First Day of Spring Training! How far do you go?

[Flint Hills Tex]

Finally, after a long, cold, wet, miserable German Winter, Springtime has arrived, and our club will start outdoor training TODAY! Though my club is primarily FITA/Oly oriented, there are about 20 archers who prefer 3-D!

While archery on the whole is a growing sport over here, 3-D has really caught on big time. As opposed to America, though, almost no compound archers shoot 3-D; its almost exclusively the realm of traditional archers! We even have our own quarterly magazine, "3-D Bogensport", which has updates on international competitions (IFAA, IBO, WBO, EBHC) as well as local, regional and national shoots, equipment reviews, and 3-D course resumés, in which various club courses are described.

You can find even more activity in Austria, where the Alps present really challenging courses. In fact, you can book an archery weekend in the Alps, where, for about $130, you get 3 days/2 nights in a hotel with breakfast and range fees included!

What I want to know is, do you guys shoot club leagues, competition, or just your own "back 40"? Most courses over here offer shots between 5 and 60 meters (recurve/longbow). What are the longest shots on the courses you shoot? Do you shoot 3-D primarily to stay in form for hunting season, or do you enjoy it as a sport in an of itself?

Let's hear from you!

[Mark Hedges]

What I want to know is, do you guys shoot club leagues, competition, or just your own "back 40"? Most courses over here offer shots between 5 and 60 meters (recurve/longbow). What are the longest shots on the courses you shoot? Do you shoot 3-D primarily to stay in form for hunting season, or do you enjoy it as a sport in an of itself?

Let's hear from you!

I shoot in the backyard, competition, and at a very nice outdoor course at a local pro shop. Last year I shot in a summer outdoor 3d league at the local shop, but this year I don't think I will be able to because I want to go to more competitions than I did last year, and with the new baby I don't see how I would be able to shoot my league and go to a competition on the same weekend.

As far as distances, when I shoot in the back yard I usually shoot out to 30 yards, but occasionally I will shoot out to 40. At league or at shoots usually the distances are 25 yards or less, but sometimes for the bigger targets (like a moose) the stake will be out to 40 yards.

Mark

[Mark Hedges]

I shot outdoors for the first time today. 30 targets, 10 8 5 scoring i shot a 181 which is not good but considering it was the first time ever shooting my new bow and that I haven't shot 3D outdoors since October, it wasn't that bad.

Also the stake was set for compound hunter class shooters so the average distance was probably about 25 yards+, which is farther than normal for trad shooting around here.

[Flint Hills Tex]

Just 2 more weeks till my first 3-D shoot of the year, so I was out stumpin' with my son over the Easter holiday. Picture perfect weather: sunshine, highs in the low 80s! Decided to shoot our wooden shafts with rubber blunts. Hit most of what we aimed at, but ended up trashing 3 shafts, one of which was across a ravine, through dense branches. I just didn't think about the parabolic flight path; should've aimed lower.

Had a great time despite the losses!