NFAA 28 Target Field Round

[Desert Archer]

Since I'm always promoting field archery, this seemed like an appropriate thing for me to start.

Talking about the basic field course (less the animal round 'cause most clubs won't have that up all the time). 14 Field targets (the black, white and black) and 14 Hunter targets (all black with a white aim point/five ring). Field distances are all multiples of 5, i.e. 15, 20, 25, 30 etc. all the way to 80 yards. Hunter distances are odd, like 19 & 17, 28, 36, 44 all the way to 70 yards max. On most ranges Field is shot from the white markers and Hunter from the red. You club/range may be different.

Possible is 560. My best ever was 396. Shot it today with new limbs and arrows (changed my point of aim for most distances) and got only 359 (171 & 188). My goal is to break 400.

Oh, and I'm shooting Barebow Class which means multiple anchor points. Most of you guys are going to be Traditional Class which is one anchor and touching the nock.

Dave

[Desert Archer]

Got to thinking that not everyone will have a Field and Hunter round both available. Post your 14 target scores here too, just specify if you're shooting Field or Hunter so the rest of us will know what we are compairing our scores too. Possible for 14 targets is 280.

Dave

[Desert Archer]

This is turning into my very own private thread...but I didn't intend it that way. I was seriously hoping others would go out and shoot field and find out how much fun it is. Well, I'm going to soldier on...

Shot the 28 target course this morning. Made 186 on the Field part and 197 on the Hunter half, for a total of 383. I keep making dumb (mostly mental) mistakes. On the 28 yard fan target (Hunter course) I shot two fives, one four and a complete miss. The only way I can explain that is a collapse of concentration or as I think of it, failure to properly execute the shot. I'm never going to break 400 if I keep missing the whole damn thing (LOL).

Come on now folks, post some field scores!

Dave

[BLACK WOLF]

DA,

If there was one near by I would be right here with ya.

Since there isn't one, I'll still enjoy reading your accomplishments and the lessons you can share through your experiences in field archery.

Keep 'em coming!

Ray ;)

[Desert Archer]

I'm getting ready for the State Police Olympics on Friday and Saturday, so I'm trying to shoot the field course every day (field is 1/3 of the archery competition, the other parts being 3D and target). I did better on the Field half (198) but fell down a little on the Hunter (194). A 392 still doesn't match my personal best or reach my goal.

I keep doing dumb things, which cause misses. I managed 10 points on the 80 yard walk-up target for the Field part, then totally screwed up the 70 yard walk-up on the hunter round with only a 4. I am discovering those long shots not only require alot of concentration but a certain amount of confidence too. If I'm not sure of my hold, I find myself throwing away the shot. It might be torquing the bow (which I did today) or dropping the bow arm to watch the arrow (how dumb is that - LOL). I've heard people say the 80 and 70 yard shots are only 3 arrows out of 112, but if I'd of gotten a couple of 4s I would have made my goal of 400 points.

I've got to get those long shots figured out, and I only have one day left to do it. Oh the pressure (smiley face goes here).

Dave

[Desert Archer]

Hank,

I fully understand that 3D has taken over from Field. What I'm trying to do, both locally and over the internet, is re-kindle some of the interest and joy that is field archery. Believe it or not I actually don't have any ill will toward 3D, even though I sounds like it at times. I don't personally like it because it just isn't enough shooting and it is so hunting oriented. Since I don't hunt anymore it is just another kind of target shooting to me, without enough "shooting".

I can't remember if you have posted that you've already shot the field course or if this is going to be your first one. If it's your first, take lots of arrows (LOL) and don't get discouraged. The long shots look impossible at first but you can learn to hit them. Foundation for longer shooting is knowing your point on distance. You can build a lot from there.

Jump in and get your feet wet. Don't be afraid to post your score either. Just last October I shot my first competitive field event (Police/Fire Games) and got 50% (280). I was higher than a kite. Now I'm trying to break 400 and it's hard as the dickins, but fun at the same time.

Dave

PS: Get some of those "target shooter" looking guys to go along. Maybe you can start a movement back to field in your area.

[Desert Archer]

...it can do nothing but improve my 3D shooting...

