JOAD this week 12-26,27- 2017

Well after six week I am no longer the invisible archer. Tuesday at JOAD while I was practicing John spoke to me tell me I was looking good but needed to get my right elbow back a bit more, he said it would help me hold the center better.I was so surprised I almost messed up my shot but instead made an effort to pull my elbow back more and he said that looks much better and it did seem at least slightly easier to hold the center, I shot a ten. I kept shooting and did try to incorporate this elbow position ot be part of my shoot routine and two other times that evening he said I looked like I was doing it well. I must admit that after getting nothing from any of them for six weeks it was a bit of a surprise but it was welcome. The coaching we are suppose to get from JOAD is the main reason I am in JOAD and it has been annoying to not be getting it. Then on Thursday night at JOAD while I was practicing with my Olympic bow John again spoke to me - he told me my form looked good but again I needed to keep my right elbow back while pulling through the shot. This was harder to do because I felt like I had my elbow back but I made an effort and he said it looked better and just keep it like that as I pulled through the shoot. This was even more of a surprise I am only suppose to get coaching on Tuesday nights. Next month I will start paying for two JOAD memberships so that I can get coaching each night and shoot for pins both nights. The $150 per month is less than what I would pay for three privat lessons and I should get some coaching 8 times a month. It is the coaching that is most important to me and I intend to make sure they know that and that I expect some comment about my shooting each week even if it is just that I am looking good because one cannot always know one it doing it correctly one my feel like they are and be incorrect where a coach can see the errors.

Top tear is after adjusting the rest and plunger to the right

After much trial and tribulation I believe I have solved my arrow path problems with my Olympic bow. I will never try to be arrows of the wrong spine to work with a bow just because I all ready own them. Arrows can be sold and I will be selling the one I cannot use. I called Easton and talked to a helpful person the Zack I believe. He advised me the cutting of the rear of the X10 ProTour arrows would reduce the spine but he and the engineers there did not believe it would be enough to make them fly well with my Olympic bow. They advised me to buy X10 arrows at 500 spine. They said the X10s were designed for Olympic bows and would always work better the X10 Pro Tours would on an Olympic. So even though I have been trying to reduce my spending on archery as well as spending in general I spent the $500 plus dollars it costs to purchase what is needed to build a set of X10s. I got them Tuesday when I got home from the range and built them that night. Cutting those X10 arrow shaft at $40+ per shaft is always a nervous event. But I did it hot glued in the 120 grain points and four fletched with 2 & 3/4 inch Spider vanes in white and blue. The look good. and fly even better they have almost no waggle and hit the target straight in. I was able to shoot a much better group with them than I have before. their paper test still has a right tear but it is much smaller than the 730 spine X10 Pro Tours I was trying to shoot. Adjusting the plunger and rest a bit right removed another 3/4 of an inch from the tear. I am getting 150 grain tungsten points for them to hopefully reduce the right tear more. They are about $150 a dozen which increase the cost of the arrows to $54.16 each but if they clean up the tear I will be happy. I shot a 203 and 235 my to highest on my Olympic, If I can do this next Wednesday, pin night, the 235 will get me my 4 star pin which I have been trying to get for two months.

Video of Clicker and Arrow rest/Plunger on my Olympic
https://youtu.be/WGG1N4TtXyU

Raleigh Revolutions Virtual Tournament and JOAD this week

Last Saturday First Flight/Raleigh Revolution had their 4th quarter Virtual Tournament. I asked specifically if I could shoot for my Bronze Olympic pin and was told I could so I shot my compound bow.  The tournament was not well attended mostly due to them only announcing about four days before the shoot. There were about eight of use shooting. I did well and shot a 283 which would qualify me for my Bronze JOAD Olympic pin. But when I asked what I needed to do to get it I was told they were not sure this tournament was qualified because there was not a Judge there. But that they would check and let me know. So I far I have heard nothing for them about it. This makes me pretty angry because I asked and was told I could shot for it. If I was told I could not shoot for it I would have shot my recurve olympic bow which I could have earn my next regular pin. I really feel like the invisible archer - I go there and shoot the JOAD classes which I do pay for and they never talk to me or coach me. I stand there and shoot and watch them go up and down the line working with other archers and never looking at me or talk to me. When I asked why they did not tell me they did not know if I could shoot for my Olympic pin they said they did not realize I was asking about the Olympic pin, yet they know I have been trying to earn it for two months and have asked me when I return to the shop after a tournament somewhere else if I got it, knowing I did not just to rub it in.

Well enough venting. I did at least prove to myself that I can shoot the score needed and during the next two JOAD classes where I was the invisible archer again I shot well enough to earn the pin so I am hopeful I will earn it at Boneyard this Saturday. I had originally planned to go to Lancaster this weekend but when Boneyard put up a shoot I decided to cancel Lancaster and shoot here in NC also it is a much shorter drive. I like shooting at Lancaster but that 6 hour drive is rough.

I emailed USA Archery because I had heard nothing from the folks at First Flight. I was expecting the worse but got back a nice surprise. Here is the email I received.

