Welcome back, or hello for those who haven't been here before. This weeks archery has been a mixture of good and bad results, more on the side of bad than good, but hopefully be able to fly out of the slump soon.
Tuesday there was a tragedy, another raven has fallen, knocked out of the sky by one of its own flock passing to close. I Robin Hooded (shot through my own arrow) on of my arrows splitting the nock and the wood down to the binding making it unshootable unless I strip it down and shorten it, but I'd need more than just the one so for the moment it is laid to rest with its brother who suffered a similar fatality previously. But that was not the only injury, another raven had its tail cut short (broke the nock), but luckily that one has been replaced and is eager to fly again.
Thursday was the December monthly medal, and despite doing well on Tuesday and the previous Thursday my shooting wasn't fairing to well. The monthly medal is a FITA 18, which is five dozen arrows on a Bray 1 target, so effectually two consecutive Bray 1 rounds. I managed 254 48/0, which to me isn't that good due to the amount of misses as it seemed that I was missing with almost every 3rd arrow, with an average Bray score of 127 24/0 which isn't bad, but isn't my best either. Suffice to say I didn't manage to retain the longbow medal but just means I have something to shoot for next month.
Today being Sunday saw the opening of the December frosbite shoot, but with the snow that fell on the Friday still lingering it being around 2-3" very few archers turned up. So few in fact it was just myself and Steve Dunn, a fellow longbow archer who had taken one for the team and brought out his recurve for this shoot, seeing it is technically a recurve postal round. So there were a brief passing comment of "we few, we crazy few" and a couple of odd looks by people come to the rugby club. Despite the snow it was a nice day sun was warm, there was no wind, and as long as you had decent boots and thick socks the cold didn't really reach you. The more interesting was when there were a few stray arrows and they left trails for you to follow in the snow, though digging them out did leave your fingers cold and numb. By the end of the shoot I walked away with 145 31/0 which is about the same as the last frostbite but still in my eye not overly that good, but just means more practice is needed.
With Christmas looming next week there is the Christmas fun shoot to be looking forward to and in two weeks is another Frostbite which hopefully will be better attended but we'll see. Till next time, stay warm and a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Sunday 19 December 2010
Friday 10 December 2010
Portsmouth Postals
As the name suggests this week was the postal league Portsmouth round, which is five dozen arrows on a 60cm target. Despite the less than average turn out, I think the club managed to cobble together the four recurve teams (though this did include 4 longbowers) and at least 2 out of 3 people for the compound team. But the weather was mild and the rain had melted most of the ice on the road so was much less slippery, overall pleasant evening walk and shoot.
The Portsmouth target despite being the larger of the indoor targets was one I'd practiced less on, yes I practice on the smaller targets with a longbow, I did rather well. Only recording a Portsmouth round once before, my personal best was increased by 51 points, final score was 438, 60 hits, 11 Golds. Seeing as both my Portsmouth round score had no misses, it means I'm honing myself more into the centre, esp as I was enjoying being congratulated every so often by fellow longbowers for shooting good ends. Despite my last half dozen having a few arrows deciding they were bored of colours and prefered the white rings, it was still good enough to beat two other longbow archers only coming second (out of the longbows) to Shawn, who set a new club record, but I'm catching up so bit more practice and who knows.
The more interesting result is that I'm still beating recurve archers, which as said before for a longbower novice with no sight aids is pretty good. Yeah I might get better scores with recurves but longbows are or least to me, so much more relaxing and feels right in the hand. I read a series of books recently where one character (surprisingly called longbow) said he always felt his bow was just an extension of his arm, and though it might not have begun that way, it is getting more like that to me.
Quick change of topic before I go. While looking around on some archery shop websites, I noticed a type of fletching called "raven".......it looks like half an arrow head, so I might invest in some them out next time I make a new flock (12-arrows) see how they go. Still thinking of having the two black arrows, might have them with warheads on.....hmmm think about it a bit more see what conclusions I come to, they'd look nice.
Stay tuned for next week, it'll probably be a little later because there is a frostbite on Sunday, so if its not wet the cloak might be coming out. I'll try to get pictures.......so stay tuned.
The Portsmouth target despite being the larger of the indoor targets was one I'd practiced less on, yes I practice on the smaller targets with a longbow, I did rather well. Only recording a Portsmouth round once before, my personal best was increased by 51 points, final score was 438, 60 hits, 11 Golds. Seeing as both my Portsmouth round score had no misses, it means I'm honing myself more into the centre, esp as I was enjoying being congratulated every so often by fellow longbowers for shooting good ends. Despite my last half dozen having a few arrows deciding they were bored of colours and prefered the white rings, it was still good enough to beat two other longbow archers only coming second (out of the longbows) to Shawn, who set a new club record, but I'm catching up so bit more practice and who knows.
The more interesting result is that I'm still beating recurve archers, which as said before for a longbower novice with no sight aids is pretty good. Yeah I might get better scores with recurves but longbows are or least to me, so much more relaxing and feels right in the hand. I read a series of books recently where one character (surprisingly called longbow) said he always felt his bow was just an extension of his arm, and though it might not have begun that way, it is getting more like that to me.
