Checking Out A New Breed

Hail and well met once more, I trust that you are all well and that your stomachs have recovered from the holiday feasting and indulgences.

Since my last update the only shooting that has taken place that I have attended is the Christmas fun shoot, which consisted of battleships, pontoon, and balloon bursting. With food generously provided by club members. On a whole I find that the night went well, though not sort of a few underhanded antics.

Though something of interest also occurred earlier in that week. There have been rumblings within the club about the introduction of crossbows, though there are those for and against. The idea was put on hold until tests could be made. So an old member was called upon who had a crossbow on the verge of the maximum poundage of the GNAS rules, surprisingly for all damage was comparatively no more than a compound or maybe even a recurve. Even I tested out the capabilities of the crossbow and was surprised at the ease of its use and abilities, though I'd be interested to see how it would work upon the field at greater range. If it was allowed I may invest in a more traditional style of bow than the modern and still without a sight.

Another bow brought on the night that sparked an interest was a Korean bow. Though a light bow it was fun to use and sent my ravens fluttering through the air in a way I wasn't used to. Though I have to admit I didn't shoot it properly as Korean bows should be shot with a thumb ring and on the thumb side of the bow, and drawn to the ear. I am tempted to invest just to have something different and more fun to shoot.

I hope those of you that read this were good and received a gifted visit by good old St. Nic, and perhaps aided your archery needs. I myself was gifted by some new points and tools for cutting feathers, and also my beloved gifted me with a copy of 'The Traditional Bowyer's Bible'. I would recommend it to any aspiring bowyer or even fletcher to aid their hobby/trade. It does focus on the American Flatbow but yet there is some good advice for the longbows too. I think its going to be well thumbed through and I will have to have a note book to hand when reading it. So hopefully with its advice and some of my new tools I can craft some more arrows, and possibly eventually my own arrow shafts, to a greater degree of quality.

I wish you all a 'Happy New Year!!', and I leave you with the words of Maurice Thompson written in 1878;

"For good shooting, everything depends upon the arrow. No matter how true your aim, how staunch your bow, or how steady your hand, you cannot hit regularly without perfect arrows."

Flying On The Icy Winds

Hail and well met, welcome to those who are new here, and a welcomed return for those who have come before to this high aviary.

Already December has come and Christmas looms a couple of weeks away, though this has not stopped the flights of my ravens, but their feathers are nestled in the warmer indoor range. Since the last post there has been some interesting shootings. In fact since the last post there I've set 3 new personal records.

Already we are well into the postal leagues, of Bray 1, Frostbite and for our recurves and compounds we have the standard Portsmouth postal, and for longbows we have entered the British Longbow Society Portsmouth, which have slightly different rules.

With the first Bray of the indoor season, the 2nd personal best was set since we moved in doors, with my ravens flying straight and true securing a score of no less of 195, though with the second to last arrow, filled with the drunkeness of success, lept a bit too hard from its perch and landed above the target face resulting in the only miss, though just shy of 200 I'm no less pleased with the result.

The next shoot was the first of the postal Portsmouth league and for me it wasn't my best shooting, not even breaking the 400 mark, which after the success in the Bray was left a little dissappointing. The following Frostbite also left much to be desired. The result of the monthly medal's Bray 1 was 154, though it wasn't good enough to win the medal, though it was still a reasonable score and highier than most of last years scores, so it still shows an improvement overall.

Since december started the Bray's I have been doing have been usually over the 160 mark while the Portsmouths have come above the 400 mark, though I have not yet got close to last years PB and atm is the only one set last year that has still illuded me.

But this update doesn't end on a downer, for upon the day of the last monthly medal shoot. a FITA 18m my personal best went from 278 to 344, with only two misses. But that was not the only reason to celebrate, for with the 2nd to last end of three my ravens decided to make this a shoot to remember for all three landed within the 10 ring, marking a three gold end, probably the first on this size target. It is just a shame I had no camera to hand.

Today though was another where I should have had a camera to hand to take the shot of the hardier member of the club braving the winter chill and standing upon the ice covered field, with 9 archers braving the cold, three of which were longbow archers. But just to show how icy it was, one of our younger archers with a relativly light longbow, despite shooting below the target, the arrow would bounce a slide so much, that despite the target being at 30 yards the arrows would travel over 60 yards. But again this shoot let to a new Personal best making it jump from 205 to 214, with only one miss. Though it may not make too much of a difference it is slightly off putting with the target face dlightly off centre to save the bosses from damage. But aside from chilled hands, the day was a reasonable success, the only real downer being the longbow of Shaun Allen is being laid down for retirement, due to cracks and not bending right.

I finish this with a quote from Tina Jeon:

"Archery is a personal challenge because the sport is focused on the individual"

Until next time my friends.

Flying In The Right Direction

Hail and well met Raven followers, with the close of the outdoor season the numbers have been tallied and new personal bests have been set.

This summer's personal bests stand as;



Round	Personal Best
York	120
Hereford	141
St. George	124
Albion	333
Windsor	468
Long western	249
Western	200
American	271
Long National	138
National	260
Warwick	142

		Distances
		100yds	80yds	60yds	50yds	40yds
Arrow Average		0.31	0.97	2.42	3.14	5.05

 

Accuracy Average

24.64%

Plus with the fact I went from 3rd Class to 1st Class, I'm quite pleased with my overall progress over the summer, though I still have room for improvement.

 With the indoor season starting already, my ravens have already started to fly in the inner range. First shoot being the first monthly medal being a FITA 18m. Already setting a new PB of 278, followed by our Worcester shoot, the Castlebank Cup. Here I set another PB of 166, though this could have been better if there weren't so many loud people distracting while trying to shoot, it also seemed I wasn't the only one suffering from this distraction. I'm aware that to get to a top level in sports you've got to block out everything else, but it can be hard esp when in a room that echos and amplifies the sounds. Plus as archers talking to each other while on the shooting line, or to archers on the shooting line is against etiquette rules you don't really expect it.

Though we don't shoot them often I quite like shooting the Worcester round, its different and relaxing.

So far I've been shooting my heavier bow indoors to keep my muscles up, I'm actually enjoying shooting the heavier bow more than the lighter one. Though I think I might make some more arrows as looking at the angle they are going in the current ones maybe a bit stiff. Though I might leave experiments of the shafts for later on in the season.

This is quite a concentrated update compared to previous updates, but unlike the last update I've got an archery saying, goodnight all, and keep shooting:

Death is like and arrow that is already in flight,

and your life lasts only until it reaches you.

