Well, this sums up my day. When a Joe finds himself in a group of the world's best pros, including Braden Gellenthien, Tanja Jensen and Jacob Slusarz, he has to do what he can to hang in there and make the best of his day, even if he knows he is slightly outclassed. I figured if I could use redwood trees as arrows, I might be able to keep pace with the best of the best. Jacob encouraged me and built me up after every shot. He has a way of doing that, and that's one of his best qualities that not many people get to see. I must thank him for that. He has seen me shoot some phenomenal rounds over the last few years, but he has also seen me lay a few eggs along the way. Today felt more like an egg-laying day, but he told me I shot well.........looking back on it through this, I'm convinced he is somewhat right. It wasn't great, and it wasn't all that bad. I didn't make an ass out of myself in front of the world's best.
As I marched forward throughout the week, my confidence continued to grow. Since I will be shooting in my first senior games event next week, I decided that I needed to get a bow set up for the event. I let four twists out of my old reliable camouflage bow to get the jerky pin to settle down. After spending a lot of time in recent weeks behind my black E35, I realized that the camouflage bow was a tad short. After lengthening the draw length on it, I felt like I finally got that bow back to where it had to be to hold steady and execute good shots on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time with that bow this week and spent far too little time with the bow I've been shooting. I also messed around with my peep sizes to get a clearer picture through my scope. I increased the peep size until I got to the point where I lost clarity..............clarity with the pin and the target. There's a really fine line to walk to find the perfect place, and I'm still not sure if I'm at that place. This is going to require a little more testing over the coming weeks. I feel like I'm close. Today when we were shooting, I asked Braden if he could see the scoring lines, and he told me that he can see them when he has good lighting and the targets are in a certain area for yardages. I followed along and let that sink in for a minute. I began to wonder if it might be possible for me to find something that would allow me to see exactly where I was holding. I know that I can usually hit the targets that I can see clearly, whether it's a shot-out spot or an arrow in the spot. I'll have to figure out if my almost 50-year-old diabetic eyes have it in them or if I'm past my prime for being able to see stuff like that through my scope. All in all, I'm not sure if a scope really matters after watching Jacob today. He was regularly dropping 11s on 50-plus yard shots...............he wasn't doing it by mistake.........and he wasn't using a lens at all.
Well, back to the other bow I shot all week. I'm not sure if that may have affected my shooting today or if it might have been the physical activity the last few days that finally caught up to me. I mowed three lawns yesterday and found myself doing a few laps in the pool afterward. I clearly didn't shoot as well today as I did the last few weeks at the Trail Shoot, Guan Ho Ha and the Extreme Challenge.
Some Joes might have been intimidated when they heard their name called and realized they were in a group with the most decorated World Cup archer of all time, the only female archer to shoot a 900 in Vegas and the same archer who has found herself on the podium in almost every event she has shot in this year, and a guy who just won the second leg of the IBO Triple Crown in SPM, besting the field by 10 points and shooting near the top of the pro class. I figured I would just tag along, watch everyone shoot and hope I could make a few good shots of my own. Along the way I found myself fighting between less-than-average shots and perfect shots. There didn't seem to be any middle ground today. If it wasn't perfect, it felt like shit. I Also noticed that my perfect shots came on IBO yardage targets or really large targets that were in plenty of light. I executed my first perfect shot on the bedded elk, our second target, and smoked the 11 (which they counted as 12s at this shoot). My next shot was on a long bedded ram -- I think it was around 50 yards if I remember right. The pin sat in the middle and when the shot broke, I knew I had just smoked another 11............until I heard a few gasps and turned to see Jacob's dumbfounded face. I read his face as him saying, "What the heck just happened." Looking at my sight, I realized that I never moved it from the previous target. Jacob stepped to the stake and bailed me out, smoking the 11. I can't complain because I made a great shot.
