In Support of Field Archery

[Desert Archer]

As many of you know (my signature line is kind of a give away) I am a big supporter of Field Archery and lament the near death blow 3D has delt to what was formerly the most popular form of archery in the US. I've gone so far as to join and volunteer to run field tourneys in my local club, and in doing so insured we are going to have a State Field tourney when it wasn't going to happen otherwise.

Just read someting in The U.S. and International Archer March-April issue that hit a resonant cord with me. Bob Ragsdale said in his column dealing with unknow distance targets, "For the life of me I can't imagine why Field and Hunter tournaments from 10 to 80 yards are not the most popular thing in archery since they were born to help us prepare for hunting." And a little further on, "3D is a blast, but to me Field archery is much more gratifying and still the better training ground for learning to judge distance for 3D and hunting, not to mention learning how to stay in complete control of your equipment." He started this train of thought by saying, "...I can't imagine a better way to learn to judge distances than by continually shooting at marked distance targets."

How many times have I read on traditional archery boards how known distance shooting, or shooting beyond 20 yards, or shooting groups, or (and this one has becoming offensive) just shooting "spots" is of no use or purpose to bowhunters. These "traditional" shooters don't realize how they are short changing themselves, and missing out on one of the more rewarding and benificial forms of shooting the bow and arrow.

Dave

[Eaglearcher]

DE
You must be a carpenter. You hit so many nails on the head there.
I am in full agreement. I always enjoy shooting 3D but i mainly shoot at spots.
Because of all the spot shooting i know all my yardages and i know how well i can group. I also know how it feels when a shot goes off target and can directly relate the position of the arrow to an error in my technique on a particular shot. (How many times have you shot an arrow and you know exactly where its going to go just by how the shot feels?)
Because of all this i can usually tell why, if an arrow misses the kill.
If it is a misjudgement of distance, i will know and it is easier to recalculate for the next shot. A few years ago an archer friend of mine who only ever shot unmarked animal rounds, began to shoot spots with me. He found it difficult at first. Mainly due to the number of arrows he had to shoot and the need to concentrate on four arrows per target and not one (initially he would hit the spot with the first arrow and then get worse with the other three.)
After a few months of this we were both shooting at the same level and he said that his unmarked animal shooting had improved considerably. He went on to be IFAA European and World bowhunter champion. Proof if ever you needed it that spot shooting has its place in the world of Field Archery

[thisbucks4u]

Lots of good points. I like to shoot at both known and unknown out to 80 yards. Its probly the best way to get to know your rig.

I also prefer to shoot small circles rather than a target face. Lots of shots on the 3D course dont allow you to focus on the "Center" of the target, but force you to shoot for a particular "spot". JMHO

[Eaglearcher]

Good point Mike
The problem i have with 3D's and animal faces, is picking a point to aim at. I find it difficult to concentrate on some area on the flank of a deer for instance. I suppose it is because i am conditioned to staring at that spot.
Put a spot on the animal and my accuracy would improve.

[Desert Archer]

I also prefer to shoot small circles rather than a target face.

tb4u,

When I shoot field I don't aim (concentrate) on the "target face". I intently concentrate on the "spot" where I hold my arrow point (I use the point of aim method) and the smaller that "spot" is the better.

Eaglearcher,

My point of aim method is kind of the reverse of what Howard Hill called his slit vision technique. He concentrated on the spot to hit and saw the aim point in his peripheral vision (Furgeson describes this in his newest video of "Become the Arrow"). I concentrate on the aim point and see the center of the target in my peripheral vision. Guess it's a case of what works for each of us (smiley face goes here).

Dave

[swampy]

If you could get close enough to put a spot on the deer your about to shoot ofcourse your accuracy would go up :lol:

I can,t wait till the snow melts here so we can get our club range cleaned up.I,m hopeing to get 14 targets set up and marked for the field round.We used to have it so the markers and stuff are out there they just need to be checked and cleaned up a bit.I don,t know if the 80 yrd walk up is clear enough anymore to get an arrow thru that far.

