Unlike the last handful of years, I wasn't looking forward to attending the team shoot this year. For those of you who didn't know, I came down with COVID after returning from the IBO World, and it took me for a loop.
I've always considered myself to be in good shape, and colds don't usually do too much to me. However, it has been a long time since I came down with anything --- until a few weeks ago. The day I returned from the world, a headache latched on and would't let go. It felt as if someone was pounding the back of my head and upper neck with a sledgehammer for a week. I had a nonstop fever during this time, too. My body gave in and became extremely weak. I never began progressing from the darkness until the Wednesday before the team shoot. At that time, I went outside to shoot a few arrows to see what the result might look like. It didn't take long to realize I probably should call it a year and not attend the shoot. I shot five arrows at a 5-spot from 40 yards. I hit two Xs, a four, and missed the paper twice. I also went to my dad's to shoot at a few targets to make sure I could hit long-range 3D targets.
It was grueling to get to the top of the hill to try my hand at 3D shooting, but I gave it my best and returned after a little bit with two fewer arrows in my quiver. After bobbing instead of weaving, I sent a few into the pucker brush.
After that episode, I decided I better text Jacob to let him know where I stood. He assured me he didn't care, so we made plans to attend the event.
Go Time
After tossing a few arrows at 20 yards and a few at 40, I felt confident to head onto the course. All of my arrows hit in the dot, and the bow actually held fairly steady. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the guys told me they saw the numbers online and they said it didn't look too bad as far as yardages were concerned. That made me feel a little better, because we all know that it seems like our sight pictures are slightly more unsteady at longer distances.
When I got to my first target of the day, there was a pretty good backup, so we had to wait for people to shoot. When it was our turn, Jacob and I both realized that we have had a hard time killing the Delta bear at the end of the lane in previous shoots. Starting on a 60-yarder is never an easy feat, but my pin held fairly steady and I got a tweener just under the 11. We both felt good to start off even.
Moving to the second target, a standing bear facing backward, my pin danced wildly all over the bear. Since the target was facing backward, I had no idea where to aim at it and shot my arrow considerably right of the 10-ring. With the 14 looking the size of a beachball, Jacob decided to let it have it... and that he did. We had our first 14 of the day.
The next target, a mountain lion, was difficult to see, but we escaped with another 10. That's when I got into a groove and started finding the 10 ring on every shot, and Jacob started doing his thing. We made our way through that half and set a good pace. We did our thing and kept things where we felt comfortable. However, we did have three targets that I shot barely out the top of the 10-ring due to my rangefinder. Although mine read 2 to 3 yards longer on a few targets, I shot it for the number on my rangefinder and paid the price. All three arrows hit exactly where they should have hit for the error according to everyone else's rangefinder. All of the arrows hit less than an inch out the top at exactly 12 o'clock.
The Second Half
We ended up getting off the first half with our highest score ever on the first half. Although I can't remember what it was at this point in time, I believe we were at +34 or +32, and we have always shot better on the bottom half. We felt good about our chances because neither one of us actually felt all that great about our shooting on the first half.
As we progressed through the second half, we were having a hard time seeing any of the pink dots on the targets. Then, we got to the chamois and figured we would have a good shot at the 14. Once again, my rangefinder didn't read the same as everyone else's in the group, but I went ahead and shot the target for what mine had on it. Once again, I shot a fingernail width out the top at 12 o'clock.
Jacob had finally had enough of the rangefinder and declared that I should no longer shoot things for the number it was telling me. On most of them, my yardages were within a yard of everyone else, but the 3 to 3 1/2-yard errors on the other ones made us pay the price. I agreed and that was it for that rangefinder if it gave me a higher number than everyone else.
Then, we got to the turn around and were struggling to gain any points. We simply couldn't see the dots, which made it all but impossible to hit them. Jacob was doing his part, but his arrows kept landing within an inch of the pink dots, directly under them. It was phenomenal shooting considering he was area aiming due to the inability to see the dots, but we both knew we were in trouble if we could't get something going.
When we got to the long, 68-yard antelope on the turn, we were both stoked when I put a good arrow in it. That was a tough shot, and we were both sure my arrow was where it needed to be, so Jacob tried shooting at the invisible 14-ring. When we got to the target, we realized that everyone in the group had been fooled by my arrow. It was barely out the left side of the 10-ring, but it hit exactly where the pin was sitting when it fired, and according every antelope I've shot, it was a no-brainer 10 by looking at it. I'm still stumped how it wasn't a 10. Jacob also missed the 14 ring, so we took a step backward on that target and knew we had a fight ahead of us to try to scavenge some points.
Getting near the end of the day, I was about out of gas. I had executed pretty good shots for the better part of the day. That's when we got involved in some chatting on the course while I was trying to shoot what I believe was a woodland boar at about 40 yards. I knew it was a relatively easy shot, but I suddenly got all sorts of anxiety while at full draw when my shot didn't fire. I let down, regrouped and started the process again. I ended up making my only really bad shot of the day and it hit low on the outside of the 8/5 line. I'm still not sure what exactly happened, but I felt like I had let my teammate down because it was a shot I felt like he could've capitalized on, and it was the only one of the day that I missed by a substantial margin. I was highly disappointed.
