April Showers, and wind

The time has come for another look through the Raven's Eyes.

Firstly I am going to start off this month's update with a little moan. Its nothing serious and probably shouldn't bother me, because its something I like and its potentially dangerous.
Cosplay: For those unaware its basically dressing up as characters from cartoons, films, comics, etc. Recently I've been seeing alot of pictures dressing up with bows, mainly due to "Brave", "Archer", "Hunger games" and more. Honestly I quite like it, it looks good and people are enjoying themselves. But what is really bugging me is that they've gone out and bought/borrowed bows, or in some cases made bows, but have done zero research into how to use the thing. Ok I know its for photos, more than anything else, but they've spent along time making the costume quite detailed in some case and when it comes to the bow you get a mixture of having the arrow on the wrong side, holding the string wrong (which in Brave I don't know how you can do that as there is a close up in the film of the main character at full draw), holding the bow upside down, and worst of all, strung backwards, or a combination. The strung backwards concerns me as is can break a limb or the string can just slip of resulting in injuries. The arrow on the wrong side just bugs me, esp as nearly all do the look directly at the camera pointing the arrow at full draw at the camera (hoping this is a camera on timer and not some photographer right in front)
So little memo towards cosplayers, don't go to the extent of getting a great looking costume if you are just going to spoil it by getting the bow (potentially dangerously) wrong.

Ok back to normal, few things have been happening since last update;

Firstly I attended the longbow shoot at Abbeydale, where though I didn't win anything (no surprise), I managed to improve my score from last year, unfortunately we didn't have splat the rat this year, but there was a new game of an extra end at 60yds, but it was the lowest score that one the end. But there was a twist that any misses counted as 10, extra bit of a challenge.

Secondly it was our clubs AGM, which to those not in the club is probably not very interesting. But we have some new faces to the committee, the rules have had a revamp, and I'm once more fixtures sec. Which tbh is a position I like and like doing.

Another longbow shoot improved from last year. This was the St. Georges shoot at Morely, which is a fun shoot as period costume is encouraged. Unfortunately my shirt/tunic wasn't completed in time so I went in modern garb, though it was still fun to see the costumes, and because there are some re-enactment displays there were times we were shooting accompanied by cannon fire. and the smoke drifting over the field. Though have to say no cake and little sherry, tsk tsk. Again it was only raffle prizes that were awarded to me, with the main highlight of the ticket I drew from the bag was one of my own :D

Another highlight of the month was I was able to attend an open talk by Pip Bickerstaff, organised by The Longbow Shop. If you didn't know who he is, he's a well re known bowyer, and came away with interesting bits of knowledge I'd not yet heard and am interested to try, main one being,"With arrows you want 10 grains for every 1lb of draw weight". Though despite his cursing of shooting gloves I will continue to shoot with mine, I prefer it to a tab, and I'm not going to by different types of tabs just to see if they work. But I came away with some signed night time reading material. Downside was I had forgotten about this talk when setting up the clubs fixtures so there was a clash....ah well can't win them all. But it did give me the chance to pick up the boar for our open longbow shoot. If you are a longbow archer and are reading this why haven't you signed up for the shoot?? Entry forms can be found here:
http://www.northcheshirebowmen.freeserve.co.uk/downloads.htm

Well, this update is drawing to a close. Sorry no pictures this month I really must get on with taking some.

But I leave you with this archery saying, from an unknown archer (If you know who it was comment below):

"An archer's creativeness for excueses is only limited by the amount of arrows in their quiver."

Spring Is Here, Yet It's Still Snowing

Hello and well met once more, these months are going by quickly.

Well in the last month a few things of interest have happened. Firstly our new archery range has open this month. Huzzah! Just in time for the outdoor season, though as a said previously on the one had its a good thing so anything left in the piggy bank doesn't get spent on utilities. Also admittedly the range isn't entirely finished, in the sense that there isn't any heating as of yet, and there are a few holes that need to be plugged so as long as people don't mind shooting in the cold, which is one step up from the cold and wet so people are happy using it as is. In fact here is a picture of the first official shoot shot in the range, our monthly medal, and as fate would have it I was unable to attend.


See all those happy smiling faces.

 

As to why I was not able to attend is simple, due to me wanting to see my family at some point during the weekend I had gone off to shoot on Saturday at the Archers of Bridlington & Burton Agnes Abba Dabba Doo Longbow shoot. I mean who could resist going to a shoot with a name like that. Being the first time shooting outdoors at a range longer than 30m for about six months, it went as well as could be expected really. Though in honesty I'm not sure how I did as the scores for the first half of the shoot were whipped away before I could see what I got, and the final listings haven't been listed yet. The shoot was enjoyable, though the weather could have been better, a constant misty drizzle, mud and cold wind made for a less than perfect day. But the atmosphere was positive and the field party who at the end of each end would help find arrows sped up the day, plus the usual sherry and cake and a win on the raffle secured it as a good day.

