First Leg of ASA Northeast

  This spring has been filled with atrocious weather. It has been almost impossible to get any quality practice between the nonstop rain and wind. If it's not raining, the wind has been blowing at a steady clip. It makes it difficult to know if you have the bow where it needs to be when it's go time. I've played with a lot of things lately in an attempt to find a setup I can aim better and make it more forgiving. 

  That's why I decided I would shoot a bow that I haven't shot at all and see what happened. I picked the Mach 34, my hunting bow, to see if it could take over the starting job for Minden next weekend. The bow has been pounding in the yard, and I felt 100% confidence in it. 

  Although it was a little windy and chilly at times, it was a great day to shoot. Going into this event, I decided I would stick to the plan I drew up before Fort Benning. The last few years, I've done a lot of different things and adjusted my plans throughout every round. I finally decided that wasn't going to get the job done, so I went all in at shooting all uppers. I evaluated my tendencies and figured this plan would benefit me more than anything else. When I miss due to a less-than-stellar shot, I usually hit low, and when I misjudge yardage, I more often go low than high. With those thoughts in mind, I figured I would look at the target and call a number I thought could be the very least the target could be and shoot directly at the 12 with that number. I've always trusted my numbers and know that while practicing on dots at distance, I never miss out the top. This plan would allow me to be off on yardage on the low side by three yards and it would also allow me to shoot right at them with the right number and still give me a lot of room out the bottom to stay in double digits on the score card. Whether you're shooting marked or unmarked yardage, I'd suggest looking at your tendencies and reevaluate how you're shooting at the targets. No many people miss out out the top while shooting. Sit back and think about that. Weak shots tend to go low for most people and nerves can cause all of us to become weak at times.

                                                                Evaluating the Plan

  After shooting some arrows at the practice range, we started on the lower half. My hold was pretty shaky on the practice butts, and my shot felt weak, but all of the arrows found their way into the good spot. 

  Walking down the club's driveway, I didn't know what would welcome us at the first stake. When we got to it, I spotted a strutting turkey at the end of the lane. Unlike the Rinehart IBO turkey, the ASA turkey doesn't bring any type of the anxiety with it since the scoring ring is the standard size for all ASA targets.

  Following Jeff Wagoner, I knew I would have good arrows to shoot at all day. He was shooting known and I was shooting unknown. As his arrow made its way toward the target, it hit a twig in front of the kill zone and took a nosedive to the right. The arrow struck the bird just outside of the 10-ring. It was an unfortunate break for him, as I believe he would've smoked the 12 after watching him execute a perfect shot. It was a quick 4-point swing on target number one. He also had two shots where his shirtsleeve caused 8s when the string slapped the sleeve. If he had avoided those few issues he encountered, he would've put up a huge round. I'm sure he will have that figured out the next time around. With his new look this year, I have a feeling he's going to pound when he gets out there. He said going back to the '80s is going to do the trick. It will make him feel and look younger. What are your thoughts?

  I made a great shot on the target, barely missing the 12 on the lower side. I felt good about my start. Moving to Target 2, an antelope, the number jumped out at me. I quickly set my sight and prepared to shoot. When I hit full draw, the bow settled in and the shot fired. The arrow hit directly behind the pin. I missed the 12 by about a half inch on the low side. 

  Marching toward Target 3, I thought back to Fort Benning when I encountered the same type of thing. I consistently hit within an inch of the 12s and couldn't buy one. However, I feel more confident about the plan now than I did then, so I decided to keep doing the same thing. Within a few minutes, I was feeling good about my decision... on the board with my first 12. 

  After securing my first 12 on the scorecard, I gained a little confidence but quickly gave back the two points I had gained when I shot an 8. Then, I struck lightning in a bottle again on the next target... back to 2 up. 

  A few targets later, we got to the coyote, and I felt really good about my number. There were two arrows in the 12, which gave me a great aiming reference. I was extremely confident with my number, so I held right on the nock. When the shot broke, I couldn't ask for a better one. The nock quickly appeared in the cluster of other nocks, and I felt my confidence gaining. Then, as we got to the target, I was the unlucky one, as the arrow was barely on the 8 side of the line. After seeing the arrow, I listen to my therapist, Dr. Slusarz, and knew he was looking at the patient lying on the couch, and while looking at him, he wanted to slap him in the side of the head. After receiving some advice from the doctor, we moved to the next target. Jacob doesn't miss anything. He's a student of archery and offers great advice. If he ever offers advice to any of you, make sure your ears are tilted and you apply what he says to you. He knows what he's saying and never offers anything other than solid, noteworthy advice.  Those are the breaks with ASA. I made a good shot and barely missed the spot. I can live with that. It happens. I cruised through the rest of the course and felt good about the result. I finished the first half a + 6. 

                                                               Second Half

  I started off good on the second half. I had a great aiming spot on the turkey and could't have placed my arrow any better in the 12 than where it landed. It's always nice to get paid back with a 12 after you execute a good shot. Things ran smoothly for the the first half of the second half. When we headed down the homestretch, I lost my shot. I believe I may have gotten a little tired, and I wasn't liking the way things were feeling at full draw. I battled through and remained as patient as I could. 

  With seven targets remaining, we came upon a long deer, and I had to lead it off. Looking at the target, I felt confident with the number. I set my sight and figured I would avoid my original game plan and just shoot for the center. I didn't feel comfortable aiming directly at the 12 on that target due to the battles I was facing at the time. Holding in the middle, I broke a decent shot and the arrow plummeted in flight. It struck the target low and landed barely outside the 8 line. It was the first target I got truly yarded on for the day. I would go back there today and shoot it for the same number I shot it for yesterday. Sometimes, the yardage just gets us, and that was one. Jacob also hit that target low, and we both shot it for the same number. The difference was he was aiming at the upper and I wasn't aiming at it. He landed on the safe side of the 8 line. If the best of the best gets yarded, I guess it's acceptable that I did too. We usually see targets about the same, and this target was a reminder of that in case we had forgotten... damn deer. 

  We picked our way through the rest of the targets, and I hung on. Although the day didn't end like it had started, I found a way to navigate a rough stretch with my execution. Finding a plan to getting through times like that has been important during my archery career. It seems like we should always be doing the same thing and it should be effortless, but we all run into some obstacles along the way. I ended up finishing that half at 1 down. I believe that half was a little more difficult than the first half we shot, so I feel decent about the result. 

