The Think Tank

Shannon and I went shooting this afternoon, the second day in a row I had gone out.  I shot yesterday for about 3.5 hours, so my shoulder was a bit tired to start out today, though nothing too bad.

I had spent most of yesterday working on my new Freak Show rest, and after about 30 minutes today I found that I felt it was not quite right yet.  (I should mention that I am shooting my 328’s again, thanks to the Freak Show which mounts behind the TEC on my Contender Elite, allowing me to shoot a shorter arrow.  I was shooting FF 200 vanes and 100g points.)

I rummaged around in the cook shack and found some paper I could use to papertune, and found that I had a very small low-left tear.  (The nock-end was low-left). I made some minor corrections, which got me shooting bullet holes and seemed to make a difference in the grouping, though I still sort of think there might be a slight right-ward drift as I go to longer distances.  Its sort of hard to tell: I shot several ends that grouped pretty much on target at 10 and 80 yards, but as has been the case since returning, pretty much every miss is right, and more often than not, high-right.  I really don’t know what causes that, but it is very frustrating.

I quickly got some sight marks and we set out for a field course.  I felt I was holding pretty well, but I had much the same experience as I did the last time I shot: it felt like my sight marks were not quite right.

The first target (15) was a 36 fan, which should be easy since it is a slightly oversized target for the distance.  My first arrow was well executed, though I was having a lot of trouble seeing due to standing in the bright sun and shooting into the shadow. It hit about one inch high at 1:30.  I adjusted my sight up three clicks and the second arrow was a 5/X liner at 11:30.  Number three was in the same basic spot, but it was a five.  The fourth shooting stake was in the shade, so I could actually see well.  I aimed solidly, executed well, coming to rest with my bow arm forward, extended at the target and my release on my shoulder.  The arrow drilled the X.

The next couple of shots are close ones, a 15 and 28 fan, which I cleaned.  (Barely on the 28 fan, a poor shot that was aimed left barley caught at 11 o’clock).  On target 18 (44 yards) My first shot was slightly right and about 1/4 out of the spot.  The other day when I shot that target, I put all four arrows into a quarter-sized group in the same spot.  I adjusted my sight and shot two nice 5’s touching each other a little high in the spot, then a couple more clicks and I shot a five at the bottom.

Next up is the 70 walk-up.  I set my sight, adjusted for the down angle, and it at 5 o’clock 1 inch out of the spot.  65 went in the X, and 61 and 58 went right beside the first one, so that all three were in a group the size of a quarter.  The exact same thing happened the last time I shot this course also.

After that I was getting a little frustrated.  It feels like the only times I ever shoot really consistent groups on a field course, they are outside of the bullseye.

The next target is a 40 yarder, and my first shot was mid-four at 1 o’clock.  I held well and felt like I executed OK, but the bow rocked backward (top limb toward me) like happens sometimes, so I wasn’t all that surprised to see the highness.  The next shot I made a effort to extend my arm after the shot, and it drilled the X at 11.  Next shot was next to it.  The last shot I was really thinking about pulling through with my right shoulder and back, and pushing with my left arm, and it went off very fast while I was on the left edge at 9 o’clock.  It missed by about 1/8th of an inch.  That was frustrating too.  Now it felt like I was having trouble shooting well and coupled with the grouped misses I was disappointed that I was not going to wind up with a score in the range I want to be in.  I know I can average around a 275 in my head, I just can’t seem to prove it to myself when practicing.  The only pair of 275’s that I have ever shot were both in tournaments, one at the Sectionals and one at the State Field.

Pretty soon I was down 9 points and coming up to the uphill shot that always seems to have my number.  I remembered that for whatever reason I needed to be about one half bubble to the left to hit the spot on the up hill, so I bubbled over, pulled through well and hit a five at 1 o’clock.  Two clicks up and I drilled three X’s to finish with my first ever 20 on that target.  I felt pretty good about that.

