|
Archery R.C. Morton |
Archery is "sort of" new in my life. As a result of a friend becoming involved, I became involved. I say new "sort of" because thirty-five years ago, I used a relative's recurve bow on a few hunting adventures for small game. I shot this recurve " instinctively and never actually bagged a kill. But, I did shoot it enough to sort of get a feel for what it takes to make an arrow go in the general direction it is suppose to go. I didn't touch a bow again until late into the year 2001.
This current adventure into archery began when a running and mountain biking buddy of mine started shooting a newly purchased Martin recurve bow. I stopped by his house one day and watched. He then allowed me to fire a few arrows at the target. I liked it and did fairly well by shooting instinctively as I did 35 years ago. A week later I bought a recurve bow.
This "starter" bow (a Mystic by Internature) was inexpensive and provided a way for me to explore this sport further. I began shooting this bow without a sight but soon decided that "instinctive" shooting was not going to provide the accuracy that I wanted. So, I first added an inexpensive aperture sight to the bow, than later replaced it with a much better quality sight. I experimented around with various arrow rests, and added a stabilizer to the bow. I continued to see improvements in my shooting and became rapidly addicted to target shooting.
My new addiction triggered the purchase of a variety of associated pieces of equipment besides the sight and stabilizer mentioned above. Within a couple of months I had tried three different arm guards until settling on one that felt right. I kept adding to my arrow collection and found that I breaking nocks and bending arrows is a way of life with archery. I also tried a couple of different commercially produced targets but finally decided hay bales worked best for me.
I started recording my scores while shooting 45 arrows at 40 c.m. target faces. This target face was chosen because the local archery shop, Riverside Archery, uses these in their league shooting events, and they shoot 15 ends of 3 for a total of 45 arrows. I wanted to establish a benchmark to see how I was doing when comparing my accuracy with guys who had been at the sport for a while.
Scores shooting 45 arrow (2213s) on a 40 cm face at 20 yards.:
10/18/01 333
10/18/01 347
10/18/01 335
My average for 100 arrows was 755. This pretty much established me as a mediocre archer with a lot of room for improvement. Each arrow at a 40 cm face tends to earn a 7.5 score. I was sure I could improve this with a better bow.
After reaching the limit of accuracy for the Mystic bow I purchased a PSE riser and limbs. I then upgraded to a better target sight. I began to see real progress in my shooting. The riser was a 25 inch PSE Universal, the limbs were 68 inch PSE Competition at 38#. I equipped the bow with a magnetic arrow rest and associated plunger, a clicker, a top of the line Toxonic site, and a 30 inch stabilizer.
This new bow immediately tightened up my groups. My 20 yard, 45 arrow score jumped to a bit over 350 using the 2213 arrows. I was beginning to think great scores were possible with this bow.
At some point after purchasing the PSE bow I began to learn about bow tuning and matching arrow spine to limb poundage. I started experimenting with a variety of arrows and did some paper tuning. Things started to improve further.
Scores with the new PSE bow using 2112 arrows, shooting 45 arrows:
11/09/01 354
11/09/01 352
11/12/01 352
11/29/01 351
Score after changing limbs to 34# and shooting 2013 arrows, shooting 45 arrows:
12/02/01 370
12/06/01 364
Scores with 34# limbs and 1913 arrows, shooting 45 arrows:
12/07/01 344 (windy)
12/12/01 351 (windy)
12/15/01 352 (windy)
12/19/01 350 (no excuses)
12/23/01 343 (I am regressing)
Scores with 1913 arrows and starting bow tuning shooting 45 arrows:
12/24/01 357
12/28/01 365
12/29/01 365
12/31/01 360
12/31/01 367
On 01/03/02, after completing bow tuning using 1913 arrows, I shot my highest score to date for a six arrow round. It was 59 points out of 60. That means five arrows landed in the ten ring and one arrow landed in the nine ring. This was probably an accident. If I could have continued that kind of accuracy I would soon be competing and winning.
