This spring has been filled with atrocious weather. It has been almost impossible to get any quality practice between the nonstop rain and wind. If it's not raining, the wind has been blowing at a steady clip. It makes it difficult to know if you have the bow where it needs to be when it's go time. I've played with a lot of things lately in an attempt to find a setup I can aim better and make it more forgiving. That's why I decided I would shoot a bow that I haven't shot at all and see what happened. I picked the Mach 34, my hunting bow, to see if it could take over the starting job for Minden next weekend. The bow has been pounding in the yard, and I felt 100% confidence in it.
Although it was a little windy and chilly at times, it was a great day to shoot. Going into this event, I decided I would stick to the plan I drew up before Fort Benning. The last few years, I've done a lot of different things and adjusted my plans throughout every round. I finally decided that wasn't going to get the job done, so I went all in at shooting all uppers. I evaluated my tendencies and figured this plan would benefit me more than anything else. When I miss due to a less-than-stellar shot, I usually hit low, and when I misjudge yardage, I more often go low than high. With those thoughts in mind, I figured I would look at the target and call a number I thought could be the very least the target could be and shoot directly at the 12 with that number. I've always trusted my numbers and know that while practicing on dots at distance, I never miss out the top. This plan would allow me to be off on yardage on the low side by three yards and it would also allow me to shoot right at them with the right number and still give me a lot of room out the bottom to stay in double digits on the score card. Whether you're shooting marked or unmarked yardage, I'd suggest looking at your tendencies and reevaluate how you're shooting at the targets. No many people miss out out the top while shooting. Sit back and think about that. Weak shots tend to go low for most people and nerves can cause all of us to become weak at times.
Evaluating the Plan
After shooting some arrows at the practice range, we started on the lower half. My hold was pretty shaky on the practice butts, and my shot felt weak, but all of the arrows found their way into the good spot.
Walking down the club's driveway, I didn't know what would welcome us at the first stake. When we got to it, I spotted a strutting turkey at the end of the lane. Unlike the Rinehart IBO turkey, the ASA turkey doesn't bring any type of the anxiety with it since the scoring ring is the standard size for all ASA targets.
Following Jeff Wagoner, I knew I would have good arrows to shoot at all day. He was shooting known and I was shooting unknown. As his arrow made its way toward the target, it hit a twig in front of the kill zone and took a nosedive to the right. The arrow struck the bird just outside of the 10-ring. It was an unfortunate break for him, as I believe he would've smoked the 12 after watching him execute a perfect shot. It was a quick 4-point swing on target number one. He also had two shots where his shirtsleeve caused 8s when the string slapped the sleeve. If he had avoided those few issues he encountered, he would've put up a huge round. I'm sure he will have that figured out the next time around. With his new look this year, I have a feeling he's going to pound when he gets out there. He said going back to the '80s is going to do the trick. It will make him feel and look younger. What are your thoughts?
I made a great shot on the target, barely missing the 12 on the lower side. I felt good about my start. Moving to Target 2, an antelope, the number jumped out at me. I quickly set my sight and prepared to shoot. When I hit full draw, the bow settled in and the shot fired. The arrow hit directly behind the pin. I missed the 12 by about a half inch on the low side.
Marching toward Target 3, I thought back to Fort Benning when I encountered the same type of thing. I consistently hit within an inch of the 12s and couldn't buy one. However, I feel more confident about the plan now than I did then, so I decided to keep doing the same thing. Within a few minutes, I was feeling good about my decision... on the board with my first 12.
After securing my first 12 on the scorecard, I gained a little confidence but quickly gave back the two points I had gained when I shot an 8. Then, I struck lightning in a bottle again on the next target... back to 2 up.
A few targets later, we got to the coyote, and I felt really good about my number. There were two arrows in the 12, which gave me a great aiming reference. I was extremely confident with my number, so I held right on the nock. When the shot broke, I couldn't ask for a better one. The nock quickly appeared in the cluster of other nocks, and I felt my confidence gaining. Then, as we got to the target, I was the unlucky one, as the arrow was barely on the 8 side of the line. After seeing the arrow, I listen to my therapist, Dr. Slusarz, and knew he was looking at the patient lying on the couch, and while looking at him, he wanted to slap him in the side of the head. After receiving some advice from the doctor, we moved to the next target. Jacob doesn't miss anything. He's a student of archery and offers great advice. If he ever offers advice to any of you, make sure your ears are tilted and you apply what he says to you. He knows what he's saying and never offers anything other than solid, noteworthy advice. Those are the breaks with ASA. I made a good shot and barely missed the spot. I can live with that. It happens. I cruised through the rest of the course and felt good about the result. I finished the first half a + 6.
Second Half
I started off good on the second half. I had a great aiming spot on the turkey and could't have placed my arrow any better in the 12 than where it landed. It's always nice to get paid back with a 12 after you execute a good shot. Things ran smoothly for the the first half of the second half. When we headed down the homestretch, I lost my shot. I believe I may have gotten a little tired, and I wasn't liking the way things were feeling at full draw. I battled through and remained as patient as I could.