Georg Hermes





Winter Is Looming

Hail and well met once more followers and casual readers. Well with the end of today's shoot comes the close of the outdoor season, and the beginning of the winter season. I have to say I have enjoyed it overall though this year the weather was not really perfect, but then when is it ever perfect so you just have to make the best of it, archers have done so for centuries, or well technically thousands of years. But before we go into the seasonal look back, lets look at whats happened since the last update.

Since we last met, I've shot:
- Wirral Friendly (Albion)
- New Century Novice Shoot (National)
- Long National
- Long Western

The friendly against the Wirral archers is an annual club event, and this time it was a home match. Three Wirral turned up to shoot, and eight of our own archers (including myself). The day was reasonably nice though the wind blew strongly in gusts, soon the arrows were loosed and targets peppered. Though Wirral had no longbow archers the NCB longbow archers brought the longbows to bear. After a long day and a good meal provided by NCB members, the scores were tallied and compared together, and picking those who shot the same rounds with the same bows as the Wirral archers, NCB came out on top. But that was not the only success of the day, I took the first step towards achieving my season goal of first class. For those interested the battle of longbows was close, I was leading at 80yds, but after very bad shooting at 60yds Doug Shaw had over taken me. So at 50yds its all what counted, and with a determined eye I shot quite keenly, and as the last arrow landed and the scores were tallied, the final result was Doug 334, and myself.......333, one point was in it. A more exciting match could not have been seen.

With the success of my first class pip I was aware that I needed two more before I had earned the classification, but I had signed up to attend the novice shoot at New Century. So I set off hitching a lift with two other NCB archers Hugh and Lizzie Foster. Admittedly the weather wasn't the best, at the start of the day the wind blew, and on and off the rain fell. Despite that it was a very relaxing day and though I didn't shoot my best I still shot reasonably well and ended up winning 2nd longbow. I also managed to shoot enough to earn a purple Cheshire cat Cheshire badge. Also interestingly enough one of the other longbow archers had an Adrian Hayes longbow, so it was interesting and also a conversation starter.

For those who have never been to archery shoots before, you see archers comparing bow styles and arrow makers and don't often do that with longbow archers, so kinda a nice experience.

With only two shoots left in the season neither more than 60yds, the first class classification was still sitting in the back of my mind. So I decided that I wasn't going to waste the first class score and intended to do the longer versions of what it said on the calender.



The Long National was first, and my raven's inspired by their previous success landed comfortably in the target over and over, though they tended to stay out of the centre as that was being peppered by the compound arrows of John Stubbs. By the end of the day I had achieved the second pip of my first class classification.

Today was the last chance until the season ended and I'd have to do the whole thing all over again. It was a cloudy day and with strong gusts coming from behind. With a threat of rain at lunchtime, only five archers turned up today. Interestingly Meg Shaw has decided to get a bit of practice with the longbow.....another to the true archers? Well we'll just have to wait and see. Anyway, today my ravens decided to brave the gold spot, and I almost managed to get a three gold end at 80yds, which for longbows is badge worthy, but my raven's rarely like to share their golden perch. esp as compound arrows were being pelted into it. One raven did stray too close and was dented by a compound arrow, but yet survived. But it was a success my ravens bagged enough point for my third 1st class score, and with that score, I'm now a first class archer and possibly knocked another point off my handicap score. So with the last shoots of the seasons I managed just to scrape in the outdoor goal I set out to achieve.

This is a big long so I won't do it now but my next post I'll post up my season stats, so you can compare to your own if you like, but for now thanks for reading and fly straight.

Settling The Roost

Hello once again, this month my archery has been suffering slightly. Though this isn't really much of a surprise, the latest addition to my family means I'm not able to practice as much, and though at times I don't mind not going to practice, when shooting and scoring I can see that my abilities have suffered because of it. Plus I think she has figured out what days I go shooting on and decided to try and keep me up those nights so I can't leave her in the morning, which I suppose is fair seeing as I'm up and out before she wakes up during the week.

But back to archery, we've now moved into September so almost the end of the outdoor archery season, and despite some wet days and some very windy days, its been rather nice for shooting, the past couple of times I've been at the club has been wonderful weather of sunshine and calm, but so few have turned up its been a real surprise. Next week is the friendly match against Wirral which I hope more of our member will turn up to.

Since my last update I have been to four shoots;
- FITA 900
- Albion
- American (BBQ shoot)
- National (Monthly Medal)

The FITA 900 is an interesting one as since most of the time I prefer to practice in yards rather than metres, and being a metric shoot its a ten zone score rather than a five, but is yet the same face as I often practice with, the 122cm one.  I can't really remember what the weather was like on that day, days are kind of merging together at the moment. But I know my performance on the day was as per my handicap at the moment, though I know I could have shot better.

The Albion again I shot not my best score though not far from it. Though I shot my best at the longest ranges but when it came to the shortest range my arrows did not find their mark and fell short. So despite shooting higher than other Albions at both 80 and 60 yds, I dropped valuable points at 50yds. I still think the problem I have with Albions and other long range shoots are my arrows. The bow I have is powerful enough but the arrows, are like I said before less than straight, and heavy. Meaning when I shoot I have to arc high which mean that its very susceptible to the wind.

The American BBQ shoot, quite ironically was almost a permanent drizzle, and overcast. With the weather mimicking my mood, my shooting was poor, only managing to shoot to a 69 handicap. It was also in the American that a tragedy befell my conspiracy as one raven struck the target and shattered upon its impact. Though this is not the first to have fallen, it is the first one to shatter and score at the same time. Oh and FYI the BBQ didn't take place, shooting in the rain is one thing but trying to cook is a completely different thing.

Today's National was next and for the first two dozen my shooting was spot on as all but one end was higher than 30, first end being 29. Though only one had all 6 on target. Though after those first 24, whether my aim, hand, or combination could not place the arrows where they should, dropping form 36 to 17 and then to 0. For any archer hard to come back from as with archery you must have a clear mind but remained focused, and a dramatic break can make the mind think of other things. When the range was changed, my shooting though improved did not reach to what it was at the beginning. But yet with a score of 260, that's my best score for a National so far. This was the shoot for the monthly medal, so being the only longbow there I got the longbow medal, John Stubbs being the only compound (though would have probably won anyway) got the compound medal, David Cambell won the scratch and Robert Frank the Handicap medal. Four archers, four medals everyone is a winner. It was also nice to see during most of these shoots three of our newer archers who seem to be improving rather well. Though with the closing of the season being all longer shoots unless they do lots of practice I doubt we'll be seeing them doing the longer shoots. Though the main interesting thing today was that the field was littered with a mass amount of money spiders, which were quite distracting esp when they appear on your glasses while your trying to shoot.

Well to follow what I think I have been shooting I would like to leave you with a Spanish Archery proverb:

The archer that shoots badly has a lie ready.