                                                              Lessons Learned

  

   

  This is the biggest lesson I learned of the day. Take a good look at the card. When I added the cards up and made sure we matched, my mathematical skills missed a beat. I knew I had finished at 13 down without any 12s and adding my nine 12s would be 18 points. That's five more up points than down and that doesn't equal 303... it equals 305. This should be a good lesson for all of you... always double check your card. Although it doesn't mean anything at this shoot for me, it could've cost me dearly at a big shoot. Those two points could've kept me from making a shutdown round or sitting on the sideline, or cashing a check. It's on me for not checking the card before signing it. Once you sign the card, you signed off on it, checked it and are OK with it. It happens to everyone. Days are long, and we get distracted. Just make sure you stay focused until the end. 

  Unlike many times I have shot ASA events in the past, I stuck to my plan throughout the entire shoot this time. It served me well and paid off, as I shot nine 12s and barely missed a bunch. Of the bunch I missed, many would've been 8s had I shot at the lower 12s. I feel really good about approaching things like this the rest of the year. 

  What's my take on the Mach 34? In all honesty, this is one of the best bows I've ever shot in my life. It holds well, I shoot good shots with it, and it hits behind the pin. The bow feels great in my hand, and it gives me a lot of confidence when I'm shooting it. However, as the day progressed, I encountered things that made me question bringing it to Minden next weekend. Being a carbon bow, the bow itself is extremely light. I have more stabilizer weight on it than any bow I've shot, especially on the front end, but it still seems too light. When I get into the aiming cycle and it starts to go long, the sight picture turns into something that I don't like. I can't put a finger on it, but whatever it is makes me feel slightly uncomfortable. It might just be because I have so many miles on the Dominator Duo over the last few months. I'm still not 100% what I should do, so I'll be showing up in Minden with whatever bow happens to hop into my case the morning I leave. I feel confident with all of them. They all shoot better than me, and they are all shooting well. I can't go wrong with any choice. 

  I've shot at Algonquin Archers many times over the last 10 years. I always enjoy shooting there, as it tests every technical skill you must use as a 3D shooter. However, as an ASA shoot, it doesn't give the same type of practice you will see at nationals. I feel like I'm from the South, where all the shooters bitch if it's not completely flat because that's what ASA is. It's comical to listen to those guys if they're on a lump the size of an anthill. If they ever shot the course we shot this weekend, they would probably have a cardiac arrest... either from walking or bitching. God, I love being a Yankee and living in the North. I enjoy a challenge. I know if I can hit ASA 12s while shooting on that terrain, I'll probably be pretty safe on flat land. Eventually, I'd love to see one of these shoots set up just like a real ASA with 15 targets down one side of the road and 15 down the other side, where the group on each side of you must be done before you all go to the targets to score and retrieve arrows. I think it would be a big hit to show people what real ASAs are like. It would also allow the shooters to socialize with each other and it would be easier for the people organizing the shoots and working at them. I kind of like lazy-man 3D shooting like the national ASA shoots. Until you experience it, there's nothing that can really compare to it. I heard through the grapevine that the first leg of the Northeast IBO Triple Crown is adopting this type of format for their shoot next week. I wish I could be here to see how they do. Who knows, maybe in the future, we will be having IBOs with ASA courses,  and ASAs with IBO courses in the Northeast. I encourage everyone to go support Cole and Jake next week. They are great guys and always show their support to everyone else. Please support them, their efforts and their club. I appreciate these guys more than they'll ever know, and I also appreciate all the work of the ASA people in the region. It feels good to have quality places to go to participate in both types of scoring. Let's work together to do a better job of giving people exactly what they will see at national events if they attend a national ASA or IBO event. Tyler Thygesen hit it out of the park last year with his IBO shoot. If you went to that, it was very similar to a national IBO. 

  We will see what happens in Minden. Next week at this time, we will be home and making a plan for the next one. I'm going to go enjoy this one and look at it as being my last event before I finally get to practice like everyone else who shoots the events. Living in the Northeast, it has been impossible for us to practice outside, so we will be halfway done with the national ASA shoots, yet we haven't even had good enough weather to be outside practicing. Here's to good practice in the coming months. 

                               

  
 

Ft. Benning ASA

   Although it's the third week of March, I felt relatively prepared when we left for Fort Benning on Wednesday afternoon. Coming from the North, it's difficult to have any real practice for 3Ds. We shoot indoors to figure things out and hope we have our setups close to where they need to be. Well, I felt good until.....

that happened at 10:00 p.m. the night before we were leaving. The center serving popped in between the loop, and that was all she wrote. It didn't give me any sign it was going to happen, and the bow was pounding. I was ready. The scramble was on to get it fixed. Without any of my stuff on hand, I called my buddy Ryan to see if he could lend a hand in a pinch. I hit the hay around 1:30 that night. He did what he could do, and I got up at the crack of dawn to try to get marks and do a generic tune. Then, I left for the airport and had marks that I thought would work. 

                                                                 Practice Day

  We didn't get to the hotel until 2:00 a.m., so we slept in to try to get a little rest for the day ahead. While we were getting ready, we received a phone call from home. My mom had fallen and was badly injured and on the way to the ER in the ambulance. When all was said and done, it was believed that she had broken her hand as well as her arm, where it connects to the shoulder socket. She also suffered a severe blow to the head. With that weighing on my mind the rest of the trip, it made it difficult at times to focus on shooting. Mom has suffered so much throughout her life, especially recently with the daily battles she faces. No matter what she's facing, she always finds a way to smile or joke. I wish I had 1/4 of the internal strength she possesses. I'd do anything to take her suffering away and lay it on my back. She's given so much to my life, I could never begin to repay it because no money, care or love could ever repay what she has given to me. She's my hero, and it hurts to see her suffering through so much pain every day. Now, with this added on top of her other struggles, it's impossible to think about without being affected.

    After spending half the day on the practice range, we were exhausted from the lack of sleep. It didn't help matters that we were trudging through calf-deep water to retrieve arrows after every shot. It seems they would take a little more consideration into where they set the practice ranges (and regular ranges). Every year the ranges are flooded. Let's put the first three shoots right in high-risk flood areas. Kinda makes sense to me. I felt confident with the practice and was happy to see that my yardage guessing was going well. My shooting matched my guessing, and I wrapped the day up by looking forward to Day 1 of scoring. 

