An Archery History Lesson: Why communication and support is important

  Well, this is a little off topic, but I feel that it must be addressed. Having traveled all over the country and into Canada shooting my bow, I think I have earned a right to voice my opinion on the status of competitive archery, different archery organizations, volunteers, tournament venues, archers, coaches and many other things that go on from day to day.

  Over the last few years, I have seen a lot of good things and a few bad. While the good outweighs the bad, the bad seems to be really bad. Back in the late '80s and early to mid-'90s there were a lot of big events in my region to attend. The best shooters in the region attended these events and the events provided a national tournament feel. After all, we had some of the best professional target archers at many of these tournaments, target archers who would go on to win Vegas, the Indoor Nationals, the Atlantic City Classic, Redding and the Outdoor Nationals, all of the big ones. I feel very fortunate to be able to call many of the people who won these tournaments friends. I've learned a lot from them and shared a few target lines with them and 3-D courses. To live in a region that holds as many incredible shooters is simply amazing.

  In those times, everyone went out of his way to support the tournaments we had in the state and region. There were some big money shoots found across the state, from Albany to Binghamton to Buffalo. There were always the typical rivalries, and these rivalries made these shoots a lot of fun to attend. As time moved forward and McKenzie introduced 3-D targets, I began to focus all of my efforts on that discipline because I was a hunter first and foremost. I figured the 3-D shooting would help me while hunting, especially if I ever encountered any big bucks.

  When the IBO Northeast Triple Crown started drawing people from every state in the Northeast, I wanted to be a part of it. If I could compete at that level, I knew I would be able to compete at the national level, too. A lot of shooters had come from New York and New England to find themselves on the podium at the national events. As I found myself at the top in the the Northeast Triple Crown, I began shooting in every state championship I could find..........and classes were big. There were no hunter classes, senior classes or semi-pro class..........instead, there were two classes, MBO and MBR and MBO was the big one. I got lucky enough to win the state championships in the states that held them in MBO, some of them with more than 400 shooters. Just like any winner in a regional area, I got accused of pushing the pencil. I always laughed at the notion and invited all comers to shoot with me if they felt so inclined to do so. The talkers very rarely came forth and accepted the invite, however, I do remember one person who got sent under the radar to check things out. I've never kept score or called arrows, and I always try my hardest to avoid having a card in my hand while on a course. That way nobody can say too terribly much. Anyhow, back to that one person. It was during a state championship, and I was shooting with my dad and a few other people. At the time I didn't know one of them was with us for a reason. Well, at the end of the day we became almost instant friends with this guy. When we finished, he ran into the clubhouse and said, "Man, you never gotta worry about this guy. He can flat-out pound. I've never seen someone shoot like that." Even I have to admit that I probably shot a little better than normal that day. I was in the zone and couldn't miss. I only shot a few 8s on a 40-target course. Moral of the story: Don't ever accuse anyone of something because they win. That's when I built my reputation and it has held strong since that day. Why do I talk about this?

  In the early '90s, I knew that Scott Tozier was the man to beat. I knew he would probably be at a few IBO qualifiers in or around Buffalo so I chose to drive out there to see if I could compete with him. Over the years, Scott and I became friends, teammates and IBO state directors after I convinced him to do it to see if we could somehow grow archery and give back. After all, we had taken so much over the years and seen a lot of success on our journeys. We both know how hard it is to compete and win at the national level. A lot of our success is directly related to the IBO events that have been held in our region. These shoots made us better, and we attended as many of them as we could. We supported the events and still do because they allow us to improve our craft and have an honest chance at winning on the big stage. Well, back to the reason for me driving out there. After getting to know Scott, I shot in peer groups with him and in team events. I've never shot with a more honest person. He's a stand-up guy. That's why I talked him into helping out in the western part of NY with the IBO. I figured I would help out in New England and eastern New York, where I had always spent the most of my time.

  Then, last year Scott called me to tell me about something that he and the other IBO Northeast members wanted to do. He knew of a couple of people who went through some horrible things and asked if I would be willing to donate a minimum of $20 out of my pocket to help these people. Unlike many people, I don't have very much money jingling around in my pocket, especially for people whom I don't know a thing about. But since Scott and the other IBO guys told me these people were good people and we needed to help them because they had so faithfully supported our organization, I didn't hesitate. I donated as much money as I could and signed the card, still not knowing the people. I'm glad I did that because it made me feel good to know that I was donating to another archer or two and their cause.

  Scott has always been a guy who says very few words, and many people take that as him being arrogant. That arrogant thought couldn't be further from the truth. He's one of the most humble people I've ever met in archery, and he busts his ass to get better. Just like me, he doesn't always have the best of days. We have suffered through ups and downs throughout our archery careers, but we keep coming back for more because we love the game.............and the people. I try to use my past experience to help others learn and grow. I know my best days are behind me, but I hope to help others in their pursuit of excellence because I've been there and done that at one time.

  I know that was an earful, but it brings me to a few things that have bothered me over the last few years after volunteering to be a NY State IBO Director. I've always been vocal about things I liked and disliked after shooting in archery tournaments, including locations, target settings, people involved, and types of targets among many other things.

  In the last few years there seems to be a lot of drama in the archery arena in New York and New England. In some of these areas, we have gone from having nothing to having well-run events that are organized and run like national events. Groups are finally being busted, officials are walking the courses, scores are being posted, and there are some cool things to shoot for, including a lot of money in some classes at the end of the year. Knowing groups are busted makes it easy on my conscience about the money, because any time money is involved there can be a number of problems.

People don't realize that all of us involved are volunteers. We took responsibility to grow archery and give you, the shooters, a chance to participate at clubs you have never shot at so that you would get to experience different looks in different places. We hoped that this would help the shooters of the region to win at the national level. If we could do this and make our region look unbeatable, it would grow the participation and help everyone involved, from clubs to shooters to the IBO to coaches. If we succeeded and got big numbers, we might even have a chance to host a national event.

  Looking from afar, this has definitely happened. Many shooters across New York and New England have gone on to win and podium at the national events since the series in both regions have been formed. Success doesn't lie. Without even having to think about it, I can tell you a minimum of eight shooters between these two series that have won a national IBO event in the last four years. Although there may have been many others in the past, I can only think of two others besides myself and Scott Tozier who won before these series started. Much of my success came from buying my own targets. I own 60 of my own targets, and I'm glad I have them because when the bickering started and people started going in their own directions and doing their own things instead of supporting all archery events, the events eventually stopped. While I had targets, not many others did. I was able to continue practicing like nothing had ever stopped, but most others had no quality shoots left to attend.  In that time period, I competed in many national, state and regional ASA events, probably most people don't even know that there used to be state and regional ASA events. I've participated in almost every organization there is in archery, including ASA, IBO, NFAA, FITA, Cabela's, and NETAA. Most of you probably have never even heard of NETAA or Cabela's. It didn't take long for these organizations to lose steam over time.