So it appears I have earned my JOAD Bronze Olympic pin.
I am very pleased about this, now on to Silver this Saturday.

Brad Fiala                                                                              11:20 AM (4 hours ago)
to me

Ashby, Please don't be annoyed.  That event would indeed qualify as an indoor pin shoot.  I have attached the form to fill out for Adult Olympian Awards.

Thanks-

BRAD FIALA

USA ARCHERY  |  MEMBERSHIP SERVICES MANAGER

Office: 719.866.4621  |  Fax: 719.632.4733

4065 Sinton Road, Suite 110  |  Colorado Springs, CO 80907  |  www.usarchery.org

http://www.teamusa.org/~/media/USA_Archery/Documents/ARY_2012_JOAD%20Olympian%20Request%20Form_Nov%2029.doc

HNS Archery Championship Series #2 - Dec 3rd.

Sunday I shot the HNS Archery Championship Series #2 at 11250 Patterson Ave, Henrico, VA. They have a very nice shop and ranges. I found out that HNS stands for Huntin - N - Shack. It was a sort of small shoot with just five of us in the Master 60plus division. I like having folks to compete against just wish there were more. I shot the early 11AM line with two other Master 60plus archers, Rex and John. I was shooting well. I did make two mistakes well one was not so much as a mistake just something I had to do. In spite of the best practices knowledge about not changing any thing close to a tournament I replaced my scope lens going from one with a center dot and halo ring at 4x to a completely clean lens at 6x. I am shooting so often there was just not a good time to do it so I figured get her done. This did significantly change my sight picture. But I do like it I can easily see the center 10 ring and the X. Sight movement is also amplified but that was expected. I am not sure how much this may have hurt my archery and it may not have hurt it much. I was having some trouble with holding center at the beginning but this seemed to get easier as the tournament progressed. I replaced the Sight Wednesday at JOAD and shot a round with it before going to my Olympic for the second half of the evening - I am trying to get comfortable and proficient with the Factor and seems to make some progress Wednesday at 10 yard anyway. I have to shoot at 20 yards for pin night. The other this I did or did not do which was a major mistake on my part was to never practice to three spot vertical targets with only the inter ten ten ring. That is what we were shooting and I have almost never shot them in spite of the fact that First Flight Archery does have them available. I found them disconcerting to aim at they just looked wrong somehow. This is a problem that I will start fixing this week after I get my Olympic indoor 4 star pin.

I am really annoyed with myself. I had the Olympic Bronze Pin until my last arrow where I shot an 8. I have no idea why and I know everyone is going to say nerves but I felt no nerves I was just doing again what I had done all day and shoot for a 10. The shot felt normal and I had not idea it was not until I sat down and looked at my target trough my monocular scope. I almost fell off my chair. I was one up starting the end meaning I only need 27 to score 280 and I shot a 26. I will not let this bug me if I can get to that place once I can do it again and finish without the error. I shot a 278 and a 279 for a 557 not bad but not great either. I really believe the 6X lens will help me score more tens and I will master it over the next two weeks when I can shoot again for the Bronze.

This coming week I could not find anywhere to shoot so I am going to Frostbite JOAD Tournament at Bull Run Public Shooting Center, 7700 Bull Run Dr., Centreville, Virginia, 20121 to help Judge the event as a shadow judge of the main judge. I am looking forward to doing this and excited for my dayview as a judge. As far as I know no one at First Flight knows that I am a certified Judge but if any of our JOAD archery show up they will find out.

We had a good crowd - 9 compound archers, 3 bowhunter and about 5 single string. I took third place and won $5 - I shot pretty well but still had to poor ends. 

My bow is performing well and I am very pleased with it. I am planning to to try Spider Vanes on my Easton 2315 arrows. I messaged them at Spider Vanes and asked about do this and was told it worked well and the Braddy used them. So I have ordered some from Lancaster but the purple are out of stock so I am waiting again. I have ordered more Wraps and should have them soon.

I shot well at JOAD last night. I am working on taking my time to shoot the shot I want and not releasing the arrow when the shot is just ok. I shot two rounds with the Prevail during the first JOAD session the switched to the Faktor for the second session. I needed to prepare for the Smack Down but also for the Pin shoot next week on my Olympic bow.

Also I got a medal for placing second
in my division at the at the 2017 Indoor Early Bird tournament at The Archery Program at Bull Run.

Since my last post I have been working hard on improving my consistency in my shot routine believing this will improve my consistency in shooting Xs. I am shooting in the upper 280s Vegas and upper 270s US Archery scoring. I have come so close several times to shooting a 280 at a tournament to earn my Bronze Olympic pin which has been a goal of several weeks now.

I am shooting the First Flight Smackdown Saturday which will be a good practice for me and I will have another chance to go for the pin on Sunday at HNS Archery Championship Series #2.