                                                                           Day 1

  Although we got some practice arrows in without any rain, it was definitely lingering in the sky above. When we got to the head of the range where the pros meet before the day begins, Jacob and I sat with Eric Griggs and chatted for a bit. He's currently shooting the M2 cam on the PSE Supra X, so we discussed his feelings about that as well as some regular stuff considering life. It seems like it was just a few years ago when we were both shooting in New England when Eric was just a kid in the youth class. He would go on to battle back and forth with Nathan Brooks in Semi-pro before turning Pro, and the rest is history. 

  When we got the OK to head to our target assignments, I was happy to see I would be shooting with Jeff Hopkins and Allen Conner. I always seem to shoot well with those guys, and I really enjoy their company. It's relaxing to shoot with them, and we always have a good time. Can it really get any better than sharing a stake with two of the all-time greats? Scott Darnell would round out our foursome. 

  I got off to a good start and hovered around even for the first five targets. My shots broke crisp and clean, and I felt relaxed. A few weeks ago, I went to see Mike Price with my buddy Chris. We chatted back and forth about a few things I've encountered, and Mike offered advice to get over the hump with those things. I put a lot of work in over the last few weeks, and as Day 1 progressed, I had to remember that I was in the process of making a major change that will pay off as the year creeps forward. I had finally gotten help with an issue that I didn't know how to fix and this rainy, horrible day warmed me to the core. I'm on my way to fixing the unfixable. In a matter of 3 1/2 hours, I made strides I've been trying to make for a decade or more. The whole secret is to find the origin of the problem, then come up with a plan to get from point A to point B. I'm on my way to point B. The road may be slow and arduous, but I'm walking in the right direction, and the proof was easy to recognize throughout the day. 

  As the round progressed, I remained focused on just trying to limit the damage. The rain was steady the entire day, but there were times when it came down in buckets. Then, as we turned the corner and started heading down the homestretch, the heavens let loose. It was my turn to lead off, and I stared down the lane at a long black panther.

  

  When I drew the bow, the rain pelted off my hat. A stream of water ran down my cheeks as I came to anchor and settled in. The shot went a little long, but I still felt solid when it broke. As the arrow began it's journey off the bowstring, I saw it separate the water in the air and leave a trail behind it. When it got halfway to the target, I could no longer see it, but I could see the trail it left behind. Suddenly, my decent day was briefly interrupted when the arrow struck barely on the wrong side of the 8 line on the low side. 

  After consulting with my peers, I realized it wasn't a bad number. Instead, it was just a little bad luck at the wrong time. That's the way it goes sometimes. You definitely need some luck along the way to keep you in it. 

  Creeping toward the end of the road, my hands started going numb, and the wrinkled skin on my fingers alerted me that I needed to be careful the rest of the way. I tried my best to hold on without letting any get away from me. Rumors had gotten around that the top 5 for the day would probably end up at a few down. 

  Heading off the range, I learned I was sitting in P7 going into Day 2, and I was only a few points out of P3. I felt really good about my day and couldn't wait for the next day. I've always done well in less-than-ideal conditions. I believe it makes me focus harder on my form. I tend to ignore all outside distractions when the weather wants to play nasty games. I welcome it. 

  Dad shot OK for the conditions, and Jacob shot well but had a really unfortunate incident happen. He ricocheted off an arrow and the arrow was unshootable. However, his arrow landed in the 5 after destroying the higher scoring arrow. I can relate to that. I missed the cut at the IBO World two years ago after destroying one of Darrin Christenberry's arrows that was in the 11, and I ended up in the 8-ring. He couldn't shoot that arrow either. It was split in half. It's a shitty rule that should be, in my opinion,  readdressed. Shane got pummeled by the afternoon monsoon and paid the price. He probably had worse conditions than the rest of us. 

                                                                    Day 2

  I headed into Day 2 with 100% confidence I would be in the shootdown round. The things I had worked on with Mike led to 75% of my shots being effortless on Day 1, and I was going to keep riding that same train throughout Day 2. 

  Like Day 1, I had a great group on Day 2. I shot with Tony Tazza, Keith Ahlstrom and Shawn Greathouse. The weather was much better than the previous day. Although I had wished for crappy weather again, I wasn't too terribly disappointed to see we would be shooting in ideal conditions. 

  Although I got off to a rough start, I wasn't disappointed. I shot a few 8s that barely missed the 12s. In all reality, it was just a little bit of bad luck, and trust me when I tell you there's a whole lot of luck involved in ASA. I often think that's why so many people like it. I'll go to my grave saying that the vast majority of competitors luck into more 12s than 12s they actually had their pin on when the shot fired. I think it would add an entirely different dimension if they added the 11-ring into scoring and you couldn't hit any rings by mistake. Imagine if you had to call lowers, uppers and middles? No more mistake rings. I'm sure that would drastically change things, although it might not because many people luck into the ones they get even when they call them. I guess I need to start praying to the 12 gods to get a few more lucky ones. It seems the only ones I get are the ones I'm aiming at. I'm usually in the vicinity of them, but the breaks need to turn in another direction at one of these shoots, and I'm sure they will. 

  As the day progressed, I just never got going. My shot was a little choppy due to an unsteady sight picture are times, but it still kept me in the game. I fought and clawed until the end, but I just couldn't hit any 12s. I was all around them, but being all around them doesn't get you anything other than a few too many 8s. When the day finally ended, I was irritated while walking off the range. I got more irritated  while sitting in the truck afterward. 

  Then, I took a step back and realized I was only lacking seven points from being in the shootdown round, and I wasn't remotely close to being at my best. All it came down to was the 5 I shot in the pounding rain and a few of those 8s in which I barely missed the 12s. Had the rain not come down in buckets at that particular time, I might have picked up 5, but at least 3 points, and two of the handful of 8s I shot could have been 4-point swings. It shows you how close things can really be when it seems like you were miles away. So after sitting there stewing for a bit, I accepted it and realized I did the best I could do under the circumstances. It's just the way it goes. It can be difficult to find peace in anything when you have a zillion things on your mind, including your mother's health, losing your job after 34 years at the same place, and thoughts of being able to continue doing the things you love in the future.

