Target Making and Practice in the Rain

A group of us gathered at SUNYA on Saturday to tackle the monumental task of making the targets for the novelty and youth tournaments at War of the Roses. Our goal was to get the designs drawn onto the cardboard, and then each of us would  take a couple of them home to paint them.

Well.



In addition to Jonathan, Janna, and the MITs (me and Elena), we had our Baron and Baroness and Their daughter! So not only were we able to get everything traced, but we got everything painted as well. Many hands make light work! You should definitely come out and shoot at Roses--it's gonna be a great tournament!














Then on Sunday, we the nutty but dedicated few went out to the range in the rain and shot royal rounds. It was ... weird. I expected my arrows to strike lower, because of the added weight of the water in the fletching. However, I overshot the target repeatedly--especially at 30 yards. Baffling.

20: 16
20T: 11
30: 11
40: 9
TOTAL: 47

So, it was decent, but not spectacular. It's probably the last time I'll get out to shoot for a while, because I'm having surgery tomorrow.

To end on an exciting note: we nabbed a second Jo-Jan multifletcher! WOOHOO!

Snorri's Visit

We had an impromptu, unofficial practice last Tuesday afternoon because our friend Snorri from AEthelmearc was in town for a work conference, and the weather miraculously cooperated. I got off work at 2, but Elena and Snorri wouldn't be getting to the range until 5 or so. I thought that it was the perfect opportunity to experiment with an idea we had for a suspended target--a tennis ball. We weren't sure if anyone would be able to actually stick an arrow in one.

Of course, to test this idea, I had to actually manage to HIT the tennis ball. 😄

Because this wasn't Royal Round work, I also thought it was a good opportunity to bring out the new longbow. I got the target set and the bows strung, and lined up for my first end with the longbow. Something felt off right from the get-go, though. The bow had no power--the arrows didn't penetrate the target more than a third of the depth of the tips. Also, the fletching of the arrows not only didn't fit between the rest and the string pre-draw, but the stuck out in front of the riser.

I had a ruler in the car, so I measured the brace height of the strung longbow and was someone confounded to discover it was a mere three inches. I unstrung it, and added twist to the string until the brace height reached five inches (I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be six inches, but I couldn't actually find that in the bow's description on the Etsy listing, so I opted to not push it too far).

The five-inch fletches still didn't fit, of course, but I noticed an improvement in the bow's power and the arrows' penetration in the target. I still don't think the bow is up to 35#, however, which is what it's supposed to be.

It's amazing how different my aim point is between the recurve and the longbow. For the recurve, at 20 yards I aim the tip of the arrow at the left leg of the target stand. For the longbow, my aim point is just as far to the left, but it's in line with the top of the gold circle.

I managed to scare that tennis ball and even had a couple of shots that brushed against it, but I didn't manage a direct hit before Elena arrived. She added a standard target face to the round behind the tennis ball, and we had fun casually shooting.

A few ends later, I hit the tennis ball. BOING! My arrow certainly didn't stick--it bounced wildly to the left and landed in the grass a few feet from the target. It was awesome! And, in hindsight, it was a good example of why we shouldn't use a tennis ball. My arrow bounced left...but it could have bounced back towards the firing line instead, and that would be dangerous.

We did several more rounds with each of us occasionally brushing the ball, but no more direct hits. Then we took a brief break to go get Snorri at the gate.

If anyone was gonna hit that tennis ball, it was gonna be Snorri. And he did, three times in three successive ends. In each case, he knocked the ball out of its harness, but his arrows also did not stick in the ball. He also pushed the center clear out of our target round, so we had to take it down and stomp it back into place. 😄

After that, we abandoned the tennis ball and experimented with other things. Snorri took aim across the field at the dilapidated butt, and nailed it with his very first (and all subsequent) shots … at an unknown distance.

Someday, I will shoot like Snorri.

I worked on shooting two arrows simultaneously with the recurve. I'd like to be able to start off my timed ends with this instead of a single shot, for obvious reasons. However, the arrows have always flown too erratically for it to be worth the chance. After watching me for a couple shots, Snorri asked, "Do you rotate the second arrow?" I was startled by the question--it has never, under any circumstance, occurred to me to purposely nock an arrow with the cock feather down.