Definitely need to invest in high shooting boots.

On a disappointing note, our friendly archery darts match with CCB had to be cancelled due to snow, though it was fine at our end  at theirs they had a lot of snow and more on the way, so archers may have got there, but they wouldn't have left that night.

 

But to bring us out of that disappointment, the following week we were scheduled to shoot a Vegas, but due to the whole range being built not everything had been moved in and the faces were no where to be found, so resigned to shooting a FITA 18m instead, which turned out to be a bonus as not only boosted my PB from 344 to 366 with a couple of misses, so need to work on them. One end saw me shooting this:

  This is one of my VERY few three gold ends (hence the photo), shame its not a three 10 end but that would be greedy wouldn't it. and still something to be proud of, esp since these arrows are about 2 years old and well shot in.

So with next Sunday being the last shoot of the outdoor season, its with some irony that its our Frostbite shoot so it has to be shot outside. The fates do like their games.

 

Oh one thing that I almost forgot, after being influenced by friends I bought a Chinese horse bow off eBay, though a bit apprehensive about whether it'll actually arrive I decided that the cheap price was worth the risk, and the reviews were positive. Though still waiting for it to arrive which in my mind should be sometime this week.

 

I end this update with a biblical quote, happy shooting everyone:

 

Psalms 127:4 As arrows [are] in the hand of a mighty man; so [are] children of the youth.

Spring Is Coming

With February coming to a close, its high time I wrote another verse to the raven song that is this blog.

As the winter starts to retreat and the days are becoming brighter, though recently winter is trying to stay a little longer and fighting back with cold days. Our range, though a little behind schedule should be ready to be used within a few weeks, just in time really for our outdoor season. Though to be fair that could be considered a good thing. For one it allows us to claw back some of our depleted funds and not have to spend them (or at least as much as we would do if we were entering winter) on utilities. Plus to be honest losing an indoor season doesn't really matter when the final result is going to be a place we can call home and won't have to fight for space over.

Also though we've been limited due to light shooting outdoors over winter hasn't been that bad, true its been chill, but then its winter and its England, when is it not chill. Generally we've been very lucky with the weather and have had most dry (perhaps very wet underfoot) days for shooting. we've even had shooting in the snow.

 

 

Though the picture looks blue it was brighter and warmer than you'd think. Bonus of shooting in the snow is that if you miss the target finding your arrow is easy, you just follow the trail till it stops and then go digging a few inches further. This only becomes a problem if you miss alot.....luckily at this range that doesn't happen generally.

 





Also a couple of our members decided that it would be fun to build snowmen, though only one was built infront of the shooting line, which ment after the finished round we had a little fun peppering it with arrows. Funnily enough those arrows in the picture had to be placed in, though most archers did his the snowman (which btw was about knee high if anyone is interested) they either bounced off, or passed straight through. But still fun was had by all and with it just being placed at a random range no one had any sight marks and just had to guess (even more fun for those of us that shoot instinctive).

 

We also had our annual dinner and award at our new home, with wonderful Thai food, and lovely cakes (provided by members). I managed to claim one trophy though this wasn't ment with complete satisfaction from my other half. Though pleased I won it, being a glass trophy it didn't sit too well as small children and glass generally don't mix, but stored up high out of her reach (for now) its safe. Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening, though some grumbles over the quiz questions, but aside from that, couldn't make it too easy can we. :p My little one enjoyed it too, large space to run around, lots of people to pay her attention and a kitchen to try and get into without anyone catching her.

 

Despite not having an indoor range to practice, a merry band of our archers went to compete in the Chester indoor team shoot with: one recurve team, one compound team, and two longbow teams. They day went well and our archers shot well and by the end of the day we walked away with:

-1st Junior Gent Compound

-1st Longbow team award (5th year in a row)

-2nd Lady Longbow

-2nd Gent Longbow

-1st Junior Lady Longbow

 

Spot a theme? I did however miss out on getting a new Cheshire badge by 9 points, but there is always next year.

 

Despite saying I would, I still have not ordered a new longbow, and now its a bit late to have it ready for the outdoor season, I'm still pondering what bow I want. I know I want to raise the poundage but what I think I can handle is a different question., power is no good without control and sacrifice to form.

