Archery - Matt's Progress

[Matblack]

Here is a list of all the clubs in your area Mic

http://www.archeryorganiser.com/club...=Update+Search

Might help a bit, most clubs will be able to lend you a bow until you are ready to get one of your own and secondhand equipment is very affordable. Archery achievements are called classifications and go from 3rd class to Bowman to Master Bowman and Grand Master Bowman with only 1% of regular archers achieveing GMB status!

MB

[Jhadur]

Thanks Mat, will have a look at them later
I really should do something with my off work time rather than just sitting round the house playing games and watching films.

[Matblack]

I have to say I have found it very threputic, I now understand why people enjoy golf so much, its a constant battle to replicate the same action again and again and again so it becomes predictable as to where the arrow will go. you pretty much have to turn your mind off, its all very Zen

MB

[Matblack]

Well I've improved on last weeks score and submitted my 2nd 3rd class bowman score or 474, at some point I managed to screw up the scoresheet and was worried I was going to get the 403 I needed but in actual fact I made it easily

What I didn't know is that there is a league match tomorrow and although I can't shoot for our club (no handicap yet) I am allowed to go along and shoot so if things go well I will be able to submit my 3rd 3rd class bowman score which means I'll get both a classification and a handicap \o/ which means I a) have something to put on my CV and b) will be able to shoot for my club .

The minimum round I can shoot in competition is 60/50ys (4 doz at 60 and 2 doz at 50) known as a National, right now my 50/40yds or Short National is not a competition distance for senior men, so isn't any good to my club

The problem I have is to shoot consistently at 60yds you really need to have another piece of equipment on your bow called a 'button' and to tune a button to a point where you can score well takes a little work, so it will be two steps back before I can take a step forward and I'll need a couple of sessions to get back to my previous scores, however within a month if the weather holds I hope to get the button shot in and be on my way to 2nd class bowman scores

MB

[Matblack]

What a nice sunny day in Kent. We took to the field at 11 for 'sighters' (an unscored set of 6 arrows to make sure your bow is set up) after a leisurely set up and preceded to shoot an Albion/ Windsor round (3doz at each of 3 different distances), I was shooting a Short Windsor which is 3doz at 50/40/30yds. A short Windsor is not a normal distance for a senior male competitor and is usually reserved for juniors or women because of this I was on my target with only one other person a nice lady called HK who was returning to shooting after 2 years, but this provided the best possible introduction to competition shooting because there were only 2 of us on our target. Normally you will have 4 people on a target and 24 arrows to score each time you return to the boss to collect your arrows, 12 makes things much easier. I still made a couple of mistakes including writing HK's score on my sheet and shooting 4 arrows when we are only supposed to shoot 3 and then let our partners shoot 3 then shoot our final 3, that aside I managed to get most things right including shooting the following end at 40yds



My arrows are the black ones with the white and black fletchings, what you see there is what is called a 5 gold end, in GNAS rounds the colours are the scoring rings not the other thinner rings, so a 6 gold end is essentially a perfect score they aren't common and only 2 were shot today out of about 25 competitors ranging from 30 years to 2 months experience (I had the least experience out of everyone)

I didn't do too badly and scored ~760 another 3rd class bowman score which should result in a certificate and maybe even a badge! Not bad for someone who has only shot their bow 4 times and probably had a total of 5 lessons

MB

[Feek]

Very interesting, MB. It's something I'd quite like to do but the trouble is that I tend to not do things by half and would end up spending far too much so I'm having to restrain myself.

Keep posting though, love to hear how you're doing.

[Matblack]

Originally Posted by Feek

Very interesting, MB. It's something I'd quite like to do but the trouble is that I tend to not do things by half and would end up spending far too much so I'm having to restrain myself.

Keep posting though, love to hear how you're doing.

Its a sport which doesn't have to be expensive and would probably capitalise on your target shooting experience very nicely. 99% of clubs worth their salt will lend you equipment until you are ready to buy.

I suspect you would be suited to a compound bow rather than a recurve, they are more complex but also more accurate, a decent compound can be bought for around £300 secondhand and club fees are less than £100 a year so all in all its probably cheaper than shooting balistics

MB

[Jonny69]

You should be able to tune the button in within a few arrows. As long as you consistently release good and straight and don't pluck the string sideways when you release it should come in quite quickly. I don't think I've touched mine since I first set it up. I think to do it totally properly you have to get someone to stand behind you and watch the flight path of the arrow and they tell you whether it needs more or less pressure.

Oh and GNAS do score on the thinner rings but only on shorter distances when you shoot indoors etc. 10 for centre gold, 9, 8, 7, 6 etc. The small gold in the middle is for tie breakers I think

[Feek]

I've actually not done a lot of static target shooting with the firearms, I tend to do 'practical' style shooting which is effectively moving and shooting around blockades, and in technical situations so going static would be something quite new for me.

Combound bows are the ones with all the pulleys and stuff aren't they? I assume the recurve type isn't like that and I wonder why you think I'll be more suited to a compound than a recurve?

What's the button of which you speak?

Damnit, I'm getting interested!

[Matblack]

Hmmm, probably the closest to your experience would be field archery. Field archery is usually done in woodland and the targets are set at non standard distances so you have to be a bit clever about getting your sights set up or be quick to adjust after the first arrow, field archery ranges are also set up with weird angles at times where you have to shoot down/ up or around trees to get to the target.

Here is a guy shooting American Flat Bow in a field archery style situation.



What I do is more what people think of when you say archery or target archery, basically what you see in the olympics with people standing in rows on manicured fields firing at round bosses with targets of concentric circles

Like this



Less need to adapt to your circumstances but consistancy is essential at distances up to 100yds!



Bow wise, this is a recurve




The modern equivalent of the long bow the power comes in a big lump as the limbs force their way back to the start position.

A compond is as you rightly say a wheely bow which has cams to bring the power in, when you draw a compound you draw through the point of most resistance at which point the cams come in and the pressure comes off, when you let go the string accelerates relatively slowly until the cams come into action and the full force pushes the string forward with the full force of the bow.




Compounds are shorter and because of the angle on the string is more accute at full draw, this means they are hard to shoot 'off the fingers' and compound archers use a release



The release sits in the hand and the jaws on the right grip a loop behind the arrow on the string, when the release is activated the jaws open and the bow fires.

Don't know why I can see you shooting compound, they are faster, smaller, more technical, used more in field archery and have quite a vibrant club scene in comparison to target.

MB