The next target was a black panther at around 40 yards if my memory serves me right. Unfortunately, I had to lead it off and it looked like a black blob. Although, I knew the general area I needed to be in, I wasn't positive. I broke another great shot and heard Braden say that it was just out left. I knew that it would be great marker for Jacob, and Jacob donutted the 11. Although I didn't 11 it, my lead on it turned out to be a perfect aiming dot to use.
Although we both missed the turkey that was directly below the stand, neither one of us missed it my much. Out of the four people in our group, nobody missed the 11 by more than an inch, with Jacob being the closest, maybe a fingernail width out of it.
The next few shots I struggled a little with the pin. Once again, although I thought I had it fixed, I couldn't see the pin. The pin washed out on a long black bear. Fortunately, it was the only one of the day that the pin completely washed out, so I guess my changes may have worked for the best. After talking to Jacob about the problem, we decided I may need to try a red pin to take care of the problem. I'll look into that in the coming weeks. For some reason the green pin washes out when I shoot out of the dark in to the bright sunlight.
Over the next couple of shots, I grinded along. Although none of the shots were great, they also weren't all that bad. They hung 10s, even if the 10s were ugly. By the time we got to the moose, I found my shot again and smoked the moose. My luck continued from there as we made our way to hogzilla, and I found the 11-ring once again. Shortly after that I had a premie on the cinnamon bear, and my heart skipped a beat, but the arrow found it's way to a safe spot between the 11 and the top of the 10. The shot fired when I laid my finger on the trigger. I must've put a little too much pressure on the trigger and it fired. As we moved on, I started feeling better, but then again, these targets were in my wheelhouse. I executed a perfect shot on a white ram, and Jacob slapped me a high 5. I was finding my groove. When we got to the target, I had just missed it to the right, barely out, but my partner got it. It was on of those targets that you get fooled on when you get to it. We both thought I had got it but that Jacob had finally missed one. It turned out the other way, and we were both happy as hell. That's what being good teammates is all about.
I had to lead off the next target, which was a razorback boar. I think it was about 43 yards. I had to lead it off and could see a shot-out spot on it. My shot broke perfectly and hit the spot. Jacob was stoked that I got it. Unfortunately, he got a little lazy on that one because he knew that I had gotten it. When we got to the target he was just under it, and I hit a hair tiny bit to the left of it, less than 1/4 of and inch. That's the breaks with the 3D archery. Jacob was mad at himself after that one, and we figured we better get back on track.
The next target was a red stag and I got the bottom of it, and Jacob followed me my hitting just above my arrow. As we moved on to the next one, we caught up to the group in front of us and enjoyed a little friendly bantering. I led off the wolverine and smoked it...............Jacob once again followed with an 11........my teammate and good friend is just unbelievable.
When we drew our bows on the next target, a bedded doe, we couldn't see it at all. I found the hoof in my scope and started pulling. I was happy to hear the group say I got a 10 when it fired. We got off the target with a 10 between us and figured that was a good deal.
The next target was a short coyote, and I have to share a lesson with you. Not thinking, I put the pin on the black spot above the 11 and figured it would hit the top of it. When the release fired, I knew I had it. When I stepped back and looked at it, I saw that I had missed it by a fingernail out the top. I hit the bottom of the black dot...............why did I aim at it? That was a mental mistake that could have gotten us if Jacob didn't bail me out.
If I have a good memory, our next shot was a mountain lion. I could see it really well and broke a great shot. It landed squarely in the top of the 11. Braden said it was top of the 10, and Jacob said it was the top of the 11. I couldn't really tell where it was, but when the shot broke, I was in the middle.
When we got to the target, I was in the top of the 12, and Jacob was in the bottom of it..............we were both rolling, and it felt really good.
When we got to the top of the hill, I had to lead off a long Big 10. I was having a hard time finding a place to aim and hit it just outside the 10 on the right side and high. Jacob shot next and center punched it. Braden and Tanja followed me, and the three of us had a dime-sized group just outside of the 10-ring. I'm not sure why we all hit in the same exact spot.