Turns out, though, that it's a really good idea in this particular case. With one arrow right-side up and one upside-down, the arrows sorta nest together. They fire and strike MUCH closer together. It was like magic. I emptied my quiver (24 arrows--12 shots). Not only did not a single arrow miss the round, but every. single. arrow. was a scoring arrow.

Astonishing.

Quiver Strap

The weather when I got out of work this afternoon was absolutely gorgeous, so I took myself to the range for some solo practice. Now that I've got breathing consistency down as a habit rather than something I have to consciously focus on, I wanted to try paying attention to other variables in my shooting--especially my draw, and my release.

Draw wound up being the main focus today.

I have an inexpensive back quiver that I bought at Pennsic more than a decade ago. It's got a single strap, and it doesn't stay in place very well. For years I've toyed with the notion of adding a second strap to help anchor it in place, but I never actually did it--the slipping was inconvenient in that it made it harder to reach my arrows, but I didn't think it actually affected anything besides my speed round. I'd just adjust it back into place when it slipped too far, and keep shooting.

Well.

Because I was focusing on draw specifically, I noticed that the slipping DOES affect things. At full draw, my string rests against the right side of my chest in a particular spot. However, as the quiver strap slips, it gets in the way. This either causes me to underdraw (because I stop when the string hits the strap, rather than my chest), or to draw at a weird angle (to go around the strap). The results became glaringly obvious as I did a few comparison ends:

Six arrows at twenty yards.
In the photo on the left, I did not adjust the quiver strap at all and let it slip wherever it went as it moved when I shot. The low shots were my last arrows--a product of a shorter draw, because the strap was in the way. In the photo on the right, I adjusted it after every two shots, putting it back into its original position. While there was still some vertical variation, it was a much tighter grouping. The variation may have something to do with my release, or it may yet be related to some other issue with my draw--I'll keep focusing on that over my next couple of practices to see if any other explanations become apparent.

The variation caused by the strap became even more noticeable when I fired twelve arrows. When I did so without adjusting, my shots landed all over the place--and one missed entirely. The vertical variation was again because of the shortened draw. I believe the horizontal variation occurred when the strap slipped even further and I began to draw around it, so the string once again touched my chest, but in a different place. When I adjusted the strap after every two shots, the grouping again improved dramatically and my arrows were all within the blue rings or better.

Having to adjust every two shots is, of course, not an ideal situation--especially for timed ends. I may have to revisit the notion of adding a second strap to my quiver. Or, maybe I should pick up a hip quiver and experiment with that.

Or I could just master the technique of holding all my arrows in my bow hand, and do without a quiver entirely. 😆

Practice and RR Scores 4/17/19

Because today is Easter and John is out of town, we moved this week's practice up to Wednesday. It was a beautifully warm day with no wind, so shooting conditions were ideal.

Despite that, I really struggled to find my groove. I don't know if it's because I had a doctor's appointment right before practice, during which I learned I need to have (minor) surgery next month, or whether it was because I hadn't shot in a week and a half, but something was off.

After several frustrating warm up rounds at 20 and 30 yards, I decided to just start shooting for score.

The first RR went, as expected, more poorly than I've been doing lately. With a disappointing timed end, several shots that missed the target entirely at the 40, and a total of only 44 points, I was super frustrated with myself.

I wasn't going to submit a score at that point--a 44 won't affect my average anyway. But I realized I should go ahead and submit it, to keep a record of the fact that I *am* actively shooting every week (which will hopefully be a plus in my ongoing quest to be warranted?).

That decision made, I decided to work at the 40 for a while. I lined myself up, calmed my frustration as much as I could, and shot.

And something *finally* clicked.

So I began a second RR, starting at the 40. And though not all of my arrows scored, none of them at any distance missed entirely. That was MUCH more like what I expect of myself these days. My 20 yard, untimed end was last. I knew going into it that I needed 18 points to make a total of 50.