With seven targets remaining, we came upon a long deer, and I had to lead it off. Looking at the target, I felt confident with the number. I set my sight and figured I would avoid my original game plan and just shoot for the center. I didn't feel comfortable aiming directly at the 12 on that target due to the battles I was facing at the time. Holding in the middle, I broke a decent shot and the arrow plummeted in flight. It struck the target low and landed barely outside the 8 line. It was the first target I got truly yarded on for the day. I would go back there today and shoot it for the same number I shot it for yesterday. Sometimes, the yardage just gets us, and that was one. Jacob also hit that target low, and we both shot it for the same number. The difference was he was aiming at the upper and I wasn't aiming at it. He landed on the safe side of the 8 line. If the best of the best gets yarded, I guess it's acceptable that I did too. We usually see targets about the same, and this target was a reminder of that in case we had forgotten... damn deer.
We picked our way through the rest of the targets, and I hung on. Although the day didn't end like it had started, I found a way to navigate a rough stretch with my execution. Finding a plan to getting through times like that has been important during my archery career. It seems like we should always be doing the same thing and it should be effortless, but we all run into some obstacles along the way. I ended up finishing that half at 1 down. I believe that half was a little more difficult than the first half we shot, so I feel decent about the result.
Lessons Learned
This is the biggest lesson I learned of the day. Take a good look at the card. When I added the cards up and made sure we matched, my mathematical skills missed a beat. I knew I had finished at 13 down without any 12s and adding my nine 12s would be 18 points. That's five more up points than down and that doesn't equal 303... it equals 305. This should be a good lesson for all of you... always double check your card. Although it doesn't mean anything at this shoot for me, it could've cost me dearly at a big shoot. Those two points could've kept me from making a shutdown round or sitting on the sideline, or cashing a check. It's on me for not checking the card before signing it. Once you sign the card, you signed off on it, checked it and are OK with it. It happens to everyone. Days are long, and we get distracted. Just make sure you stay focused until the end.
Unlike many times I have shot ASA events in the past, I stuck to my plan throughout the entire shoot this time. It served me well and paid off, as I shot nine 12s and barely missed a bunch. Of the bunch I missed, many would've been 8s had I shot at the lower 12s. I feel really good about approaching things like this the rest of the year.
What's my take on the Mach 34? In all honesty, this is one of the best bows I've ever shot in my life. It holds well, I shoot good shots with it, and it hits behind the pin. The bow feels great in my hand, and it gives me a lot of confidence when I'm shooting it. However, as the day progressed, I encountered things that made me question bringing it to Minden next weekend. Being a carbon bow, the bow itself is extremely light. I have more stabilizer weight on it than any bow I've shot, especially on the front end, but it still seems too light. When I get into the aiming cycle and it starts to go long, the sight picture turns into something that I don't like. I can't put a finger on it, but whatever it is makes me feel slightly uncomfortable. It might just be because I have so many miles on the Dominator Duo over the last few months. I'm still not 100% what I should do, so I'll be showing up in Minden with whatever bow happens to hop into my case the morning I leave. I feel confident with all of them. They all shoot better than me, and they are all shooting well. I can't go wrong with any choice.
I've shot at Algonquin Archers many times over the last 10 years. I always enjoy shooting there, as it tests every technical skill you must use as a 3D shooter. However, as an ASA shoot, it doesn't give the same type of practice you will see at nationals. I feel like I'm from the South, where all the shooters bitch if it's not completely flat because that's what ASA is. It's comical to listen to those guys if they're on a lump the size of an anthill. If they ever shot the course we shot this weekend, they would probably have a cardiac arrest... either from walking or bitching. God, I love being a Yankee and living in the North. I enjoy a challenge. I know if I can hit ASA 12s while shooting on that terrain, I'll probably be pretty safe on flat land. Eventually, I'd love to see one of these shoots set up just like a real ASA with 15 targets down one side of the road and 15 down the other side, where the group on each side of you must be done before you all go to the targets to score and retrieve arrows. I think it would be a big hit to show people what real ASAs are like. It would also allow the shooters to socialize with each other and it would be easier for the people organizing the shoots and working at them. I kind of like lazy-man 3D shooting like the national ASA shoots. Until you experience it, there's nothing that can really compare to it. I heard through the grapevine that the first leg of the Northeast IBO Triple Crown is adopting this type of format for their shoot next week. I wish I could be here to see how they do. Who knows, maybe in the future, we will be having IBOs with ASA courses, and ASAs with IBO courses in the Northeast. I encourage everyone to go support Cole and Jake next week. They are great guys and always show their support to everyone else. Please support them, their efforts and their club. I appreciate these guys more than they'll ever know, and I also appreciate all the work of the ASA people in the region. It feels good to have quality places to go to participate in both types of scoring. Let's work together to do a better job of giving people exactly what they will see at national events if they attend a national ASA or IBO event. Tyler Thygesen hit it out of the park last year with his IBO shoot. If you went to that, it was very similar to a national IBO.
We will see what happens in Minden. Next week at this time, we will be home and making a plan for the next one. I'm going to go enjoy this one and look at it as being my last event before I finally get to practice like everyone else who shoots the events. Living in the Northeast, it has been impossible for us to practice outside, so we will be halfway done with the national ASA shoots, yet we haven't even had good enough weather to be outside practicing. Here's to good practice in the coming months.
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