Hank, it can do nothing but improve your archery. Better 3D will just be a bonus (smiley face goes here).

Dave

[Desert Archer]

A long standing truism is that you never shoot as good in competition as in practice. In getting ready for the Arizona Police Olympics (Archery) I have been shooting the 28 target Field course and scoring in the 380s and 390s. I figured I would be lucky to get in the 370s today in competition. Surprised myself and shot a personal best of 406, which also pushed me over one of my goals which was to break 400. First 14 (Field) was 196 and the second 14 (Hunter) was 210. This was Barebow Recurve and unfortunately I was the only one in that class. First place doesn't mean anything without competition but it was still my personal best so I feel the day was a success none the less.

Just think - now I have to break 425 (smiley face goes here).

Dave

[BLACK WOLF]

Greta shootin' DA.

Weither or not someone else is in my class...I'm always competeting against myself. If I win and I shot bad...I'm disappointed with myself. If I loose, but I shot good....I feel like a winner.

Ray ;)

[Glynn Sluder]

DA,
Allright! Glad to hear you broke that 400 barrier.

Well, haven't been over here for quite a while or I would have posted some scores. We have tried to shoot at least twice a week on the field course(14).

Dave you know you almost have to keep a journal of what happens day to day. Just when you get to hitting the long ones you blow the short or medium shots. It's a real lesson in focus and concetrating. It is the best thing going for 3-D or any other kind of shooting in my opinion.

OK, my two best 14 target rounds were 183. My best combined score (two field rounds) was 359, a 183 and 176.

Most days I shoot 155 to 165, around there for 14 targets. I would also love to break 400. We have some state shoots coming up in May, June, and Aug. but it will probably just be me and the boss shooting trad from the Field stakes.

I sent the warf bow off for beautifying this week and had to shoot my Sky instead. It shoots alot slower, so I was starting from scratch on my gaps. Shot a 114. Know what? I still had a blast, I love being out there.

I will check back in here and dang sure let you know when I break 375, much less 400. Congrats again on the 406, keep 'er going. Glynn

[Desert Archer]

...so I was starting from scratch on my gaps.

Glynn, boy do I know what you're talking about. In the past month or so I have changed bows twice, switched limbs on each of those and changed arrows three times. Each time I have to re-learn my points of aim and anchors. They aren't radically different but enough so that it takes several times around the course to get it down.

Keep at it Glynn, it only gets better and you have fun doing it!
Dave

[Lumis17]

Now that the weather is more conductive towards outdoor shooting I'll be shooting more animal, field, and hunter rounds. My goal is to reach 450 on a field round by the end of the year.

Nothing beats the satisfaction of reaching one of your goals :)

[Desert Archer]

Lewis, I just broke 400 for the first time. Let's see who gets to 450 first!

Dave

[Lumis17]

DA, that sounds like a fine challenge.

I got a question for you if you don't mind. Where are the different places that you anchor at and what's your point-on for each one? I get a LOT of my points from the closer shots, but I still struggle to get decent, everyday consistency at the 60-80 yard shots. I'm thinking of getting some thinner and lighter arrows to make the aiming easier, though I have considered dropping down my anchor by one finger (from my middle to my index finger).

[Desert Archer]

Lewis,

Consider the challange official (smiley face goes here)!

I have four anchors but the lowest is only for 80 yards. What I do is try to make them all the same length by hooking my thumb behind the corner of my jaw bone.

I vary height by starting with my ring finger in the corner of my mouth. This is a very high anchor, actually about like some people's 3 finger under anchor. I can shoot from 20 feet to 40 yards with this one. The shorter distances are gunbarreled down the shaft and 40 yards I hold the point just under the aiming spot (almost point on).

Next up is the middle finger in the corner of my mouth. With that I can cover 45, 50 & 55 yards and still have my arrow point near the paper. Fifty yards is roughly point on for this hold.

Index finger in the corner is for 60, 65 & 70. Point on with this hold is about sixty yards. For 80 I split the index and middle finger around the jaw bone and hold at 6 o'clock on the whole target. Every once in a while I get one in the scoring rings (LOL).