 

Already I have scanned the internet and found alot of open longbow shoots to keep me busy with this year and I'm quite looking forward to them, and seeing familiar faces again. Though I'm enjoying shooting outdoors, indoor rounds get quite boring, even when shooting them outdoors. I might in a couple of weeks put out a target a bit further away and shoot at that instead.  Also this year I'm arranging my clubs first open longbow shoot, and glad to say already I have people sending in application forms to take part in it, i'm hoping alot more will enter but there is plenty of time before it occurs, and plent more events to advertise it coming up as well.

 

Well I think it is time for me to finish this update so I leave you with a quote from an unknown archer (if you know who it was please write in the comments below). Good shooting everyone:

 

The day archery becomes nothing but work it is time to put away the bow

High Hopes For The New Year

Hello Everyone, how are you all? Hope you had a good holiday and a Happy New Year to you all. As it is the new year I have set myself two archery resolutions.
1) To try at least one clout shoot.
2) To try at least one field shoot.

There are so many different arts within archery and though I like target I would like to be able to experience different styles.

Seems I wasn't quick enough to catch December for an update, but as far as shooting goes very little has happened.

My club is still constructing its new range, so practise during the week is non-existent for me as I'm at work all day, and its too dark to shoot in the evening. But we can still shoot at the weekend, so Sunday morning barring the heaviest of rain (which has held off so far) I'm on the shooting line. I would do Saturdays as well but between family, and helping range construction and lack of others shooting on Saturday that's not happening either. True it can be annoying cause its difficult to keep an eye in and places us at a disadvantage for postal leagues, BUT its a small price to pay. Once the range is finished whether its the end of this month or beginning of the outdoor season it'll be ours to be used whenever we like. No turning up to shoots finding someone else is using it, no restriction on when we can shoot, something that we can do what we wish too.

I'd like to give a BIG thanks to all those members who have helped either the construction of the range so far, and those that have shown support by bringing hot food and drinks to those working, whatever the weather. One of the days I was down, when I got home I was literally soaked to the skin, just shows how water proof my water proofs were. Also BIG thanks to our chairman who is managing the whole project, and to his wife for letting him.

I must admit though shooting outside hasn't really bothered me that much, save for the occasional weather extreme that winder brings e.g. strong icy wind, but luckily to date, its not been that bad. Plus last week I even managed to set a new PB for Frostbite round, so nothing to be sneezed at there.

On another note, for Christmas I was gifted with a new phone, so hopefully I'll be able to upload a few more pictures as I never really have my camera with me to capture those interesting/impressive shots.

So in theory its all positives for this year, one project that I'm trying to get going is to run a longbow shoot at our club. Mainly an idea to bring in some extra (and needed) funds to the club, but also be one that you don't have to travel all the way to Yorkshire for. I do enjoy the shoots over there, but nothing wrong with wanting to stay closer to home, and meet new people.

I'm also looking at investing in a new bow upping the draw weight for two reasons
1) To make shooting longer ranges easier
2) Being the next step in my training to pull a warbow, though at some point I'm going to have to stop drawing to just past my chin right back to my ear. so I might sometime in the future invest in a 2nd hand longbow with a longer draw length so I can practise the technique and how to aim.

Though thanks to a certain few members on the archery forum I frequent I am also tempted to invest in a cheap horse bow. One of authentic materials would be nice but the price would be a little to high for something I just want to have as "fun" bow. I've also been making enquiries into an authentic crossbow but again price and the place to shoot it, as most archery clubs have a fear of crossbows. I think this is an ingrained thought (or least in the UK) from the medieval period where bows were more popular to crossbows. I could be wrong, as accuracy can't really be an issue esp compared to modern bows.

Anyway, I have to get going so I'll leave you with this quote:

Zen in the Art of Archery

“Don't think of what you have to do, don't consider how to carry it out!" he exclaimed. "The shot will only go smoothly when it takes the archer himself by surprise.”

Fluffed Up For Winter

Good grief November already, where did October go? Well I hope you all enjoyed your Halloween and bonfire night. if you had any special shoots I'd like to see the pictures.

Well with winter setting in, archery practise is beginning to dwindle. This isn't down to any lack of enthusiasm but mostly the fact that my club's indoor range is still being built, so though it is the indoor season, we are still shooting outside. It puts us as some disadvantages for the winter leagues, but its that or nothing. But as I said to another club member, shooting outside builds character, true if its absolutely pouring it down I'll stay home and dry but bit of drizzle won't put me off too much. I still need to find some waterproof top though, trousers are easy, but finding a coat or waterproof top that's comfortable to shoot in can be difficult.