Good night to all and good shooting.



Hatching Nest

Its that time again to hear from the aviary, well on the archery front its not been that busy for me. I've not even been able to make it to practices really because on the 23rd of July, one of the next generations was born. That's right I'm now a father to a little girl called Enya.

Though I was allowed to go and compete in the Club Championship shoot, the next day. This was a York shoot which proves a good challenge as you realise that the slightest wind can change the trajectory of arrows esp with larger fletchings. My ravens as standard have 125 grain piles, with 4" fletchings, this are rather heavy piles, which if there is wind is good as they are able to fight the wind, though the fletching counteracts this as they can catch the wind. Also the downside of the piles is that it means the arrows have to be sent on a higher arch so they go higher and catch more wind, so really my ravens are for shorter distances probably up to 60yds, but for the moment that's all I have and can afford. I might have to invest in a fletching cutter so I can get some lower profile fletchings and some lighter piles. Plus straight shafts would help but for now just have to cope. So if anyone reading this knows where I can get some low profile fletchings please leave a comment.

Despite this arrow obstacle I got the highest longbow score for the gents, though seeing as our Grand Master Bowman wasn't there it did give me a better shot. Though at the start it was close with Doug Shaw, who seems to be adapting to the art of the longbow quite well. Infact so well Doug has managed to beat me on the past two monthly medals, though I will admit I was shooting very badly until the last dozen, but that's doesn't mean he was shooting well.

I think for a while my practice will be cut short whilst raising this little girl, or at least till she gets into a more steady routine of sleeping at night rather than during the day and awake and wriggly during the night. Though still have my goal of trying to get 1st class this year, I find is quite annoying as I always seem to just miss out on getting it but a dozen or so points, but I suppose that's what I get for shooting instinctively with unstraight arrows.

 I have started though to help out, or at least try to help out by creating club events on facebook, not sure exactly how well they are working but I'm hoping they are helping some club members remember what shoots are on and encourage those who can to come down, as shoots are often better with more people, and for fun rather than a score, for to me archery is a sport where if you don't enjoy doing it you won't get any better, so with that I leave you with a quote from what I'm told is an old Chinese poem, which translates to:

"If archer shoots just for fun he has all his skill.
If he shoots for score his hands tremble
and his breath is uneasy.
If he shoots for a golden price he becomes mad and blind.
His skill was not lessened, but the vision of the target changed him."

Oh almost missed this (mainly for the fact we've not been able to do anything so kinda passed un-noticed), that I have now reached my quarter century on this planet, so belated happy birthday to myself, and to my good lady whose birthday was celebrated in hospital giving birth to our little girl. All the best people and may the wind under your wings take you to where the sun sails and the moon walks.



The Summer Soaring

Greetings once more, these few weeks have been busy archery wise. During the outdoor season the club often tries to have a club shoot or event each weekend, and so since my last post on here there has been:
Friendly shoot against Rochdale Archers,
The July Monthly Medal,
The NCB longbow shoot.

There was another club shoot but that I didn't go too as it was raining hard all day, and a 3 mile walk in the pouring rain, followed by shooting in the rain and then walking back, kinda damped my spirits.

Unfortunately at the moment my practice has taken a back seat as soon there is going to be a little one around so I've traded my Tuesday evenings to preparing myself for the event. Though it hasn't effected me too much, it has a bit but not a great deal. But on with the activities so far.

Firstly the Albion shoot against Rochdale didn't go as planned, the main handicap was that only three members of NCB turned up to represent our club. These were David Campbell, Richard Park, and myself. In all honestly I was quite disappointed about the lack of support we showed for this annual event, I was even informed last year also had very little turn out as well, and those that did turn out were novices at the time. So while there were only three of us, there were fifteen of Rochdale's archers. More of an interest to me though was the fact that one of their members was a longbow archer, so him and myself had our own little competition between us. Despite the lack of numbers we gave a good run for their money, though we did lose the odd stacked against us it was kinda obvious, but as a side note I did beat the other longbower, who had been shooting long only a little less time than I have so were kind of on an even keel. Despite the poor turn out by NCB, Rochdale were very friendly and laid on a wonderful spread, esp for those non drivers as there were a few bottles of beer. Also it was a lovely sunny day with very little wind, so lovely in fact that a couple of us retreated to the shelter of the indoor range to re-apply suncream and to cool down.

The next club shoot that I attended was the July monthly medal, which again was a Warwick shoot, though this month my shooting was definitely left wanting, perhaps this was down to being tired from work, perhaps not. But at the start of the shoot there was a sudden cloud burst, which had the fair weather archers pull out quickly, though the shower passed within minutes. But as I said for whatever the reasons my ravens weren't wanting to fly to the target that day. On the other hand Shaun Allan set a new club longbow record, and Doug Shaw shot extremely well lowering his handicap by 5 points. Shows you what high quality arrows and a good shooting day can do. Though yet to see how all this effects the new handicap league results.

 Last but not least of the shoots was the club longbow shoot. Now for those unfamiliar this shoot is where archers come down to shoot, yes you guessed it longbows. This is often a chance for recurve archers (and a few compounds) to try their hand at a more traditional style of shooting. Its a Windsor round so shooting 60/50/40 and longbows ans arrows are lent to club members normally from our two (G)MB longbow men, Angus Reynolds and Shaun Allan. What makes it even more fun is that during the range changes we often have a selection of cheese and biscuits enhanced by a good sampling of port. This time as a guest shooter we saw the return of Steve Dunn.

Yes the rain did fall, but this was usually only luckily during the range changes so sheltering under the gazebo from the rain gave a good excuse to give the port glasses a top up. I will admit that I surprised myself with the fact that out of 108 arrows I only missed with 7, which though still leaves room for improvement but still only missing the target twice at 60yards was a big feet for me, though not sure why I seemed to miss the target the closer it got. But it was the second highest score of the day, and if we go by longbow rules and go by some longbow shooting rules I would have won on hits.

But I would like to offer an extra congratulations to Elise Smith for achieving a 3 gold end. Which is a big achievement......or at least it is for me.



After the Windsor it was time to shoot the knights, three knights (an archer, a knight with a small round shield, and a more armoured knight with a large kite shield).
This is where we split into teams and shot at each knight in turn gaining (or losing points) depending what part of the knight we hit, whether weapon, head, body or limbs, shields were classed as misses. Though my team didn't win it was still fun to shoot at something more than a five coloured target, and French knight makes the hits an awful lot sweeter.

Though tonight a tragedy has befallen, one of my ravens has died and will not be able to fly again. With a side contact with the boss stand the pile broke and now the shaft is too short. Its always kinder to let it travel back with its flock so they know it too and I often find that they fly truer at least for a short while to honour the flocks fallen member.