                                                                  Final Thoughts

  

  I went to Benning with one goal: I wanted to set up every shot perfectly. While I might not have gotten an A+, I did really well. On Day 1, I realized this new outlook is going to be a game changer once I have it totally driven into my system. When I set the shot up correctly, everything is effortless and easy. I'm looking forward to the days, weeks and months ahead as I continue working on this. 

  I had a good time on both days, as I shared the stake with good people. I don't know why certain people shoot better with others, but I can say that when I shoot with Allen and Jeff, I tend to shoot well. That made the first day easy and stress free. 

  The ASA needs to do something about the card situation on crappy days. The cards were a disaster. They need some type of laminated card to punch for extreme weather conditions. Thank God for Destini. She helped me transfer the cards two different times before they were totally unreadable. I'm sure she probably isn't on the ASA or CAM's payroll, but the work she does should be compensated just like all the others' work that is being compensated by CAM and the ASA. She does a great job, and I'm thankful for her work. Thank you, Destini

  Although you can't control the weather, I'm not sure why these venues are set up on flood plains during flood season. It does tend to get old after a while. At this shoot and the next one, we will probably experience the same type of thing. Better bring your waders and be prepared to be in standing water the entire day on the practice range and regular ranges. These places cannot handle any type of rainfall mixed with people walking in the areas where the ranges are set up. If nobody had been to one of these national ASAs, I probably wouldn't recommend it, but then again, that's just me opinion. Well, if you like standing in water nonstop and being covered from head to toe in mud, I guess I would recommend it. It all depends on what you like. Personally, if I were running the show, I'd probably look into a few options to avoid these recurring problems. It's not like it happens one time... it happens regularly. Aren't there other areas in the area where the ranges could be moved? I'm not complaining. I'm just imagining what I would do for my customers if I owned the business. 

  Should every other target on a range be propped up by plastic pipes and sticks? Well, if you answered yes, you are in the right spot. At every event, the targets are propped up with things to keep them from falling over. Is it because the stakes can't be pounded into the ground? Is it because the stakes don't go far enough into the legs to hold the target up? Is it from laziness while setting up the targets? I'm not really sure, but I'd probably try to do a better job with this. It's just a bad look at every single tournament. It gets old. Some groups leave the pipes and sticks on the ground after pulling arrows, and other groups put them back. Therefore, not two groups shoot the target in the same position. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to fix those problems. It's something you would expect to see at my house or a local range, not at a national event, especially at every single event with multiple targets.

  I'm done with the little soapbox, but "C'mon man. You can do better than that."

  I'm satisfied with this tournament. Coming from the North, it's pretty difficult to compete with guys who are shooting 3ds regularly. This was my second 3d shoot since the IBO World last August. My other one was Foley last month. I improved from last month and look forward to improving at the next one. However, when I got home, I was greeted with the two feet of snow we got during my absence. Doesn't look like I'll have any practice before my third 3D shoot since the IBO World last year, but I'll give it my best. There's just nothing that can be done when you live where we live. 

Foley: 3D Season in the Winter is Difficult

Well, this came quickly this year. I’ve attended a lot of national events in the last 25 years, and I’ve never felt as unprepared as I did before we headed to Hartford, Conn., to catch our flight. Between spending a lot of time focusing on indoor shooting this year and the miserable weather in the Northeast, I didn’t spend any time preparing a bow to shoot 3D. I went back and forth between the bow I’ve shot all winter, which is the Dominator Duo 35, and my Shootdown Pro. Although both bows have the same cam (SE2) on them, they feel totally different to me. I like each one for a different reason. A week ago, I made my choice to take the Shootdown Pro because the arrows came off the rest well, and the bow was shooting well. At the last minute, I decided to give the bow I had shot all winter a chance since I feel comfortable behind it. Unfortunately, I was having a tough time with arrow spine and found myself in between two shafts, with neither of them performing up to my liking. The Duo aims better, and I know what to expect with it under pressure, so I threw that in the case the night before we left and decided I’d give it a whirl. In those situations, it’s like playing with matches in a dry hayfield in the middle of the summer, but I figured I had nothing to lose. 

                                                                       Practice Day

  We got onto the practice range before it became inundated with people. It allowed us to cruise from one end of it to the other without many interruptions. As we picked our way through it, my mind seemed to be in a distant place. I found it incredibly difficult to focus, which led to horrible lapses in concentration. When we finished, I didn’t feel bad or good about it. Something just felt distant – off. It did offer me some relief to see 3D targets since I hadn’t seen any in a tournament setting since the second week of August last summer. 

                                                              Day 1

  I felt confident going into the first day but didn’t know what to expect. I’ve always considered yardage judging to be relatively easy, even if I haven’t put any work into it. I also knew I was going to have a great group. Digger Cogar, Jamie Drouillard and Tony Tazza would share a stake with me for the day. I enjoy shooting with all of them, so I knew it would be a relaxing day. However, anytime I’ve ever shot with Jamie, my performances have been severely lacking, with all three times being the lowest scores I’ve ever shot. I’m sure there’s no reason for it other than coincidence, but I couldn’t hide from the memories. I’ve shot well with Digger and Tony in the past, so when the “Shoot’m up” came ringing down the trail, I figured it would give me a chance to break free from the curse of Jamie. 

  I started on a wolverine and made quick work of it, shooting a center 10. Five targets later, I was sitting at even with one 8 and one 12. My hold was a little busy, but my numbers seemed to be close enough to keep me close. 

  Going into the 9^th target of the day, I was holding my own but had barely missed a few uppers. The arrows were within two inches of the upper and had a good line. Unfortunately, they landed in the 8-ring. I knew the tournament would be a learning experience for me, as I wanted to shoot mostly uppers and see how that gameplan treated me. 

  When I got to the ninth target, the group in front of me had just called a proctor and needed something moved when we were shooting target 8. I didn’t pay any attention to it, but it was in the back of my mind. 