My bow is shooting beautifully I just have to focus and let it happen. My main focus both days will be take as much time as I need to shoot the shot I want. Sometimes after I shoot I ask myself 'Why did I take that shot?' because as soon as I do I know it was not the shot I wanted. This is something to work on.

All of the parts of my new bow came in. John gave me a good price on it and I was glad to buy it through them. However every time I buy something big like this there are always things that happen that delay the delivery. This time the string maker First String made the first set of strings too short. When John ask them they said they thought he made a mistake and ask for a string that was too long, this delayed the bow a week. A whole week with the riser and limbs sitting there because the string was too short. They finally sent the right length string but the put clear serving in the middle of the string instead of blue. So john did not charge me for the strings but we got the bow put together. I told John if they would make the Blue and White strings with Blue center serving and clear end serving like I ordered I would be glad to pay for them. I know this was not Johns fault but every-time there seems like there is just something and once I have decided to buy something I do not like having to wait.

The bow herself in beautiful she is a Hoyt Faktor 27 Recurve Riser in blue with
Hoyt Faktor Carbon X-Tour Bamboo Recurve Long Limbs @ 34 pounds. I have added the 2 three ounce weights to the riser. She has FUSE Carbon Blade ES Stabilizers front and dual to rear FUSE Carbon Blade ES Stabilizers all three in blue. She has an Axcel Achieve RXL Recurve Sight with Titan X-Vision Recurve Aperture Scope, she also has an AAE Free Flyte Elite Recurve Arrow Rest, an AAE Gold Micro Plunger and an AAE Gold Micro Clicker. I have added 16 ounces of

Fuse Carbon X Taper weights and a Fuse Flexblade Stabilizer to the riser. I added LimbSaver Recurve Broadband LimbSavers to the limbs and X-Spot Tiger Striped Whiskers to the string. THe bow is beautiful to me and shoots very well also. I am shooting Easton X-10 Pro-Tours @ 430 with 120 grain points and Spider vanes four fletched.

Shot this at the league at First Flight

Two days ago during practice at JOAD I figured out something. Even though I start out my grip correctly and place my bow in my hand where it should be most of the time I am rolling my hand forward during the time when I am raising the bow so the my bow it pressing against the area of just muscle and skin between my thumb and forefinger instead of resting against the bone below my thumb. Once I caught this the stability of my sight picture has improved a lot and I have been hitting

the X more often. I still do not have the consistency I desire but this is progress and something I can fix.

I made it a point of making sure I was still hold my bow properly the rest of Tuesday JOAD and during Wednesday JOAD. I did find much to my dismay if I was not paying a lot of attention to this I would revert back to the improper grip.

Thursday night before league I was working of making sure I was gripping correctly. During league I shot 90 for the first three ends, then a 10, 9, 9 and on the fifth end a 9, 9, 9, all a half inch right above the 10 ring. I was baffled and raised my sight but walking back to the shooting line I realized I had let my grip go back to the wrong grip. I put my sight part the way back to where it had been and focused of using the proper grip and my score improved. I shot a 291 with 10 Xs and 11 tens. So converting the 11 tens to nines for US Archery scoring by subtracting 11 from 291 and I get 280 which would get me my JOAD Olympic Bronze pin.

I feel fortunate that I found this grip error and know that we all have to self coach ourselves some but do not believe it is very efficient. John, Leslie and Brian are all good but all are mostly interesting in working with the kids.  I really need to find a personal coach. I had high hopes for George "Griv" Ryals at ALC The Archery Learning Center but I have either email of messaged him five time and gotten no response. This has been most disappointing so I am planning to try to find someone else I can work with. I am surprised with how much trouble I have had finding someone to work with. Christine Harrelson seemed like she would have been great but was only interesting is occasionally letting me take a class from her, John, Brian and Leslie are all good but are very busy with all the kids. I know it is a youth program but there is an adult part of it and there is nothing else in the area I can train in. Now I try to work with George Ryals and just get ignored.

The Indoor Early Bird Shoot - Bull Run Archery

Got up and hit the road for 7:30 AM to shoot The Indoor Early Bird Shoot at Bull Run Archery in Centreville VA. The building must have 'Time Lord' technology because it is bigger on the inside. When I arrived and looked at the building I thought no way could there be an archery range in the. When I went inside I was directed to go downstairs and sure enough there is an archery range in there downstairs and it is much larger than the building above. It is a nice range but could use better lighting and more room for archery's with bow and the spectators. Also they have a very none standard clock. It took me a while to figure it out and on my second end I almost ran out of time having to hurry my last arrow getting it off with one second showing but I did manage to shoot a nine at least in spite of rushing. The clock starts with a display of 210 which looks like two hundred and ten seconds but it is two minutes and ten seconds. Normally clocks display 10 seconds to approach the line this display 120 seconds. This clock starts with 210 and after it counts down the 10 seconds to approach the line goes to 159 - one minutes and 59 seconds. There is nothing wrong with this except it is not normally done this way and was confusing to me.