So with this tragic news I come to a close. I shall leave you with not an archery quote but one by Edgar Allan Poe:

Quoth the Raven,"Nevermore."

Flying Solo

Hail and well met once more my friends. A Happy Solstice to you all as well, though I suppose its after mid-night so its not the solstice anymore, but who cares its one of the few recognised pagan celebrations that is still celebrated. Yes I'm away there are others that are celebrated but those aren't generally recognised as pagan, but moving on.

Since my last post had a few things happening:
Bill Hodkinson Shoot,
Monthly Medal,
Mid-summer Handicap,
Kedleston Longbow shoot.

And just over halfway through the month, well starting at the top. I was unable to shoot at the Bill Hodkinson shoot as it was an afternoon shoot and I had other plans, but I did turn up in the morning and shot a respectable short metric round (or least for me) of 240 25 hits, 2 golds. A short metric is a round on a smaller target, than normal imperial outdoor targets, but you use a 10 zone score rather than 5 zone. But because you have a smaller target when the target is out at 50yds you can start screaming because your arrows have hit the paper and not the scoring ring. Unfortunately the results of this shoot sparked off a heated discussion which lead to one of our members leaving, but won't go into that here. I appreciate comments on here, but not arguments.

This months Monthly Medal shoot was a Warwick round, which I didn't shoot my best but I still managed to win the longbow medal despite using my old lighter bow. In all honestly the bow isn't that bad, its just much lighter than my heavier one and the only arrows I have are more or less all bend or curved and it is a bit of a struggle at times. though by this point I was still hoping that my heavier bow would have arrived.

Mid-Summer Handicap came next, and well comments of,"Its mid-summer why is the weather like this?" were voiced alot due to the overcast and slight breeze and spatter of rain. This was a National round, and though again it wasn't my best, it wasn't far off, despite still using my old bow. I did manage to get the highest longbow score, it wasn't good enough to place in the handicap scores, but its nice to see new members winning them. If my experiences last year were anything to go by, it'll really help their self-belief and confidence and make them shoot better.

Last but by no means least was the longbow shoot at Kedleston Hall. I must admit beyond any shadow of doubt this must have been my most enjoyable shoots ever. For a start it was all longbows, no recurves or compounds to be seen. So for a start the atmosphere was much more relaxed as normally (or at least from my experience) its always longbows finish first and have to wait around for other bow types to finish. Well with all longbows it was almost shoot collect, shoot collect, so the pace was smoother, and also there was less fear of arrows being broken, though sorry to say there were a few casualties on the day, though luckily for me all my ravens remained intact, though one or two may have had some knocks and bruises.
The other thing about the shoot was that all other archers were so friendly, focusing less on the score and more of having a good time. Though the change distance sherry's may have had something to do with that in some cases, yes that's right readers longbow shoots serve alcohol when its time to change the range. Looking at your bows any different now?
The weather was again very pleasant, it wasn't glaringly hot sun that made it all uncomfortable, and the rain held off, there were a few gusts of wind, but nothing too serious, and because of that not only did I beat my personal best with a score of 404, I also knocked a point off my handicap. I also was placed 25/50 for senior gents, or 29/64 overall. Not bad, esp for shooting for just under (I think) 18months but what I have yet to tell you is that because I turned up a few minutes late, I wasn't able to shoot the first six arrows, and the first six I did shoot were rushed because I was rushing to get ready so I could shoot. But can't change that I just think its nice I was down 6 arrows and still came mid table.
Two more interesting points about Kedleston:
1. Ranking is based of number of hits before score, most shoots its the other way around.
2. If you go to mixed shoots you struggle to move around behind the waiting line because each bow has its own stand and the bow sticks out horizontally as well as vertically so have to be really careful, while at Kedleston (and shows you how much more social longbowers are) that the bow stands can accommodate 2+ on one stand, and because they are all vertical there is more room to move about and talk to people.
3.(Yes I know I said two, but I remembered one more) When shooting at 60yds as well as marking golds for "best gold" award, if you get an inner gold you get £1 per inner gold. Unfortunately no one told me that at the beginning so probably didn't try as hard (be amazed what money can inspire to achieve).

Well its late so I will finish by saying congratulations to all the winners of this month's events so far. I'll leave you with a picture from the Kedleston shoot and a quote from "The Song of the Bosonian Archers", by Robert E. Howard
.
Good night all and good shooting.

"A long bow and a strong bow,
And let the sky grow dark.
The nock to the cord, the shaft to the ear,
And a foreign king for a mark!"

Oh just remembered, added tonight archery excuse 183. I have a screw loose.



May's Breeze

Well June is upon us so time for another update.

May has had its ups and downs...........and left to rights, and right to lefts. Yes its been a windy chilly month, and unfortunately the wind was the down fall of one of my long distance ravens, as it hit the edge of the boss side on and from a distance of 60yds was seen flying off in two separate pieces. So at some point it'll be stripped and at some point put upon a pyre.
The good news this month though occurred at the AGM, the meeting was generally good. New info passed around, sum up of funds which sounds like if we move sooner would be much better than later, so hopefully now everything will go through smoothly, and with enough time before winter. Angus is going to be the new club coach, Simon the field captain, Steve Dunn the new fixtures co-ordinator, and there are a couple of other new members to the committee. I was personally tempted to give it a go, might be a laugh but as I'm looking to move I don't know whether I'll be around the area as of yet.

But its what happened afterwards that shocked me, as well as the meeting it was awards for the indoor season, now I was already expecting the trophy for the Valentine's Cup and the Indoor Longbow Champion, because we have the results on the club website so kinda know its coming. They are very nice one looks like a crystal sherry glass, while the other is a small cup. What I wasn't expecting though was to win not only the best four Portsmouth rounds after handicap, which btw is a massive cup, but also the most promising new member, which is a shield with a carving of Horace A Ford. Who I discovered was an archer who picked up a bow at the age of 23 and four years later won the GNAM, winning 11 consecutive championships, and a twelfth come back after ill health and damaged muscles. He also set a high score in a double york shoot in 1857 (he was 35) which was unbroken for 72 years. Its a possible goal, not very likely but possible, yeah your right very very unlikely, but still nice to get the award.

Also on the roll of success I managed to win the Jubilee Handicap shoot despite the strong winds and the fact I shot badly. Though in all honesty I wasn't happy with my performance that day and was a bit grumpy about it, towards the end I was just loosing for the heck of it just wanting to get it over with, so kind of a hollow victory. That and the fact it was raining on and off whilst blowing strong gusts, and since I'm at the moment using my old bow I'm shooting at a high arch through crosswinds, which makes aiming more of a rough guess, despite the heavier piles.