  Finally, the ASA is beginning to revive itself, but people always seem to forget that ASA is a business. It's a business which exists to make money. I like shooting in ASA national tournaments. They are a lot of fun, but ASAs are hard to attend for northern people because of where they are held.  That's why I support the IBO in my region. They hold a lot of events that I can attend and benefit from. That is also why I volunteer my time and efforts. I want to build something that all of us can enjoy for years to come. Yes, I was that guy, the guy who came off the course and bitched and moaned about things. I was the guy who bitched because I wanted things done differently. Instead of turning away and doing something else, I decided to see about volunteering. Maybe all of my experience could be used to help the shooters, because I am a shooter first and foremost. That my friends is why I am involved in the organization. I am one of you. I do this for you. That is the main reason why most of the others are involved, too. Unfortunately, many people don't realize that fact.

  I've been friends with Scott Tozier, Rick Baker, Joe Santos, Jim Gagnon, Mike Matala, Ike Loretta, Jim Burdic, Jeff Bordwell, Mike Price, Jeff Wagoner, Wade Chandler, Bill Romanchick, Dana Harding, Gary Neal, Mark Myers, Bob Rowe, and many others since the beginning, way back when our indoor state shoot was big and held in downtown Rochester and when the IBO Northeast Triple Crown drew an average of 800 people per event. I also have been good friends with Pete Lucas for many years. For people who don't know Pete, he took it upon himself to form a new IBO and ASA series after the former NE Triple Crown faded away. He did a fantastic job with it, but it got to the point where he couldn't continue doing it. The drama took hold, and he couldn't escape it. People began giving him a hard time and taking all the fun out of it for him. He truly cared about the region's archers, just like all of our current volunteers, even if many of you don't believe it because of personal issues you might have with the people. There have been many people whom I haven't liked along the way, but I don't let my personal issues with someone prohibit me from enjoying the game I love, especially if the person is giving me an opportunity to participate in good tournaments.

  I guess I'm telling all of you out there who seem to have issues with the IBO Northeast that I'm trying my best to work for you and help with issues you might have. I work with these other reps, and together, we try to find ways to improve. We definitely don't always do things the right way. We all have full-time jobs in which we spend a lot of time doing things that help us make a living. We also dedicate much of our spare time to  create things that people might like. I won't lie and pretend I like the way everything is run right now, but I will tell you that I can't help any of you if you don't support me and help me. We are a team, we are not divided factions. If you have personal issues with someone, including me, feel free to tell me, I feel like I'm fairly diplomatic, and I'm a good listener. I will listen to you and do my best to get your word out there to be considered. I have been working with other volunteers to improve what we have right now and maybe make things a little bit different. I know that many of you don't understand why things are done the way they are done right now. I can assure you that it's a lot easier to work with someone who is willing to listen rather than someone who becomes hostile. If you have to find one rep whom you feel you can communicate easily with. If you don't like one of them, then please call one of the others or email him or her. We will never like everyone. People have different personalities, and some personalities just clash. Find a volunteer who thinks like you do. Let that one volunteer be your voice. Negativity breeds negativity, and it makes it extremely difficult to deal with people when they're being combative and not listening. Words can be turned into anything we want then to say or mean. Instead of turning this and that into what we can use as ammo, why don't we all meet in the middle. I have many archery friends who can't stand each other. It doesn't mean I will stop liking one of you because you two don't like each other. Most of your know that I don't get involved in the drama. I do my own thing. I'm friends with you for a reason. I could care less if you have an issue with one of my best friends because the issue does't affect me; it's between you and that other person, but don't let the issue affect your participation.

  I know this has been long and drawn out, but I volunteered to be an IBO rep to grow archery and create a family-type atmosphere.............an archery family. We will never like everyone, and we shouldn't have to like people, but sometimes liking people and respecting them for what they're trying to do, even if it differs from our opinion, is really important. When these people are gone, we will be left with the same thing we had before.............dwindling participation with all of the same people. Let's all swallow our pride and meet in the middle. We should support everything archery in our region. If we have time to attend an event, we should try to get there. We should encourage others to participate, too. If we don't like something for whatever reason, should we try to convince others not to like it? No, we probably shouldn't. I want to compete agains the best of the best in my region, and that right there is why I want people to think hard about what they choose to do in the future. I challenge everyone to bring a fried to an event. If you want to shoot unmarked yardage, go shoot it. If you want to shoot target archery, go shoot it. If you want to shoot field archery, go do it. If you want to shoot marked yardage, go do it. Encourage everyone around you to support the organizations in your region.......all of them. Enough of the childish bickering, name calling, harassing messages, and animosity. I also challenge anyone out there who is reading this to call me or email me with your thoughts and make your response diplomatic and even. I can work with you if you're willing to listen to me, and I want your voice to be heard and know it has been heard. I don't want to argue with anyone. I simply want to have an adult conversation in which we work together and understand where each other is coming from.

ENJOY ARCHERY...............I'M NOT SURE ABOUT MOST OTHERS, BUT I DO IT BECAUSE I LOVE IT AND I SUPPORT ALL OF IT.

An Archer's Journey: Things You Can Control.........and things you can't

  This week was filled with a few different feelings. Due to work, personal issues and a doctor's appointment, I wasn't able to do much shooting at the beginning of the week, and that was okay because I had way more elbow pain than normal. Throughout the week, I began thinking a lot about last year and the success I encountered throughout the year...........and past years. 

  Although I've been trying to pin my lack of being near the top of blue-stake scores this year on my form changes, I really don't think that's my case for the drop in my scores. Although my judging hasn't been up to par as compared to past years, it hasn't been far enough off to catapult me to the area I've recently found myself in. That's the reason I started evaluating a few things and began doing some soul searching. In my searching, I realized that I haven't been shooting the same front bar that I've shot for the past four years. So I decided to change bars this week. I went from a 27' bar with one ounce on the front of it to a 22' bar with four ounces on the front of it. Amazingly, when I put that bar on the bow, I felt like it didn't move, and my groups at 40 and 50 yards told me the same thing. My movement slowed down, and the new (old) setup allowed me to over-aim and still find the middle.

  I've also never had a problem with losing my peep sight during my shot. I've found myself losing it a few times this year but not often. I'm unsure if it's because I now anchor on the front of my nose versus the side of my nose or if it's because I'm shooting the smallest peep I've shot outdoors since I was 21 years old. Last year I also shot a 4x lens in a a small CBE housing that has vents in the top of it. I saw the target clearly last year and could almost see arrow holes. This year, I've been shooting my old Classic Scope with a Zeiss lens, but that setup is about 18 years old. Since I'm not one for changing a lot of things at once, I decided to go with just the stabilizer for this week and gradually slide into the other things over the next few weeks. Ultimately, I would like to be ready for the couple of marked yardage shoots that are coming up in the next few months. Since I have the best partner for that, I definitely don't want to let my partner down, and I want to pull my own weight. 

  I haven't shot in a 3D league in about 18 years, but I decided to sign up for one this year. I did it because I like all of the changes that I've seen in the archery area at my local fish and game club. I see archery turning a corner and everyone involved wants to improve the archers and the archery facility. Since we will be using Rinehart targets, I figured this was a no brainer. They also voted to let people shoot marked or unmarked. I think this is a great idea. I may shoot marked some weeks to test my aiming and just judge the targets before shooting. I may shoot unmarked on other weeks just to keep things in perspective. I'll take it as it goes. 

