Another summer of archery got put to an end this weekend at the Royalston team money shoot. It's a fun shoot that I look forward to participating in every year because I get to see all of my closest archery friends and say goodbye to them until winter. There are always a lot of smiles, laughs and ball-busting that is shared amongst all participants. There are the same teams that return every year. There are people who try different partners every year. Every year usually sees a few new people come out to the event to see what it's all about, and we welcome them into our New England family of archery. There's no drama or complaining, and everyone who comes enjoys the day. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, and it doesn't matter if you hit one 14 or 10 of them. Those 14s are like a perfect drive on a golf course. They are unforgettable, and we talk about them for years after they happen. Sometimes, we even get to talk about the ones that got called out. Jacob and I will always remember this one.
This might have been the first time I saw Jacob throw his subconscious mind into kill mode. As we walked away from this 55-yard antelope that year, he told me he would not allow another one to be close enough to be called out. I believe he shot seven 14s in a row after this one. Do you remember that Sean and Josh? It's one of those things I will never forget. I looked for his Superman cape, but I could never find it. Instead, I saw Jacob walking down the trail in front of me in his jeans and t-shirt. He didn't have a care in the world. He just put on a show for all of us to watch. I figured I would never see anything like it again. It took a few years, but I saw it again.
As we were walking to the second half of the course a few years ago, we were notified that we were behind by a wide margin. He said, "Not today. Nobody is beating us today. Let's get this done." Then, he got it done, hitting almost every 14 from there to the end. I think he 17 of them that year, and there were some absolute bombs. That's why I love this event. I will always remember different things about every year. This year was awesome watching Barry Gates shoot a few 14s. Barry puts in more work than most people and has been plugging along for a while. He has finally started getting over the hump, and it is awesome to watch it and be a part of it. I love to watch other people succeed, especially when they put in the work.
This Year's Event
Jacob texted me on Thursday and told me he was having some issues with his bow and had somehow lost poundage, which caused him to lose his marks on his sight tape. He didn't know if he would have time to get something together for the team shoot. Although I was disappointed, I felt confident he could figure something out. He decided to take out his hunting bow and set it up to see how it would work. He got it close on Thursday night and sighted it in Friday night and decided to head out with it. We would take the good with the bad.
Barry was on vacation with his family in Saratoga, so I picked him up at 5:15 and we headed on our way. Since Jacob hadn't committed to anything due to the bow issues, I didn't know who he was headed over with. At the last minute, when he decided he would be going, I told him I would pick him up and cram him in the truck with Barry's stuff.
When we got to the club, many people had already gone out. I shot four arrows at 40 yards. There was a small black dot and I stuck three arrows on top of each other and another one less than an inch to the right of them. It was an x-sized group on a 5-spot. I felt good about my shot and the day ahead of us. I shot four more arrows at the 20-yard butt to feel my shot.
As we headed across the field to the first target, I felt good about the day. I had decided to shoot my PSE Evoke 35 with Gold Tip Pierce Platinum 500s going 289 fps. It's definitely not an arrow that will get you many lines, but that arrow shoots really well out of that bow. A few weeks ago, I shot a K-50 ASA course in New York with the boys from Massachusetts. I shot a 326 and felt good about the way the bow performed. I figured I wouldn't do too much practicing after that as long as I knew the arrows were hitting behind the pin.
When I drew on the first target, a standing bear, I had a hard time keeping my bubble in the middle. There was more of a grade on the hill than I thought would show up in my bubble. Amazingly, the pin sat still. Dave Allard had hit just under the 10-ring, and I had a hard time getting my pin off his arrow. My bow sat like a rock, though. However, I became an aimer and not a participant. My shot was in my back, but I wasn't increasing pressure on either end. When the bow fired, it caught the top of the 10-ring. I believe I just held too high after I got my pin off from Dave's arrow. I made the adjustment, and the adjustment was a little too much. Jacob nailed the 14, and we were on our way.
When I got to the second target, I had to lead it off. I wasn't overly happy when I saw a strutting turkey in front of me. Although it wasn't a very long shot, it was dark and I couldn't see where I was on the target too well. The problem came about because I changed my setup to a small peep and more power in my lens so I could see exactly where I wanted to hit on the longer targets. If I can see where I'm trying to hit, I can usually hit it. So I made that change for this year, and Jacob made a change this year too. He decided to shoot a lens for the first time so he could see the pink rings on the longer targets.
When I drew the bow on the turkey, I couldn't make out a good aiming point. I put it where I thought I needed to be and pulled. The arrow landed just above the 11. Jacob once again got the 14. When Barry placed an arrow in a good spot on the mountain lion after the turkey, I felt good about it. When I hit full draw, the pin just sat on the 11 ring. The bow fired and the arrow found its mark. It was a good shot, and I had it in my back from start to finish. It was that perfect golf shot that we all search for.