I shoot well and had a good time the folks I was shoot with this time were some what annoying which is unusual I am normally comfortable with other archers, may be it was me. I did however make myself ignore the unpleasantness I felt and focused on my shooting and my routine. I had changed my D-loop to a torque less D loop and I like it but it does make the bow feel a bit different. I had to make major changes to my sight elevation and it seemed like I had to change my anchor, not completely sure about that but my anchor does feel different when I am sighting the target. I am not making excuses for not shooting as well as I wanted just commenting on changes I noticed.

I did not make my goal of breaking 280 which I need to get my JOAD Olympic Bronze pin. I was close in the second round and was shoot well until the 9th end. I am puzzled by my scores that end. All my shots felt good and correct but the first much to my surprise was high and in the 8 ring. with one end to go this sealed my fate this tournament.

I have reread "With Winning in Mind" and working on applying those techniques which did help me. I will continue to work with them. Also I have bought and am reading "Finding Your Zone" due to a suggestion from the archer Lexi Keller.

I will be at it again next weekend at Turkey Shoot at Boneyard Archery in Madison NC. My goal is to shoot 300. May goal is to earn my JOAD Olympic Bronze pin. I will work this coming week at practice to settle my shooting down and get to shooting inter tens with every arrow.

Turns out I won the Master 60 plus division, this cam in the mail 11-14-17.

Third Quarter US Archery Virtual Tournament

Below I have copied the results for the 2107 Third Quarter US Archery Virtual Tournament.

I took 2nd place and apparently also third place. I shot a Tournament at Buttermilk Creek which they said if we wanted they would put un in the Virtual tournament for $10 so I enter myself not realizing it would be the same event I shoot the Virtual with my home club Raleigh Revolutions. I assume it went through because they spelled my name differently for each entry.

Last night I got the certificate for shooting second - I wonder if the third place certificate will end up at Buttermilk Creek JOAD and if they will send it to me?

I am pleased that for this second place I outscored three others even if one of the three was me. LOL

John Morgan RENO, NV Wasting Arrows

320 Pts11172

Ashby Spratley iii GARNER, NC Raleigh Revolution

297 Pts8103

Ashby Spratley Buttermilk Creek JOAD

294 Pts694

Jeff Schutte HUDSON, MI Tri-State Hawkeyes JOAD Inc.

283 Pts785

Gary Tietsort WALDRON, MI Tri-State Hawkeyes JOAD Inc.

229 Pts06

Pin Night

Pin night but since I got a pin last wednesday tonight is just a chance to practice with the clock and shoot for score. I would have really liked to shoot for a pin on my bare bow but if I had I would have missed an interesting experience.

I was shooting Ok but not well. I really feel I am capable of better scores. I shot a 261 which is low for what I have been shooting lately, I am usually in the high 270s. But the miss in the third end cost me. It was due to an early release of my release. I had several of them tonight and at least three of the 8s were due to them.

After the round I adjust the release one quarter of a turn harder. It feel a bit harder to fire I just hope it will not cause movement when I shoot.

After the round Leslie took all of the score sheet and set us up for a elimination shoot off. My score was such that I was not in the first elimination round but I did shoot against the winner of that round it was Mark. We tied with 28 each an X and two 9s for me and I won the one arrow shoot off. I am sorry but I do not remember the names of the others I shot against. Next was one of the young men, he shoots well but I beat him with two Xs and a 9, next was a young lady who I am pretty sure is an adult but is pretty young, she also shoots well. I really did well against her 3 Xs my final opponent was an adult male who also shoots very well I beat him with and X and two 9s for a 28 to his 27. I won the shoot off. A new experience for me and I am sure winning helped but I really enjoyed the whole thing.

I could feel my tension of the competition but I did not feel nervous and just did my shooting routine and keep telling myself "you are just shooting do your routine" and I felt calm while shooting. I shot well during the elimination better than I had been shooting all night maybe I need pressure to shoot well. There was no award or anything and I did not expect one this was just part of the training to get ready for tournaments.

One strange thing did occur which let me speachless. John addressed the whole JOAD class announcing the I and Sasha had won, Sasha the recurve. The he asked me how many times I had practiced since last Tuesday, which was six and how many arrows had I shot during those practices which was a minimum of 60 and averaged around 120. He then made a point that I had shot so well not because I was an adult, that the younger folks really had an advantage, and not because I had a better equipment but because I practice almost every and I shoot more than 500 arrows a week.I know he did this mostly to encourage the other JOAD archers to practice more which is a good thing. I was just surprised by his praise but it was pleasant.

The new adjustment on my release did not seem to have any dilatory effects and I did not have any early releases during the elimination round.

Cub Run Archers Fall STAR FITA

Cub Run Archers Fall STAR FITA was a fun shoot. The place was smaller than I thought it would be but it was big enough and the lanes were not crowded.

I went there to compete and to shoot for my JOAD Bronze Olympic pin. I shot OK not as well as I had hopped. I shot a 552 out of a possible 600. I shot four 8s and way to many nines. I use to be happy when I would shoot a nine now I think of them as one down. I won my division, I also came in last in my division. I was the only archer in Male Masters 60Plus division. I did however score higher than 3 of the five archers in Masters 50Plus and better than 4 of the seven Cadets so I am OK with how I did and will enjoy getting my medal or whatever they give out.