  Wednesday night was the first night. I got off to a slow start, which seems to be my main problem this year, but received and finished off nicely. I shot everything unmarked, and there were some really good shots. I shot three 8s out of the gate and ended up with five for the evening, with one coming from a really bad shot. I shot five 11s and ended at 5 down for 15 targets. I felt pretty good about it. I realized that I shoot well when I can see exactly where my pin is on the target. I've never had a problem picking where I want to hit until this year. I'm not sure if it's my aging eyes or the other things I mentioned above. I'll keep plugging to figure it out. 

  On Friday night, I headed to my dad's to shoot. Although I was there with Doug on Thursday night, I didn't shoot. My arm was too sore so I decided to walk with Doug while he shot. I did some range finding while he was shooting. My numbers weren't as good as normal, but they weren't too terribly far off. Since I've been working on my shot, I have let my yardage guessing practice suffer. I really need to get back on that horse, especially since I haven't been shooting as well this year.  Well, I shot 16 targets on Friday and only shot two eights. I definitely felt ready for the weekend. My confidence was really high.

  Fast forward to Saturday morning. Unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep on Friday night, and my blood sugar was bouncing around a bit on our way to the Vermont State Championship. Dealing with my sore elbow, I didn't take many practice shots before heading out on the course. I got out of the gate really well. When the gate dropped my horse charged to the front, and I felt like I could keep the lead all the way around the track. My confidence from the night before at Dad's house was on my back. I executed a great shot on number one and watched my arrow land squarely in the 11-ring on a spike buck . After a few 10s and another 11, I felt really good about the start to my day. Hearing a crack of thunder and looking into the sky, there was no doubt we were going to get soaked............quickly..........then, the heavens let loose, and my day turned from great to not so great. At points the rain came down so hard that it made it hard to see the targets. We plugged along and tried to make the best of it, but I paid the price. During the deluge, I shot two fives and two eights, yup 14 points in a matter of a few minutes. I won't bore you with the rest of the details, but I dropped 17 points for the day, and 14 of them came in some of the heaviest rain I've ever shot in. I guess when  you're confronted with those types of things, you can't control it, so you might just as well make the best of it and see what happens. Overall, my day in Vermont was pretty good, even it it didn't show up on the scorecard. As the title states on this entry, sometimes you can't control what happens around you. I was satisfied with my day, even though I was highly disappointed with the outcome. I'm sure there weren't many people who got caught in the two massive downpours, so that won't show up on many scores seen in the final results. Here's my card for the day. The course was definitely not too difficult by average standards.

  That brings us to Sunday morning. Once again, I didn't get much sleep on Saturday night, and I was back on the road at 5:30. When I arrived at Deerslayers in central NY, I knew I would have my hands full. They are always known for setting one of the best courses in NY that a 3D shooter could ask for, and the course lived up to the hype. The best part of this day was that I got to shoot with some phenomenal shooters. There were five shooters in my group, three of them having just finished the top 5 of their classes at the first leg of the IBO National Triple Crown, and a total of 9 IBO World Championships have been won between the five guys in the group. The guys consisted of John Layaou, Jacob Slusarz, Scott Tozier and Sean Roberts. What a group! I figured this would test me and give me a good chance to feel as if I was shooting in a peer group like the old days.

  I got off to a rocky start and once again had problems seeing the spots that I was trying to hit. I have now identified that my biggest problems this year originate when I can't see a defined place to aim at. If the target is light in color or has a marker on it somewhere, I can usually pound it and make good shots. Through the first 10 targets, I made a lot of great shots and let down one time. My shots were going off really well, but my yardage was a little off. When we rolled off the first 10, I was really happy about my shots, but extremely sour about the result. I was getting my ass throttled, but it didn't feel that bad because I knew my shooting was good. 

  As the day continued, I felt really good about everything. Unfortunately, my blood sugar was staying low and wouldn't come up no matter what I tried. It finally caught up to me shortly after shooting a good shot on a spike buck. If anyone out there isn't familiar with Type 1 diabetes, it is a silent disease that many people don't understand. When you look at a diabetic, the person looks as normal as the next person, but the diabetic lives a battle every minute of every day. When I got to the black panther after the spike buck, the low blood sugar hit me like a rock. I came to full draw and could see two targets instead of one. Then I tried to execute a shot and found it merely impossible to do so. My body felt like jello, and my vision was completely shot, on top of not being able to hold the bow at all. I knew I should have taken a half-hour timeout, but I tried to push through it. I paid the price over the next couple of targets but did the best I could. Unfortunately, it cost me a few 8s, but that's the way it goes. I never want an illness to be an excuse for anything, and I will never use it as one. Even though my blood sugar was in the mid to low 50s, I feel like I still should have been able to make a good shot. I guess that's what being bullheaded does to me. Afterward, my father told me that he told the people with him what was going on. He has seen it enough times to easily identify the problem, so has my buddy Don Doherty. I guess that's why it's really important to have understanding friends and family, and I'm thankful for these people, especially for my group today for being so helpful and supportive.

  When the day came to and end, I was really satisfied, but at the same time, I couldn't believe how soundly I got beaten. Looking back on it, I can only remember a few shots I really struggled with, and they were the shots around the time when I was having issues with my blood sugar. Besides those shots, the ones I missed were a few bad numbers and some targets that I could't find a solid aiming point. Since I shot with great shooters and people who I trust to tell me when things don't look well, I asked for their opinions. All of them told me my shot looked good throughout the day. Unless they were trying to pad my ego, all of them thought my score was much higher than where it ended up. I trust these guys and feel that they have confidence in my journey. Today was a confidence builder for me, even though the score didn't follow. I gained a lot today, and I know it will benefit me in the future. Today made me feel like I'm close to being able to compete again. 

  I think I need to start experimenting with arrows. My arrow selection today cost me a lot of points, and they just aren't forgiving for anything near the line. Out of the 30 arrows today, I had great line on  25 of them, line that wasn't off more than an inch or two. The same thing happened yesterday. Hopefully, I find the time to experiment with different things this week.  Here's my group for the day. These guys lit it up. I have to thank them for giving me hope today that I can get back to being able to compete with them before the end of the year. It's always nice to shoot with Sean because he puts it in black and white. He thinks a lot of it is related to my vision..................and they all dig my 30-year-old equipment and think that might be some of it, but what do they know. :-) Here's my card for the day, and here's my group. 

  This entry wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention my father's performance today. He has a tendency to lose focus and not follow through, unless he is shooting an outdoor 900 round. Today, he remained focused and shot a great score for a 72-year-old guy. In my eyes, this is some phenomenal shooting. Congratulations Dad on a great day. We changed his draw length by about an inch and a half last week and made an arrow change. It appears that he got it together today. I'm hoping the success will continue in the coming weeks. Here's his card for the day. 

