It has been a few weeks since I've written, but I decided it's time to let everyone know how things have been progressing. After getting back from West Virginia a few weeks ago, I was not feeling it. After having a lot of confidence for the most part of 2019, I was left looking inside myself to find something that I know is in there but had lost in the snap of a finger through no fault of my own. Archery revolves around having confidence in your equipment and yourself. You can't have one without the other because that will only get you so far. If you're firing on all cylinders, the two types of confidence feed off from one another. If you're lacking in one area, it can destroy the other area. It's a fine line that target archers and hunters seem to walk from day to day, week to week, and month to month. So I went from having it all to having one part of it to battling both ends of it. I need to gradually build my way back to the place I had become so comfortable in the last few months.
Next week I'm going to be going to the Massachusetts Senior Games with my father. I don't normally shoot that type of event so I don't have anything remotely ready to stand on the line and feel confident. I spent the week trying to get a bow ready for the event. I've decided to settle on my old Elite Victory 39. I'm shooting it at 58lbs with Gold Tip Platinum Pierce arrows. I've never enjoyed the 122cm target. It's one of the only targets I've shot that makes it seem as if my pin is wildly moving all over the target face. It's probably because I don't spend enough time at it trying to get it where I need to get it and figure out which lens, pin and aperture to use. After a week of toying with things, I don't feel any more confident than I did when I started. If anything, I probably feel less confident than I did the first night I took it out and started shooting it. The bow shoots okay, but it definitely doesn't stack arrows. In the process, I shot far too many arrows for my body to handle. Now, my shoulders, hands, back and arms are spent. I'm going to take most of this week off and not shoot my bow. Although it will be tough, my body is speaking, and I must listen.
About a month ago, I set up one of my best friends who is a diehard turkey hunter with Jeremy Flagg, who is also a diehard turkey guy. The two of them hit it off and went on a hunt or two in New England, allowing TJ to score on a Rhode Island bird in his quest to bag a turkey in every state in the United States that has turkeys and allows turkey hunting. TJ got the job done, so Jeremy decided he was going to come to New York and give it a whirl in our home state. Here is TJ and Mike Salerno with the birds that Jeremy put them on in Rhode Island.
Jeremy was back and forth about coming to NY but decided at the last minute to make the trip. Meanwhile, I had already planned on spending the weekend with Barry Gates, who was also coming over from Massachusetts. We were going to shoot the IBO tournament at Deerslayer on Saturday and the ASA tournament in Rhinebeck on Sunday. Everything worked out for the best when Jeremy decided to come up. Looking at the weather for Saturday, it showed a lot of T-storm activity at Deerslayer and a fair amount of rain. That's when we decided we would all go to the ASA shoot in Rhinebeck.
The Ride to the ASA Shoot
We picked Jeremy up in Saratoga and made our way toward Rhinebeck. Jeremy had never met my dad or Wade Chandler, so after the introductions, everything was good. We joked back and forth during the ride, finally getting to the Kingston/Rhinecliff bridge to cross the Hudson River. I've never been a big bridge guy, and that bridge is fairly long and high. It unnerves me crossing bridges.
As we neared the toll booth to go across the bridge, my father didn't appear to be slowing down. We do have E-Z Pass, and he usually goes through the gate a little faster than most. In the last few seconds before getting to the gate, we realized he wasn't going to stop. Everyone in the truck had a different reaction, some of us in the tuck-and-roll position, some of us yelling to get his attention, and some of us just covering our faces. Then, we blasted through the gate, demolishing it on the way through it after it smashed against the front of the truck. Locking the brakes up caused the vehicle to do that slight bumping over the pavement. Although we didn't come to a full stop, Dad stomped on the gas pedal and burned out as we continued across the bridge. As Barry looked behind us, he could see a lady come out of the toll plaza and look at the truck as it sped away. We didn't let Dad know the person was standing there, and we all began laughing, with Jeremy exclaiming, "Man, I like your dad. He's awesome! That's my kind of guy."
Dad said, "Well, they'll send me the ticket in the mail. Stopping isn't going to do much for us now." When we got across the bridge and took a right, we came to a stop light. When the yellow turned red, we didn't stop and continued down the road. Looking to the left, there was a cop sitting at the light. We expected him to follow us and give us a ticket for going through the light, but he never pursued us. Five minutes later, we pulled into the tournament site.
Being a holiday weekend and with everything going on, I didn't expect there would be many people around ... and there wasn't. We got there in plenty of time for the shotgun start. We warmed up and waited for the meeting before the round. It reminded me of all of the national ASA shoots we used to attend. The shooter meetings in the morning before the round were always something that put me in the place I mentally needed to be. I love shotgun starts and recommended them over the last few years but was always met with stiff resistance. I can understand both sides of the fence. I like it because everyone knows ahead of time what time he has to be there, but he can also plan his day around that. Everyone finishes within a few minutes of each other, and all of the scores can be tallied at once. I like events that are run in that manner for that reason. I also like events that you and come and go as you please. I think the shotgun start is beneficial to people and organizers for getting people in and out in a timely fashion. I'd love to hear any of your thoughts on shotguns starts. Have many of your ever participated in shotgun start events? Do you like that format or dislike it?