The next target is uphill as well, and I did not check the angle on my phone.  I just shot it for the same 10 degrees as the previous target, which I think is incorrect.  I think it is more like 7-8 degrees, which is probably why my first shot was out the bottom.  It probably would have caught, but I dipped down just as I shot and missed the spot by about 1/4 inch.  I adjusted my sight, drilled two X’s, and I was thinking that I was going to come out of these two targets down only one point, and blam0: a poor shoot, juked to the left with a funky release and a miss at 7.

The next target is a 32 fan which has also caused my trouble in the past, mainly with level issues.  I paid special attention to my level, shot two nice X’s and an outer-edge 5 on the left side, then a weak-ass dip-and-collapse shot at 5:30.  Just for self satisfaction, I shot another arrow, which held OK and felt OK but did the bounce-back thing and went to 1 o’clock on the pro-line.

The next two are a 19-17 and an 11 which I aced, then it was on to a 64 walk-up to finish up.  My first shot was a little left when it fired and was a jar-licker at 9.  The target was very shot out so it was hard to tell if it caught or not, but it looked about 1/4 of a shaft in to me so I counted it.  The next three were pretty solid shots and were all X’s, ranging from 9 to 3 in a straight line.

The final score was a 268.  Going over the targets again, I fell safe in saying that 5 points can be chalked up to sight issues, on ends 1, 4 and 5.  The rest are mostly all my own.   Still, if I had not had those unexplained misses, that would have been a 273.  I also had a couple of pop-back misses high, which were otherwise well executed shots.  Thinking about that makes me feel a bit better and closer to my goal, but I don’t like having to do fancy math after the fact to translate what my score “Should/could have been.”  I need to get to the point where it is just where I want it to be, no if’s and’s or but’s.  Until then, I just have delusions of grandeur that don’t quite match the reality.

After that I went to the practice range again for a little bit.  I shot a few arrows at 80, pulling a pretty decent 24 out of my ass with two bob-left-and-release-funny shots which touched each other at 9 on the 5/4.  My last shot was actually well aimed and executed and landed at 11 on the 5/X line.  I had one miss at 11 also, which is exactly where it was when I released it.

Then I moved up to 50.  My first shot did the pop-back thing and hit a pro-line at 5.  Then it was an X off a nice shot, a five at 3 barely in and two crappy shots, both of which felt like they popped back and went at 12 and 1 o’clock respectively, about 1/2 inch out.

I adjusted my stabilizer weights so that the front two are almost touching, leaving the other two where they had been: one around the middle, and the other one at the very back.  I honestly don’t remember the next end for arrow placement, but I do remember that it felt like I held a little better.  The bow definitely was not popping-back any more: it fell just slightly forward after the shot of its own volition, but did not swing quickly down like it has in the past.

My last end was a pretty decent group.  The first shot between the upper X legs, and the second was a bit of a struggle and was a 5/4 liner, clearly in.  The next two shots were both a little slow to release as well, but they were inside-out on-the-cross X’s.

Hopefully the greater weight distribution out front will keep the bow from popping back like it has been.  I just hope it doesn’t put undo stress on my shoulder having the weight out so far.

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Start date: Sep 5, 2011 3:24 PM Target: NFAA/IFAA Field Total score: 268 29 X’s.

— Sent from my iPhone

Yesterday was the big day: Shannon now officially lives with me and Mom. With help from Kevin, Joel, Kyle and Maure we got the bulk of Shannon’s stuff moved from her apartment in Wilsonville to our house.

As anyone who has ever been to our house knows, it is not overrun with empty space, so she had to give up much of her furniture: her table and chairs, one air conditioner and her computer desk went to Kevin, and her futon went to Joel. Her grandmother’s bedroom set was very special of course, so that went into our bedroom at the house, necessitating some shuffling and Craig’s Listing on our end too, but we pretty much got it all done. An awful lot of her stuff has had to go into the attic as well, since it was duplicating stuff we’ve already got here. That’s kind of too bad, since it needs to feel like her place too, but she says she is not bothered.

We have some small stuff left to bring over from the apartment, but shouldn’t have any problem getting the last of it out before Wednesday, which is the due date.