The following week was the Phoenix Handicap and though I didn't win (came second) I enjoyed it much more as I hadn't looked up classification scores so I could relax, plus I already achieved 2nd class and that was the highest you could get for that shoot. On a related note, congratulations to Lizzie Foster who shot very well on that day, and achieved a 3rd class score. She seems to be settling into the longbow now.

You may be wondering about my heavy bow, well at the moment it is still with the bowyer under repair. I've been told that I should have it before the 19th which is the shoot at Kedlestone my first none team shoot. I'm hoping I get it some time this coming week so I can practice, esp now as the weather seems to have picked up. I need a rough guild of how it handles in the heat, and I need to get used to drawing the weight again. Its getting bad because my fingers are starting to lose their callouses, but hopefully I'll get them back before the shoot.

Well that's it for now, I leave you with a nice Archery quote:

Come archers, come, all ye who fought
At Cressy, Poictiers, Agincourt;
Pay the last honours due to one
Most worthy to be call’d your son.

Hughes.



Unforseen Problems

Greetings once more, I am sad to say a recent tragedy has struck my shooting. My new longbow is already delaminating, so its got to be returned to the bowyer. Not a good thing only after a few months, and to make matters worse, despite it already doing three trips neither Parcel Force, or the Post Office are willing to send it because of its length, so having to find different couriers who are willing to send it for a decent price.

Since this delamination has started I've admitted that I've had to go back to my previous lighter bow and I will tell you something. After a few months of using the heavy bow, the lighter bow now seems to have no draw weight by comparison. Seeing as the lighter one is about 20lbs lighter its understandable, but it till makes shooting harder in a way, not because of the draw because drawing it back is almost as easy as pulling your arm back without a bow in it, its the whole frame of mind. I've said before that I shoot instinctively and shooting a bow that I've not practiced outdoors with for 6 months, I'm having to re-learn where to aim with it, and since my old arrows aren't really the right length compared to the new bows arrows there are difficulties. I might shorted the arrows when I get time, give me a bit more cast, but at the moment I'm having to make do with what I have. Hopefully though at the latest my heavy bow will be back and repaired with me before Keddlestone, so I can re-practice. But in the mean time I will continue to practice with the lighter bow, just to keep my body used to the movements.

What is also a pain is that this month has quite a few shoots and competitions, and though I admit I could shoot the short versions of the round I would prefer to join in the longer distances, esp as I've now achieved my 2nd class I want to go for my 1st class, but I need the cast and weight of the heavier bow to reach the distances. Plus I find it easier shooting the longer distances, not for hitting the target but for drawing the bow. Also I currently be behind our current more experienced longbow archers, but bit of practice and could close the gap. Always gives a secondary sense of achievement, when I get close to some scores, or manage to beat others scores during certain ends, esp as I'm using arrows I've made, not ones that have been bought.

Catching The Wind

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers (and sisters). Yes my friends another month has almost been and gone. Now in the month of May, and what a month April has been. Tradition has 'April Showers', this April though has been anything but wet, but infact has been gloriously sunny, so much infact parts of me are a little pink from it.

Last entry I ended just after the monthly medal, which I now have a picture for you:

This is the longbow medal, and the other three are similar to this with only slightly different shaped medal and designs on the medal itself. Technically you're meant to wear them at club shoots, but very few people do. Its a shame really, you do see a number of badges on peoples quivers (I have a few myself) but never really see any medals. I'm hoping when we get a new club house we'll have like a little trophy cabinet. We might not but it would be nice.

Since the monthly medal we were scheduled to have the clubs AGM and The President's Cup, both of which had to be postponed for various reasons, which came with mixed opinions from members.

But we did manage to shoot the FITA. Now this was the first time I'd shot a FITA and it was longer than I expected. A FITA is 12 dozen arrows: 3 at 90m, 3 at 70m on a big face. and then 3 at 50m and 3 at 30m on a smaller face. I'd never shot these distances and this amount of arrows either, and with my heavier bow it was a challenge esp on my finger that has blistered since using this new bow. But for  a bow I couldn't string when I first got it, I can now string by hand and shoot with comfortably.

Despite the long distances I did reasonably well shot to a 2nd class standard, which is one up from last years classification. This was also the first outing of the new flock of ravens, who are cut down compared to the previous ones, and have 4" fletchings, and 125grain field tips.

The next day there was a shoot against Bruntwood but unfortunately I was unable to attend, six of our members did represent us but unfortunately we were beaten. But I'm sure we gave them a run for their money.

Thanks to the Royals the previously cancelled York shoot was back on the the board, re-scheduled for us on the Friday. Now a York is another long shoot and one of the few you can reach Grandmaster Bowman status (not that I'm anywhere near that yet). Again this had distances I had not shot before as its a 12 dozen arrow round, 6 dozen at 100yds, 4 dozen at 80yds, and 2 dozen at 60yds. This was a very windy day and you could see arrows flying sideways when the wind caught them. What didn't help was that the wind wasn't constant in two ways, it gusted so sometimes it would be blowing a gale it would knock the arrow off from the rests and other times it would have dropped that when you shot compensating for wind, the wind wasn't there. It also wasn't consistent down the field, so you'd have crosswinds as the arrows travelled. So this wasn't the best day for my first York, but despite the conditions I don't think I did badly, again I shot to a 2nd class standard, and was only 40pts off first. I know that sounds alot but in retrospect 40pts lost could be just a bad end (6 arrows). To our surprise, few archers turned up (must've been enthralled by the royal wedding). In fact there were only 3 of us, we shot 12.5 dozen arrows in under 4 hours including time for lunch. So seeing as the calender said a National was to be shot at 2pm as well, the two longbowers of the day Steve Dunn and myself shot that as well. David Campbell didn't shoot the National with us but loosed a few to sort his bow out and get sight marks, as well as very kindly scoring for us. Steve did beat me in the York and National, but was still fun. 222 arrows later on the return home though I discovered despite keeping to the shade for a good part of the day, the sun had hit me enough to turn part of me pink.

But a days rest to relax the shoulders, brought us to the Presidents Cup, which was a St.George to be shot on May Day, another day we celebrate with pagan history. Now a St.George (yes I know it would have made sense to shoot it on St.Georges day but can't have it all) is 3dozen at 100, 3dozen at 80 and 3 dozen at 60. Again this was a very windy day so much so you'd pick up arrows from the boss and ground at very odd angles, as they've been pushed sideways through the wind. What didn't help either was one of my eyes decided to constantly water and by the end was rubbed raw (blaming suncream getting into the eye). But despite difficulties I shot again to a 2nd class standard and under 20 points away from first class, so gives me hope that I might reach 1st class by the end of the outdoor season, (hopefully with some calmer days).