I did not however shoot a 280 in either of my 30 arrow rounds so I did not get my pin.  My first round started poorly and despite my efforts to pull it around I was not able to do so. My second end was going well until the third end where I got an 8 because it should have been much better than an 8. The young lady to my right had a habit of swing her Olympic bow down and to the left in an arc when she finished her last shot of the end. She had hit me twice before but each of those time I just let down and started my shot over, Leslie would have been prod. This end she did it and hit me right as my release went off and she did cause me to jump when she stuck me with the end of her bow. But there was nothing I could do the hit and my release were at the same time. There is no way to know for sure but if you look at my score card most of my ends were one or two tens and nines. This was the first or second arrow of the end and I believe it would have been a ten so this archer most likely cost me my pin. I miss the pin by 2 points. This was pretty upsetting but I am sure it was not intentional so I said nothing to her, she did apologize each time for hitting me. It is just annoying missing that pin again.

Thursday night league at First Flight Archery was fun tonight. I did not shoot as well as I had hopped. I started out very well but the could not sustain it. I shot two 8s and way too many nines. Never thought I would not like shooting a nine but now I just think of one as one down. I came in in about 4th place Mark shot a 195, Leslie a 193 I think and there was a 192 also. Not a problem I just have to keep working at it and I will get better. I have been trying to work with Griv from the Archery Learning Center in GA but have not been able to get him to reply to my message or email. This is a bit confusing because I think this is how he makes his living so why ignore. I really would like so help getting to the next level. I just do not have much luck find a coach.

Pin night - pin nights are split this month due to the first of the month falling on Wednesday so the Tuesday pin night will be next week. I am going to ask again if I can shoot for a pin on my bare bow, likely they will refuse but I will ask. Tonight I shot my Olympic Recurve bow. There are two JOAD classes on Wednesday and I usually shoot through both of them. So there are to chances for me to pin. My first round did not go well. Some of my arrows landed well but others were nowhere near where I thought I had aimed them. I needed a 190 and shot like a 178 I think. I did not photograph the target like I normally do. My second attempt was going a little better but not well enough but just after the half John told me I needed to rotate my right shoulder back and get my right elbow back and inline with the arrow. He talked me though want he told me and my clicker went off way too early. I have been adjusting my clicker for a while trying to get it to go off so I could shoot where I was aiming. To rotate my shoulder and straighten my elbow I had to change the clicker a lot but after doing so it did seem easier to stay on target while I expanded to the clicker and then shot. As one can see my last three ends scored a bit higher than the first seven ends. Except for the first end which I have no explanation for I shot a X and two nines so close together the arrow shafts were touching. I did break 190 for the first time with my ORB and got the 3 star pin. After the session I got John to come back and go over the changes in more detail while trying to create a memory for how it felt. I am hopeful I can repeat this form and it help be be more consistent with my ORB.

Had a good time at the range tonight. I worked hard before the league and made a little progress. Also they were very friendly last night almost like they read my port Wednesday. I was such a surprise but very pleasant but it still does not change the lack of coaching. For weeks I have been there shooting and have them work their way down the line of archers and just skip over me and go to the next person on the other side of me. Just like I am not there, never offering any comment until the one I got last Wednesday. Oh well it is the only place I have to shoot so it will just have to be lived with it. Or maybe the way I feel they treat me is all in my head and it is not that they do not care for me and it is me that just feel that way.
In the league I shoot pretty well. I shot 292 Vegas scoring. Thought I might have a chance of winning but there was a 295 so I missed by three.
John told me I should always score my targets like a Vegas shoot because to get a Lancaster score one would count your Xs and add one to the Vegas score and to get US Archery one would count the tens and subtract one from the Vegas. I had ten 10s so if I subtract 10 from my 292 I get 282 which will be enough to get my Bronze Olympic pin. I am having a lot of trouble shooting well enough to get this pin.

Yesterday I went to Godwin's Archery to shoot in there league night. This was the third night of the league so I just shot for fun but I did have a very good time. I did not shot as well as I had hopped but I am making some improvements. My score on the photo is incorrect - I scored it wrong my actually score was 283 not 308 out of 330. I got to shoot against Christine Harrelson, I find I really enjoy competing. I seldom do really well but I enjoy trying to out shoot the others. The other archers who were there shooting were very nice and friendly also welcoming. Most shoot much better than I but the is OK just gives me something to work toward. They plan to do another league shoot in December, I hope to shoot the whole thing.

