Struggling to get the shot off is what made me ultimately choose to go back to the green Veracity 35 that I have shot since the Second Leg of the IBO National Triple Crown, where it had its debut and I sat in third after the 40-target round. That bow has more holding weight, and I seem to break better shots with it. I chose the ability to hold longer for the ability to break a better shot with less effort. The difficult part about the choice is knowing my past and going against everything that has always led to me shooting higher scores. Here is one of the groups I shot at 40 yards before I left. When I keep arrows in the white regularly on a 5-spot target at 40 yards, I consider the bow to be shooting well. Some groups might be better than others, but I won’t take it if most arrows do not land in the white. I’ve always done that, and it still seems to work well even going into my mid-50s.
Practice at the Classic
We shot a few rounds before the event started. Luckily, we escaped the torrential rain that ransacked the venue the day before the event started. I felt good about my numbers and my shot during the first practice round, but the second one left me feeling like I had never shot a bow in my life. I’m not sure if some of that had to do with the fact that I was recovering from traveling. I dismissed the practice session and felt confident going into Day 1. I was prepared and knew it.
Day 1
Thunder banged all night and rain pounded off the hotel the entire night before Day 1. The forecast didn’t look to be too promising, and I wondered if the tournament might become a 20-target shoot-out. After learning the morning round had been canceled, we grabbed some breakfast and returned to the hotel room. The day dragged as we waited for any type of update.
Finally, word came that all pros would start at 3:00 p.m., but amateurs would not be allowed to shoot. I decided to forego shooting any practice arrows. Mentally, I probably wasn’t focused on the task ahead of me. Somewhere during the day, I had checked out and didn’t feel like shooting my bow.
Arriving at my stake for the start of the tournament, I was glad to see I would be joined my Allen Conner, along with Jamie Drouillard and Emory Budzinski. I knew it would be a good group. I also enjoy shooting with Allen due to the legendary resume he has put together over the years and his outstanding character. He’s a positive guy and is very encouraging whether things or going well or headed off the tracks. He’s a calming presence and shooting with someone like that helps.
When I drew my bow on the first target of the day, which had a lot of number on it, the pin was jittery. Seconds later, I was looking at my arrow sitting in the 10-ring at 3’oclock. I felt fortunate to stay in the double digits with the excessive amount of movement I saw on the other end of my scope.
My sight picture wasn’t the steadiest throughout the first handful of shots, but my shot felt great. It was firing with minimal effort, even with the pin bouncing around more than normal. I didn’t try to control it and knew if I focused on my shot, the arrow would hit the intended mark. As the round progressed, the pin settled down and I felt good about the sight picture. I began making great shots, but I suddenly realized what many target archers talk about when referring to unknown 3D and the reasons they don’t enjoy it. Although my shots were great, the arrows were landing above the 10-ring. My yardage guessing simply wasn’t working well. At first, I didn’t pay much attention and figured the problem would correct itself. However, as I neared the end of the day, I realized I was running out of time to make a run at putting myself in a decent position for Day 2. Then, before I knew it, the day was done, and I was looking at an uphill battle that would require my best effort to make significant headway. I shot my bow well the entire day, and I left the range with that in mind. Sometimes the score doesn’t reflect your shooting. Day 1 was a prime example of that.
Day 2
Day 2 greeted us with much nicer weather conditions, and I felt confident. Before the round started, I set a goal of cutting the gap to the top in half. After Day 1, I was sitting in 31st place, far below anything I ever could’ve imagined. I would consider my weekend a success if I could get to 15th before the end of the tournament, but I also know that’s a tall task when shooting against the best of the best. Any type of movement is usually difficult. With Jacob at 29th and me at 31st, we joked about it in the hotel room, but Jacob made a point of saying if he could get to 20 up, he thought he would have a chance of making the big show. At 4 up, he would have to have a great day, and he said he was all in. I knew I had to get back to even to have a shot and felt like I could accomplish that too.
It was a long walk to the range, so I took my time and walked with Jeff Hopkins. We chatted about a few things and discussed his upcoming elk hunt. As he talked, it reminded me of my dad talking about me, as he expressed how much he couldn’t wait for his son to get on some elk. While talking about it, his excitement gave me a gentle reminder of all the great times I’ve shared with my dad and how much we enjoy each other’s company. I could truly appreciate his enthusiasm and excitement. I hope the two of them have an awesome hunt and enjoy each other’s company. Time passes way too quickly, and I often wish I could go back to the past and experience all the things with my dad that we both did as younger men. With Dad on the downhill slope to 80 and me very close to the downhill slope to 60, I never imagined the time could’ve passed that quickly. It seems like just a few short years ago when I experienced my first elk hunt, yet that was in 1991.
One of our early trips out West
Dad killed this one a few years ago at 11,500 feet at 72 years old.
Getting to my stake, I saw that I would be shooting with Scott Darnell, Jim Livak and Tim Roberts. I knew it would be a good day, as all those guys are easygoing and easy to shoot with. When the round started, I got out of the gate quickly and found myself at 4 up after 8 targets. I was on my way to getting back to even, and I felt great about my hold and my shot.