  After drawing my bow on the impala, I settled in. The shot went a little long, but when it broke, I expected the arrow to hit close to the upper 12. Then, I heard the arrow ricocheting through the brush. In amazement, I had no clue what had just happened. There wasn’t anything in the shooting lane that I saw that the arrow could have hit. As I sit here writing this, I still don’t know what happened to cause the arrow to go crashing out through the woods. Did the point pull out of the arrow, and I didn’t catch it? Did the arrow fall off the rest and I shot it off the shelf? Did it have a cracked nock and I never caught it? I’ll never know, but it was the turning point of my weekend. 

  Looking back on the day, I believe I mentally checked out at that point. I didn’t feel it as it was happening, but I believe I lost all interest in shooting my bow. Disappointed would be a word to explain what I was feeling, but I don’t think that would attempt to cover it. From that point forward, I think I checked out on the focus meter and just shot my bow without putting much into it. I can never remember this happening in my archery career. I never actually remember trying to judge yardage. I simply stood at the stake and guessed without doing anything to come up with my number. My normal routine was nowhere to be found. 

  After completing the round, I felt totally defeated. The feeling brought with it a sense of disbelief. Looking into the mirror, I felt for the first time in a long time like I was in a place I didn’t belong. I finished in fourth to last place. I’ve shot some clunkers over the years but nothing like that. I felt like I had possibly hit the wall and needed to reconsider the path ahead. 

                                                                      Day 2

 

  As I wandered down the road to get to my shooting stake, I didn’t feel good about it. I was in the last peer group of all my peers. However, I had great guys in my group. That would be the saving grace for the day. I always enjoy Jackie Caudle and Tim Roberts’ company. Tim is one of the most positive guys I’ve ever shot with, and I love shooting with him. He pays attention to all the small details and offers solid advice after rounds are done. I value having met him and learning from him. He’s one of the good ones out there.

  When the cards were drawn, I learned I would be leading off a long mule deer that had nasty shadows on it. I knew it would be tough to find a spot to place the pin, as the shadows were moving. After drawing the bow, the pin settled quickly. I was incredibly relaxed, and the shot broke with ease. It landed in the center 11, right where my pin was sitting when the release fired. I was off to a good start. 

  After shooting that target, target 10, we turned the corner and headed back up the road on the other side. We would now be looking directly into the sun. It was tough finding my pin on the targets, so I decided to make the best shots I could and see what happened. 

  I struggled for a few targets and quickly fell behind the 8-ball. Three 8s and a 12 later, Digger Cogar let us borrow an umbrella, and that changed my day. I never went out of the 10 ring the rest of the day, and I pounded the upper 12s. Unfortunately, I didn’t call upper 12s like I had the previous day. 

  Over the course of the last 15 targets, I executed the best shots I’ve executed at a national 3D in the last three years. My shots were effortless, relaxed and strong. I never shot an arrow left or right, and the pin had a calm float to it. I got off the course with a 198, the seventh highest score on the range for the day. If I had called upper 12s, I would’ve ended at +12. However, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas all year long.  I believe that’s the route I will take the rest of the year, as most of my peers follow the same plan. 

                                                      Final Thoughts on the Weekend

  I won’t lie and say I’m excited about what happened over the weekend. I’m pissed off, and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It’s the first time in my archery career in which I was thoroughly embarrassed about my performance. Although most shooters encounter similar things, I can tell you firsthand that it doesn’t feel good to know you’re sitting on the bottom of the pack. I could probably spin it in a zillion directions and not be far off, but when it comes right down to it, I own it. I simply didn’t perform. Am I losing the ability to compete? I guess I’ll figure that out as the year goes on. The second day proved to me that I still have a little bit in the tank. I couldn’t have asked for a better comeback. 

  I also won’t lie about my mind being filled with serious things that aren’t related to archery at all. With all the medical appointments coming up, I may only have one more 3D in me for the year. The fact that I might not be able to shoot the rest of the year is the least of my concerns, especially after being told the seriousness of what lies ahead. I guess I should be more thankful for having the ability to stink the joint up this past weekend more than anything else. After all, at least I was able to shoot and enjoy the weekend with many of my friends I rarely get to see. It also reminded me to never put much into anything when looking at the scoreboards from afar. You never know what battles people are fighting that could be leading to less than desirable results on the scorecard.

  Overall, I’d rate my shooting as solid. There’s not much I’d change about it. Although I didn’t hold very well the first day, the bow sat down nicely the second day. I never struggled getting through my shots, and I focused on trying to be relaxed. My execution was pretty good, although I still need to work on cleaning a few things up. 

  I learned I need to have a quiet mind while aiming. Lately, I’ve had a habit of thinking about my shot instead of aiming and letting it happen. When I let it happen rather than tell myself how to make it happen, I feel unbeatable. I’ll make that a priority moving forward. 

  With the possibility of Fort Benning being my last event for the year, I’ll approach it with a happy-go-lucky attitude, but I will also do everything I can to be competitive and walk away knowing I couldn’t have done more or tried harder. I will see what happens over the next month and address different things as they pop up. Until then, shoot straight and never leave anything on the playing field. 

The Journey So Few Know Nothing About

  I'm very rarely at a loss for words, but a few things that happened leading up to this moment have left me speechless, and it has absolutely nothing to do with receiving the actual award. Although I'd like to address a few of those things, I'll stick to briefly answering a few people's concerns, and I'll wait until the end of this to do that, so as not to ruin it for the many of you who have supported me for my entire archery career, whether I met you 35 years ago or even in the last few years. I owe it to you to tell my story, rather than entertain the haters. Heck, what's the saying... not my clowns, not my circus. I surround myself with people who support me, and I give my support in return. Archery is a very small circle, and there isn't much that doesn't come full circle eventually. 

  So where did it all start for me? My mom and dad decided to build a new house in 1974, and Dad spent countless hours constructing the house. He didn't own a construction company, and he didn't have a crew of people to build it for him. Instead, he managed his time, his family and his work to build a house for our family. The house was in the country, and the year it was built, I was in the backyard winging arrows. 

 My love for archery increased every year, and when I was finally able to take the test to get my archery license, I was all in. Dad began bringing me to Oneonta every year to go hunting in the Southern Zone, where I could see a lot of deer. We would practice shooting soda cans and apples in the ditch as we camped out in the back of his white Ford Mustang hatchback for the weekend. 