Archer Profile of the Week goes to (T)Ed Kay

   If you talked to Ted, you would never know about his accomplishments in archery. Ted always talks other people up and never gives himself any credit. I've learned one thing in my time in archery, and my time in this game corresponds with Ted's time. We have both been attending the same events for the better part of the last 25 years. If you stay in the game that long, you have either won some cool things, or you love archery..................or both. Ted has the both part of this equation wrapped up. 

  If we look at people's careers in the Joes instead of Pros portion, we sometimes overlook some things that need to be mentioned. Although I may be wrong on this, I'm pretty sure that Ted once found himself in the same place I found myself in many years ago. Going into the last leg of the National Triple Crown, I had a commanding lead, a lead that seemed insurmountable. Well, on that Thursday before the last leg, I sat in a courtroom and heard the judge's voice telling me that I had lost basically everything had worked for in my life. The never-ending court battle continued as my divorce neared its end. After listening to the judge, I hopped in the truck with my dad and headed west for the third leg. I always found peace in archery, so I hoped for the best. When the dust settled, I went from having a commanding lead to finding myself well down in the back. I had bombed the third leg. Most people didn't know the situation I had just encountered two days earlier. Deep down, I knew that might be my last chance to finish the job, after all, you don't get many of those chances in a lifetime on the Joes or Pros level. The chances are fleeting, and you must take advantage. I'm not sure what happened to Ted on that last leg because it's something that many people never talk about, but I can say that I know how it tastes, and as awful as it sounds, it feels like pulling yourself up to the dinner table and taking a big bite of a shit sandwich. It sucks. That's why I respect Ted so much. He never makes excuses. He shoots archery because he loves archery. He puts the miles on because he enjoys the challenge. Like me, Ted wants to get the job done when that big buck or big elk walks past him. He has mastered the game. 

  This weekend Ted brought out some of that old magic and shot some incredible scores in Vermont and New York, winning the NY shoot. I'm not sure if he won the Vermont shoot, but I'd say he probably came damn close if he didn't. 

  I like Ted so much, too, because he reminds me of me and my dad. He travels with his wife, Sara, and they enjoy the time together. They also bring their daughter, Kathryn, and everything is done as a family. They share that same family bond that my father and I share. Ted and Sara are always interested in others' well-being, and they cheer others on while not talking about themselves and their accomplishments. It's always a pleasure to be around them, and I enjoy watching them succeed while they're on the archery range or in the woods. 

  Keep plowing forward, Ted, and stay the course. It's a marathon not a sprint. You had a phenomenal weekend and it was great to see, even if I had to spend the day with our angry buddy who is as angry as me. ;-)

Until next week -------------------------> shoot them in the middle and never give up.

An Archer's Journey: One foot in front of the other

When many of my friends across the region and country headed to the first leg of the IBO National Triple Crown last Thursday, it made me think of the many miles I once traveled on that same path. Heck, I even traveled down it a time or two in the last few years.

  Unlike many people, I very rarely go to a tournament just to go to it. I won't attend unless I think I can win, and winning is hard no matter what tournament you're shooting in, but the odds go against you when you're on the big stage. You better have your game on point for those weekends and be ready for the event when it arrives. Although I considered going to the national triple crown this year, I decided against it once I got outside and started hitting a few 3-Ds around the region. I simply didn't feel like I had anything to gain by going to the event, and I had to be realistic about my chances of succeeding. The odds are not in my favor at this particular point in time, and I felt like I didn't have anything to gain by going to the event. I've had enough experience on the big stage over the years, that I always use that past experience to help me.

  Early today, I sifted through some of the results and saw that many of my friends shot really well at the tournament. I'm happy for them. Everyone has some ups and downs along the way, but you have to savor the good times. Unfortunately, some people don't see near as many good times as they do bad times. Those people seem to make it look easy, too. I've often thought if people looked at me in the past and thought the same thing. Did they think that I made it look easy when I was finding myself at the top of the pack every week, even at the national events? I'll probably never know that for sure, but I'm sure they probably did because when good shooters shoot well, they make shooting look extremely easy.

  So let's get to the winning part. When you look at the number of people who shoot in 3D tournaments or dot tournaments, there are very few winners. Even if you do win once in a while, you will lose way more often than you win. Today when I was shooting with my father and a few of my friends, my buddy Wade referred to a day in 1997 when we shot with Chuck Neese, the former owner of CSS bows, at the first leg of the national triple crown in Bedford, Indiana. Since I always do my research before going to events, I instantly knew who he was when his name was called at the tent. When he was assigned to the same group as me, I knew that I would know in a hurry how I stacked up against the best of the best, after all, he had won the national triple crown the year before.

  I was a little nervous at first but quickly found my place and began executing good shots. Since I hadn't been on the big stage too often at that point, I didn't have any expectations. I just went and shot my arrows. Well, at the end of the weekend, after shooting the last target, Chuck put his arm around my shoulder and said, "Son, you shot incredibly well this weekend. You're a great shooter, and you impressed me, but let me tell you something and remember this as you go along, `You never learn a damn thing on your best days. It's those days that you have to grind your way through a course that you will learn the most.' After the brief conversation, we walked in our own directions, and a few hours later, I was stoked. The scores were post and I tied for 4th place out of approximately 900 shooters. At that point, I knew that I could compete with the best 3D shooters in the country. It was my second national event in a row that I finished in the top 5.

Well, the moral of that story is that as time went on, I learned how to win. Many people never get over that hump. Instead, they get in their own heads and start getting in their own way, preventing themselves from winning. People start living in the future before they get to the finish line. They begin thinking about winning. That's why you might see random people in the winner's circle. These random winners haven't found the secret behind winning, and it's probably because they think about winning rather than finishing the job. The job is to shoot your last arrow like you shot your first arrow. Shoot it like it's no more important than any other one you've shot. Winners tend to mash the gas pedal to the floor while the other guys are tentative to put the hammer down. Instead, they worry about getting a speeding ticket before they even start speeding. Then, they get stuck behind the other vehicles in the construction area of the highway, and that is when they decide to speed up. The wheels instantly fall off the bus and all hell breaks loose while in the construction zone. They let all of the things going on around them overtake their minds and consume them. Things flew into overdrive and started happening to fast for them. They didn't sit back and let things happen around them. Instead, they tried to make things happen. As all of you go forward, try to enjoy the moment and just shoot your damn bow. Don't try so hard to win, let the win come to you. Don't be in a rush! If you feel like things are speeding up around you, pick a stick up on the ground and twirl it around in your hands. Roll that stick between your fingers and think of something totally unrelated to archery. You don't have to do this for very long, just long enough to get you conscious mind thinking about something else. This has worked wonders for me along the way. I call it my own personal recovery program. You might look like a goober if you're picking shit up off the ground and twirling it around between your fingers, but I'd rather look like an idiot than to be ticked off because I beat myself when I had a chance to win. Find a system that works for you and allows you to win, whether it's you're personal best score, a local shoot, a shoot with your friends, a state championship, a regional championship, or a world event. Winning is the same no matter where you do it. The amazing part about winning is that a few minutes, may even a day or two after it happens, you don't feel any different than you did before it happened. Once you realize that, the process will become easier to trust and follow. Don't try too hard to win. We are all winners if we capture what allows us to stand on the podium when it's our time.