[Papabull]

Good point Mike
The problem i have with 3D's and animal faces, is picking a point to aim at. I find it difficult to concentrate on some area on the flank of a deer for instance. I suppose it is because i am conditioned to staring at that spot.
Put a spot on the animal and my accuracy would improve.

In addition to the unmarked yardage, it also requires an archer to place the arrow where it needs to go without a spot to shoot at. Archers who shoot spots very well and then head to the woods with great confidence can find out the hard way that hunters must also learn to shoot targets that don't have circlese on them.

Field archery is extremely good training and a very enjoyable to me. It can help an archer in ways that 3D simply cannot. And, of course, 3D helps train an archer in ways that field archery cannot. It's all good. :)

[tuffshot]

The last Field Archery course that I know of was taken over by the city of Columbus Ohio years ago and they lost their ground and the club folded.

As you said 3D has taken over, that includes the mind set and bowyers creations, that are mostly designed for hunting. Look at the older field bows, longer lenghts and longer site windows. The bows of today are shorter for the most part and shorter site windows designed for closer shooting.

3D is not a target or spot on the front of a huge set of straw or excelsor (sp)bales, and present a whole different visual view. It makes it harder to pick a spot as there is nothing above or below the target to help range and fill the void. The fear of missing above or below the target as well as on a real animal is very real and constant. Yardage on 3D targets can be very decieving. A few have figured it out for the most part but few turn in a perfect score, and that includes compound shooters. If field archery would teach me to be a better 3D shooter or hunter I am all for it, but alas that is not possible around here.

I would like to see 2 arrows shot a each target on the 3D course, but that would slow the shoot down too much and would increase damage and decrease life expectancy of the targets. And the targets are expensive :)

[Eaglearcher]

PapaBull

Please don't think that i am putting 3D down.
I agree with you. There are many types of archery and they each have their own special skills.
Personally i enjoy Field Archery most of all but i do try to shoot as many different types of archery as i can. I have tried FITA and Clout shooting in the past as well as 3D and Field and i have enjoyed each one. I shot the Reinhart 100 a couple of weeks ago and it was the best weekend's shooting that i had enjoyed in a long time.
I have never tried hunting (its illegal over here) but i imagine that it must be some of the hardest shooting that you ever do. The responsibility for taking a life and ensuring that the one shot you get results in a clean kill must make for an intense experience. If ever there was a situation when target panic could rear its ugly head it must be here (is this what they call buck fever?).

As long as i have a bow in my hand and some arrows in my quiver i'm a happy man.As someone else here has said before "Give me a target, any ol' target will do".

Shoot Straight, Shoot True
Eaglearcher

[Papabull]

Being across the pond, I wasn't sure whether you'd ever been bowhunting or not and so wasn't sure if you understood the value of learning to shoot without the spot when it comes to bowhunting.

I still think the world of Traditional archery would be better off if Field Archery made a major comeback, though. With no real standards for 3D, at the rate we're going, the targets will soon be set so close that I'll need reading glasses to them properly. :)

[Eaglearcher]

Over here we have a 3D round that is based on the IFAA marked big game round. 3D,s are graded on the size of the outer kill area and are put onto either Group 1,2,3 or 4. just like the NFAA animal faces.
We then put the targets out so that they are between a set minimum and maximum distance.
Group 1 (Example McKenzie standing bear) 40 to 60 yds
Group 2 (Example McKenzie Pronghorn) 45 to 30 yds
Group 3 (Example McKenzie javalina) 35 to 20 yds
Group 4 (Example McKenzie Rock Rascals) 20 to 10 yds
This round can be shot as either a marked or unmarked round, there are 28 targets in a round and we use the three arrow shooting system.
It a very popular round and all styles shoot from the same pegs. (no dumbing down for the unsighted archers over here)
I'm not sure what kind of reception you would get if you put the round on over there but it would be interesting to see what the feedback would be.
Any more info you may need go to the EFAA website www.efaafieldarcher.com

[Desert Archer]

Eagle,

That "3D" round you are describing sounds great. I could get interested in 3D again if that was available here.

I kind of rail against 3D because it killed off field (my favorite) and is too few arrows in too long a time, but in all truth I have nothing against it if others want to participate. It just isn't my cup of tea.