The last big hurdle is introducing the cats. Shannon’s cat Luna came over last night, but we kept her in our room in an effort to slowly acclimate her to the new surroundings. She was kind of wigged out in the middle of the night, by has been ok overall. Growler so far is in the dark about the whole thing. I’m not sure how she’s going to take it, but hopefully they can become friends.

Any way, just thought I should let everyone know the news.

PS: I made this post from my phone so I apologize for any typos or mistakes. They are all Apples fault!

WCW holds a FITA tournament every month from around April to September. This is the second one that I have competed in. Last time I shot very badly and I was very disappointed in my performance.

So far, I have not done much better this time around.

Just as an experiment I decided to try my old Bowmar stabilizer this week. I shot with it at practice a couple times and if felt ok, though it was heavier than I was accustomed to, but I thought I’d give it a whirl this weekend. All in all I like it quite a bit, but it’s noticeably heavier than my four rod Kudlacek, and after not very long my shoulder was really hurting and my aim was suffering quite a bit. That contributed to my problems today at the longer distances, though I was doing a fine job of shooting bad shots all on my own as well. I kept up what is fast becoming a habit of shooting 10s or 8s, good shots or really crappy ones. Very little in between.

The sad part is, on the whole, I felt pretty decent today. But, when I messed up it was so big that it undid the good shots: three nice tens, a nine and two eights is the same 55 points as a wholly unremarkable end in which I shot no group and only managed a single ten but kept all of the arrows in the gold. It’s frustrating to put forth the effort for the extra bullseyes and come out of the end with the same score.

I switched back to my four rod stabilizer half way through the 70 meter round in deference to my shoulder, and I was monkeying with my release for a lot of the afternoon as well, trying to get my shots to come off faster. I was holding pretty well for the first few seconds, but I could ne’er get the thing to fire during that time, so I wound up fighting it most of the time, and that makes for a rough day Especially when my shoulder was already acting up.

At one point part way through 50 meters, I added up my total 10s and compared it to my total arrows in the red: 32 10s and 21 reds. That is a depressing ratio. That was when I started feeling really frustrated.

I was very down and not having any kind of fun at all. I decided I wasn’t going to stay and shoot on Sunday. That at least gave me some hope in that I wasn’t going to have to keep shooting this bad for much longer.

I’m not sure if that was the difference or if I was just tired of looking sour in front of everyone again, but the fog sort of lifted and I started focusing on my form more acutely, starting to get the feel right after the shot was gone. Also, my shoulder was getting less sore and I was holding better, which I’m sure made a big difference too. But suddenly I was grouping for the first time all day. They weren’t great groups, and the scores weren’t great, but atleast the 10s were outnumbering the reds by a fair piece.

30 meters was better, but still nothing to be excited over. But again, I had more good shots than bad and mostly acceptable groups. Often times one would fly out, but I usually had at least 2x’s and I had one 5x 60, and the miss was only by a hair. I ended with a somewhat disappointing 354 (out of 360) at 30 meters, but given how the earlier part of the day went, I took it happily.

I finished with a 1337 today, a score that is mired in mediocrity, and only 2 points better then last time. I guess that’s improvement, but I was hoping for something more along the lines of 20 points, not 2.

I’ve talked myself into staying for the Olympic Round and Eliminations on Sunday. I have mixed feelings about my chances. On the one hand, I feel Like i’ve seen this movie before: I shot basically this same way in May on day one, and wound up shooting a disappointing OR on Sunday and was handily beaten in my first elimination round.

On the other hand, this is a whole new day. Being fair, I know that I can make myself shoot well just as easily as I can make myself fail. It’s all up to me.

I just need to keep that in mind tomorrow.

One slightly optimistic point in regards to all those arrows in the red: I would like to pick up about 20 points on todays score, and I shot about 25 arrows in the red. It isn’t all that hard to stay in the gold, and that alone would give me the 20 extra points I’m looking for. Converting 8s to 9s is much easier than finding extra tens, so this goal should be well within reach.

Additional Info:

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Start date: Aug 20, 2011 10:18 AM Target: FITA Total score: 1338

— Sent from my iPhone

Joel and are taking part in the Providence Bridge Pedal this morning. More updates to come.