  Okay, enough lecturing and on to this week's events. I tried to get rid of my right tear issue. I consulted with a lot of people and tried many things to correct it. I move the arrow to the top of the Berger hole and tried it there, hoping to fix the problem. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything to alleviate the issue. At this point, I've tried many things, but I finally did find a way to correct it. I can shoot bullet holes on every shot if I twist my wrist when I come to full draw and line the string up with the track on the cam. I can do the same thing if I apply a lot of them pressure agains the side of the riser. When I do either of these things, I get perfect bullet holes. I'm not a fan of having to change my form to get the bow to shoot straight arrows. I'll keep at it and continue trying different things. Through some of my consulting with others, I've come to learn that I'm not the only one having this issue with this bow. Although that made me feel better, it bothers me that many guys aren't having the issue. It seems to be a random thing.

  I basically took the week off from 3D shooting until today. I had too many things to do, and I thought I needed a break from 3D. On Wednesday I decided to shoot a FITA round at my house, which is shot at 50 meters (55 yards) on a FITA face that has a 10 ring about the size of the yellow on a Vegas target. Instead of shooting the full 12 ends, I decided to shoot one half of a round. A round consists of  6 arrows. When I finished half of the round, I had dropped 13 points. I felt really good about it. I didn't have any big misses, either. If I had shot a full round, I would have dropped int he neighborhood of 26-30 points. Of course, the conditions were ideal, and I was in my own backyard, but that target is challenging no matter where you shoot it. If you want to see how your shooting give that target a try. It will humble you in a hurry.

Today I shot a 3D course and got out of the gate slowly. I seem to be having that problem regularly this year. I need to address that and fix it in the near future. I keep having one course that kills a good day. I was late getting to the shoot, and I only took three warm-up shots. I changed my lens before going to the shoot this morning, and I struggled with that for the first 10 targets. After getting off that course with an 88, I saved face the rest of the day. It was a little damp, as we battled through some showers and darkness. The course was composed of all Rineharts and for a local shoot, it was the best shoot I've shot in as long as I can remember. The course basically had all new looks and lanes, and it was set just like an IBO tournament.  When the dust settled, I ended up with a 286, having shot a 98 and a 100 on the last two loops. My goal is to eliminate the bad courses that are eating me up. I think it's more my shot than anything, although today was tough to get going because I hadn't judged yardage all week or shot any 3D targets.

  I've been beginning to question my arrow choice. I may try some different arrows in the near future and see what happens. I'm not sure why I'm questioning my choice, but when you shoot one of the smallest arrows out there, there isn't much chance of catching any lines. I think a change might be good. I'll be making some arrows this week and giving them a whirl by next week. Stay tuned on that. Sometimes a little change will make a huge difference.

  I'm going to take a week off from doing a shooter profile because it's late and I don't have the time to give to that this week. Congratulations to all of my friends who went to the IBO national and did well. I wish I could have joined you. I did miss being there, but I need to up my game a little bit to feel comfortable heading on the road to tackle that challenge. We'll see what the upcoming month brings. I have tentative plans to attend the last leg in Pa., even if I'm not shooting well at that time. I just like to be around the guys and see people from across the country whom I don't normally get to see.

Here's my card from today. I guess this score seems to be a good score for me so far this year.  It's about my average. I've shot one even round this year, and that round was a 301. My low score this year is a 269. I believe my low score last year was a 286, which is where my betters scores have been landing this year. The scores I've been shooting this year are similar to the lower scores I shot last year. It's amazing how much things can change from one year to the next.

An Archer's Journey: Peaks and Valleys

  That picture has always been my motto. Unfortunately, this year, I've worked pretty hard and the only noise my arrows are making is a noise that is ringing in my ears and becoming more deafening by the day..........or so it seems on certain days.

If I look back on this week and be truthful, I could tell you that this week was probably my best week of shooting since making all of the changes to my form back in January. On Monday and Tuesday, I felt like the old Todd was back in action. If I were going to the ballpark for an evening game, I would have known that I was going to go yard those two nights. I was stroking and everything was in the zone. I couldn't miss. My bow held steadier than it has in a very long time, and my shots from 40 yards at a Vegas target couldn't seem to find their way out of the yellow and very rarely did they find their way out of the 10-ring. Although I wasn't overly surprised, I did gain confidence with every shot. 

 Somewhere along the way, I forgot how I shot my release. I started thinking about all of the things I needed to do to make the release fire rather than point the pin at the target and let it happen. When I started doing this, I couldn't believe how easy every shot felt. I wanted a tournament to show up on my schedule for the next day. I knew I would be at the top just by the way the release was firing. Those two nights felt better than any night I've had this year. I know I'm going to be turning the corner a lot sooner than I had anticipated a few weeks ago. 

  As the week progressed, I decided to work on some other bows that I haven't been shooting. I've told myself over and over not to work on a number of different bows at the same time, but for some reason I never listen to my advice. Instead, I start tearing stuff apart and try making all of the bows shoot on the same day. As of tonight, I'm going to listen to my advice. I currently have two bows that I would like to get ready for different things. I'm going to work on one at a time until I get each one where it needs to be. Since they are both close right now, I'll figure it out before moving on to the next one. After all, my main bow that I shoot the most is fine, and I have a tremendous amount of confidence in that bow no matter what I'm doing, including indoor target archery, outdoor target archery, 3-D archery, or hunting. That bow just fits me like a glove.

 Since I didn't learn my lesson about working on too many things at once, I planned to meet George Connors at his house on Saturday morning to work on bows. Chuck Weeden would join us later in the morning to set up his new bow. 

  I got to George's at about 9:30, and we got right to work. Since I've been having some right tears that I can't seem to get rid of with this particular bow, George offered his help to see if we could figure it out. Of course, I'm not going to turn down a guy whose knowledge I respect more than most others in the archery world. 

  Before we got into it, we shot the bow through paper and the dreaded right tear showed up. After shimming the cams and moving the rest a pinch, I think George expected the tear to disappear. Unfortunately, the same identical tear showed up after making all of the changes. Keep in mind that I think I've owned more than 50 bows, and I've never had one that I couldn't get to shoot good through paper, at least with an acceptable tear. I know that tears aren't everything, and I have had a few that I shot for a period of time that drove tacks than didn't tear the greatest. 

  After the same tear showed up, George gave it a try and shot a bullet hole.  Hmmmmm, yup, of course everyone out there right now is saying, "Dumbass, you're torquing the bow. Well, I've never had the issue with piles of other bows, so why suddenly does this bow not agree with my hand placement on the riser?

  After shooting the bullet hole, George told me to apply a lot of pressure to the knuckle of my thumb against the riser. Wow, I did that and it felt awkward and uncomfortable. What happened to shooting with a relaxed hand? It's kind of hard to relax my hand when I'm jamming the thumb knuckle against the side of the riser. I can hear all of the other people out there saying, "You probably have too much weight on your side rod, and that's causing the problem."

