tournaments, anyone?

[DanielB89]

Do any of you guys shoot archery tournaments?  I shot my first this past weekend and felt like I did pretty well. I was wondering how everyone else practices for archery tournaments. The aspect I liked the most was how i never knew the yardage of the shot(not did i care), it had different animals, made you really focus on picking a spot(although some times the points aren't exactly where the "ideal" kill shot is).  

I was wondering how some one may recreate this scenario for optimize practice.  I realized how much i just "shoot the target" while shooting in my back yard and unfortunately i can not afford one of the targets that have the scoring on them.  

any suggestions?

[tradarcher816]

Stump shooting helps. I love the 3d trail, hard to find a better way to spend a sat morning.

[Orion]

I shoot a lot of 3-D.  I don't practice for it.  It's part of my practice for hunting.  So is stump shooting.  Just go and have fun.

[DanielB89]

yeah, I have a tendency to try to get better at things and take them slightly to serious.   . So i would like to practice so that I could get better.

[M60gunner]

I shoot 3D whenever I can. I live in the city and not allowed to shoot in my yard. No basement and garage is to small a distance for me.
With the summer coming I may join a league. With 100 degree+ temps Going to the range will not work.

[Roadkill]

Every chance I get.  Especially if the club challenges with over/under limbs, in creek beds barely visible and up/down hills

[Dave Lay]

I avoid most shoots with compound classes as it becomes a wait fest while they spend 10 minuites trying to figure out the ranges...  and shoot strictly traditional shoots in the area. Most are set with the hunter in mind with reasonable distances and set ups, and tend to be fun events. I shoot em for hunting practice and a chance to hang out and BS with buddies, no one I shoot with takes it real serious other than shooting for a coke or something.. I guess im old enough to remember before 3-D targets when we shot tournaments  we shot broadheads into cardboard cutouts of deer, bear etc.... I love stumping and feel that's probably the best hunting practice there is

[DanielB89]

Thank you for all the replies fellas. Unfortunately, there is not a trad only shoot on my area. I would love to get one together though.
I have never really went stumping bc I have always been afraid of ruining my arrows from shooting a stump, though it does sound like great practice.

[manitou1]

I have a "mini 3D range" in my backyard and vary the distances and angles to the targets that I shoot.  My problem is that my shooting area is very flat.  When I shoot 3D's in a very hilly are, it challenges me.  I do like the challenge though, as I shoot 3D in preparation for hunting.

[Flying Dutchman]

Tournaments is all I do! I train three sessions a week at my archery range on different distances, till 60 yards.

[cacciatore]

I like to shot 3D and I make some tournaments,mostly traditional only. For me it is a good practice for the hunt and I can set my own limits.

[tradarcher816]

Originally posted by Dave Lay:
I avoid most shoots with compound classes as it becomes a wait fest while they spend 10 minuites trying to figure out the ranges...

Truer words have rarely been spoken. I'm not knocking those guys it's their sport too but it is a pain to wait in line behind droves of guys who take so long and don't always have the courtesy to let you shoot through. Once again not knocking them, but around here most trad guys hit the trail at first light and beat the rush. Works out nicely if you don't mind getting up early.

[Jon Stewart]

I spent my childhood (50's and 60's) going to tournaments with my mom and dad. Dad won or placed in over 300 of them to let you know the extent of the family obsession.  As  a result I wasn't allowed to sign up for baseball or football as a kid. That bothered me as I got older, married , kids and grandkids.  We go to traditional shoots only where there are NO score cards.
We  try and make shooting the bow as much fun as we can with the grandkids regardless of how they shoot and where the arrow goes and if they want to stay in camp and play rather than shoot then so be it.

And we go to 4 or 5 shoots a year.

[McDave]

I shoot in about 6-7 tournaments a year.  I would like it if they could all be trad only, but unfortunately, there are only 3 trad only tournaments close to where I live.

The tournaments are a real reality check for me on my shooting.  I can usually hit a 3 or better on paper targets at the distances they were designed to be shot at, up to 50 yards.  Many of those 3's would be misses on a 3D target, like a fox, for example, where you have some right/left latitude for missing, but very little up/down latitude.  Some animals, like a weasel, are positioned diagonally, with very little up/down or right/left room for error.  Shooting with people I don't usually shoot with watching me, and on a range I might not have shot in a year also adds an element of pressure.

[Major Boothroyd]

I started shooting tournaments last year.  Most are mixed compound & trad 3D shoots, but there are a couple of really well laid out Trad only shoots too.  For training, our local club has a 3D shoot every 3rd Saturday.  We also have field rounds every week.

Lately, some of my buddies and I have been roving a lot through our range.  We'll vary distances, just picking random places to stop and shoot from, without knowing what distance we are at.  We shoot an arrow or two each at a spot on a bale, and then move on to either a different random distance on the same bale or to another target bale.

I think that constant varying of distance type of roving really helps when the tournaments come around.  In our part of the country, we are in prime tournament time starting about a month ago until hunting season starts.

[Todd Cook]

I shoot quite a bit of 3-d, my wife and kids love it too. I've always been a hunter first and an archer second, but I love the shoots we go to.

I don't go to compound shoots. I used to, but it's truly 2 completely different mindsets. My best friends are my trad buddies that I shoot and hunt with.

We are blessed to have 3 large trad only clubs in Ga. We have good turnout and lots of fun.

I don't know if this is an option for you, but get a tent and travel to shoots. We've been to Alabama, Tennesee, ect. Pretty cheap way for us to vacation.

[Jon Stewart]

I forgot to mention that I put on a Memorial Shoot in honor for my dad (this year is the 3rd annual) at my hunting camp.  I put out 22  3-D and 2 D targets over 35 acres.  No scores or pencils just a lot of fun and laughter.

Last year we had 35 people and this year we expect to have more.  We always have a memorial prayer before we shoot and add the names of those that left us from the year before.  We also feed everyone Bar B Q and have a couple of novelty shoots for the kids.