01/04/02 370 - On a windy day, shot one arrow through the clicker for a 2 and still tied my record high score.
After making some changes in my anchor point, and my clicker, my scores seemed to decrease for approximately three weeks. I was unable to shoot more than a 360 and frequently shot in the 340s. Then I made some further adjustments and suddenly things started to fall together again.
02/01/02 381 - A personal record for shooting 45 arrows at a 40 cm target face
02/10/02 386 - A personal record shooting 45 arrows at a 40 cm face.
After shooting the PSE bow over a four month period, I came to realize that it was not going to be my last recurve target bow. It seemed heavy and I continued to notice its alarming characteristics after string release. It just does not react in a predictable way and it is noisy no matter what the brace is set at. Consequently I started researching for my next bow.
03/08/02 - 387 - After a three day lay-off from shooting and during perfect wind conditions I shot a new record.
On March 14, 2002, I purchased a Hoyt Gold Medalist riser equipped with Vector carbon/foam limbs. The risers make the bow 70 inches long instead of 68 inches. The limbs are 38 pounds. I also equipped it with a better quality Cavalier plunger and a Cartel target sight. I began tuning the bow the day I got it. It seemed to perform best with 2013 Easton Platinum arrows. The fletched shafts and the bare shafts landed essentially in the same location at 20 yards after minor plunger adjustments. It also made clean holes with these arrows during paper tuning at various distances. The bow has a nice feel to it on draw as well as predictable reaction after string release. I predicted that as soon as I adjust to the increased draw weight on this bow and to the new feel of it my scores will again start increasing.
03/17/02 376
03/18/02 362
03/19/02 377
03/20/02 371
03/21/02 382
As I continue to shoot with this Hoyt Gold Medalist the more I like the feel of it. This is a truly nice shooting bow. I expect to break 400 with this bow soon.
03/22/02 387 - This tied my 45 arrow record. A new record is soon to come.
03/25/02 370
03/26/02 379
03/31/02 375
04/03/02 393 - Finally established a new record with this score.05/04/02 387
05/25/02 39106/02/02 381
06/03/02 396 - This establishes another record.
06/04/02 387
06/06/02 390
06/15/02 399 - Another new record and approaching my goal of 400.
06/19/02 381
06/2002 383 - I managed to shoot six arrows in succession into the ten ring during this practice session.
06/21/02 386
0622/02 382
06/23/02 388
06/25/02 383
06/27/02 399 - This tied my record for this score.
06/28/02 38807/01/02 387
On July 10, 2002, I elected to take a few weeks off from shooting in conjunction with a vacation. I returned and fired my first arrows, since that decision date, on August 27. My skills remained the same as when I left. I seemed to be at a sticking point unable to improve beyond that 400 point goal I dreamed up. I order to get past this point I am studying archery videos and am going to shoot into bales without targets for awhile in order to completely focus on the various elements of my form and style.
09/04/02 386 - Right back to where I left off before my six week layoff from shooting!
09/05/02 381
09/06/02 375
09/18/02 386
09/23/02 384
09/25/02 389
09/27/02 389
09/29/02 391
09/30/02 401 - This finally breaks my goal of 400 and establishes a new record. It took four months to break my last record. This score could have been a couple of points higher had I not shot one arrow into the 6 ring when I chocked on the next to last 3-shot series. So it goes! Next I will be shooting to break 405. This would mean an average of nine points earned for each arrow shot. The 9 ring is colored yellow and is the same color as the 10 ring on a 40 cm target face. I shoot the 40 cm face at the 60 feet. This will be a tough goal.10/02/02 398 - During this session I would have broken my record again except for "choking" and shooting two arrows in the 5 ring. Had they been in the 7 ring I would have scored 402, if 8's 404...so it goes!