I've also been recently looking for a suitable hat I can shoot in. Usually on sunny/wet days I will wear a baseball cap, now it works well whilst I'm not shooting, but when I go up to the line, I have to take it off as when I draw back the brim gets in the way of the string. So half the point of having the thing in the first place is wasted. So as I say I've been looking around and may have found a solution;
http://www.talltoad.net/Robin-Hood-Hats.php

Whilst not the height of modern fashion and if I do get one no doubt there will be some playful ribbing on the shooting line, but it might just do that job by allowing me to shoot without removing it, and providing some cover against rain and sun.

On the actual shooting front though, since my last update I went to two shoots, on was White Rose Archers Sherry Shoot, which I'm quite happy to add that not only did I beat my personal best by about 70 points, I won the "best gold award" at 60yds. Which meant not only did I get a lovely trophy (though it is staying in the box), a teaspoon with the white rose symbol, but as it was the sherry shoot I got a bottle of wine as well, plus a share of the gold sweep.

Photos to be added shortly

Plus the fact I managed to win a very nice box of biscuits in the raffle, so my other half was delighted when I returned and presented her with the wine and munched on the biscuits. The unusual thing about the shoot was that it was shot on a cricket ground so every time we shot we had to walk around the cricket strip rather than straight ahead. Another quirk that I quite liked was that every so often  a best colour award was presented, so the field captain would call out leave your best e.g. red and that person would win a box of sweets. Unfortunately the colours called out was the end I hadn't got any that end, the most original call was "closest arrow to the shooting line", this was a shock to nearly all the archers but a delight to the person who won it.

There was some interest with the junior award though being a longbow shoot awards generally go to "most hits" rather than score, but despite advertising this both junior and senior archers were awarded by score. So our young Miss Foster despite having the most number of hits, lost out on the trophy for having a lower score, as they didn't have the trophy on the day this was a small loss, but it caused a stir.

On a lighter note though, the following week was the Derbyshire & district target shoot which was a two way western. Unfortunately it was the last one too, because due to lack of interest D&D is disbanding, though the shoots will be kept going by the hosting clubs. Despite arriving a little late, Hugh and myself were allowed to catch up in the first sherry break. Despite not winning anything , though I might add I wasn't far off but because for some reason bringing the target closer made it harder for me to hit *shrugs*, I did manage to beat the PB I'd set at white rose. I could hardly believe it, it was only a few more points but it was the fact that I'd managed to do it again and on a two way shoot as well. By the way I don't really expect to win anything when I go to competitions, but its a nice surprise if I do.

At the moment I'm pondering whether to increase my bow weight or not. Its not really essential, it would make the longer distances easier but the main reason as to why I'm thinking of getting one is because I still want to build myself up to a warbow. Knowing me I probably will get a new bow, but first comes the research of bowyers.

So I'm going to finish this with a quote from,'Zen in the Art of Archery' so until next time, keep shooting:

In the case of archery, the hitter and the hit are no longer two opposing objects, but are one reality.

End of the Summer

Hmm, it seems I'm getting later and later with my post updates, its hard to believe that finding a little time to get this done would take so long, but the little one is asleep so I have a few moments to get on with things hopefully before she wakes up.

Firstly I would like to extend my apologies to Bruce Foster, father (and grandfather) to a couple of our members. The reason for this is that I forgot to mention his efforts at bringing back to life one of my fallen ravens. Bruce after seeing a picture of a very stylish footed arrow decided to try his hand, and with the falling of a raven an opportunity was opened. What a nice job he has done, though I am loath to try and shoot it, no offence to your skills Bruce but I will keep it for display purposes.

 

 

 

 

Since the last update, had two shoots worth mentioning. The first was on the 1^st of September was another longbow shoot. This one was at Pontefract Castle this time. Its purely a fun shoot so to make sure of that, they have their own round that isn't either a GNAS or a BLBS recognised round. In the morning was 6 dozen arrows at 50yds, followed by a wand shoot. Then after lunch it was a 3D bear hunt, a speed shoot and then another 6 dozen arrows at 50yds.