I shot a 19.

My takeaway from this practice was to not give in to frustration, but to try and find a way to work through it. Off days will happen. Change focus, work on a particular skill, stand in a new position, whatever. Do *something* to shake it up--something where I don't have a preset expectation of myself, and see what I can accomplish.

Arrow Making Party

A handful of Concordian archers gathered at John and Janna's house last night for the first arrow-making party of the season! We spent a large portion of the night inspecting the loaner arrows on hand, identifying those that needed repairs, and discussing supplies for future sessions.

After a tasty dinner, we got down to work. Our first order of business was to paint two dozen new shafts white (we decided that made the baronial loaner arrows super easy to identify). We tried to set up outside, but it was just windy enough to make that an exercise in futility. So we moved into the basement, where we worked until the paint fumes drove us upstairs.

While the new shafts were drying, we got to work on repairs. John has a six-arrow fletching rig, which is SO much more efficient than my single-arrow jig. Elena and I are both relatively inexperienced fletchers, so John walked us through the process. It's so satisfying when the finished arrows come off the jig!

I was also able to re-tip a dozen of my Pennsic flood arrows. It was my first time using heat-set glue instead of glorified superglue for the tips, so I was a bit nervous. John demonstrated on the first arrow, and then guided me through the second. After that, I was off and running! I need to pick up a crème brule torch so I can do these repairs at home in the future.

We anticipate practice being rained out on Sunday, so we have planned to continue arrow-making activities instead.

4/7/19 Royal Round

I had a very good day at the range today! 😊

20: 22
20T: 17
30: 15 (a new personal record!)
40: 2
Total: 56

Averaged with my last two RR scores, I now have an average in the 50s for the first time ever! 😲 Progress!! 😃

Last week's practices got side-tracked first by the new bow and then by the high winds, so this week I will really focus on honing in on that 40-yard target!

Today's official practice was very well attended. Along with the usual crew, we had several Anglespur archers and two complete newcomers!

We're having an arrow-making night Friday to replenish the baronial stock of loaner arrows, and we'll also be hammering out details for the Roses competition.

New Bow

A couple days ago, I came home from work to a long, skinny package waiting on my front porch. I was confused--when had I ordered a broom handle? It took a minute for reality to click: it was my new bow!

I've been hemming and hawing for months about purchasing an inexpensive travel bow for when I fly to events--a bow I won't be heartbroken over if TSA damages it. I found Ringing Rocks Archery on Etsy, who make all-wood longbows at really low prices. I didn't purchase right away, though, because a new bow was definitely a "want" and not a "need."

But then, when the crack formed in the handle of Sheldon's longbow, I thought it might be time. I went ahead and ordered a 64" hickory longbow with a lefty shelf. The estimated delivery time was 3-4 weeks, but it came in two!

I took it out to the range the very next day. I wasn't sure what to expect from such an inexpensive bow, and I kept reminding myself that it wasn't intended to be my competition weapon, but rather one that I shoot for fun. With that in mind, I set up at 20 yards and began a series of ranging shots to try and figure out my aim point. That point turned out to be quite a bit lower than my recurve's aim point.

With that figured out, I set up to shoot an actual six-arrow end. I was pleasantly surprised with how the first end went, actually. It was comparable to how I've been shooting with the recurve for the past week or so. I couldn't really tally the score, because the target face I have is a smaller rifle target--the store didn't have the 60cm archery target faces in stock. Sigh.

The wind was really gusting at this point, but I wanted to try at least one more end to see if the consistency had been a fluke, or whether this might actually be a decent bow.

Well, I think that answered that!

The grip on this bow is VERY narrow--I'm contemplating wrapping it with leather to make it a bit more comfortable for prolonged shooting. My bow hand was already starting to cramp after only 24 total shots (12 ranging shots + the two ends).

Aside from that, I have no complaints about this bow whatsoever. Best $70 I ever spent! I can't wait to take it out to the range again on Sunday for our official practice--it'll be interesting to see how it performs at 30 and 40 yards.