Believe it or not I have about as much trouble with the 20 to 35 foot targets as the 80 and 79 yards ones. With no "aiming point" I have to shoot kind of instinctively and I don't seem to have much of that (LOL again).

Dave

[Lumis17]

Those numbers are somewhat similar to mine when I shoot split-fingers.

I've tried shooting with a point-on of 50 yards for everything, but I just wasn't completely satisfied with my 20-40 yard shooting, especially on 3D targets. On paper I didn't have too much trouble recognizing my gaps, but on 3Ds I just couldn't do it consistently enough and I would have a lot of fliers. I think part of the reason is that I don't have any 3D targets so I can't really practice shooting on them. I was pretty happy that I got into the 240s-250s shooting indoors with such a large gap, though. That was pretty satisfying.

Right now I'm going back to my point-on of a little over 30 yards. I've always shot my highest scores that way so I'm going to work with that for now. It doesn't get too terrible until I get past 55 yards. Like I said before, my arrow tip point-on is 30 yards. The point-on for the flipper arm of my arrow rest is 45 yards. The point-on for the shelf of my riser is 55 yards. At 60 yards I aim with the top of my wooden bow grip. Ideally I'd like to get a faster setup so that my point-on gets moved back to at least 35-40 yards, similar to your short range anchor.

The main impediment to my progress is this freakin target panic that always keeps coming back to haunt me. I know where I need to aim and I tell my body how everything needs to be lined up, but some days for the life of me I just can't do it and I shoot before getting the arrow all the way up (I try to draw as level as possible, but almost always I need to move my bow arm up still).

[Desert Archer]

Weather man says today was to be the last day in the 80s, with temps in the 90s for the rest of the week...so I thought I'd get in another 28 target round. Shot 194 on the Field and 198 on the Hunter, for a combined 392. I seem to have developed a tendency to shoot to the right at the longer distances. I think it's my bow hand/arm. Can't remember how many arrows hit on the right edge of the paper but it was enough to insure I wasn't going to break 400.

Lewis, you're safe as far as the challange goes if I don't solve this shooting to the right business. Dang frustrating!

Dave

[swampy]

Congrads Dave !! Sounds like you did quite well,it doesn,t really matter if nobody else was in your style.At least you did well,it woulda sucked if ya did bad and still won LOL because of no compition.

[Eaglearcher]

I may not be scoring the same as you guys but for what it is worth here are my scores for the Field and Hunter rounds.
As i have mentioned before i have only been shooting IFAA Longbow since the new year and i know that i have a long way to go.( Thats the excuse out of the way. Now onto the scores.) My best 28 Hunter is 240 and my best 28 Field is 218. This is shooting Split loose and only one anchor position (as IFAA rules state). For me pile on is at 48 yds and the 80 yarder is up in the trees somewhere!
I am still coming to terms with the new scores as my old ones with the compound were a bit higher. (Shooting with a five pin sight and off fingers my best score was a 519 Hunter).
Ah well with so far to go i have the enjoyment of the journey to look forward to.

[Desert Archer]

Eagle, with a 28 target score of 458 you would be dominating the NFAA Traditional class on this side of the pond. I am truly impressed.

Dave

[Eaglearcher]

DE
Please dont be too impressed, i think that you must have misunderstood me.
The scores relate to 28 targets not 14. Over here in Europe we shoot 28 targets of field OR 28 targets of hunter not 14 of each.
If i could shoot in the 450s i would be very happy as i would be breaking all IFAA world records by a very big margin.
The current world champion (who we all know) shoots in the 330s on a good day.

[Desert Archer]

Onward through the fog...LOL!

OK, I get you now. In fact, our State Field championship coming up on the 23 & 24 April will have 28 Field, 14 Animal and 28 Hunter. Most of the courses left (3D shut an awful lot of them down) are set up with 14 field and 14 hunter, so I was calling those 28 targets a "field round". A bit of a mis-nomer both to you and according to the NFAA rule book. I just figured it was an easier way to talk about it and what those few field shooters on this side of the pond do, due to the constraints of time and facilities.

It wasn't so very long ago I would have been envious of a 218, not to mention a 240, for 28 targets so don't put yourself down. With one anchor point I'm not sure I could do that well, let alone any better. Keep shooting and enjoy the flight of the arrow!