After our first five targets we were plus 14 and I had shot three 11s. Although I was struggling a little with letdowns, I was making good shots. I think it might be because I was shooting with a little less holding weight than I had over the last few years.
When we got to a long downhill ram, it got really dark and we could hear thunder banging in the skies above us. The target became very difficult to see, and my small peep made it even harder to find any type of spot to hold on. I struggled mightily but couldn't come up with anything. Finally, I followed the advice of Terry Wunderle from many years ago, "If you can't see the target well, put it where you think it is and make the best shot you can make." So that's what I did. I didn't miss by much, but I did miss the 10-ring.....barely. The arrow hit a hair to the right and just out the bottom. Jacob couldn't see the target much better than I saw it. His arrow struck on the outside line of the 10-ring. We felt fortunate to walk off with a 10. There was a lot of luck involved. It was just bad timing between the dark skies from the passing storm and the target in a dark area. When you encounter those things, you just need to make the best of it and move on. That's what we did.
As we continued down the trail, we were both making good shots. I made a perfect shot on the 70-yard mule deer down the power line. It hit in the bottom of the 10-ring. Jacob made a perfect shot after my shot, and we all thought he got the 14. Unfortunately, it was less than 1/4 of an inch out. In the meantime, Chuck Weeden lost his rangefinder and thought he had dropped it in front of the mule deer. He waited for us to finish and walked down to the target to find it. It wasn't there and couldn't be found. As he walked away, I felt really bad for him. He had a rough week at work, and I knew losing an expensive rangefinder probably wasn't helping matters. I led off the bear on the stump after the mule deer and made an absolutely horrendous shot. I had let outside thoughts into my mind and they took over. I was thinking about Chuck and feeling badly for him, and I momentarily lost all focus. I shot an 8 and Jacob followed my 8 with an 8, our only 8 of the day. We both lost focus for a minute and lost track of what we were doing. Neither one of us gave it any more attention than the few minutes we dealt with it while pulling our arrows out. It's 3D archery and 8s happen.
Meandering through the rest of the top half we held our own. Jacob started hitting low on the really gettable 14s. When we missed the 14 on the woodland javelina, we thought we were headed for trouble.We missed three 14s in a row that we should have gotten and would have gotten on any other year. Sometimes, you just have to take what you get and keep moving along. That's what we did. We didn't get down about anything and enjoyed our day in the woods.
When we got to the last 10 targets, we knew we had to find a way to rack a few points up. We thought we sealed our fate when my pin drifted to the right on the 46-yard medium deer before the elk. It wasn't a bad shot, it was just one of those things that can happen from time to time. I expected it to be in the center of the center of the 11. As good teammates do, Jacob picked me up, and I gave him an opportunity to shoot at the next three 14s. Unfortunately, we battled some pretty good wind gusts when we were shooting the elk, rising boar and antelope. I managed to shoot a few 11s, and Jacob centered the 14 on the rising boar.
When we added the card up, we like what we saw, but we weren't sure if it would be enough. We both knew that we didn't capitalize on the majority of the closest targets on the course, and they were all gettable for every shooter. We figured we would wait it out and see what the cards dealt when they were all laid on the table.
I couldn't have asked for a better day. I believe I ended the day with 18 11s, one bad shot, one shot that probably hit where the pin was when it fired, and one shot that drifted to the right and missed the 10-ring by the width of a fingernail. This bow shoots well, and I'm glad I decided to give it a whirl with the micros. The 11 count shows you that the size of the arrow really doesn't matter a whole lot if you're making good shots.
It was really nice to see so many teams this year. Chuck Weeden and Todd Sargent, who usually shoot 35-yard max tried their hand at it after I convinced them to go to the shoot, and they had a great time. Mark Myers and Brett Powers came for the first time and laid it down. Those guys can shoot and showed some of their game on Saturday. Congratulations to them for such a strong showing. Rick Baker and Karla DeVincent proved that co-ed teams can never be underestimated.
Rob D'Alfonso and Matt Baer came from six hours away and had a great time. Rob came to our region to support something that brings all of us friends together. The reason he came is because so many of us have been able to support him over the last few years. Whole some of us haven't been to his shoots, we still support them and tell others they should attend. So next year, try to support the stuff in his region, so we can hopefully grow our little event and get some more of his people to come along next year. If you need any information about anything he's doing, send him a message on Facebook or reach out to him at Ram Archery. He holds some indoor tournaments at his place in the winter, too.
I've attached a photo of our scorecard and the results for the day. I also want to thank Shawn Couture for running the event this year and always being gracious. It seems like yesterday when he and Wendy were still teenagers and attending all of the events in the region. He has mastered how to set a course to make it fun for everyone and allows everyone to feel good about the day and competing. I really think this was his best work for the entire crowd, so we can make it competitive for everyone and make people feel good about how they shot. Great job, Shawn.