  Well, I don't share very much weight on my bows at all. I have 12 ounces on my side rod as compared to most people who shoot over 20 ounces on their rods. I'm shooting a 27' rod off the front with no end weight. It's an older Doinker that is already fairly heavy to begin with, since it has the suppression part of the stabilizer in near the bow. Furthermore, I took the side rod off and shot it without any weight on it at all. Guess what? The tear was still the same.

  So after I applied pressure to the grip, the tear was cut in half. Normally, I would say the tear is close to acceptable, but I'm not a big fan of having to put that much pressure on a bow riser to get it to shoot the arrow straight. After discussing the issue with Chuck and George, we decided to build up the underside of the grip with some electrical tape to see what that would do. It actually made it easier to apply the pressure to the grip, but the pressure was still needed to make the tear shorter. Oh, I also forgot to mention that I tried four different arrows, different arrow rests, different nocks and different tension blades..............all with the same result. No matter what kind of arrow or spine of arrow, the tear remained the same.

  Last night I put some Sugru on it, which is molded rubber that can be peeled off, and hoped it would make it easier to shoot an arrow a little bit straighter. The kicker about this entire experiment is that I was shooting consistently tight groups on a 5-spot target from 40 yards. I was basically stacking arrows, but the arrow was giving me a minimum of a 2-inch tear through paper, and the tear got even larger at about 7 yards, probably another inch...............talk about messing with the mind. 

 

So now my bow is still shooting a crappy hole in the paper, and I have to apply the side pressure with my thumb against the riser. Sound off, what would everyone try to do. The limbs have been shimmed, the cable guard has been moved, different arrows have been tried, different releases have been shot, and the reason it's stumping me the most is that I've been able to shoot bullet holes with all of the bows I've used in the past. Why now?

  I ended up leaving George's place around 4:30 on Saturday. Sunday I spent the entire day doing the Mother's Day thing, but I did get a chance to shoot a few arrows in the morning and a few in the evening. I should've taken the night off. When I was shooting well, I think I shot too much. My back and arms are still pretty sore. I need to stay away from my bow for a few days to let all of my muscles get a well-needed break. I won't lie and tell you I'm happy about the incidents that have transpired, but I will tell you that my main bow is shooting really well. It's funny how the draw length felt too long  tonight. I'm thinking it's probably just because my arms and back are shot, and it could even be because of my blood levels. They were a little off the last few days. Being a Type 1 diabetic that's an entirely different battle that I face every time I shoot my bow. I feel really confident going into the next few weeks. I'll get back at it in a few days after I rest my tired archery body. 

Here's the very last group I shot tonight from 40 yards. This photo displays the highs and lows of archery, especially this week. Although the beginning of my week was phenomenal, this sums up the last two days. 

This week's archery profile goes to my buddy Paul Morgan

  Paul and I have a long history. Many years ago in my immediate area, archery was huge. I remember one Sunday local shoot in which 320 people attended. Every weekend a shoot would have crowds like that, and Paul was at most of them. 

  Paul and I didn't really see eye to eye back in those early days, but that's what ignorance and youth can do to people. I know I've never been the easiest person to get along with, and I've always spoken my mind about certain things, sometimes when I might have been better off keeping my mouth shut. 

  I remember one day at Hudson Falls Fish and Game at a local shoot when Paul was shooting with one of his buddies named Joe, and I was never a big fan of Joe at the time. He always liked to stir the pot behind everyone's back and be one of the he said, she said kind of guys. Well, Paul and I got in a pretty good argument at target number one before going our own directions. 

  Many years passed without seeing each other, but when all of the NY State New England archery stuff started up again, Paul became a regular competitor at these events. He participated in our local leagues and traveled to all of the shoots. I guess you could say that both of us grew up a little over the years and we both see eye to eye now. We even roll our eyes at each other when people get bickering back and forth about local club stuff. We've been there and done that. 

  A few years ago, Paul got one of those coveted belt buckles at the IBO Massachusetts State Championship when he shot a great score on arguably one of the toughest state championship courses we have shot to date............no thanks to Jason VanHillo for setting it up. He always sets up memorable courses, and this course was surely one of them. It didn't beat Paul, though, because Paul kicked its ass. 

  Since that big win Paul has had some ups and downs but he remains in the hunt. This year has seen him hanging around at the top of the leader board at every shoot. He just needs a few breaks to go his way so he can land himself on the podium again. Paul has always been a strong supporter of Bowtech archery, and he serves Bowtech well. He always promotes the products and encourages people to try them. People in the Northeast should pay attention to this. He definitely does his part in product promotion. 

  Paul also does some fantastic contracting work. He did my parents a huge favor when they had a tree crash through their house last fall. Paul made quick work of the job and did really well with it. If you need some work done, Paul is the guy to ask. He does good work and his word is reliable. 

  Good luck the rest of the way this year, Paul. You can do it. Keep plugging. 

As for the rest of you --------------------------> keep practicing in silence. The lion only roars when he is protecting his pride. 

An Archer's Journey: Former Ego vs. Current Ego

This was me talking to my buddy Doug during and after the Connecticut State Championship.

 Well, this week has been filled with a mixture of emotions for me. I had all sorts of elbow pain in the beginning of the week, which I'm sure most of you are probably tired of me referring to it. Anyone who has had to deal with injuries that affect shooting get a better idea about the battle. It's hard when you love the sport so much that you don't want to stop, and it's even harder to be unable to put the proper time into it to work on the things you truly need to work on to fix them.

  That's why I decided to do a lot of range-finding this week. Since my shot is the worst it has been in many years, I know that my yardage judging is essential to shooting a remotely good score. I'm paying the price for bad shots, and the price is getting increasingly higher. It seems like the bad shots are costing me $100 now as compared to the dollar or two they used to cost me in the past. They seem to add up much quicker now, especially the last few weeks. I'll talk more about this in a bit.

 You might have to bear with me for this entry because it could get lengthy. A lot of things happened, and I think they are things I should share with you because I'm sure many of you battle the same things.

Where do I start? I'll start with the range-finding. This has always been one of my strong points. I'm good at it, and I'll argue with people when we both have drastically different numbers and hit in the same place. That's how sure I am of my yardage. Have you ever shot with that guy who is 4-5 yards different than you, and you both insist you're right? Yup, I have too!! But I will always argue with the person if I make a good shot. I practice this as much as I practice shooting, so I feel confident enough to know if I'm right or wrong by seeing where the arrow hits after a good shot. This year has made me even more confident about my estimations. I've been getting my ass kicked this year, but it's definitely not because of my yardage. In past years, I'd probably be in the hunt at every one of these regional shoots. However, when you deal with change, sometimes it takes a long time for the changes to show up on the score cared..................and you can't give up. I've shot in three shoots this year, and I've been lucky enough to shoot with Sean Roberts and Jacob Slusarz. Amazingly, both of these guys have the same numbers as me. This doesn't happen to often. The reason it happens among the three of us is that all three of us practice judging yardage and most likely our rangefinders read the same numbers. These guys are executing good shots 95% of the time or more. I need to do the same. Looking at the last few years, my shot execution was much better. I know this because I was shooting scores that were always at the top of all blue stake scores. Now, I've fallen of the mountain and seem to be picking up speed on the way down like a giant snowball that has become larger than the moon.