We took our points and moved on. When we got to the long rising boar, I made one of my best shots of the day, and the arrow hit just under the 11. Jacob followed it up with a great shot of his own, and we headed into the field for the last few shots. We didn't have any luck scoring 14s on those shots and our arrows seemed to drift to the left on all of them. The wind was blowing from right to left and my arrows weigh a mere 300 grains. That does't add up to very accurate shooting at any distance in the wind and in an open field.
When all was said and done, we stared at a 342 on our card. We simply didn't complement each other on the second half. In all reality, I don't think either one of us shot poorly. We just didn't catch any breaks, and we never really gelled like past years. It was like being on a ship that's taking on water in the front, then you patch the hole and it starts taking on water in the back. Somehow we weathered the storm and limped to the finish line.
Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to win a lot of tournaments of all types. I've won some shoots when I shot terribly, and I've lost some shoots that I had better performances than I ever could've imagined. I've also learned that if you're a good shooter and you're not scoring well, there's a pretty good chance that nobody else is scoring well either. That's when you need to keep your head down and focus on getting to the finish line in one piece. The rest will take care of itself.
Many, many years ago, I came out of nowhere in three local leagues and shot scores that were unheard of at the time. As years passed, I was able to maintain the high level of accuracy and continued shooting the high scores. Eventually, everyone expected it from me... and I expected it from myself. Nobody will truly understand expectations until they find themselves in a position where you are expected to win. Winning is never easy. It never has been and never will be. Although some people find themselves in the winner's circle more often than not, it's simply not that easy. I've always told people and will always believe that it is much easier to get to the top than it is to say there for any length of time. Most will succumb to the pressure of creating expectations for themselves rather than just going and shooting their bows.
Although it's an end-of-the year local thing, there is a little added pressure that comes along with it when everyone expects you to win. I think sometimes people forget that. Jacob and I are lucky to have a good friendship and relationship as teammates. I have shot with some phenomenal shooters in team events over the years in many different tournaments and never placed in a lot of them. Working with your teammate and picking each other up is more difficult than it seems from the outside if you don't have the right partner. Nothing changes at this shoot as compared to when we shoot national events. Sometimes Jacob will finish before me and have to wait until I'm done. I'll make a good shot and turn around, and he will give me the thumbs-up sign. I always root for my teammates, and it's a beautiful thing when someone has your back when you need some support. All good things eventually come to an end. I'm not getting any younger, and heading into my mid 50s, every year gets a little more difficult. I'll keep playing the part as long as my partner allows me to strap on the gear and take the punches our competitors throw at us.
I'd like to thank Shawn Couture and his wife, Wendy, for everything they do for all of us every year at this shoot. It always feels good to see the best shooters from our region at the shoot and talk with them. I don't get to see many of them anymore due to my schedule, so this shoot makes it really nice. We seem to have all the oldies there as well as the newbies, and it's a nice mix.
Many of you probably don't realize I'm a numbers guy, and I'll usually hedge my bets on statistics. If I go to a few shoots and don't shoot many 11s, I usually know I'm ready to have a breakout performance due to all the of the statistics of past years that I have. Since I found it much more difficult to see the 14s this year and the yardages seemed a lot longer, I figured it would be neat to see how people who where teammates fared as compared to last year. Did it affect all of us the same?
Well, Jacob and I won the Booby Prize. Our score dropped the most of the 10 teams that were also teams at last year's event. We scored 35 points less than last year, but we weren't alone. Seven of the 10 identical teams from last year shot lower scores this year. Hey, Cole and Jake, I just wanted to let two know that you can join Jacob and I as the biggest losers. Looks like this course got you two too, but hey, at least we shot a 10 on the bedded doe. Do you guys remember that target? :-) You two were down 30 from last year. The Thygesens win the prize for shooting the same score as last year. You Vermonters just have something in you that allows you to spit tobacco, skin beavers, eat ravioli, chase Amish wagons, show no fear and shoot them in the middle... even if your girlfriend is giving you the stink eye... kudos to you guys.
There's always a winner of the chicken dinner, though. Who might that be? Which team destroyed their score from last year and laid it down this year, improving by 25 points while only one team improved by five and one by 10? You can give free ice cream to Karla and Rick. They were the only team that substantially improved while all the rest of us faltered. Maybe we are missing out on the ice cream after the shoots. Hey Karla, can Rick buy us some ice cream? If it's the ice cream that does the trick, I'm all in. New Hampshire ice cream for everyone at the winter indoor shoot.
Oh, one last thing. Couture, this is how Jacob and I felt after we finished. Watch out if we show up with knives. We couldn't hit much with our bows, so we are trading them in for knives. We will be participating in knife-throwing contests now... watch out, buddy.
2
No comments:
Post a Comment