10/06/02 399During the past three months I have failed to see any significant improvement. My shooting scores have ranged from about 370 up to the mid 390s. I seem unable to match or break my current record of 401. I had scheduled an appointment to attend the Frank Pearson School of Archery in Tucson but cancelled it at the last minute because of an uncomfortable feeling I had when talking to Frank about his school. He seemed a bit distant and vague about what we were actually going to do for the two days. Also, he instructed me to meet him at a truck stop the morning of the school. I wondered how I would identify him or how he would identify me. I am pursuing finding another school to get me over this next hump.
12/13/02 400 - Close to my record but no cigar!
1/2/03 387
Although I am continuing to practice, I am not entering scores unless they are above 380. Consequently, the entries will likely not be frequent unless I make another break through in my shooting.
3/20/03 403 - Finally I broke my previous record of 401. This was a major hurdle that took me six months to accomplish. I am still in pursuit of shooting a 405 which means I will average nine rings for all 45 arrows.
On April 16th I report into the PSE Shooters School in Tucson. I opted to pay for two full days of individual instruction from George Chapman.
3/25/03 400 - This was a good day for me except it was punctuated by a placing one arrow in the 5 ring, one in the 6 ring, and two in the 7 ring out of the 45 I shot. This potentially could have been another record breaking day had I not choked on those few shots, especially the shot that landed in the 5 ring. So it goes!
3/30/03 394 - During this round I shot four in the 7 ring, otherwise, they were all 8s, 9s, and 10s. No chokes where I put an arrow in the 5 or 6 ring.
4/6/03 385
4/12/03 386On 4/17/03 I finished two days of one-on-one coaching at the PSE Shooter's School in Tucson, Arizona. My instructor was George Chapman. This experience was well worth the money spent to attend the program. The next few weeks of shooting should reveal the results of this excellent training. While at the school, and on George's advice, I equipped my Hoyt GM with 32# limbs. These limbs were PSE Pro-Elite Carbon. The reason for this change was after George recommended adjustments to my anchor point, my draw was approximately 1 1/2 inches more than when I got their. Consequently, my actual draw poundage was up around 47 pounds. With the 32# limbs it dropped down to 36 pounds. I may even try 30# limbs at some point in the near future, if I can a set of equal quality.
4/19/03 399
4/23/03 407 - As a result of the coaching I received at the PSE Shooter's School, a new record was shot today.
The above record was followed by several sessions of mediocre shooting.4/29/03 394
On May 1, 2003, I purchased a longbow to add variety to my archery. This long bow has a 40# draw at 28 inches but at my draw it is more like 48# or so. I am shooting this longbow with it canted slightly in order to sight down the arrows. During my practice sessions I first shoot 45 arrows from my Hoyt GM recurve and then end the session by shooting an additional 45 arrows from the longbow...fun, comes to mind when shooting it!
I also purchased a set of PSE Carbon Force 100 arrows. These arrows are extremely fast. They are also a thing of beauty. As May comes to a close I have maintained regular practice shooting nearly every day. Nonetheless, I have not shot a score higher than 385 all month. This is frustrating but a reality.
During June I only shot sporadically and saw no change in my scores. During the first week of July I am leaving for six weeks in Colorado. I am not taking my bow. I plan on taking a respite from any shooting with hopes that when I return in August I can once again start on an upward accuracy swing.
It is now mid-September of 2003 and I have not resumed regular archery practice since my return from vacation. Hopefully when the outside temperatures fall back to somewhere below the 80's I will once again commence daily shooting.
Well, almost 20 months elapsed since I fired an arrow through my bow. That is a long break from shooting. Today, May 3, 2005 I picked it up (the bow) and fired approximately 30 arrows at 20 yards. What an experience! The first arrow went low off the target, striking a rock wall and shattering a beautiful carbon fiber arrow. Why? Because I forgot to use the clicker. After rethinking what I was doing the next 29 arrows were all on target and actually not too bad at all. In fact, by the time I finished, I was sort of moving back into consistent shooting. I did notice some arm fatigue after the 30 arrows. I am out of shape.
I have pretty much moved on from archery at this time. I sold all my extra bows and just kept my Hoyt Gold Medalist.