Tonight I went to First Flight Archery for JOAD training. I am trying to improve my score. It hovers 278 when I really need to break 280 for my next pin the Bronze Olympic pin which I will be shooting for at Lancaster on 10-22-17 in PA. I have been working hard to improve my score but not making much progress some but not much. I have not gotten any coaching from any of the JOAD coaches for 6 weeks until tonight when John told me I was letting my right arm creeping forward at full draw. This of course did helped and I appreciate it but feel like I need more but do not know how to get it. One comment in 6 weeks does not seem like much coaching for my monthly fee. I really love shooting but never feel like I am welcome there. This is why I seldom talk unless spoken to. I have met a number of nice folks who are friendly toward me and I try to be friendly to everyone.

Goals and tournaments

Leslie asked all of her JOAD folks to keep a journal, I have been using this blog as my journal. She also asked us to write down and provide to her the events we plan to attend and our goals for this indoor season.

Theses are my event plans so far I will likely do more as I find them -

1. Fall Harvest Star FITA • 10/21 - 10/22 • Lancaster Archery Supply Pro Shop at 2195-A Old Philadelphia Pike, Lancaster, PA 17602 • info@lancasterarcheryacademy.com • (855) 922-7772 • Registered online • I plan to drive up on Saturday and drive back afterwards. I am shooting at 4PM
2. Club Run Fall Star FITA • 11/04 - 11/05 • Cub Run Archers, 14708 Mt. Olive Rd, Centerville, VA 20122 • marylecompte@gmail.com • 703-835-1101 • I attempted to register but the link did not work • I have emailed them
3. The Indoor Early Bird • 11/11 - 11/12 • Bull Run Public Shooting Center, 7700 Bull Run Dr., Centreville, VA 20121 • rerowenaa@gmail.com • 703-734-4900 • Registration form printer and mailed
4. Turkey Shoot • 11/18 • Boneyard Archery, 184 Old Covered Bridge Rd, Madison, NC 27025 - Guyhutcherson@yahoo.com • 336-306-3512 • Registration form printer and mailed
5. Frostbite JOAD Tournament • 12/9 • Bull Run Public Shooting Center, 7700 Bull Run Dr., Centreville, VA 20121 • rerowenaa@gmail.com • 703-734-4900 • Registration form printer and mail  From the application form it appears this is for 18 years of age and under :( 
6. Winter Warm-Up Star FITA • 12/16 - 12/17 • Lancaster Archery Supply Pro Shop at 2195-A Old Philadelphia Pike, Lancaster, PA 17602 • info@lancasterarcheryacademy.com • (855) 922-7772 • Registered online • I plan to drive up on Saturday and drive back afterwards. I am shooting at 4PM •
7. The Winter Season Opener • 01/06 - 01/07 • Bull Run Public Shooting Center, 7700 Bull Run Dr., Centreville, VA 20121 • rerowenaa@gmail.com • 703-734-4900 • Registration form printer and mail
8. Lancaster Archery Classic • 01/26 - 01/28 • Spooky Nook Sports • 75 Champ Blvd • Manheim PA 17545 • (800)-829-7408 • classic@lancasterarchery.com - Register online and hotel booked

Goals - 

1. Shoot a 300 round
2. Shoot a 300 round at a tournament
3. Shoot a 300 plus round at Lancaster Classic
4. Get into the elimination round at Lancaster Classic
5. Earn 6 Star Gold JOAD Pin
6. Earn Compound Indoor Bronze Olympic JOAD pin
7. Earn Compound Indoor Silver Olympic JOAD pin
8. Earn Compound Indoor Gold Olympic JOAD pin
9. Improve my release(I know this is hard or impossible to measure and therefore qualify but it is what I am working on)
10. Hold more steady on target(I know this is hard or impossible to measure and therefore qualify but it is what I am working on)

Pin night

Tuesday night was the shoot at First Flight Archery for JOAD pins. This month I was shooting my Olympic Recurve bow for my second or two star pin for indoors on this bow. I have maxed out the pins I may earn on my compound bow indoors.
It is my goal to earn the all eight star pins indoor and outdoors on each different bow type I enjoy shooting. I do plan to earn the Olympic pins both indoor and outdoors for my compound bows. One my only get the prizes for the Olympic pins once but one can get the pins each for indoor and outdoors.
I did earn my second pin at the shoot but just barely, I needed to shoot 140 points and I shoot 153. My next pin for the Olympic Recurve is 190 points, I have a lot of work to do.
First Flight will only allow me to shoot for one pin per month on whatever style of bow I choose so this will take a while to do. One may earn pins shooting at US Archery sanctioned tournaments but since my compound bow is my primary focus I will be competing with those at such events. I really wish First Flight would allow me to shoot for two different types of bows per month.
I am not sure if Barebow and Trad bows are separate categories but I hope they are because I shoot Barebow by string walking and Trad by instinct and would like to get pins for each style.

Currently my standing are -
Compound indoors - 8 stars
Compound outdoors - 6 stars
Olympic indoors - 2 stars
Olympic outdoors - 0 stars
Barebow indoors - 0 stars
Barebow outdoors - 0 stars
Trad bow indoors - 0 stars
Trad bow outdoors - 0 stars

Went to the First Flight Archery range to shot Saturday. I spent the first couple hours shooting my Olympic bow. I am still struggling to shoot this bow well. I am making progress but it is slow.