I started this thread because so many bowhunters and 3D shooters have told me there is no value or point to them trying field archery. I thought Ragsdale's comments might carry more weight than my promotion of field archery. I honestly think, as Ragsdale said, shooting field would made hunters and 3D shooters even better at their chosen interests. I think your 3D round would be an improvement too.

Dave

[Papabull]

I like that idea, EagleArcher and that's actually the way the shoots were set up 15 years ago before recurve and longbow shooters became trad shooters.

That kind of setup would be considered completely outrageous today and would be unpopular to the extreme among modern traditional shooters used to deer-sized targets at 15-20 yards on average.

I've proposed a unique scoring system where three arrows are shot at these targets but only the lowest scoring arrow of the three counts. This scoring system, which rewards consistency didn't attract much interest either. Shooting a dead center bullseye wouldn't score anything if you also put one in the dirt and that didn't excite too many people.

[Holmes]

<<so many bowhunters and 3D shooters have told me there is no value or point to them trying field archery>>

I read similar responses to a query regarding Scott Antczak's, 'Dead On Traditional' video. This took place on another web site.

Common response was the video was useless as it incorporated too much target archery technique and too many gadgets on his bow (Scott advocates the use of a sling and a draw check).

Most responders believed the video was not of value to the archery hunter.

I would venture those 'experts' have not seen Scott's trophy room! He is definitely a successful hunter.

I've studied numerous videos and I've taken a lesson or two from each of them to incorporate into MY style.

To say that field archery has no value or relevance to the archery hunter strikes me as incredibly asinine. Both 3D and field archery can do nothing but enhance one's skills if taken and practiced seriously.

I, for one, would very much like to see a resurgence in the practice of field archery.

-Holmes

[Bob Gordon]

I was at a all trad 3-D shoot Saterday and the targets were set longer than normal for a trad shoot in my area, beaver at 32 yds, most deer, bears at 30 to 33 yds, little piggies at 30, elk, caribou at 40 to 42 yds, you should have heard the screaming and whineing from the bowhunter mentality trad's, several walked off the course in protest to the longer yardages. That seems to be the attitude when it comes to trad 3-D shoots in the west that I have attended and shot. Most of them love the hide it in the brush so you can't tell if the critter is facing left or right and make everything point blank yargages. It's a shame as I like the longer shots and they are much more of a challange to shoot and hit right. These are not hunting practice shoots, they are target shoots at a animal shaped target, nothing more...It just seems that many people just don't want to learn to shoot better or shoot farther than you ever would out of a tree stand or blind. I don't understand the mental bloc against to wanting to improve one's shooting abilities past point blank yardages. There is no reason at all why the average trad archer cannot learn to hit longer targets very well, after all, that's all we shot at years ago before this new jump in recurve/longbow shooting. Any improvement in longer yardages can only be a big help on the closer real hunting shots, You don't have to shoot long shots at game but why not learn to do it on targets, besides it's a heck of a lot of fun....warf

[Papabull]

:shooting:

I've spent countless hours bowhunting and spent not one second regretting all the wasted time I spent on target ranges and 3D courses working on my shooting during the off season. I don't know about anyone else, but I try to be at the very top of my shooting game when hunting season rolls around and have never felt like it was going to be detrimental to my hunting experience. We get 4 tags with our license, so it's not like you end the hunting season too early if your shots fly true.

[Pinelander]

About 15 years ago when I was setting up 3-D range for Trad Only shoot, I asked the other trad members what distance they thought I should setup deer. They said, "No more than 23 yards, you'll never hear the end of it if you do". They were so right... and I also learned as the years progressed that the more difficult the shot was (arrow flight path, not distance), the more they liked it.

But then one year, I setup a Big Horn Ram that was 63 yards down a very steep hill. I was surprised at the talk of everyone coming off the range, sayng that target was the BEST one on the course... it was like someone turned a lightbulb on. I had a sign at the target that said "3 arrows, #1-full score, #2-half score, #3-if ya haven't hit it yet". They were admitting afterwards of shooting as many as 6 arrows at that target. I believe many of them had never shot that far before... I just couldn't resist.