Average Range Distance

I have been asked on several occasions a question that seems easy to answer yet difficult to explain.

• How far do you shoot in competition?
  

This then leads to multiple answers that seem to just puzzle the average hunters. I use the word hunters because most of these questions come from guys who only hunt or are reluctant to shoot competitively.

The answer is , it depends. On what you ask? The organisation, such as ASA, IBO, or FITA etc...

I am just anal enough to carry a rangefinder most everywhere I go and use it for practice at judging distance. When I am competing, I will write down the distance to every target on the back of a score card. After I have stepped it off or asked someone in the group how far they thought the target was. There seems to always be one guy who can judge like a human rangefinder, I wish I could be that guy! Afterwards I will average the total yardage against the target count.

ASA Limited Class is what I shoot most often. The ranges average about 33 yards. Therefore when I practice at home, the stake I shoot from the most is 35 yards. You will always have one really close target, typically a Javalina at 18-22 yards and several in the 38-40 yard range.

When I shot the Open A class in ASA, the average was 37 yards. 34-37 yards was the norm. In this class you had better shoot at 12's and 14's if you wish to finish in the top 10. More on where to aim in another post.

When shooting IBO, the ranges seem to be bit more diverse. The targets are staggered very well and very deceptive. I will take this up in another post later. In the MBO class (men's bowhunter open) the average for a given range is around 39 yards. There are quite a few that are pushing the max. When shooting in this class I will typically practice judging more and shooting at 45-50 yards.

Local shoots are dependant on the range officer. By that I mean, if it's been raining a lot, or the temperature has been hovering around 98F for two weeks the targets are usually closer. If the weather is cooperating and he has help, well you may be in for some long shots. I have averaged a couple of ranges in my home state and they really fluctuate. Anywhere from 27 yards to 36 yards. Most of the time if you have shot the course in the past, you will have a good idea if it will be tough or not.

There it is , the average of averages. I too, seem to shoot average!

Archery Only Photo Group

My two favorite hobbies are archery and photography. I havn't succeeded in merging the two together as of yet, but I am working on it. It's hard to shoot both a bow and a camera at the same time. I have started a group on "flickr" to do just that. For those of you that are not familar with the site I will fill you in with a few details.

http://www.flickr.com/ is a photo hosting and sharing website that does not cost anything. Yes, that's right it's free! Of course you can always upgrade but the free account has served me well so far. You will need a free Yahoo account to gain access to it. A pain I know, but it will be worth it if you would like to add your photos to the group. I will have a slideshow of all of the images that are in the group playing on the sidebar. Located here---------------------------------------------------->

Within the group you can ask questions or and make contact with other members of the group. The group as with this blog is "G" rated. There are kids, grandma's and members of the clergy that read and view both, so please adhere to this rule.

Still working on some upcoming material as well as a "how to" video. If you would like to read or view a procedure that you could learn from or just curios about, please leave a comment and we will try to accommodate you. Ex. How to tie in a peep, tie string loop or see the correct way to shoot a Scott caliper release aid.

That's all I've got for today.
Shane

Introduction

Hi and welcome to our humble blog about all things archery. Your hosts are Shane Bates and Chris (Lad) Bailey. The goal here is to provide insight as well as tips, tricks and a story or two. We will in fact be bringing tutorials and how to article's that hopefully will appeal to amateur's as well as pros.

Feel free to comment on what you read. Yes, you will have to do the pesky word verification but that actually cuts down on the incoming spam. If you have something that you would like to see here or just have a question about certain products that are on the market please ask.

In the next few weeks we will be tweaking and adjusting here and there to make this a regular stop when you are online. We will attempt to make this site easy to understand and interesting as possible.

Thanks for visiting,
Shane

Do it with the kids

Thanks, to my father, I have been involved with hunting since I was 11 years old. I remember him loading my brother and me up and heading off to the woods for a weekend of camping and squirrel hunting. I don't think we ever shot a squirrel but, we had a blast getting lost in the woods.

By the time I turned sixteen, I had started hunting with a bow and arrow. My brother and I shot at everything from the house, the trashcan, to chipmunks. If it moved through our backyard we shot at it. I shot my first deer with a bow and arrow when I was in my early twenties. I can't remember the whole story but, I remember missing the first shot and somehow connecting on the second. That deer must deaf, blind, and dumb because the tree that I was in was shaking so bad that I almost fell out and my teeth were chattering like crazy.

Needless to say, my love for archery has grown. Archery is now a year round love. I am hunting for whitetail and mule deer, wild boar, pronghorn, elk, etc, etc during the fall and winter months. Springtime brings 3-D tournaments and turkey season. And Summertime bring bowfishing. I have a blast enjoying all of it.

