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.

3D league at First Flight Archery

Shot the 3D league at First Flight Archery. Only two compound archers there myself and David. I was a fun time. I shot my Podium with the new tape that seemed to work very well. Before others arrived I was able to back out to the 30 yd. mark that is in the show room and hit targets at 30 yards using the tape. Would have backed up to 35 yards but folks started to arrive. I shot the PrefeX R release all evening. I had some success with it also some failures. It is not as easy to use as it sounds like it should be but when everything works it does give me a better group.
 shot OK not too bad except for two dumb mistakes. We had a Antelope or some such animal at 3 yards guested yardage, I set me sight on 37 yards as my short range card said for 9 feet and called upper 12 and nailed it, almost center punched it. The the next target was the mural of the cat and I went for the 14 ring as usual and shot without resetting my sight. I hit the target dead center of the 14 ring 10 inches to high for a 0. On the coyote or fox what ever it is I shot the 12 on it at 10 yards the shot the leopard next at 15 yards with my sight still set for 10 yards. I lucked out with an 8 on that one. Except for theses dumb focus mistakes and a few release mishaps I shot OK.  I shot a 198 which was not terrible especially with a miss.  Need to talk to Jon about a bonus shot LOL.

Fishing Creeks last 3D shoot

Went to Fishing Creek for the last time for a 3D shoot - I will miss shooting there - it was a nice place and course.

CC is on the left and Anne is on the right

I shot fairly well not as well as I should have shot - since I changed my Full Bore arrows to 4 fletch my sight tape has been off. I did fairly well making adjustments for that but still shot somethings low.
I only shoot one 5 which was great but then I shoot a 5 on the bonus so no help there. I did not miss so no lose arrows but I did have a fletching damaged so I did not shoot the whole course with one arrow.
I was in a group with two couples. Both of the guys were experence hunters and 3D shooters both of the ladies were new, this was their second shoot. It was very interesting watching them discover 3D archery and listen to them talk about it. It was a fun day. They were CC and Anne if I remember correctly I am afraid I have loose they guys names, I really wish I could remember names well.
I know about what offset I need to add to my sight tape so I will try making a new tape with that off set added and see if it is better than my guessing. Even through the new arrow setup has cause problems with my sight tape I really do like the way they fly and with the 4 Hoyt Red feather they look great also are not as hard to see when in the target.
I have yet to try my new Stran PrefeX R release with the Podium but I do plan to shoot it at the 3D league Thursday evening at First Flight Archery. If it works well I will buy one for the Podium.

US Archery Outdoor NC State Championship

Went to Burlington NC to shoot the US Archery Outdoor NC State Championship. It was located at Buttermilk Creek, 860 Fleming Graham Rd, Burlington,NC 27217 which was almost a 2 hour drive. It turned out to be a small event but well run and fun. It was blood hot but the event organizers did have some shade and provided everyone with all the water they need free which I thought was a class act. I shot my blue Prevail which perform well. I was shooting my Stan PrefeX thumb release, I have gotten the Stan PrefeX R their resistance release which I have been working with but it is not ready for competition yet. I shot fair no where near as well as I had hopped but both set of 36 arrows were better than I had shot before. One mistake I shot the wrong bail hitting the right target on the wrong bail so I got a zero or miss for that arrow. It was an 8 on the other bail. I guess that would be a focus error.
Most of my shots were 7s, 8s and 9s with a few 10s I did have some 6s and a 5 which are better than a miss. My previous best on this target at this range was 244 so the 294 was a considerable improvement. Still it is a long was from the possible 360 but it gives me something to work on. My second set I scored 287 if I would have gotten the 8 that I shot on the wrong bail it would have been 295 one better than my first set. Well if wishes were horses beggars would ride.
I did however take second place in the Masters Division which was pretty cool. So I am now the indoor and outdoor second place holder for the Masters division.
When I got into my car to drive home in the parking lot my car reported the outside temperature to be 100°.

I shot a personal best at the indoor 3D at Frist Flight Archery Thursday evening for league night. I shot a 215 or 15 up. We shot a 10 target course twice consisting of 3D foam animals, full size murals of 3D animals and NFF animals targets. The only difference from ASA shoots besides shooting each target twice(but not at the same time) is that the 14 ring is in play on the mural targets. I like shooting the 14, I got 4 of the 6 possible at this shoot, I also shot 6 twelves. I got one 5 shooting at a 14 and 4 eights.

Had a good time shooting Goochs Mill 3D shoot. Had some trouble with the first half of the round but was able to make an adjustment around the 12th target and I shoot better from there on. Bow was preforming well. I shoot with Toody, Scot and I do not seem to be able to remember the last guys name but he was a friend of Toody and Scot. I am annoyed I cannot remember his name it is a good archer and I enjoyed shooting with all of them. I did have one miss I had adjusted my sight a bit hot and glanced off the top of the deer but my arrow was found,  happy about that.