The next shot was an IBO length antelope, and I barely missed the 11 to the left. We actually thought I had it from the stake and to be honest I may have gotten it but I can't remember because I'm positive Jacob got it. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure that we both got that one. That brought us to a long white goat, my nemesis. I finally solved that problem and pinned him. I made a great shot and the arrow hit directly behind the pin. That was definitely one of my better shots.
Over the course of the final handful of targets, I kept doing my thing. My blood sugar began to drop and a few things went a little squarely, but I was able to get off the course without any major disasters. When we finished, I realized my blood had fallen way too quickly and my memory of the last three shots was minimal at best. That's always makes it a challenge. My sensor showed that everything was okay, but the sensor is always about 10 minutes behind the actual glucose level.
Looking back on the day, I thought that I didn't shoot well, but I guess I have to put it in perspective. I never left the 8 ring, and I didn't have any horrendous shots. I missed a few that drifted right, I forgot to set my sight once (first time ever), had a hard time seeing my pin on occasion, but in the end, I actually shot okay. Looking at Jacob, Tanja and Braden's performances could make one think that he stunk the joint up. I won't lie and tell you I didn't feel a little outclassed, because I did, but I will tell you that I think I shot okay. While any of the three might disagree with me, I'm not a world-class shooter like the three of them. Nope, I'm just a regular Joe who has been luck enough to win a few IBO national and world titles, a few ASA titles and some NFAA stuff mixed in there from my younger years. I'm still plugging along, and I love every minute of it. I love seeing my friends do well and build me up.
I"m going to give my day a B. Although some of my shots were A+, far too many were not what I expect out of myself. I'll keep improving. I'm making steady progress and feel good about how far I've come since the winter. I'd like to think Mike Price and Heritage Archery Academy for steering me in the right direction, and I'd like to thank Mark Myer's for always listening to me when I feel like babbling about nonsense.
The monkeys were running around like crazy in my mind today. I harnessed them the best I could, but I need to beat them with a sturdy stick this coming weekend.
Since I spent most of my time on today's shoot, I'll tell you why I was let down. I've been climbing, climbing and climbing, but I felt like I stubbed my toe today and bruised my kneed while falling to the ground. This is my card from Wednesday night's IBO league. After having a night like this, I fully expected not to miss the 10-ring.
In case anyone is wondering, Jacob and I got lucky enough to win the shoot I wrote about. We needed at 446 and to be realistic, Jacob could have won no matter who he had as a teammate. I feel very fortunate to have him as a teammate. I feel that we have similar personalities and compliment one another. I hope he stays strong this weekend and brings home another title to our area.
I'm not doing any archer profiles this week. I think summing up the day sums up who it would be this week, and I've already written one on him. You can go back and find it if you're interest. He's the man.
I'm going to keep moving forward. I'll be heading to the last leg of the national triple crown this weekend to give it a shot, and Sunday I'll be at the New Hampshire Senior Games. I'm looking forward to both of these events. I never imagined that Dad and I would be shooting in the Senior Games together, but I really can't wait. It should be fun.
Practice hard ----------------------------------> and be thankful that we are surrounded by phenomenal archers who are easy to route for every week. These people make all of us better. We have a great group of people who participate in this events, and it feels like we are all in the same family. Thank you Sean Roberts, Dave Vertefeuille and the rest of the crew in Connecticut. I had a ball, and I'm thankful for the great event that brought all of us together. Congrats to my longtime buddy Billy Romanchick for making a great shot in the shoot of against Sean. If you beat him, you know you earned it. Good job for all of us old-school guys. It's good to see that us old guys can hang with the young guys, even if it's only for one arrow here and there. Great job Sean. Between you and Jason VanHillo, Shawn Couture has his hands full to top those two events. I look forward to it next month.
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