Unfortunately for Shaun and Steve, both lost some arrows as they broke on impact when hitting legs or metal pins, lucky for me though the only damage I suffered was some knocks that barely scraped the oil on the wood.

sighters for that.

I have signed up to shoot at Keddlestone, which I'm quite looking forward too. Being a longbow only shoot it'll be nice to see I suppose a band or even regiment of longbow archers, giving an impression of what it must've been like centuries back. Also being a longbow shoot the rules are a little different. For a start you don't get sighter arrows to gauge your range, you also don't get a second shot if your arrow bounces out of the target. Upside is though at the end of each distance you get cake and sherry(not my preferred drink but still an incentive).

Despite the wind its been a pleasant time of shooting this month and its a shame other archers haven't been coming out to enjoy it. To be totally honest I'd like to see some of the members who only seem to be names on the website come and shoot, I'm sure they have valid reasons why they don't shoot but its just a shame to have so many members but only a fraction of them shooting. Well the night marches on and the long bank holiday is over, so I will say Goodnight to you all, and happy shooting, may your arrows find their mark, and not sore too high on the winds.

The Spring Flight

Though this month is not over I thought I'd post up an update anyway to show how things are going. So far the weather has been pleasant and allowed the outdoor shooting to go ahead, and the new bow has been working well. I still need to build myself up to be able to draw it consistently over and over, as well as controlling the recoil. But I'm enjoying it none the less and re-learning the distances.

At the moment arrows for the new bow are still in the construction phase at the moment, and despite being sold arrow shafts with curves in them (looking at your archery world) I've gone ahead and made up arrows anyway. Mainly because I can't afford to get new shafts and waste these ones so I'll make do for now. The new flock of ravens will be slightly shorter than the older flock, but they will be thicker so hopefully I'll be able to use more power from the bow without it being wasted, though time will tell.

The short bodkin has been looked at with some negativity due to the edges that it has, so for the mean time that flock will be put on standby. Determined as I am not to waste them though, I am forming plans acceptable to all to allow these ravens to fly.

But for happier news, despite the first shoot being cancelled (and noting the 3rd shoot and President's Cup was cancelled as well again due to the rugby club using the field for warm ups) we did manage to shoot the 2nd scheduled shoot. This was the first outdoor monthly medal of the season (hurray!!).  This month the round was a National, which is four dozen arrows at 60yds, and 2 dozen arrows at 50yds. This is shot at a large target (122cm). Though two keen longbow archers arrived extra early to shoot a York round (so weren't allowed to shoot in the monthly medal), while some experienced archers shot a Long National (as the name suggests it has longer distances than the National).

As I didn't have my new arrows made, I used arrows donated to me last year by Shaun. These arrows are slightly unusual as they have 4 fletchings rather than 3, and also are much longer. Finding range took a few ends, but got their in the end. Though as is always the way outside we shoot in 6's and I only have 6 of these arrows, and yes you guessed it, a pile came off in the boss so I had to use a spare arrow which was shorter, different spined, different fletched and all around different. So with the spare arrow which most of the time promptly missed the target (having different arrow types is never a good idea), we proceeded to shoot.

So it is my pleasure to extend congratulations to the following people:

Monthly Medal Awards:

Scratch Medal:              David Campbell

Compound Medal:        John Stubbs

Longbow Medal:           Steve Mudd (yes that's me, yay!)

Handicap Medal:          Richard Park  

I would also like to extend a special congratulations to master Joe Shaw for having a 6 Gold End. My personal downside is that I was 4 points off a 2nd class score, but seeing as its only the beginning of he season there is plenty of time to achieve this. Plus no one can say that I don't like shooting, as one of my fingers is now sporting a blister thanks to the thinner string, and that is despite wearing a leather shooting glove.

That's it for now, stay tuned because I have some interesting stuff coming up, in the next few months.

April Showers

The indoor season has closed and with it has the month of March.

Firstly before I go on I'd wish to congratulate the members of NCB for their victory in the archery darts match at Chester. With a win of 14-6 so congratulations to all of you.

Its at this time we look back over the winter and remember, or well we compare our scores of the previous year and see if any improvements. So here are mine:

Bray 1:
Last year :                                        This Year:
High Score: 85                                 High Score: 169 (+84)
Average Score: 61                           Average Score: 134.5 (+73.5)

I only seem to have recorded Brays last year, but you can see that within a year a huge difference has been made, whether to quality of equipment, archery skill or a mix of both who knows. But it'll be interesting to see next year.

Portsmouth:
This Year:
High Score: 438
Average Score: 389.29

Though I don't have anything to compare it to from last year I can tell you its a big improvement. I know because I'm getting 59-60 / 60 hits this year while last year......well wouldn't be surprised if I'd jumped a boss.

There were other round too, but since they were shot on one off's and was my first time of shooting them this year I've decided to leave them off.

But dear readers I have something for you. Yes thats right photos, not too many mind but some better than none.

 To the left is a AAA battery (for size comparasion), a new set of arrowheads I have called short bodkins. (whether or not I'm allowed to use them at my club is still pending), and my current field tips (note that the field tip wasn't attached to the shaft at the time, my arrows are slightly bent but not like that.





Next we have PICTURES OF THE FUTURE!! Yes these pictures were taken from the year 2017 and y'know no one has aged a day since today. Nah just kidding the dates wrong is all it was from the last frostbite shoot.

 Here we are on the shooting line ready to loose, Angus observing. I think we were the 2nd detail.....may have been first can't remember.

No I'm not scratching my back, but drawing my next arrow and noticing that the camera man is around.. Btw it was freezing that day, hence why most are in multi-layers and coats and body warmers.









Last picture for today I have a game for you. You've heard of "Where's Wally (or Waldo if your American)" , well here is "Spot Steve".

       

Btw that's Robert posing, I'll point out where I am at the end, give you time to search.

Like I mentioned before the indoor season has finished and what better way to start the outdoor season than a club shoot.........or at least that's what we thought. When we arrived today we found our shooting field being laid out for the mini rugby players. So it was turn around and go home, six miles of walk in the rain was not fun, esp seeing as it was mother's day a wasted morning was frustrating. Whats more annoying is that the indoor range was laid out with tables and chairs (which were only used gone 12pm by the same rugby kids for hot dogs), and the first field was being used as a car park. Just shows you how much the rugby club likes us being there doesn't it.

But with the summer ahead of us and still plenty more shoots on the calender we'll be outside soon, and I'll eventually get my heavy bow worn in, esp now I've worked on the serving and nocking points. New flocks of Ravens are on the way and will soon take to the skies. Well good night all. Happy shooting.

