasn’t his first shoot and I was glad to see the course numbers were up from previous shoots he’s organised with there being over 40 archers all of them shooting unsighted classes.

Archers gathering

Archers gathering

The scoring system  was different to other competitions but was easy to follow. Barry combined elements from the NFAS and  Border archery competitions. You got your shooting peg on which there was one for an adult and one for a junior. You shot your first arrow and if you were in you were going to score 15 points if in the animal or 20 points if in the kill /  central marked zone. If you were not successful of your first arrow you can take a second row from the same peg, with a potential of 5 points or 10 points. This made it very easy for both the maths and also for newbies or experienced archers. It also made for a pretty fast shoot, which is ideal in the winter months.

Wooden arrow and Carbon arrow

Wooden arrow and Carbon arrow fighting for central spot

Unlike the NFAS you weren’t having to move pegs and it meant you could try and adapt for your second shot if you need one.  I wonder whether it makes it a bit easier for the course layer too as you set your shooting line and have less issues with different positions along that line. I’ve commented already on the weather on the previous day and early morning but have to say that Sunday was a truly glorious day with bright sunshine if a little on the chilly side.
As I said getting round in a few places was quite challenging due to the previous days heavy rain fall. I think a few more direction signs might have helped too as Barry was using new areas of the woodland.

Archers in the field

Archers in the field

Not all targets were in the woods somewhere outside in fields making for a bit of a nice mix. He also has the ability to shoot out from the wood into fields or from fields into the wood which offers a nice contrast.

3D deer in field

3D deer in field

There weren’t that many long shots, by long I mean over 30 yards but I think it is quite a technical course and works well for developing skills.
I hope Barry will run future shoots as I’ve been to a couple of his and each has improved on the previous. He asked for comments and feedback and I think he’s received lots, the majority of which have been positive and constructive in any criticism.

Sharon shooting

Sharon shooting

One interesting thing Barry has to do, which is the same as we have to at our shoot grounds is to mark any deer targets. He actually puts some coloured tape around the ear all the neck to signify it is actually a target, as his area has a small resident wild herd of deer which occasionally puts in an appearance.

On the peg waiting for the start

On the peg waiting for the start

 In all I think it was  a really good day I think the only downside was if the fact that it was 30 targets without a break I think maybe in future he could reorganise the paths so that you can have a break halfway around.
Considering this has been set by one person I think it’s done really well and want to wish him the best of luck in the future.
Thanks for reading.