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Gold in Compound Barebow. We shot two 900 American Rounds; 635 and 687 respectively for a total of 1322. The first day was o.k., as I hadn’t had the opportunity for much practice. I was very pleased with the second day score of 687. The 900 American Round consists of 30 arrows at 60 yards, 30 at 50 yards and 30 at 40 yards. The scoring is 10,9,8,7, etc. It was great fellowship and seeing some of the participants from last years’ games. For me it was a little more challenging shooting barebow, as I didn’t really know where the arrow was going to hit (most of the time). With my sight & release I know when I shoot almost exactly where the arrow will hit. This adds a bit more excitement (anxiety?) to the shot.

This year I missed the target unlimited round (sight, compound & release). I misread the time and Debbie had a flat tire to be fixed the morning of the competition. I got the tire fixed in time and could have made the morning shoot had I not misread the time.

I did make the afternoon round, which was also a target round, only five yards closer as there could be no sights or releases. It was shot bare bow. There are different divisions in bare bow, i.e. bare bow recurve and bare bow long bow. For the first time bare bow compound was added this year. Two years ago I shot 237 out of 300 shooting bare bow recurve. This year I shot bare bow compound and scored 247. I was the only one in the new division, but did manage to score the highest score of the competition. I’ve gone to the bare bow compound as it’s easier on my shoulder than shooting a recurve or long bow.

It was all a lot of fun. Here are a couple of pics. Simply select to enlarge.

If you wonder why I do not have a category for “Pistol”, wonder no more. Just for fun (not sure it was) I entered the Sporting Pistol and Precision Pistol venues. I thought I’d most likely get crushed, and I was right. Actually, it was quite an experience. In the “Sporting Pistol” venue I had no idea of what was happening, and even less of an idea of what was happening in the “Precision Pistol”.

Check in was scheduled for 9:00 AM and the competition scheduled to start at 10:00 AM. This venue was well attended, so when they had enough competitors present they decided to start, as they’d need to have a second shooting line. We started shooting before 9:00 AM. I asked the fella next to me how much warm-up time we had. Answer: None! Well to speed this along, it did not take me long to figure out that I was in way over my head. I should have noticed this when the fella on my left set up his equipment. Here’s the pic:

As I looked down the shooting line I noticed that most all of the shooters had similar equipment boxes and mounted spotting scopes on top of the boxes. Not only all of this, but they were really good too! Later I found out that most all of the shooter knew each other, were active members of the shooting club, and shot 2-5 times weekly; along with a match every couple of weeks.

The only other pic I took was this one.

I do not know how many were in my age group, 65-69, but from the scores that won I do know that I was no where near placing. Not only this, but I was no where near being in the running. Besides this I was completely stomped out of the competition. Not only so, but ………… I think you get the idea. And just think, this was in the “Sporting Pistol” venue. Next I shot in the “Precision Pistol” venue. This was REALLY ugly. The lady that collected the score cards tried to tell me that I shot very well for my first time, she was very nice, but definitely a liar!!

Next year? I think I’d need the entire year to prepare in order to perhaps be competitive.

At any rate, it was fun and I got free pop and a piece of pizza.

This was my first time to shoot in this tournament. The shoot was held May 30-31, 2009. There were three courses of fifteen target each; all 3-D. The courses were well set up and the distances reasonable. I ran across several archers that I’d met at the Clints Well tournament the weekend preceding this shoot. I shot compound bare bow, with 121 on course one, 111 on course two, and another 111 on course three for a total score of 343. I received a pin for second place. Interestingly, first place was something in the 440′s. I asked the man who got first place how he was able to shoot such a very high score. He said that is shot sight and release and used a range finder. I told him I was curious as to how he could shoot in the bare bow division (no sight or release). He told me that the “Outlaw Shoot” had no rules, so he entered the bare bow division, even that he shot sight, release, and used a range finder; interesting.  At any rate, it was a lot of fun and it was good to visit with a few shooters that I met at Clints Well.

The Silver Arrow archery tournament is hosted each year by Granite Mountain Archers. This year it was held April 25-26. In the past it has been a target archers’ shoot, this year it was 45 3-D targets. This change certainly helped with the turn out; there were 118 archers.  In the past the turn out has been in the 20′s.