Oh btw, if you haven't found me already see the longbow on the left, well that's my hand holding it and foot its resting on, I'm behind Richard (the guy with the yellow collar), well done if you spotted me.

Spring Is Coming

Hail and well met for those returning, or for first time readers. With the last club competition (or at least the last one I'm doing, archery darts is rather frustrating with a longbow) just gone and the end of the indoor season looming its time for a recap of the past events.

This month had in store the Club Indoor Championship, the last Frostbite, and the Monthly Medal.

Luckily my raven's have survived up till now, though some are in better condition than others, as most if not all are curvy, esp one in particular which has decided to bend in two places. There will be a new flock of ravens shortly as I have picked up supplies to work with the new longbow for the outdoor season. The new longbow is very nice but I know I will have to build up muscles to shoot it properly, but I suppose as the wood learns to bend, my muscles will learn to draw the bow and as such we'll grow used to one another.

But back to the monthly news. This year's was a Portsmouth round, and despite not shooting up to my best I shot well enough with a score of 397 59/7 (yes I don't know why I've been missing recently on this target). So very pleased with myself, though Doug Shaw since putting down his recurve for a longbow is becoming some stiff competition as after the first dozen he was ahead, but I managed to push past in the 2nd dozen and stay there. Elsie Smith shot very well with a score of 414 making us both wonder why weren't we shooting better at Chester the previous month.

The next round to come was the Frostbite, now since longbows don't generally tend to get high enough for Frostbite score submissions, barring the occasional scores by Shaun Allan or no recurves turning, neither of these factors stopped three longbow archers coming out into the open air to shoot, myself being one of course. Because we were outside I decided to use my short winged ravens (they only have short fletchings), so picking up my straighter ones ventured out to the shooting ground, and though I shot worse than the last Frostbite which we shot in Knutsford, I still managed to stay ahead of the other longbowers though it was very close, one point.

Last but not least was tonight's monthly medal which was a Bray 1 round, though there was definitely something in the air tonight as everyone shooting longbow seemed to do badly in comparison to usual. I don't know what happened, esp the previous Tuesday I had shot a Bray 1 round, of 162 seven off my personal best with only two misses. Tonight I just scraped to 100 with lots of misses, to show how badly we were shooting I don't think barring Shaun any longbower tonight got 100+ after the first two dozen, four of us stayed to shoot another Bray1 afterwards, and even though we all improved by some varying degrees we still weren't shooting well and each end seemed to last forever. Now a Bray1 is only 30 arrows, very quick round, but when your shooting bad arrow after bad arrow and not knowing what your doing wrong it just drags on and on. But congratulations to Alex Smith(scratch), John Stubbs(Compound), Shaun Allan(Longbow), and Joe Shaw(Handicap) this months medal winners.

In all honesty I have a suspicion that my shooting is going down is that as well as being tired most archery nights, I'm bored with shooting indoors. Last indoor season I was using a home made longbow, and just starting so was a challenge to hit the target, then when we went outside I had a new pro-made longbow and I was learning the distances and enjoying the weather and all its variables that effected the shooting. Being able to shoot six arrows at a time in competitions, or dozens while practicing, and being able to spread out between archers and open up the body. Now back inside the challenge was just to reduce the handicap and I have done from a 79 to 60, possibly try to make it a 59 before the month ends and the season really closes, but we'll see. Now I just want to get out again and enjoy real archery (longbow, with no aiming aids) and all that comes with it. Yes I know shooting a longbow without an elastic band or an aiming stand is not the best but to me, its proper archery, I often wonder if those aids were removed from longbow archers would those high rankings be so high or would they drop? would they drop alot or a little? But that's my thinking, I'm sure other longbow archers will say that its target archery and if I want instinctive go to field archery, everyone has their own style of shooting and that's mine.

The next post I shall post up my high scores and average scores for this indoor season and allow those who shoot to compare. I should have pictures for the next post too of the new flocks. Goodnight and good shooting.

Oh just remembered this month, as my chainmail shirt is now of a wearable state of completion I've worn is a couple of times to archery, and despite needing some minor adjustments it does feel nice shooting in it, and doesn't effect things that much. Ok true to do get warmer in it and does weigh your shoulders down, but that's just needing to get used to the weight and build up the muscles to cope.

The Flight Of The Raven Isn't Always Straight

As February draws to a close I thought it was time for another update. This month has been a busy one to start with a new session of beginners has started so Tuesday's shooting has become more relaxed as the beginners shoot in three details with advice and coaching throughout. So to cut down on waiting time its normally filly up the quiver and loose at the target. Though being an instinctive longbow archer I can normally shoot 5/6 arrows in the same time some recurves shoot 3/4 so still have to wait for a while. The main problem I'm having now is that the 10 of my original ravens (arrows) I have left, one is currently awaiting to have its head re-glued, and the other 9 all have some curvature to them. So shooting is less concentrated than it was, though as these are the only ones I have at present they are the ones I have to use. I do plan on making more, but having to wait till I can get to the archery shop, so if anyone is going and doesn't mind giving me a lift then feel free to mention.

17th February saw the shoot for the Valentine's cup. This is a Portsmouth normally shot as close to Valentine's day as possible, hence the name. Despite some shooting that all I can say was erratic at best I managed to get the top score for the gents longbow with 357 56/5 (yes 4 misses on a Portsmouth I'm ashamed too), though overall longbow was won by Elsie who was shooting very well that day. One complaint about it though is that all of a sudden we've started having breaks halfway through shoots, which for me is rather tough as unlike other archers I have no sight or PoA to go back to. I don't mind breaks outside when the targets get moved and such but for a shoot of 5 dozen indoors its just annoying, esp on a Thursday evening after work. But I suppose I should get used to them incase I do anymore external competitions, though still don't see much point in them. Despite the misses though the score was better than previous so I'm am coming out of the rut I went into.

The 20th brought in this months Frostbite, and this was well named. Due to erm booking problems shall we say (politely) the frostbite took place at Knutsford Sports club. The temperature was not the best to shoot in, but it was the icy wind that really put a shiver down the spine. So next month if its like that the cloak and possibly furs (yes real fur, and seeing as its probably 50+years old I see no problem with wearing it) will be coming out. Shaun came top of the longbows, but seeing as his is a master bowman that's hardly surprising. But despite the wind and the curved arrows I managed to beat my PB for it, and only got 4 misses, which isn't bad seeing as its 30m (12m longer than inside).