Being Grouped and Sent Out onto the Range
Since there weren't many people, I ended up in a group with Chuck Weeden, Todd Sargent and Jeremy Flagg. I haven't shot with any of them at an event this year, and I have never shot with Jeremy. I figured we would have a good day. The weather was great, and we were getting a nice and early start. I couldn't ask for anything better. Oh, and Barry checked the weather and the radar showed a lot of rain around the area where the Deerslayer shoot was being held. That made us think we might have made the right choice. After all, I didn't want to be sopping wet on my way home. The days of that are far beyond where I am now. I'd rather be a fair-weather archer now. I'll never do that for hunting, but archery is a totally different thing.
The Round Begins
When we got to the first target, we drew cards to figure out the shooting order. I was drawn as the third shooter. Chuck and Todd's arrows both hit to the right. I settled in nicely, but the pin didn't sit down like it normally does, so I had to fight through the shot. When the arrow struck the target, I could see that I also hit to the right. When I shot the next target, I had a decent hold on it, but it was still a little shaky. After executing a good shot, I decided to take two ounces off from my back bar. The bow sat down a little better on the next shot, so I decided to leave everything that way for the rest of the day.
As the day progressed, I was happy with my shooting, but I wasn't satisfied with the way the bow was holding. Although it wasn't anything drastic, it's still not the way I would like it. This was a tough course to judge my holding because about 3/4 of the shots were uphill. I've never held well while shooting uphill, and it makes it hard to judge things when you're dealing with something like that all day. I shot at all of the lower 12s and got lucky enough to get many of them. I was really satisfied at the end of the day when I realized that I had only shot one 8, and that 8 came on an uphill bedded doe. I held right on the lower 12, and when the shot broke, the sight bobbed at the last second. The arrow struck about an inch below the 12. It didn't miss by much, but it missed.
My Take on the Day
I didn't consider it one of my better shooting days. I can attribute it to the way the bow was holding. I executed good shots and held better than I've been holding since making all of the changes a few weeks ago. This bow just feels better in my bow than the bow I had to use over the last few weeks. I enjoyed the round, and it brought back many of my memories from when we used to go South and shoot in the ASA circuit. There's something about gambling when you're shooting than can suck you in. When it's going well for us Joes, it goes well. When it doesn't go well, the day can quickly become really disheartening. Unlike IBO scoring, the ASA scoring doesn't allow you to have an average day and still shoot a good score, especially if you are gunning at the lower 12s. In the IBO, the 10-ring is large. If you stay in it, you will have a good shot at doing well at the end of the day. Here's my card for the day.
I shot with Jeremy Flagg today for the first time. This guy gets the star of the day award. I was beyond impressed. He made good shots all day. For a long period of time, I didn't think he was going to miss. He made me take attention and notice his ability. After shooting with him all day, I'm trying to figure out why he doesn't put up big scores every week. I almost wondered if being in a different group made him excel and concentrate more than he normally concentrates. Maybe it brought his concentration up a bit. Either way, he really impressed me, and I hope he continues on the path he's on right now. Great shooting, Jeremy. Oh, he might've beaten me if his battery didn't run out on his sight light. When the battery stopped working, Jeremy had to use the shank of the pin as an aiming dot. He still held his own after that, but he wasn't drilling the 12s like he had been before the light crapped out. Here's a picture of Jeremy when he drilled the elk.
Every time we go to a shoot, we have teams and joke amongst each other. George Connors named my team "The No 10 Todd Team." I named his team the "Triple J Team." Of course, these are both inside jokes, and it keeps us a loose. Doing this has allowed all of us to up our games and have friendly competition and create some trash talking between us. My team is composed of me, Chuck Weeden and Gary Jones. George's team is composed of George, Mark Smith and Todd Sargent. We all banter back and forth and have a good time doing it. Team No 10 is in the lead for the year, but the games have all been close.
Last weekend, Gary and George went to the Total Archery Challenge at Pico, and Todd, Chuck and I went to the ASA. Therefore, Chuck and I decided that we get an automatic win for the weekend because Mark didn't do either and had to go camping. Along the way, though, we thought we spotted George's bus in the woods. Then, we realized it was a Chevy. It was a Chevy from way back, the era before Team No 10 drove Chevys and made them what they are today. We thought it said Excursion but after getting closer, we realized we were wrong.
Barry and Dad shot a 900 round at Dad's house when I went hunting with TJ and Jeremy on Sunday morning. Barry shot a good round, too. He keeps improving regularly. Sometimes people think improvements come all at once without working at them. Barry puts in the work, and I've been able to watch the work and witness the change. It feels good to see others improve. He shot a good round with my dad.
After I got done turkey hunting in the morning, I shot some arrows with Barry on the 122cm face. Although the wind was blowing pretty good, I never felt like I could get it going. I've come to realize that I've just shot too much lately. I need to give it a break.
The Sunday Morning Turkey Hunt
Jeremy, TJ and I went hunting on Sunday morning. I roosted the birds, and we went after them. The mosquitos were horrendous and ate us alive. It was a textbook hunt. The birds gobbled on the roost for a while. When they hit the ground they exploded, and it was simply awesome. We had a great time. In the end, we ended up missing a bird due to a lack of communication and the tall grass. That happens when you're hunting, but at least we will have the memories of the hunt forever. I had a great time over the weekend. It was a fantastic weekend with friends and family. I'll see everyone on the range next weekend.
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