   So how do I practice yardage? People complain because it's so boring and it takes too long. You can make it take as long as you want to make it take. Some days I have more time than others, so I base my practice on the amount of time I have available on certain days. Just like shooting, when I have bad numbers that day out of the gate, I don't practice anymore that day.

  How do I do it? Well, I always try to find a starting point that I can automatically identify. I played baseball from the time I was five years old until I was 21 on  regular basis. I was lucky enough to spend most of my time playing third base, and I also found a way to get on base a lot while hitting. The distance between the bases is 90 feet, which is 30 yards.  Over the years, I got so used to seeing that distance that it became automatic for me. I can look at something and almost instantly tell if it's 30 yards. I also spend a lot of time shooting my bow from 40 yards and 50 yards. Seeing those two distances the most while practicing makes those distances almost automatic for me when I see them in the woods. That means I have three automatics for the most part. I know I won't usually be more than a yard or two off at those distances. I would advise you to go out one full practice session and just walk around practice starting number for yourself. If you shoot the yellow stake, try to make 20,25 or 30 automatic. If you can do 30, it eliminates a lot of room for error because you can instantly tell if it's over 30 or under 30. I range trees. Trees are my strong point. Jacob ranges things on the ground. We have two different ways of doing it, but we both have a system.

When I walk up to a target, I rough it in and roll my sight to a number near where I think my first glance tells me to go. So I walk up and say, "43 yards." After finding my 30 (the money number), I imagine how many steps it will take me to walk from that 30 yard marker to the target. I'm looking and I think it will take me 9 steps to get there, so now I have 39 yards. Then, my last visual is looking at the ground in front of me to find 10 yards (10 steps in front of me), then I imagine how many yards it is from that 10 yard marker. Looking at it I get 40 yards. Okay, now I have all three numbers 43,40, 39. I'm going to take the average, which is 41, and shoot it for that number.  I never try to make the numbers be equal. Sometimes I get drastically different numbers, like 50, 41, 43. Okay, so now I have a 9 yard difference and two of my guesses are almost exactly the same.  This is where I need to be careful, and I need to know my tendencies. I always just tunnel shots long and I judge black targets long. If this is a tunnel shot or a black target, I'm automatically subtracting a couple from the 50. If it's a deer, I'm going to go with the average, but lean a yard or two toward the lower number. Averages usually don't lie. If you're a .300 hitter in baseball, you hit safely 3 out of 10 times. These averages with yardage are very similar. Very rarely will your average be wrong. Find a system for yourself and give it a whirl. Change you system if you have a hard time judging yardage and see if you can find the perfect system for you. If you're shooting blue stakes, you need to identify 40 yards fairly easily because a lot of the game is played in that neighborhood. If you're shooting yellow stacks, then try your hardest to identify 30 yards immediately, because 30 is where your game starts. If you can eliminate everything under 30 or over 30, you only have to deal with about a five yard gap, then if you're still unsure you can cut the middle and shoot them for the number in the middle of that 5-yard gap, and more times than not, you will be in the 10-ring.

Here's my practice session for one night last week. On the far left is my guess, then the actual distance, then the difference.

  Okay, enough with the lessons of the day and on to the destruction of my archery ego. Most people who know me probably know that I don't have much of an ego. It's usually hard to tell if I lit the course up or if I totally bombed. I like to stay even in my mind and appearance. Don't show too much emotion either way. I also know how quickly you can go from becoming a great shooter to an average shooter. Shooting is difficult. The great guys make it look easy, however, Joes seem to bust their ass at it and have a hard time being consistent. It's not that they work any less at it than the good guys, it's just that something is missing. I've always considered myself an above average shooter, and I have some notable hardware to prove it. On my best days, I'm pretty good, and on my sub-par days, I'm still usually better than most others. This year has been an eye-opening experience for me. Actually, it seems that I'm executing shots better than ever this years, but when I make a bad one, I pay the price in a big and bad way. Fortunately, I haven't made too many bad ones, but I'm making enough of them to quickly turn a good day into a well below average day compared to what I'm used to. 

  This is where former ego is battling new ego. They're sitting on both of my shoulders and meeting just about in the middle of my head between my ears. I know I'm better than what my score card is showing. This year, I'm trying to let the old ego go. The past is the past and it doesn't mean anything as compared to today. Whatever I did in the past doesn't mean squat today. I might have beaten up on the same people for the last 20 years, and now, they're kicking me while I'm down. This is the point when some good shooters have an attitude problem. I actually enjoy the struggle, but I won't lie and tell you it's not getting under my skin, because it is. I don't like shooting well below the guys I've always hung with, but I'm lucky because the vast majority of them are more than understanding and supportive. They encourage me to hang with it. In the end, I'll turn the corner, but it's hard to believe. 

Then, I'll run a stretch on a course and realize I still have game, so I know it's in there if I can eliminate the mistakes in my shot. 

  So how did this weekend go? I shot the IBO Connecticut State Championship then I shot the IBO in Richfield Springs, NY. So this weekend I had a lot of things to think about when I sat down to write this. Where do I start?

  I'll start right from the gate on Saturday morning when I began the CT shoot. I found myself easily distracted. Very rarely does something like that happen to me, but I just couldn't focus. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and I knew I was letting the wind affect my shot, even when it didn't have anything to do with it. Instead of just setting up and shooting, I let the sound of the wind in the trees take over and inundate my mind with distracting thoughts. As the day moved on, I found my mind further and further from where it needed to be. When I got to the 15th target, I walked ahead of the group and searched my mind. Looking into my release pouch, I said, "Fuck it, when you learned how to shoo the proper way almost 30 years ago, you always shot a hinge, and you shot it well. Pull that son of a gun out of there and shoot it." That's all it took. I decided to shoot it. I haven't shot a hinge in a tournament since 1995. Although I shoot them all the time at the range and occasionally in a league, I have always avoided them in tournaments. I figured with 15 left, I would see what I had. My first shot was a poke, and the arrow landed in the 11, one of the only 4 I shot on the day. Well, I committed to it the rest of the way. After getting off those last 15, I think I had shot two 8s and a zero.  The zero wasn't a bad shot, either. The zero came from when the arc of my arrow intercepted a low-hanging branch. Due to my height and the speed of my bow, the arrow barely clipped the bottom of the branch. Shit happens, it happens to all of us. When I got to the next target, I shot an 8 out the right, but the zero was still boiling a little under my skin, and it's evil head popped out like a zit on a teenager's face............it happens. Fortunately, I've always been a guy who can instantly get passed a bad scoring arrow and capitalize on it on the next shot. I let it bother me too much on Saturday and paid for it. I shot a 90 on the last 10 targets with a zero and and 8 on the last two targets. I was really happy about that, and on the last 15 targets, I only shot one other 8. The hinge worked. I should stick with it, but it still makes me a little apprehensive when I'm shooting it.

