[longrifle346]

I'm just getting started back into competitive archery after a lay-off of 3 decades. I had some really good success back then and in hindsight I wish I hadn't abandoned those dreams all those years ago. With a family to feed and bills to pay I had little choice. Now I do. I'm 61 and having some success on the state level but I'm nowhere near the level of the champions we have here on TradTalk. Still I'm considering devoting more time to this "hobby" and wondering: What should be my next step? Is tournament archery just about bragging rights or can it be turned into something more? I'm wondering if it can be these days and I'm looking for a little guidance and the voice of experience from some of you pros....

 

[Greysides]

Best I can suggest is coaching and mental training.

 

[rusty craine]

Find the best guys you can to shoot with. Good shooters make good shooters.

 

[longrifle346]

rusty you're absolutely right and I'm lucky enough to have been shooting alongside one this year. He was also the defending champion at the State Championship I shot Sunday and I've watched him shoot several ASA rounds either clean or over this season. He's become a good friend.

 

[vabowdog]

It's all depending on what you're after...if it's a state championship or a world Championship...there's really only 2 major 3-D organizations here in the US the IBO and the ASA...they are about as much differences as could be.

I shoot both and love both..the IBO is typically a harder course more challenging because of angles and distances.

I shoot a few local events but mainly stick to those two.


Dewayne Martin

 

[RickR]

Never really shot in competition except for fun, so I'm not up on the kinds of competition you're talking about, but I have been shooting, at the very least twice a week since I got a bow for my seventh birthday, and I'm 66. I progressed and got better until about 35, at that point I could hunt bare bow with an ethical range of fifty yards and play with the kiddies on targets and get my share of spots. I started to lose it at forty, went to a cable cannon, sights then a scope by fifty to maintain that. But it's really a downhill ride. I hunt now at thirty with a warf, a sight and a scope. The arrow will go fifty easily, but the archer can't be sure of a kill at that anymore, because even with a scope, he can't see the shot. Do what pleases you, enjoy it, but until or unless they establish a senior's league, you're not championship material.

 

[Matt_Potter]

Take it as far as you want. I went to my first trad worlds to see if I could hang with the big boys. By the third target I knew a) the answer was yes I could hang and b) the big boys are just guys like you and me who love shooting.

I've never had more fun and laughs than shooting with the crowd at trad worlds or the West Coast IBO shoot. The top IBO shooters are just plain good guys and girls to hang out with. Both fun and helpful.


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[Grantmac]

Is tournament archery just about bragging rights or can it be turned into something more? I'm wondering if it can be these days and I'm looking for a little guidance and the voice of experience from some of you pros....

Not sure what you mean by the bold part, nobody is really a "pro" in the sense of having archery be anything more than a fun activity with the possible exception of a few coaches.

-Grant

 

[longrifle346]

Thanks everyone. LOL, typical doggone newbie....win a few tournaments and a buckle and start having visions of grandeur! I just wondered if this addiction that I enjoy so much might be at least self-supporting and it sounds like that's not the case. In one way I know I'm blessed, in another there are some small pangs of regret that I wasn't able to take it to fruition back when I first started....

The movie quote "I could'a been a contender!" comes to mind....LMBO!