  As the years wore on, my love for bowhunting grew. Then, things began going sideways when I found myself missing a lot of deer. Finally, when I left home for college, I got into competitive archery, and the rest is history. 

  In 1993, I attended my first big event, the first leg of the IBO Northeast Triple Crown in Merrimack, N.H., and I couldn't believe the number of people at the event. It was also my first look at outdoor target archery, as I had gotten a taste of indoor target archery in 1991 after graduating from college and returning home to join Hudson Falls Fish and Game Club. 

  I have to admit, I was a little overwhelmed at the number of people and the equipment the shooters were toting around. After the results came out, I realized I had a mountain to climb and the mountain was higher than Everest. I was in the bottom 10%, so I made a goal of getting better. The next two shoots, I stayed at the bottom of the pack. 

  After the Triple Crown was over, I began getting any piece of information I could read about shooting. I slowly introduced myself to the mental game of archery and how to navigate different types of archery. In my sampling of different archery games, I found a passion and love for 3D archery. I felt like I was born to shoot 3D. I loved hunting, and it reminded me of practice for hunting. I decided at that point to throw all of my eggs into that basket. 

  Going into 1994, I never felt like I had a chance to win, but I had fully committed to shooting a Stanislawski hinge release and nothing else. Looking back, it was probably the best thing I ever did in my archery career. The results weren't much better in 1994 than 1993, but my thoughts on the year were totally different. I had learned to shoot a good shot, and I learned to never shoot a shot unless it was perfect. I let down a lot... and that carried on throughout my career. After the summer was over, I decided to change releases and bought a Carter Big Kid 3D release at Lemme's archery in downtown Albany, N.Y. That decision changed the course of my archery career. If I'm not mistaken, I bought the release from Al Arpin, a guy who was an incredible shot in the 3D game. 

  In the spring of 1995, I headed to the IBO Northeast Triple Crown with one goal in mind: I wanted to be competitive. After the first event, I was sitting in 7th place in the largest class, MBO. There were basically only two adult release classes at the time, MBO and MBR. After the second leg in Bolton Valley, Vt., I found myself in the top peer group at Pine Hill, R.I., for the grand finale. I would have Roger Thibault, Al Lane and John Brean in my group. Brean and I were tied and Thibault had a substantial lead on everyone else. Al lane had a 26 point lead on me and John, but there were piles of people in the top 10 that were right on our heels. 

  That tournament is where I learned how to deal with head games, as Thibault played them from start to finish. I held my own from start to finish and closed the gap significantly on Al Lane. When the dust settled, I had finished in 3rd place overall in the Triple Crown, falling just a few points shy of overtaking Al for the runner-up position. I went from an unknown in the 3D world to a person who got respect from the best 3D shooters in the Northeast. I had earned the respect from Thibault, the best of the best at the time. As time wore on in my career, I learned that having the respect of your peers is the only thing that really matters. The haters will always hate and the people who respect you and support you will always have your back, even when you're not around. Even this past weekend when I received the award, I saw that lesson I learned 31 years ago come to the front... the haters are still gonna hate. It warmed my soul to see that I can get under people's skin by doing absolutely nothing to them. I'll never figure it out. I just wasn't raised that way. I encourage others and I cheer for the success of others. On my journey, I have never once thought I was any better than the next archer or any worse... I am just an archer who loves shooting my bow. We all can be good or great at times, and we can all find ourselves at the bottom of the pack. It's just the way it goes. I also learned that if you want to be a shark, you must jump in the ocean and swim with the other bloodthirsty monsters. You can't be considered a shark if you stay in the kiddie pool and swim with chubs and shiners. 

  After that year, my archery career was a little bumpy for the next two years, as I allowed expectations to get in the way. I learned that to be at your best, you have to shoot with no expectations... just shoot your bow. In 1997, I attended my first national event, The Great Lakes Shootout... 2nd Leg of the IBO National Triple Crown. I went with no expectations. Looking back on that shoot, it may have been my best all-time performance in my career. There were approximately 1,000 shooters in MBO, and I finished in 5th place after shooting a zero due to an equipment failure on my second to last target. The trust dusty Big Kid 3D in the picture above decided to let loose at 3/4 draw. The spring that holds the latch closed broke, sending the arrow sailing through the woods for a zero. That is when I began seeing a string of bad luck, some of which continues today. I'll be the first to tell you that if you shoot archery long enough, anything that can happen... will happen. I've experienced may unimaginable and unheard of things. However, I also learned that I had the ability to compete with the top amateur shooters at the national level. That tournament lit a fire under me to see where it could take me. 

  I'll spare the year by year tracking, but the next handful of years brought me a lot of success on the 3D tour in both ASA and IBO. I was living the dream and making incredible friends while doing it. Along the way, I met some of my best friends in peer groups. I guess I was always one of those lucky guys who performed at my best in peer groups when I needed to. I learned at that time, once again, that it's easy to gain another's respect when you compete with them head-to-head and lay it down. Don't get me wrong, I had more than one clunker along the way, too. I finished in dead-last more than one time in my life, even when I was shooting well. I learned to be a good loser, and learning to lose is essential to growth. You can't emphasize all your wrongdoings in a loss. Instead, you have to analyze and find a way to correct whatever went wrong and held you back. You learn to focus on the positive, ignore the negative, and fix anything that needs fixing. I learned early on to be accountable for whatever happened. I still hear people make a zillion excuses and never hold themselves accountable. Being accountable will help you get over the hurdles and cross the finish line. 

  When life happened and I got married, bought a house and had no vacation time, archery took a backseat. Although I still participated, I never gave it what I had given it for such a long time. Shoulder problems seemed to come out of nowhere, and I was fairly certain I was done. The surgeons told me the archery career was a thing of the past, and I begrudgingly accepted it. 

  Being a range junky, I couldn't stay away from the range while rehabbing. I had gotten divorced, and life had taken another turn for me. That's when I met George Connors and Chuck Weeden. Those guys lit my fire and are probably more responsible for the majority of my success than anyone else. Showing them the things I had experienced and opening a door to something they didn't know existed allowed me to become rejuvenated. My love of the game came back, and I took a different approach this time. Instead of being a student of the game every day, I became a student and a teacher. This worked better than anything I had ever done, and I began seeing success almost immediately. 

