I slept in Wednesday morning and headed to Mike LeFever’s house in Syracuse around noon. Shortly after getting on I-90, I noticed Jacob following me. After all, we were headed to the same place. We ended up getting on the road around 1:00 p.m. had a good ride, arriving in Metropolis, Illinois, around 1:00 a.m. We even thought Tom and Tyler finally purchased an airstream trailer to travel the country shooting and hunting, but we learned it wasn't them.
We couldn’t have asked for a better day to practice on Thursday. Bright sunlight welcomed us, so we headed onto the practice course to try our hand on some foam animals. While nobody shot all that well, we still felt confident by the time we finished. Mike Bushey even got to thoroughly enjoy his hot dog on a stick. Kinda makes ya wonder, doesn't it Christine?
Day 1
When I got to the stake, I learned I would be shooting with Jamie Drouillard, Richard Owens and Richard Callaway. It has been a quick minute since I’ve shot with Richard, and I have always shot well with him in the past. Having shot with Jamie in Kentucky, I knew we would have a good day. Jamie is an easy guy to root for, and he always supports his fellow archers. I had never shot with Richard Callaway, but having seen him on the range in the past, he always appeared to be at ease.
We started on a coyote placed on a log at about eye level. It’s never easy to judge a target when it’s out of place, and it made it even more difficult since it was on a giant fallen tree.
When I hit full draw, I couldn’t settle well and the pin danced from belly to back and nose to tail. However, I felt relieved when the arrow landed at 6 o’clock in the 10-ring. I was off to a good start. As we navigated through the course, everything felt good. I was seeing good yardage, and my shots were breaking OK. I teetered on the bar at about even for the better half of the day.
At day’s end, I found myself at 4 down on the scorecard. It definitely wasn’t where I felt I should’ve been, but I knew I would still have a shot if I crushed the next day. The course was much softer than I had anticipated, and I simply didn’t capitalize on the many opportunities that were present. On soft courses, you need to capitalize when the points are there to be taken. Jamie had done that and passed all of us, earning himself a spot on the leaderboard. However, I still felt good about my position and my shooting.
Day 2
Looking at the weather forecast all night and early in the morning, it was sketchy as to whether or not we would be able to finish our round. After trudging through the mud and standing water to get to my course, I learned I would be shooting with Brian LuAllen, Mike Sutter and David Fannin.
I’ve been lucky enough to shoot with Mike almost every tournament this year, and Lu is one of my all-time favorite guys with whom to shoot. It would be my first time shooting with David. Once again, I knew it would be a nice day on the range.
I started on the softest part of the range. Like Day 1, I would be starting on a coyote on Day 2. I made a great shot on the little critter, and once again hit him at 6 o’clock in the 10-ring. The next five shots, I went at every 12 and only connected with one of them. At that point, I felt like it just wasn’t meant to be, but I also knew it’s pretty easy to sometimes get on a wave and ride it like a surfer until it hits the beach. I looked in the calm waters behind me and hoped for a wave to jump on. I knew my shot was good enough to have the ride of my life. My shot had definitely improved from Day 1.
Once again I teetered back and forth between a few up and a few down before finally finishing my day at 2 up and weekend total of 2 down. I felt good about the weekend, even though it gave me the worst placement of any tournament I’ve shot in this year. If I remember correctly, I walked away just inside the Top 20, but within a handful of points from a Top 10.
Overall Thoughts
I can’t feel badly about this tournament. I gave it my best and came up a little short. I’ve shot two events for the year and have an average of 400. I guess that’s alright. This one had some tough shooting conditions, too. It's never fun to clomp through mud and stand in water while shooting, but you have to do what you have to do sometimes.
I enjoyed shooting with Jamie and watching him win the tournament was a pleasure. Jamie made sure to tell me in Kentucky that he was rooting for me, and I enjoyed his support and enthusiasm. I knew he was being real. He and I go back a long way, and I’m thankful for his friendship. When we got done the first day, he made sure to tell me that he watched me shoot a few shots, and he said my shot looked great. Coming from him, I took at as a pretty good compliment. After all, I’ve always believed he has the nicest, best-looking, cleanest shot of any shooter in our class.
After completing the interview after his win, he walked by with his Happy Gilmore check and gave me a big hug. I was genuinely happy for him. Like me, he has had more than a few clunkers along the way, but we have both always found a way to battle into positions to give ourselves a shot every now and then. Watching Jamie gave me some incentive to keep plugging along. My shooting is great right now and I’m taking every event one arrow at a time, working my way toward giving myself another chance. After all, that’s all any of us can do when we are shooting against the world’s best 3D shooters. I think he said it best when he said something along the lines of some days he doesn't even know if he has the ability to compete with the young guns coming into our class. I think we all have a tendency to forget the talent in our class. At any given time, any of us could come other the winner. I've beaten everyone in the class at one time or another, and I've been beaten by all of them too. We just need to have a positive attitude and give it our best without quitting.
Due to the horrible weather this spring, it seems like we just started getting quality time outdoors. However, looking at the schedule, there are only a few events left before another season will be in the rearview mirror. It seems like this one has gone faster than all the rest. The older I've gotten, the faster the time passes. I've lived more life than I have left.
The highlight of my weekend was watching may friends from home. Jacob did Jacob things and made one hell of a run at the title, shooting about 7 out of 8 12s to open Day 2. There's never a tournament where he doesn't amaze me. We also got to see our good friend Christine Bushey find her way onto the leaderboard at day's end on Day 1. We all know she can hang, and it felt good to see her build some confidence for the sprint to the finish line.
I’m unsure if I’m going to the Classic. I’ll take any advice from any of my friends who might be reading this. While I had not planned on shooting any ASAs this year, I’ve enjoyed going to the few I’ve attended, and I feel like one of these days, all the arrows will fall into place at the right time could have the ability to be the one you skipped, and you'll never know.
As for now, I’ll be headed to Nelsonville, Ohio, next week for the last leg of the IBO Triple Crown. I haven’t picked my bow up this week, so maybe a little time away from the stick and string will bring a revival of sorts. I’ve enjoyed the silence. My mind has been deep in thought about life and the trials and tribulations we all face. While none of us can predict the future, the future sometimes seems lost in the fog as the light turns into darkness. All we can do it put one foot in front of the other and see where our feet guide us. Silence can be deafening and overwhelming, but it can also be exactly what the mind needs to find its way and see its visions. The future can always be seen before it happens if we are willing to put the time in practicing it rather than shooting our bows. I can surely vouch for that, so I will look ahead and see what comes to the mind's eye. I'm hoping to see brilliant colors and exciting experiences. Until then, I'll see you on the trail. Best of luck to all of you in all of the events you will be shooting in.
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