Although I never usually let score come into my mind, I briefly considered what I needed to do to make up the ground I had lost the previous day. That’s when I lost my aggressiveness and tried to play safe and take limited chances. I learned a valuable lesson: don’t ever take your foot off the gas when you’re in the passing lane.
When I put my blinker on to go back into the cruising lane, I momentarily got tentative and shot back-to-back 8s. I paid the price for changing my mindset. After doing that, I barely missed a few more the rest of the way and ended up gliding to the finish line. I was somewhat satisfied with the day, but not overly happy with the weekend.
My Final Thoughts
I went into this event feeling confident about everything involving archery. Although my mind has not been 100% focused due to a few trying things in my personal life, I still felt confident. I’m not sure if extracurricular thoughts in my head led to breaks in concentration or if it was something else. Any way I look at it, I simply didn’t do my job to the best of my ability.
I’ve never struggled with yardage judging, but that seemed to be my biggest problem at this event. I continuously shot out the top of the 10-ring on everything I missed. I never shot an 8 on the low side, and I only missed one shot to the right or left, which I will blame on poor lighting conditions and most likely hitting where my pin was at the time the release fired.
The weather delay on Saturday caught me off guard, and I wasn’t mentally prepared for it. Starting at 3 in the afternoon was like stepping foot in a foreign land. I didn’t feel comfortable from the time I started to the time I finished. I probably should’ve warmed up prior to going to the stake, but I felt like I would be good to go. I’ll never know if I did the right thing because we can’t go back in time and change things. If put in that situation again, I will go to the bags. However, when no officials from the ASA could answer any questions when we arrived on site, it made it difficult to know what to do. They couldn’t tell us if the practice bags were even available for shooting, and they couldn’t tell us if other arrangements had been made. They also couldn’t tell us where to park, so we found our own parking spot. I find it hard to believe that nobody could answer simple questions, but we asked a handful of people wearing blue shirts and gained absolutely nothing from any of the interactions.
When amateurs were allowed to shoot the next day, Dad was able to shoot all 40 targets. However, there was no water on his range after about the halfway point of his round. On the downhill slope to 80 years old, I still can’t fathom how the 70 and up shooters must walk so far to get to their ranges, then once there and shooting, there’s no water to be found after the initial water ran out. That is inexcusable. People can get heat stroke and run into serious problems. Three people were taken away when my dad was shooting due to dehydration, yet no water arrived. That’s my rant on that. Well, the fact the host site was charging $5 to park after the parking areas got flooded out seemed suspect to me too, but that’s going down an entirely different rabbit hole. Let’s do better, no matter who we are when we are running shoots. Water is a necessity when humidity is through the roof and it’s 93 degrees.
My ASA year was far from satisfying. Looking at the big picture, I stunk the joint up. I did have my moments here and there, but I could never get in a rhythm and stay there. I had stretches of brilliance, and I will take that and learn from it.
After London, Ky., ASA, I bought a wolverine because it prevented me from making a few shootdown rounds. I quickly found that I was aiming way too low on it. The purchase was worth it when I walked away with 22 points on the target last weekend. That’s the only official ASA target I own, so I guess I can take something from that.
I enjoyed the weekend, and it felt good to share a lot of moments with my peers. Jacob put on a Jacob show once again. His display on Saturday was beyond amazing. When you’re next to it regularly, you tend to not notice it. However, when you take a step back and look at it, what he does with a bow in his hand is mind-numbing.
As I waited for him to take part in the shootdown round, I chatted with Joe Pitt for a while, and we discussed the issues we all face. We talked about trying to protect a good score instead of continuing to be aggressive throughout the round. We both agreed that we are better when we don’t get defensive. Shooting while playing defensively can’t do anything other than lead to disaster. It makes shooters weak and tentative, and it’s impossible to succeed that way. I appreciated the conversation with Joe. We can all gain things from different people, even if it comes from a five-minute conversation. When we were talking, his buddy Richard Owens called him, and I could tell the two of them sounded just like me and my friends when we talk on the phone after a shoot or on the way home. They both talked about things that happened in the event and what they would’ve done differently if they had the chance. It was refreshing to listen to others who sound like us. We are all in this together, and that is what always keeps us coming back. We share the same passion, and we compete against ourselves as well as each other.
I’ll be heading to the IBO World this week to end the year of shooting. I’ll give it my best shot and see where I land. No matter what happens, I’ll find all the positives and build upon them as I close the chapter on the season. I’m ready for hunting season. I’ll watch the water flow past me in the slow-moving stream, and I’ll watch leaves float freely through the air as they search for a resting place on the forest floor. I’ll slowly turn my head around after hearing a twig snap, and I’ll hope a big-racked buck is trying to quietly sneak past me without knowing I’m there. Summer is fading and fall is coming… and I’m ready to launch at least one more arrow.
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