So to make a long story short, my former ego battled my new ego all the way home from the shoot. I ended with a 269, but I knew I shot way better than the score. I paid the price for not being able to concentrate and letting outside interferences into my mind. I know I need to pay attention to that out of the gate if I notice it happening in the future. 

That brings us to today at the Richfield Springs IBO in NY. This course was really challenging and had a little bit of everything in it. It challenged me with close shots, long shots, steep uphill shots, some nice downhills shots, some field shots, and some shots in open hardwoods. This shoot had it all. It might have been a hair easier than the Connecticut shoot, but not a whole lot. Once again, I was able to shoot with Jacob. Brian Purdy was also in my group and John Layou. I knew there was going to be a good arrow in the target every time I shot today. 

  I started off really well. I got a few 8s on some pretty tough uphill shots, but I held my own and felt good about it. I started with my hinge and made some great shots. Then, I got to a place on the course where I was a little concerned with where I was standing in relation to a group in front of me. I let it get in my mind and thought about that the entire time I was trying to execute. I overhead the shot, my had got tense and I bobbed when I should've weaved, and the shot broke. I shot a 5 on a target I had no business shooting a 5 on. It didn't make me angry because I knew why I did it. I cleaned it up after that and had a pretty good run of 10s until another bad shot crept up and got me. Before the day finished, I let the wind in a few field shots mess with my head again, which caused two bad shots. The wind probably wouldn't have bothered me at all, but I allowed it to mess me up, something I've never done in the past. I'm a great wind shooter, and I know I shoot well in the wind. I'm not sure where this new wind demon cam from and how he found his way into my head. I'll surely kick him out next time he tries to sit on my shoulder and whisper into my ear. He's leaving. I'm sending him home. 

  

So how do I sum up the weekend? Yup, I'm pissed off because I'm getting spanked all over the map. But the plus side to this is that unless my peers are bullshitting me, they have all said my shot looks good. Jacob says I should stick with the hinge. I think I have to agree. Of anyone, he has seen my the most on a 3D course of anyone over the past few years. Unfortunately, many people think 18 year olds don't know enough to tell them what to do. I trust his feedback. When we shoot with people a lot we get to know the way they operate. I seen a weeee-tiny bit of tentativeness in Jacob's shot this year as compared to last year. That's the only reason he hasn't gone on a tear yet. Once he gets a little more experience from this stake, I'm pretty sure he'll pick up where he ended on the red stake last year. He was much more aggressive today, and it showed on the score card when he there down a 311 I think. Every shoot, he gets closer and closer. I hope he steadily improves as the year goes on and does well at the nationals. Here's my card for today's shoot. I feel that I'm close. I made 5 really bad shots today, and I paid for all of them. The amazing part is that the two fives were from when I hung up on shots and I shot both of them while using my button. Here's the damage. If I had executed good shots on those, I would have ended with 306 because I had the yardage on all of them according to the comparison that Jacob and I did. Here's my card in the second picture, and Jacob next to Mark Myers' sign in the first picture All I can say is  that I saw a few of the guys who Mark works with shoot pretty damn awesome today and yesterday. A shout out to Chuck Weeden, Jacob Slusarz, John Layou, Gary Jones, and Mark Smith. They were all really happy with their shooting, and all of them say Mark has helped them to up their games. Thanks Mark for supporting the IBO Northeast, and I'm glad your shooters are doing well. If you take a look at my card, I shot my high 11 count for the year. Although the course was a tad shorter than most others, it wasn't much easier due to the tricky numbers. If I can shoot close to the same number of 11s as Jacob, especially using one of the thinnest diameter arrows as possible, I feel like I had a successful day.

 This week's shooter profile goes to Bill Romanchick

  I'm not even sure when Bill and I met, but I'll bet it was sometime in the early '90s. I've liked Bill since the first day I ever met him. He has a great personality, and I enjoy his fire. Recently, he has talked about hanging it up. Since he's one of the few guys left from my early days, I hope he never does that. I always look forward to seeing him and watching his success. Right from the beginning days, Bill has always been in the hunt. I've been able to see him grow as an archer, and I know the New England IBO shoots have helped him over the last four years. In the old days, Bill's mental game is the only thing that held him back, but as he's gotten older his mental game has improved. Now, when he goes to the IBO World, everyone knows they have to beat this guy to stand a chance at making the cut because he's probably going to have one of the top 5 scores it takes to make the cut. I think Bill is one of the few people who has improved with age, and his mental game is much stronger than it used to be. I think it's great that Wade Chandler has just gotten back into shooting because he had Wade used to battle it out in the old days. I shot with Wade on Saturday, and he was shooting really well until near the end. I hope they both get back to being neck and neck so we can watch some battles in the near future. Both of these guys were big players back in the day.

  I've always considered Bill a good friend. My dad and I have always loved picking on him. He opens himself up to the abuse, but he can dish it out, too. We've had many nicknames for him, including Back Brace Bill, The Mayor of Middleburgh, and Billy Bravo. I like all of them, but the Mayor of Middleburgh is probably the one that sticks. 

  Dad and I were lucky enough to shoot with Bill quite a bit in the '90s, and we had some great times. We shot together at the Nashua, NH, leg of the IBO Northeast Triple Crown one year, and Bill and I both ended up right at the top. Then, we shot together at Merrimack, NH, in the Northeast Triple crown. Although Bill never made many bad shots, I can remember a head-on strutting turkey that we shot straight down the hill on the bank of the Merrimac River, and I smoked it for a 10. Bill hit it in the waddles and said, "How the F**K did you get him?" It was quite a shot. I probably couldn't do it again if I had to. For some reason, I just remember that. He has always had the ability to make me laugh.

  Now, all these years later, it seems like Bill is unbeatable, and I'm really happy about his success. I like to see the old guys still at the top. It makes me realize that I was able to shoot with some phenomenal shooters back in the day, and I have all of them to thank for all of my success. These guys pushed me to be better and made me want to me better. They all rooted for me, and I rooted for them. All of us liked to win, but none of us wished anything against the others. We wanted to beat the other people on their best days. It made all of us better.  If Bill had ever competed in all of the national events back in the day, he would have always been in the hunt. The modern time just shows that. Unfortunately, he very rarely traveled to the big ones, but now he's a force to be reckoned with at the IBO World. I hope he brings home a belt buckle this year when it returns to Snowshoe, WV, where we all shot together as Semi-pros. Bill, thanks for being a great friend and pushing me to be the best I could be. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Keep plugging, buddy.

Until next week...................keep plugging. That's what I'm going. I feel like I'm never going to get back to the top of the mountain, but it won't be for a lack of trying. If I can conquer the obstacles I've conquered along the way to be somewhat competitive, I know all of you other Joes can if you put the work in. -------------------------------> til next week..........have fun. I apologize for all of the typos, but I'm not rereading this tonight.