Next I shoot my new Long bow a Southwest Archery Scorpion. It is a 68" 35# one piece bow. It shoots well.

Lastly I shot my target bow, my green Prevail. I have been making good progress with my compound. I shoot a 30 arrow scored round. and got my best score yet a 292.

Green Creek Archery Club 2017 Summer series #6

It is a long drive but not a bad one, it is a 4 hour plus a few minutes drive. It is a nice place and setup for this place. It was not too well attended but there were about 30 of us there. I had to shoot against a 56 year old but I do like having competition.

I shoot pretty well and seemed to find a way to shoot better groups as the tournament went on. I found if I pulled a bit harder with my right arm I could hold my sight steadier. Doing this did seem to improve my groups but it does not work every time which means I am not doing everything the same way each time. Something to work on even at closer ranges.

I did achieved my goal of breaking 300 and a total score of 600. First end was 302 second was 300. My second would have been higher except for one of my last 6 arrows missed. I am not sure what I did to miss every shot felt good. It may have been the wind. We had a lot of wind all day and it may have been what was causing some of my wild arrows. I also achieved my goal of my next pin.

Raleigh Revolution Virtual Tournament 3rd qt.

I had not been to Bond Park in Cary, did not even know it was there. I was hopping it had a permanent archery range that I could use at other time but it did not. The range was setup temporary beside a baseball field. It worked well just not permanent range.

I had a good time and shot OK but not as well as I had hopped. I only miss once in the last set but it cost me my goal of hitting 300 plus. I shot 297 and would have broken 300 if not for the miss.

Yesterday 11-7-17 at JOAD I received this

I did reach one goal - I need 280 for my next pin which I did get.

NCFAA Shoot at Durham County Wildlife Club

NCFAA Shoot at Durham County Wildlife Club was great but poorly attended. I really need to do what I can to support the NCFAA I really like shooting Field and want it to continue. The weather was almost perfect and very good for August. Sasha was suppose to shoot and we waited for her but when she had not showed up by 10 after we decided to go ahead and shoot. I was going to shoot with Chris and tow other archers who were there. Right when we were about to leave Eli showed up and because there was no one else there to shoot I told Chris and them to go ahead and I would shoot with eli so he would be able to shoot. Eli shot the practice bails, he was not sure of his tape at long ranges. It was a good time shooting with him. He is almost inhuman at 20 yards shooting almost all 10 but in field he is a bit more human. He still shot better than I did and we had a real good time. I would shoot with him again any time. I shot fair until I hit a tree on the tower shot on my first arrow, I switch to my thumb release and landed the other three arrows. I was using my resistance release mostly for the experience but when to the thumb when I felt uncomfortable. I did shoot the resistance release on 85% of the targets. I again only shot half the course feeling a bit worn after 14. Also I was shooting 3D on Sunday.

First Flight Archery indoor 3D shoot

First Flight Archery indoor 3D shoot. I did not enjoy this shoot very much John had changed the limbs on my Podium. The Podium was purchased with 40 -50 pound limbs but when Hoyt replaced them due to a bit of delamination on the original limbs. The new limbs would only go up to 48.6 pounds when the limb bolts were fully down. So I purchased a new set of custom Red 50 - 60 pound limbs from John and he installed them. I had ask that he set the bow to about 52 pounds but he did not do this so when I asked again he did so acting like it was a huge favor he was doing for me. He also commented about me only pulling only 52 pounds but he did not make this comment to me I just over heard it. When I went to shoot my bow it made a very strange thunking sound when I went to full draw. I asked him about it and if he would come and tell me what it was. Again he acted like this was the biggest favor I could ask but he came. He had me pull back the bow and then told me not to shoot but to let down. He took my bow and when to his work bench mumbling about the cables. When I got the bow back I asked what was wrong and he told me the yoke cable were on backwards. He obviously never pulled the bow to full draw after changed the limbs so I am now wondering if the timing is correct.

I had brought my Double XL with me because I wanted to try shooing it at the 3D league shoot but I was having trouble with the sight so I decided to shoot the Podium. I was worried that the sight tape would be so far off that I would be guessing all night but the tape appeared to be very accurate after I reset the indicator to 20 yards after verifying that distance on the bales.  I shoot a 199 which is OK I missed 4 of the 6 fourteens which accounted for my 5 and three of my 8s. Leslie won with a 206 so I was not far off. The bow felt good and shoot well and it is real pretty with those red limbs. I shot with Travis and John both nice guys and a pleasure to shoot with.

Nuse River 3D shoot - last for this season

I got home at about 1 AM Saturday night Sunday morning. It was not a bad drive but it was long. I unpacked my car, cleaned up and to bed as quickly as I could. I got a good night sleep and was happy I had do this. I did not shoot real well but I had a good time and worked on shooting well. I really enjoyed the new target setup and was glad I got to shoot it.