One of our better ends

The Sherwood-Nottingham shoot has always been one of my favorites.  It started in 1956 when the Mayor of Sherwood, Oregon, wrote to the Lord Mayor of Nottinghamshire, England, and proposed an archery challenge.  The Lord Mayor agreed, and the tournament was started.

We shoot 90 arrows a day (30 arrows at each of three distances: 60, 50 & 40 yards), two days in a row.  The top 8 archers form the team for their respective city, the scores are sent over in a secret envelope, and when everything is done the scores are compared and a winner is crowned.  The wining team gets to keep an intricately engraved silver bowl (recently appraised at more than $8,000) for the year.

Our shoot is held in conjunction with the Sherwood Robin Hood Festival , always held on the third weekend of July.  The local schools elect Maid Marion and her Court – selected primarily for civic achievements and activities in her community – and she starts our tournament every year. This year I had the honor of helping Keith Kemmerer instruct Maid Marion on how to shoot her bow (she’d never shot archery before).

This years shoot took place on one of the rainiest July weekends that Oregon has ever seen, and it marked only the second time since 1989 that the shoot was rained on.

Saturday started out with some drizzles, but quickly changed to dry and windy.  The wind picked up the throughout the day, keeping things challenging as distances got shorter, but it wasn’t anything too terrible.

I shot alright at 60 and 40, but 50 was sort of disappointing.  I ended with an 877 out of a possible 900.  I haven’t been able to find a list of previous results, but I seem to remember shooting in the mid 880’s the last time I shot in this tournament, nine or ten years ago.  877 wasn’t bad, but I dind’t think it was anything to shout about.  Still, it was good enough to put me in first place by 10 points after the first day.

Sunday was a different matter.  The wind was gone, which was fortunate, but in its stead was an impressive rainstorm.  It was raining so hard at 60 yards that I had to add 2-3 yards to my sight marks to compensate for the rain pounding the arrows out of the air.

My first 12 arrows were very rough.  I was shooting a clarifier in my peep site (a device that makes the image in my scope appear more clear), but the rainy weather and warm temperatures caused the piece of glass in the clarifier to fog up, which meant I could see absolutely nothing.  Its hard to shoot when you can’t see anything.  I tried several things to correct the problem, but nothing worked very well.  This did not reflect well on my score card: after 12 arrows, I was down 10 points.  (That equaled the total that I missed at that distance on Saturday).  I finally just used a small allen wrench to pop the glass out of the clarifier.

After that I could actually see, although the scope was still pretty covered in rain drops which made it hard to see at times as well.  But even when it was bad, I could at least see some part of the target, which wasn’t the case when the clarifier was foggy.

I finished 6 points worse after 60 yards than I had been the day before, but aside from the first two ends, I was shooting pretty well.  We moved up to 50 yards and I shot much better, beating Saturdays score by 4 at that distance.  We moved up to 40 yards to finish the day, and the rains started again in earnest.  I took a little bit of a guess at the site mark, attempting to offset the drop that would be caused by the rain.  As it turned out, I gave it a little too much, and my first arrow missed out the bottom by abut 1/4 inch.  I adjusted my site and the next arrow pinwheeled the X.  I went on to finish the round with a 299 out of 300.  I would have liked to clean it, but I was happy with that performance in the end.

When I added everything up, I finished with 877 again, for a total of 1754.  As I mentioned earlier 877 is not a bad score, but it isn’t anything that I felt was particularly special, although given the weather conditions it was more respectable.  So I was very surprised to learn that the 10 point lead I had to start the day had ballooned into a 43 point victory.

As the rest of the scores were revealed, it was determined that all of the Sherwood teams – Compond, Recurve, Longbow and Juniors – beat our cousins across the pond. It was a total US sweep.  The Bowl is ours for another year.

The Sherwood Compound Team managed another victory, but it was by one of the narrowest margins ever: 270 points.  (By contrast, in 1994 we whooped them Brits by  more than 2,000 points).  I guess we will need to pick it up for next year!

I will post a link to the final results when they become available.