Dave

[eric96]

Field rounds and Hunter rounds are a blast. this season I am getting an old recurver ready to shoot field. I know I will have fun no mater what the score is. :)

[Desert Archer]

Welcome eric96, and don't forget to post your scores whether it's for a 14 target course or a 28 target course. And tell us about where you shoot, what you shoot and how you shoot. We're all here to learn.

Dave

[eric96]

No problem Desart archer will do.

[Desert Archer]

Shot the 28 target course again today. Hot and breezy. Did terrible on one target at 65 yards (Field course). Only had one arrow in the scoring rings and that was a "3". Put two low right where the target pin was and one at 9 o'clock just outside the scoring ring. That target was awful (LOL).

Shot 395 (193 & 202). I can't seem to get back to 400 after breaking it a week or so back. Got to keep at it thought (smiley face goes here).

Dave

[Desert Archer]

Well the results are in. I didn't do that well, certainly not as well as my practice rounds have been. Guess that's to be expected but I was hoping for a better performance.

Saturday we shot a 28 target Field round. 560 possible and I got 368. Saturday afternoon we shot 14 Animal (paper) targets. Possible 280 and I got 232. Sunday we shot a 28 target Hunter round. 560 possible and I got 383.

My total for the weekend was 983 out of a possible 1400. I got beat in Barebow Class by a string walker who shot 1109. Oh well, I need more practice!

Dave

[Desert Archer]

Got a new riser (Hoyt Matrix) and wanted to try it on the field course. No pressure, just shooting for fun. Shot 204 on the front 14 and 205 on the back end for a personal best of 409.

Lewis, I'm still working on that 450 (smiley face goes here).

Dave

[Floxter]

Just discovered this forum today; love to shoot Field Archery, just wish my scores matched my enthusiam. I don't really have a particular discipline: I shoot longbow, FITA bow, and recently picked up a 40 year old wooden recurve that I've been playing with. During the month of May, we've only had a marked animal round set up on our course, in an attempt to encourage some of the 3D'ers to come out and try Field. So far, my best score for a 14 target marked animal round is only 200 with the recurve and 172 with the longbow (still haven't shot it with the FITA bow). Starting in June, the regular Field/Hunter League begins and we'll be shooting 14 targets, alternating Field and Hunter each week, with a couple weeks of animal rounds thrown in for fun. Last year when I was shooting Field/Hunter exclusively with the FITA bow most of my scores for the 14 target Field Round hovered around 210-220 and slightly better on the Hunter Round. So I've still got a long way to go to become competitive. If I remember, my best with the longbow was about 134 for the 14 target Field Round on a really lucky day.

[Desert Archer]

Hank,

Keep shooting the field rounds but in between spend some time on a known distance range. You can work on form and figure out (extablish) your gaps at the same time.

I have had to do this several times, switching limbs and upgrading arrows. It really helps you to learn your equipment and how the arrows fly, particularly at the longer distances.

Dave

PS: 280 is 50% of the possible for 28 targets. I can remember striving to get to that 280. Your shooting Traditional Longbow/Recurve Class and that 322 is an excellent score for only your second time through the course. You should be proud of that.

[Desert Archer]

Spent the last several weeks working on preperations for the FITA Field distance judging and yards to meters conversions. Hadn't shot a 28 target field course for about 3 weeks.

Decided to get out and shoot a practice round today. Started slow but settled down toward the end. 14 Field target score was 194 and 14 Hunter target score was 206. Total 400. Maybe there's hope for me yet (LOL) but damn it was hot out there!

Dave

[Desert Archer]

On Tuesday I shot a 28 target round (14 Field & 14 Hunter). Total was 390. Shot the same round today and the total was 381.

I continue June's slide into mediocrity (LOL). This has been the worst month for archery I've had since I got back into it and the month's not a third over. Hate to think where I'm gonna bottom out (and it's getting harder to laugh).

Dave

[Desert Archer]

Monday the 13th, I shot 379 (yuck). Today I shot 406! Maybe, just maybe, I'm getting a handle on the slump.

Dave