Now comes to yesterday 24th, was the clubs monthly medal. This month it was a Vegas which I've never shot before, and all I can say is, its not the best round to shoot after a frustrating day at work, and longbow and with curved arrows isn't the best to shoot it with. For those unfamiliar this is a Vegas target, the 3 mini targets are the five inner rings of a Bray target and scored the same 6-10, so at a guess I'd say they are 20cm across. What you have to do is shoot 60 arrows in ends of 3 arrows into each one of the targets, but to make is slightly more difficult you have to nominate which arrow will go into which target before you shoot it and if it doesn't go in that target then its a miss. So not only do you have to say where each arrow is going you have to move where your aiming.

It was a good turn out with roughly 19 archers five of which were longbows. I managed a score of 184 24/3. Again curved arrows weren't helpful in this, esp my no.3 arrow who insisted that it didn't like its target and preferred the other two. This month it was Robert who won the scratch, and to his surprise we actually had the medal (he'd won it a few times and it had not turned up), Compound was by John Stubbs (no surprise there seeing he is a grand master bowman and a paralympic gold medalist), Shaun won the longbow medal (again no real surprise), but big congratulations to Doug for winning the handicap medal with his longbow, seems rubber ducks are he way forward in the sighting stands.

Wednesday saw the delivery of my new longbow (the right one this time), though I have to ease it in and allow the strong to stretch before I can really shoot with it, which is alright with me seeing as I got it to shoot outdoors with. Though its another reason why I have to go to the archery shop for supplies. This one is by Adrian Hayes, and is bamboo, ipe, and ipe, with a horn arrow pass, and 55lbs @26".

That's about it for now. Good shooting everyone.

On The Wings Of Victory

Hail and well met archery fans, its been an interesting few weeks, and if it all goes well I should have a treat for you all. Yes that's right I have finally managed to take some pictures. Took me long enough I know., problem is though I haven't been on here for 2-3 weeks so I might just spam photos.

Firstly the bad news, seemingly accord to the scores I've been putting in, my averages or at least in the Portsmouth has been going down, which was a rather large concern with the Chester County Shoot coming up and which is a Portsmouth.

But first was the club's annual dinner and award ceremony, which luckily for me was at Altrincham town hall. It was a pleasant evening nice food and ceremony, and to top it off a nice and unexpected pub quiz.

Angus cutting the clubs 61st anniversary cake. 

The award ceremony also brought my first (and hopefully not last) trophy and medal, or at least medal that I get to keep. It was for getting the best handicap score at the club handicap shoot in September. The trophy I get to hold for a year (or until I move which may happen due to out of club circumstances, personally I'd like to stay but we'll see).

  As February came, in preparations I've only really been shooting on a Portsmouth face and seemingly from the score I've put in, I got worse. But with the knowledge I can do better the Chester shoot came round and we set off.

The shoot was going well, the final 3 bosses were mostly longbow archers with the odd sprinkling of recurve and in my case compound archers. Not the best combination I might say. All in all I was not at my best performance at the shoot, and the mid break did seem to put me off. As it took me a while to get back to form, e.g last half dozen before the break 46, first half dozen after then break 25.........not good, but despite not shooting my best, I was keeping an Alsager longbow archer on his toes (which was good seeing as he had been shooting for 20 years) and I was beating a New Century longbow archer. Even despite my arrows staying away from the 10s and only on occasionally hitting 9s. I don't think they wanted to go near the compound archer's arrows/area.

At the end of the competition we were waiting for the results at the awards, congratulating other's shooting till at last the longbow scores were called. After 4 dozen we were 15pts down to Alsager, not bad seeing as they were the clubs main rivals so were were expecting to be in a close but solid second. But to the shock of at least 3 of our 4 longbow shooters NCB was called to be the winners. It had turned out that in the last dozen NCB longbows had made up 25 points and overtaken Alsager. I didn't get a real look at the results of the other teams, but congratulations to Shaun, and Elise for placing in the top 3, I was 8th out of 15 in the longbows which isn't bad seeing as this was my first competitive shoot outside of the club, and I've only been shooting for just over a year. Also congratulations to the other longbowers of the team Shaun, Elise & Steve. Also well done to all NCB archers and all other archers who took part, pleasure shooting with you all. Big thanks to all the judges, and personal thank you to Angus for taking me there and back and for supporting the team.

My medals........btw yes I know its a recurve bow on the longbow winners medal, but its a standard medal or so I'm told so its ok.

That's all for now, stay tuned for more soon.

Flying High In The Fog

With the start of this week the winter cold has returned to the area and the walk to archery is a cold one when starting off, but I have to admit it does wake me up after a dull day of work and going on five hours sleep. But its a good way to relieve tension built up throughout the day/week.

Tuesday was the full moon and it obviously had a great effect on my ravens as each flew straight to the target allowing me to set a new personal best for a Bray1 of 169 30/1. Yes you read it right that's thirty hits on a bray, so no misses. Still 35 off the current record but bit more practice might be able to reach it before the summer season starts. Took me two dozen to realise I had no misses and for the last three arrows of the bray one of my hands were shaking, so its actually a surprise that I achieved no misses. Once the scores were put in though they allowed me to relax by promptly missing with the next arrow.

Thursday did see a drop in performance though with two brays being shot and getting same number of hits and golds 26/2 but a difference of 18 on the score 126, 144. So definitely drop down since Tuesday but the second score isn't too bad, first one I'm a bit annoyed with but seeing as I do my best shooting on Tuesdays it must be related to how tired I am from previous nights. I've started plotting out my scores on excel to see how I am progressing throughout the seasons, and it seems I'm currently averaging just over 138, though it wasn't helped by two scores on a bad night last week of 102 and 103. Slightly off topic but still fun the weather on Thursday was a thick fog and seeing as on cold nights I wear my long black leather coat due to the thickness of the fog, I did make a few people jump as I appeared out of the dark fog with quiver on the back and bow (in bag) in hand. Now I have been stopped by the police before walking back from archery on a clear night just cause I looked suspicious one of their comments being, "Something from a computer game or horror film", so what people must've thought on Thursday would be interesting.

Congratulations to Doug Shaw for shooting enough to get a handicap with a longbow, scoring a high score of 98 (I think it was). Also well done to Steve Cox for shooting a bray with his longbow, all got to start somewhere.

With the new bow on its way, I shall be starting to work on some new arrows shortly, one problem is though the new arrow heads are being looked at with interest. After a brief talk with the equipments officer depending on what they do to bosses I may not be allowed to use them, which would be a shame as they are nice, no real shoulder, but we'll see how it goes. I may only be allowed to use them for club only/practice shoots but that would be better than nothing. Seeing as outdoors I don't really get mass grouping in one place I wouldn't think they'd hurt the boss that much. I have done a little test at home with a foam block looking at what hole it leaves compared to a field tip and doesn't seem that different. I do have some pictures which will be put on here shortly.......hopefully. So stay tuned.