USA Archery 133 Outdoor National Championship Saturday Aug 5th 2017 - The Eliminations

Myself and Scott

I go into the eliminations which was cool but not as big a deal as one would think. There were so few of us almost everyone was in the eliminations. But it was still cool and something new for me. My first opponent did not show up, I had to shoot but was the automatic winner. My second opponent was there. It was Scot the archer I shot with on Thursday, the one who broke the national record shooting 706 for archers 50 plus. He defeated me easily but I gave it my best effort and had fun. The wind was gone and it was not as cold but shooting it that wind the day before really messed with my shooting for a few ends. Eliminations are different than the qualifying rounds. Eliminations are 3 arrows per end and five ends, so it happens pretty fast. I stayed and watched Scott defeat his next opponent then decided to leave, check out of my hotel a day early and drive home so I could shoot the 3D shoot at Nuse River.

USA Archery 133 Outdoor National Championship Friday afternoon Aug 4th 2017

Today I shot at 1 PM - it was strange, not the shooting at 1 PM but the temperature. it is August the 4th and it was 63° all of my preparations were designed around staying cool so this was quite a surprise. I luckily had a sweatshirt in my car, I was cold wearing it and would have frozen with out it.
I was move to target 114C and shot with two nice guys Dan and Don.
The wind was brutal. There was no way to hold ones bow stead on the target. One had to just hold as well as one could and release the arrow when one felt one had the best chance to hit the target. It was so different than everything I have learned and have been working so long to master. It was almost not like archery but from listening to the other archers that is what they were doing. Just a lot of them seemed to do it better than other and me. I missed the target 7 times, of those twice I missed the bail. Once I found the arrow, the second one hit the frame of the target and the arrow broke, I have the biggest piece. I enjoyed the event but shooting in this kind of wind if not much fun and frustrating.

Dan and Don

I saw several archers I am a fan of including Lexi Keller and
Dahlia Crook

USA Archery 133 Outdoor National Championship Thursday morning Aug 3th 2017

Today I shot my first round of 72 arrows at the USA Archery 133 Outdoor National Championship in Westfield IN. I was a good day but I am pretty tired - I guess the 1500 meter we walk during the event wares me out. I shot target 111C with three nice gentlemen Scott, Jim and Randy. All better archers that myself. Scot broke the Seniors record of 687 with a 702 - pretty cool. I shot fair not as well as I had planned but better than I have before at 50 meters. I had set a goal to break 600 which is still a long way from the maximum score of 720, an other goal was to break 300 for a round. Well I missed my 600 by 6 points but I did shoot a 306 so I do that one. The D-loop is frayed to the point where it worries me - it may be a long way from breaking bit to get rid of the worry I will replace it. If I do not have d-loop cord with me I will go early enough tomorrow to get some and replace it. I do not shoot until 1:30 Friday.

Miller Creeks last 3D shoot

Shot the MIller Creek 3D shoot and had a really good time. This is apparently to be their last shoot, the club is disbanding. Got there a little later than I had planned at 10 AM but it was still pretty cool. Got in a very nice group with Tracy and Tim also Tootie and O'Dell joined us, I may have O'Dell
name wrong. It was a very relaxed day of 3D shooting and I shot fair. I was having a problem of shooting high which has never been a problem before. I shoot a lot of 8s most of which were due to being high. One thing I was pleased about was that I did not shoot any 5s. I was trying to make sure I was not creeping and was keep a lot of tension on my right arm to keep my elbow back, this seemed to usually produce accurate shots except for the ones that went high. I really had a good time shooting with this group they were fun folks
to shoot with.

Shady Lake Archery Club 3D

Myself shooting the second target in the meadow.

I drove up to Shady Lake Archery Club in southern VA to shoot their 3D shoot. It was a nice drive however I made a mistake. They sent me GPS coordinates because the place does not have a street address. They sent me N36°36.960' W81° 48.310but when I put them in my GPS I managed to change the N36° to N38° - I knew something was wrong when I hit WV and I found a place to pull off and check and found my error. I still made it there on time. Everyone was very friendly and I got a group with two very pleasent guys Mark and Travis. We were of similar shooting levels which made it even more fun. They shoot 30 targets but with no bonus. The place was beautiful but a bit hilly. However it was comfortable I do not think the temp got above 75° and when we first started out it was 69°. Extremely nice for July 29th.
I did not shoot terribly but I did not shoot well either.
The first three target were in this little meadow which was very pretty with the mountain in the background.

View of the meadow and mountain Mike shooting the second
target group trad archery to the left on target three. 

Right before our second target a doe with a fawn ran across the meadow.  It was a very pretty sight. After the third target we went into the woods and started climbing the mountain. It was not terribly steep or difficult but it was a climb. Most of the rest of the shoot was going up or down the mountain. There was an area where we were shooting several targets from the top of the mountain which was pretty flat and from up there we saw 4 turkeys foraging down it the meadow. This was a very beautiful place and I am sure the weather had something to do with how much I enjoyed this shoot. I will very likely shoot here again.

Travis shooting with Mike spotting.