I'm a bit late with this, but better late than never I reckon.
Paul shot at Yankton at the IFAA World Championship last week and not only took first place, he shattered the old World Record by 48 points on the Animal Round with a 452!
He was shooting in the "Historical Bow" (Primitive) class, which doesn't have as many competitors but that doesn't take anything from his accomplishment. His score was way higher than many other archers shooting in other classes as well--he recalls he beat one guy shooting a "speed bow" by about 200 points.
Not that there is anything wrong with speed--it's just not the deciding factor.
Two more big deals here to me.
One, he way out-shot archers shooting bows touted for their speed using a primitive bow. I don't know what kind of speed Paul gets from his bow, but my bet is it's not nearly as fast as a lot of the others. Point being, speed isn't the be-all-end-all, even at longer distances. The shot distances were from 20 feet all the out to 80 yards!
That (to me) is what ties it into this board. Speed is fine, accuracy is final. For this fact, it doesn't matter if the target is living or foam--the goal is to hit the spot.
Also, he is another in a long line of archers to prove that primitive bows will get the job done as well as any, as long as the person pulling the string does their part.
Two, the most emotional part of the tournament to Paul was seeing a badly disabled archer from Australia compete and take a first place trophy. Says a lot for the kind of guy Paul is.
Of course he was using BCY bowstring material--can't forget that! lol
Hope his hunting season goes as well as this!
Topic: Congrats To Paul Fender! (Read 266 times)