  Both of those guys still play a huge role in my life, and I'll be forever thankful for their place in it. There are far too many others to thank, but without my dad none of this ever would have been possible. He gave me every opportunity to live a dream and all of my accomplishments are owed to him. He's a little more diplomatic than me, and I'm sure he's way more likable. Unlike him, I like to tell people off. I have limited patience for many people, and he has unlimited patience. I guess that's what makes people different. 

  I feel very fortunate to be a part of many different archers' lives, and I've tried my hardest to give back over the last handful of years. I think it's essential to carry on and show others the great sport of archery. I do my best to do that. I've never considered myself a role model, but I have one of the greatest kids who considers me that right now. It's my job to live up to my end of the bargain on that and show him how to conduct himself. He's already learning how to win and lose, and losing is tough. He's already learned how to listen to the noise and block it out... haters gonna hate, they even hate kids.

  I'd like to say thank you to NYFAB for electing me into the Hall of Fame. It's an honor to be in there with some of my friends as well as with some others whom I have always admired their accomplishments. I'd also like to say thank you to my club, Hudson Falls Fish and Game Club, for giving me a place to shoot during the winter months. Although indoor archery has always been a necessary evil for me, I still do it. Unfortunately, major shoulder surgery and limited mobility and lots of pain have a way of making accuracy difficult when shooting a lot of arrows. 

  Lastly, like a good radio talk-show host, I'd like to thank my haters and my followers. You both inspire me. Just like the radio talk-show host you love to hate. Although you can't stand the person, you still turn the radio on to hear what they have to say. Just as an FYI, my circle is large.... very large. I heard it all, and it makes me smile, laugh and carry on. 

On a side note, just because I'm not like my dad and can't keep my mouth shut when something should be addressed, I'll share a little story. I think the funniest thing I heard on my journey came when someone told me another person said that I made things up because they never remembered me winning things I told others I won, although I don't ever recall talking too much about things I've won. Some people must have thin skin is all I can come up with when I hear that. They went as far as telling people that I never even shot in a league in Clifton Park, but I claimed to have won the league. Well, Dave Badgley, who is one of the best shooters I've ever shot with and is a great friend, came to that league to lay it on me after the Hudson Falls Fish and Game Club pulled a huge upset at the annual Guan Ho Ha Team event in which the top 5 scores from every club were added and the highest total score won. Well, everyone knew West Albany would dominate the team shoot, as West Albany had many pros in the club, including Dave Badgley, who I didn't know that well at the time. Even I must say, their team was stacked, basically unbeatable. Well, the rednecks from Hudson Falls showed up and came away with the title that year, upsetting the club that nobody could beat. Until modern times, that one weekend when David beat Goliath changed the entire team event at Guan Ho Ha. The following year someone (believed to be the person who said I never shot in the Clifton Park League) recruited people that didn't even shoot out of West Albany and stacked the team even deeper than it already had been because they refused to be beaten my a bunch of redneck nobodies. Anyhow, back to meeting Badgley. Dave came to Clifton Park and we shot together in the league with many other powerhouse shooters. We had a phenomenal time and became good friends. We learned from each other, encouraged each other and supported each other. We were happy when our friends beat us and we were happy when we were lucky enough to win one for ourselves. Dave instantly gained my respect, and I gained his respect. He is still one of the first people to reach out to me after I have a good showing at a national event... He gets it. He has competed at the highest level and he simply gets it. Anyhow, a high scratch average award was given out at Clifton Park every year for the highest average. I have a few fo those clocks laying around, even though some people say I never even shot in the league. I even went as far as to take a picture of one of them today, as I didn't want to dig into the box to grab the other, as I only shot there a few years just to prove a point. Here ya go buddy. I know you're reading this, so have a look, heck you can even give Badgley a shout to confirm everything you have poo-pood about me along the way when you asked others why they think I'm "good." I simply can't imagine doing that to anyone, but different strokes for different folks I guess. Anytime you're free, you're more than welcome to stop into my archery workshop to validate everything else that never really happened, just bring a notepad because it might get a little overwhelming trying to remember if you saw it or not. Thankfully, I graduated with a journalism/communications bachelors degree, so I learned how to take great notes and documentation because those things would be my bread and butter for life. I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a doctor, and I'm not an engineer, I'm a writer who knows nothing is valid without documentation. That's why I save everything, and I mean everything. Here's a 22-year-old broken clock that was in a box I found today. The other one from the next year is in there too, but I figured one picture would probably prove the point about a stupid league that I never shot in. 

Thanks again for everyone who supports me. I wholeheartedly appreciate all of you. 

A Young Man's Journey to the Big Show

  It was a cold winter’s night as the tires hummed across the pavement along a desolate country road. In another 14 minutes, I would be at the indoor archery range to work on my shot. Hunting season had come and gone, and the break from my bow felt good and allowed me to refresh mentally. 

  Pulling into the parking lot, I was surprised to see so many cars in the lot in middle of the week. Gathering my gear from the backseat of my truck, the wind slapped the back of my neck and brought a chill with it that raced down my spine, momentarily breathing life into me. The grind was about to begin… again. The next eight months would bring challenges at every corner, and I would have to find a way to navigate rough seas. 

  Opening the door, I instantly noticed a young man in a wheelchair at the far end of the range. After setting my stuff down and preparing to shoot, I couldn’t help but hear people giving him advice. The advice came in all sorts, including range etiquette and how to shoot a good shot. However, a lot of the advice was coming from sources who didn’t have the proper tools to help. Instead, I knew the advice would probably send this new shooter into a rabbit hole that might be impossible to escape as time wore on. Although I’m not a coach, I do have a lot of experience to draw from, and I try to save people a lot of time to get better at the craft. 

  A few hours later, my first practice session of the winter was over. I could feel it in my arms, shoulders and back. I got a good workout and felt ready to start putting more time into it. Everyone who was there earlier in the evening had gone home, and I clicked the lights off and headed outside into the darkness that had consumed the sky. 

  During my short commute home, I began thinking about the young man in the wheelchair. Why was he in a wheelchair? How did he come to like archery? How did he find out about the indoor archery range? Who was the woman standing behind him the whole time he was shooting? Should I have offered some of my own advice? While I wasn’t sure if I had done the right thing, I decided I would get to know him the next time I saw him. 