Quick change of topic before I go. While looking around on some archery shop websites, I noticed a type of fletching called "raven".......it looks like half an arrow head, so I might invest in some them out next time I make a new flock (12-arrows) see how they go. Still thinking of having the two black arrows, might have them with warheads on.....hmmm think about it a bit more see what conclusions I come to, they'd look nice.
Stay tuned for next week, it'll probably be a little later because there is a frostbite on Sunday, so if its not wet the cloak might be coming out. I'll try to get pictures.......so stay tuned.
Friday 3 December 2010
The Ice Walk
Hello again everyone, its been another week of archery. With the cold weather moving in the walk to archery is getting more tricky as when I set off at around 6pm the sun has long since set and the cold night has arrived. Not really a problem, but recent snow fall that is now turning into ice due to the amount of heat and compression due to people walking on it the four miles can get a bit slippery. Cold wind doesn't help much either but the "assassin" outfit as it has been dubbed, is out and within minutes of the walk the cold doesn't reach me, though people are still shocked that I walk. Surprising though how many people aren't turning up since the snow compared to how many did before it fell. The roads I walk along aren't snowy or icy and coated with a good amount of grit, but I suppose people have their own reasons. Oh funny little thing happened on the Thursday walk, two boys on the other side of the street throwing snowballs at random passersby both see me, and back away down a small side road.
Another downside to this forty-five minute walk is that my bow gets very cold, making it very stiff, so I have to give it a good rub down before I shoot it properly. Alright you people at the back stop sniggering, I dunno people these days :p
With the start of the new month comes a new month of postal league shooting, so shooting Bray 1 rounds at whenever possible to try and get good score recorded to beat the other clubs around. Due to Tuesday's currently being filled with beginners shooting a round of any type can be very slow between ends, so its just really good for practice and socialising. Thursday again being quite due to the cold weather was quite good for shooting, so after a few ends to warm up my muscles and the bow more than anything else, a Bray 1 round was started and I managed to beat my personal best of 149, with a score of 158, 28/30 hits, 0 golds. Just because I didn't get any golds, doesn't mean I didn't hit the gold part of the target. The golds are the 2nd ring (for longbows and recurves) so, basically I hit near the centre but not direct centre. With only 2 misses as well its very good for a longbow archer, esp a reasonably new one that makes his life harder by shooting without any shooting aids. I did do a second Bray 1 but this was much worse only scoring 115, 26/30 1gold......The amount of hits and the fact I managed to get a gold, is good its just when I did hit they were pretty wild on the target rather than focused in the centre like the first. Oh well, can't win them all, esp in archery, but its a good start for the new month.
I have discovered though that through body movement I'm starting to know before I'm even at full draw whether the shot is going to be a bad one or not, downside is I feel its going to be a bad one, and don't come down and do it again, so that's one thing I have to get into doing. Its not as easy as you thought, its like trying to throw a ball and just as your about to let go going back the way you came till your just holding it.
Hmm I really need to get some pictures up on here.......maybe next time.
I've got to get myself in a training routine to build up my shoulders and back muscles for the next out door season when the heavier bow arrives, as well as order some new shafts and heads so I can make a new flock of ravens (arrows). Hopefully someone will give me something towards it for Christmas, but if not then no worry.
That's all for now people, stay tuned for more.
Another downside to this forty-five minute walk is that my bow gets very cold, making it very stiff, so I have to give it a good rub down before I shoot it properly. Alright you people at the back stop sniggering, I dunno people these days :p
With the start of the new month comes a new month of postal league shooting, so shooting Bray 1 rounds at whenever possible to try and get good score recorded to beat the other clubs around. Due to Tuesday's currently being filled with beginners shooting a round of any type can be very slow between ends, so its just really good for practice and socialising. Thursday again being quite due to the cold weather was quite good for shooting, so after a few ends to warm up my muscles and the bow more than anything else, a Bray 1 round was started and I managed to beat my personal best of 149, with a score of 158, 28/30 hits, 0 golds. Just because I didn't get any golds, doesn't mean I didn't hit the gold part of the target. The golds are the 2nd ring (for longbows and recurves) so, basically I hit near the centre but not direct centre. With only 2 misses as well its very good for a longbow archer, esp a reasonably new one that makes his life harder by shooting without any shooting aids. I did do a second Bray 1 but this was much worse only scoring 115, 26/30 1gold......The amount of hits and the fact I managed to get a gold, is good its just when I did hit they were pretty wild on the target rather than focused in the centre like the first. Oh well, can't win them all, esp in archery, but its a good start for the new month.
I have discovered though that through body movement I'm starting to know before I'm even at full draw whether the shot is going to be a bad one or not, downside is I feel its going to be a bad one, and don't come down and do it again, so that's one thing I have to get into doing. Its not as easy as you thought, its like trying to throw a ball and just as your about to let go going back the way you came till your just holding it.
Hmm I really need to get some pictures up on here.......maybe next time.
I've got to get myself in a training routine to build up my shoulders and back muscles for the next out door season when the heavier bow arrives, as well as order some new shafts and heads so I can make a new flock of ravens (arrows). Hopefully someone will give me something towards it for Christmas, but if not then no worry.
That's all for now people, stay tuned for more.
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