But, what I have really enjoyed the most is watching my son, nicknamed "Bear", grow into a young archer and hunter. Bear started shoot a bow at the age of two. Matter of fact, his first kill was my rear end. Yep, he put an aluminum arrow about 1 inch into the meaty part of it! I limped around for a week or two. He started going with me to 3-D archery tournament when he was three and by the time he turned five he was bring home trophies at most shoots. When Bear was seven years old he won the "Shooter Of the Year" for the state of Alabama(cubs class) and did it again the following year. It has been very exciting watching him grow and become a proficient archer.

I also started dragging Bear with me to the wood to deer hunt. Many time I would be in a tree stand hunting for deer and he would be sitting right beside me, more excited than I was at the chance to watch me shoot a deer. We have spent many hours in the woods working on our tree stands, hunting, and just watching the clouds blow by.

A few year back, Bear was finishing up his school year with great grades and I told him that he could choose a trip to reward him for his hard work. I thought we would be heading toward Disney World but I was wrong. He pick a Texas hunt for exotics. We found a place to go and off we went. We hunted for three day for a Black Hawaiian Ram. We had several close calls and near the end of our hunt he smoked a 18 yard quartering away shot on a big ram. Bear had just taken his first animal with a bow and arrow. I wouldn't trade that animal for a Boone & Crockett whitetail. (left to right; Pop, Bear, me, and "T" dog) After that ram, the Bear was hooked by the archery bug. If he is awake, he's shooting his bow. He is now nine and has taken several big game animal, one was a several hour stalk, followed by a 26 yard heart shot!

I have had more fun helping him and watching him grow as a archer and hunter. All I can say is thanks, to Bear, for letting me enjoy it and thanks to the Lord above for giving me the abilities that I have.

So, anytime you begin to get bored with whatever it is you do, just add a kid to the mix and it will add many more chapters to the book. It doesn't even need to be your own kid.

Oh, one more think, Sweet Pea, my three year old little girl has been shooting for several months now.....and I haven't taken another arrow in the rear end.....

Dreaming of Next Winter

I was looking through some of my photos from last winters trip to south east Colorado for a big Mule deer. It was early December. When I arrived it was mid forties with a nice breeze. The next morning the weather had changed, negative 2 and 14 inches of snow. I was hunting a tree line in the middle of an alfalfa farm. Bucks were cruising for does. By the end of the first day I had seen 5 to 10 shooter's but none were within bow range. Day two was about the same. I was a hard day of hunting, I left my lunch and water in the truck. I sure did miss my PB & J! I did enjoy one very exciting moment. I rattled up about a 135" buck that I decided to pass on. What a great day! Day three, time to get serious. Deer were acting about the same as the first two days. Sometime after 1:00 pm I spotted a nice 3 x 3 chasing some does. They were around 400 yards away. I started rattling some horns and using a "can" call. Out of nowhere Mr. Big showed up. Man, what a buck! Mr. Big stayed with the does and ran the 3 x 3 away. Yea for me, that 3 x 3 was now back on the prowl and I sounded like a herd of lovesick does. It took about another 30 minutes but he came looking for me. When he got about 60 yards out I had to decide what side of my tree he was headed to. I started to make my move to the left but changed and moved to the right. To my surprise I got it right, the big 3 x 3 came in to 8 yards and took a Goldtip arrow through the lungs and top of the heart. I watched him go down within 40 yards. My big 3 x 3 ended up scoring around 158 inches and weighed over 300 pounds.




Now I've got to figure out how I can get back out there next winter.

Target panic…..AARGHH

What is target panic? It can be many different things, it depends on the archer. For me, while I’m trying to hold my sight on the spot that I want to hit, I will lock up under it. It feels like my bow weighs 1000 pounds. Then, I will either shoot low or snatch the bow up and try to time the triggering of my release for when my sight crosses the spot. There is a 1 out of 10 chance that my timing is correct. The majority of the time the arrow will hit nowhere near the spot I’m wanting to hit. The crazy thing is, I only have this problem on random targets. Some of them are close and some are far.

I have been struggling with this problem for years now and I haven’t found a cure yet. I do know that when I don’t feel the pressure of making a perfect shot, my target panic goes away……but, most all tournaments frown on me having a few “Daddy Cokes” before I go shoot. lol I’m sure in time it will go away, for now I’ll just continue to carry a few extra arrows.

Lad

Why Shoot 3-D Archery?

I’ve been asked many times, “why do I shoot 3-D archery?” I have realized that there is not just one answer. I personally have several reasons. The competition is one reason, I love to see how I stack up to the other shooters. I also, know that it will improve my shooting abilities as I prepare for hunting season. Of course there is the fellowship with the other archers. I like to call it the smack talk. But, with all that said, my number one reason is for the constant training of focusing on the shot. That includes aiming at the spot I want to hit, triggering the release and most importantly for me, the follow thru.

If you ever have the chance to compete at a 3-D competition, give it a try. You might be suprise how much fun they can be.

Lad