                                                                 The Introduction

  The next time I headed to the range, the young man was there again. This time there weren’t a lot of people around, so I took the time to introduce myself and gave him a little of my background and explained that many people like to give advice and sometimes it’s better in the beginning to listen to more experienced people than a lot of people. He welcomed the advice and introduced himself as Chris Hall. Our journey to tournament archery started that evening. 

                                                    Going Backward to Move Forward

  Within no time, we began working on proper form and execution. Chris hammered his trigger like a jackhammer operator on a road crew, and we needed to address that first and foremost. It didn’t take him long to understand he was punching the trigger. Since he was shooting a caliper release, we worked on curling his finger around the trigger and pulling with his back. His days of playing Whack-a-Mole at the county fair were over.

  A few weeks later, he was executing great shots and his scores began to climb. That’s when we decided to try our hand at a few indoor tournaments. Chris’ first big test would be the Beast of the East shoot at Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., and it would be a 450 Vegas round. 

  When we headed to the shoot, Chris was nervous but ready for his first indoor tournament ever. At the end of the day, he looked at the 434 on his scorecard and his desire to improve began. 

 

                                                               Fast Forward a Few Years

 

  Well, it didn’t take long for a few years to fly by and bring us to 2023. Chris has spent the last year fine tuning his skills. Hours upon hours at the indoor range led to the construction of a new outdoor range at his in-law’s place.

  Then, in August, he attended his first World Archery para event in Chicago. Although I was attending the ASA Classic at the same time, I waited patiently for the results. I followed the live scoring on Ianseo and saw that he was shooting his average and had a good chance to make it into the elimination rounds. After all, this was his first big event. It’s just not the same when you are shooting state and regional events.

   When you find yourself on the field with some of the greatest shooters the world has to offer, it can quickly humble a man and make him weak. However, Chris took the challenge and decided he would give it his best. He had new goals and aspirations and had to have a starting point to allow him to understand what steps would come next. 

  After getting classified prior to the event, he felt good to get that out of the way. When the round started, Chris began shooting his shot like he was practicing at home. At the halfway point, he put up numbers that were comparable to his practice average. Then, the wind picked up and a battle with the elements began.

  The wind wreaked havoc on the field, and all archers found a way to navigate to the finish line. This caused some problems for Chris, but he managed them OK and found himself in the elimination matches. 

  Once in the elimination match, he was bounced out of the competition by an archer from Korea, and he learned things that will serve him well in the future. He must work on shooting in the wind and staying focused on every shot of the round. Confidence is one of the biggest factors that affect success. You will never succeed without being confident. However, confidence must come from a place of truth.

                                                                      The Future

  Now that the work has begun and goals have been set, Chris will continue his trek down a path that so few people know anything about. He will roll into the range, organize his gear, and shoot hundreds of arrows every day. He will work on his mental game, ask questions, and use the knowledge that is available to him to perfect his craft… and I will watch quietly from a distance and cheer for him. 

  I will look back on the day I met him and understand that some people take longer than others to find their niche. I’ll also know that when I told him he must pay his dues to get to where he wants to go, he will truly understand it when the road brings him across the world. 

  While all of us don’t have people like Chris to inspire us, we do encounter other things that can transform our lives and the way we think about things. Chris has inspired me to never stop trying. Even when I face bad days on the range, I remember that I can do things that so many other people are unable to do. A few bad arrows here and there don’t amount to much when I can walk to the target, pull them out and try again. Sometimes I tend to forget that I’ve been granted an ability to compete as a professional archer and be competitive at the highest level. Looking at Chris every day makes me appreciate my own journey. While I have worked hard, I have also been gifted. There are only X number of professional football players. Not everyone who plays football can find himself on the field every Sunday competing against the best of the best. People claim you can outwork others and get there. The simple fact that many people cannot is too often overlooked. Everyone has a peak and many people’s peaks will fall short of the highest level. It’s impossible for every college quarterback to become an NFL quarterback, no matter how hard they work. Some just have a higher ceiling that is unattainable by others. I encourage everyone to try to reach the peak of their skillset and be thankful for wherever that peak might be. That’s when you must sit back and enjoy archery for what it is. The mystical flight of an arrow brings different things to everyone who observes it.

  I never imagined Chris would be where he is now when I met him a handful of years ago. Watching his journey to this point has been refreshing. Nowadays, I often find myself rubbing elbows with some of the best archers in the world. I’ve seen some of these people throw things through the woods and complain and cuss nonstop. It saddens me that people don’t have the ability to step aside and realize how lucky they are to do what they do. Chris cannot do those things, but he still finds a way to enjoy archery. He enjoys it whether he shoots an X or a 0. He has embraced the fact that shooting archery has brought people and things into his life that never would’ve been there otherwise. 

  Finding K.J. Polish, one of the best para-archers to ever play the game, has been a blessing for both Chris and K.J. They now have a friendship that will withstand the test of time because they can both relate to the other’s journey. Share your journey with others and help the ones who are in a place on the path you once walked. I can remember KJ as a 16-year-old kid who was shooting in the pro class at Nelsonville, Ohio. He was on the practice range on a brutally hot July day, and he was shooting with Johnny Heath. Johnny told him what he shot a target for, so K.J. dialed his sight into that number and shot at the target. His arrow struck below the 8-line for a 5. Johnny laughed and said, “You’ve been Johnny Heathed.” He was teaching the young pro a lesson to never skip steps in practice. Although I remember it well, I’m sure neither of them remembers it. That moment stuck with me for some reason, and when I told Chris to reach out to K.J., I knew the intangibles K.J. could share with Chris were things that I would never be able to relate to.

                                           Finding the right people who truly understand what you're going through is really important in archery and life. When Chris found KJ, his life changed for the better. A friendship for life has been created. 

I will be rooting for Chris as he continues his journey. While I’m in the twilight of my competitive archery career, Chris is in the beginning. However, he will never learn to walk again. He will make do with what he has been given, and he will never complain. He will keep moving forward and living the dream, realizing he has been blessed to find his niche… the one thing that brings him peace of mind and puts him where he belongs. 

                                   Chris will get getting married to Sara in a few weeks. She always keeps him on the right track and uses her phenomenal teaching skills to help him navigate things he would have a much tougher time with if she didn't share her wisdom. #powercouple