 

In all honesty it was the most fun and relaxed shoot I've been to, with no pressure of trying to earn a certain level at a GNAS round. Though I did manage to get through to the second round of the wand shoot and the bear hunt, unfortunately I couldn't get any further, but it was still a new experience. Plus the speed shooting was great, I managed to get 6 arrows shot, almost got a 7^th, though the winner got nine off, so still a little way to go. One very unusual thing was at the end of each round a medal was handed out for the best gold of the end, and at the end of the next end you'd hand it back and it would rewarded to someone else. I am very proud to say that I won it twice, and not only that one shot was so good it won best gold of the day. So along with Hugh and Lizzie Foster, the other representatives of my club we each walked away with a prize, and in Hugh's case a little extra to line his pocket from the petite-coat sweep. Beautiful day, wonderful place to shoot (inside Pontefract castle).

Centre Shot

Best Gold For The End

 

 

Best Gold Trophy

 

Best Gold Overall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other main event that happened on our calender was the friendly shoot we had with another nearby club, Wirral. This time it was our turn to visit them which was a chance for us to check out their new venue, for like us they had trouble with the local rugby club pushing them out, so they moved to another club down the road. It was a lovely day and despite an odd wind that seemed to only blow diagonally across one side of the field, there was no real bad weather. There was a slight issue with the food being a little over done, or at least if your a meat eater, but otherwise it was lovely. Though we did lose the match, they were still a very friendly group to shoot with, and one boy to my interest was shooting a Mongolian bow. To be honest I was tempted to ask if I could try it out, but decided against it. Would seem a little odd a stranger coming up and asking to have a go with your bow.

The downside at the moment is that my club is still waiting for its new indoors range to be built, and until it is we are lacking an indoor range to shoot in at all, and with winter closing in tension is running high, and a chance to practise outside is slowly ebbing away as the nights draw in. Though saying that, the other day when we were shooting our club handicap shoot, it was a lovely day, not too warm, not wet, and little wind. Did pick up towards the end though, and I almost managed to reach my personal best, just missed out equalling it by two points.

So I close this update with a quote from an unknown archer:

So long as the new moon returns to the heavens a bent beautiful bow
So long will archery hold the hearts of men. (unknown)

The Wngs Of The New Breed

July has come and gone, and with it brings another year to my age, and experience. As my birthday was in the same week as my daughter and Alisa's we decided a family holiday would be nice to have so it was off to Wales, calling at Rhyl, Llandudno, Beamouris and Almwch. Which was a great holiday with wonderful sunshine. But archery cannot be forgotten and during the fun at Almwch viking festival both Alisa and I partook in the archery stall, of which we both did very well, Alisa getting 45 with five arrows, whilst I got 48. Though seeing as I've had just over 3 years practice, it should be expected. Also my armoury was expanded, and I'm now in posession of a Agincourt style helm.

Though what also comes with it, are the first seven of a new set of ravens dubbed "Sons of Carc". So named due to the grey fletchings as a cock feather, making it seem it was from an old bird, hence Carc from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

As you can see from the picture on the right, I've incorporated my initials into the design and numbered them all. If you are wondering, the binding and the ravens are all done by free hand so they are all slightly different, but just gives each a personality.



Their first real flight was at the Yorkshire Championship open longbow shoot, where despite shooting well at 100yds my shooting seemed to suffer at 80yds, and was not my best at 60yds either. Just to prove it, the only two golds I got through out the day were at 100yds. Something in my loosing has gone wrong, and without much time to practice its hard to discover what it is that is happening. But the arrows flew very well. Also a congratulations to both Hugh and Lizzie foster, who got best scores for visiting archers doing the Double National. What was nice though was the fact I got both my arrows and my quiver (again home made) admired by other archers, and it was a new PB for a York round, and as it was shot in a 2-way shoot, shows something. But still wasn't enough for a 1st class score, though just means more practice is needed.

I am trying out a new shooting glove recently, and I'm not sure what I think of it. Its the bearpaw deerskin glove, and though the extra padding on the finger tips is good and does stop my fingers burning after a few dozen arrows, but with the finger sticking on the sides of the finger rather than on the back , it does mean that sometimes I'm gripping the arrow and not realising because its wider than my previous glove, so I'm not sure what I think of it yet. Its really still molding to my fingers.

What I have found recently that after a few dozen I'm really struggling to draw the bow back to my anchor point properly, which does effect the flight of the arrow alot so I'm going to have to work on drawing properly, which I think I will really concentrate on when we eventually move inside.

Honestly though my interest in target archery is starting to waver, as aside from the different ranges its all the same, so I might look into trying out some field archery. I'm tempted to get some 2D targets and see if I'm allowed to shoot them at the club. I don't see a problem with it, but you never know rules and politics.

I will end there with a quote from "Winning Words":

Long as I have been alive

Archers bold and archers fair

Have been ruthless with the drive

Of their arrows everywhere.