The winds were terrible, with gusts well over 45 mph. I decided to shoot it bare bow, i.e. no sights and with fingers instead of a release. This meant I shot from the yellow stakes instead of the blue; the yellow stakes are closer to the target. I was very pleased with the first 15 targets; a score of 141 on Course #3. I scored 131 on Course #1, and 119 on Course #2, which I thought was substantially more difficult. My total was 391.  I placed first in bare bow compound and got my first “Silver Arrow”. I was very pleased with how I shot, but found out I was the only one in my division : (

The shoot was very well organized and the courses were well set up.  It was all a lot of fun in spite of the horrific winds.

The Papago Park Robin Hood Archry Tournament ( Phoenix, Arizona) was held November 15, ’08. I shot very poorly, some 60 points lower than a shoot I shot last month on the same type of round. It was a 900 American Round (60, 50, & 40 yards – 30 arrows at each distance). The wind was terrible. My guess is there were gusts over 25 mph. I had a very difficult time with this, as the release I shoot is very slow back tension and I can not touch it off (That’s the reason I shoot it, so that I don’t touch it off). On my way home from the shoot I stopped at Mile High Archery in Humbolt, Arizona (Dave Stepp) and traded one of my releases for one that I can touch off as I’m blown across the center of a target. I plan to get used to it and use it on windy days. The wind died down significantly by the third round (40 yards) and I shot reasonably well, but too late. I briefly met Stewart Bowman who owns a full service pro shop (Desert Archery) in Kingman, Arizona. Stewart makes the Bowman Bow. He has incorporated some really great ideas, e.g. a shoot through harness, a no torque handle (which is a built-in overdraw), centering the handle between the limb pivot bolts, etceteras. I had the pleasure of shooting with one of his shooters (Bob). Bob is an excellent archer and shot very well for the conditions. Several other shooters shot very well, including Stewart. Here are a few pics I took near the end of the shoot. Simply click on a picture to enlarge it.

Here are a few picture from Sunday afternoon, November 9, ’08, when Jerry and I took the church youth boys to Granite Mountain Archery Range to introduce them to 3-D Archery. Simply click on a picture to enlarge it.

The games started in 1987 and are held each year in Saint George, Utah. This was really an awesome experience. I met so many really neat people. There were a lot to meet, i.e. 9,701 athletes as well as friends, relatives, coaches, and spectators competing in 25 different sports. Since their beginning there have been participants from 58 different countries that have participated. At the games this year there were participants from 24 different countries and all 50 states.

I competed in Target Archery and Field Archery. Each event lasted for two days. In the Target Archery we shot a 900 American Round. In this round one shoots 30 arrows from 60, 50, and 40 yards each, with a perfect score being 900. My personal goal was to shoot over 850 each day. I did not attain my goal, as I shot 842 and 843 for a total of 1685. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was enough to win the gold medal in my age group, 65-69 years. I had the third highest score overall. Bob Park, my shooting partner, is pictured with me. Bob won the Gold Medal for the 80+ year old division in Target Archery.

In the Field Archery event we shot a 28 target Field Round. This is where we walk around an up and downhill course and shoot four arrows at each target. I was very pleased with this round and scored 489 out of 560 (500 would have been very nice, for me). At the end of the first day I had a 5 point lead over my closest competitor. On the second day of this event we shot twenty 3-D animal targets. I do not shoot very well on this type of a round, and shot quite poorly. As it turned out my closest competitor (Ruel) had a terrible day and I won by 20 points and received the gold medal. Neither one of us were very pleased with our scores. In the Target Archery event Ruel had received the bronze. What I haven’t told you is that he was on crutches for all four days of the two events. He had had his ankle operated on. He is an excellent archer and I wonder how he’d have done had he been completely healthy.

This was the first year for Archery, so the number of shooters was small, with only one other country represented (Canada). This year went very well, so the Archery Event will be publicized in other countries by the Huntsman Publicity Committee.

Again, this was a wonderful experience and most everyone I had contact with was great.

Last year I participated in the Prescott Senior Olympic Games. It was a lot of fun to participate with other geriatrics (must be at least 50 years old). I entered Table Tennis Singles and Doubles, as well as Archery Compound (sight & release) and Traditional (no sight, no release, and no compound).

This year I will participate in the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah. I’ve entered Table Tennis Singles and Doubles. I also entered Archery Target (30 arrows from 60/50/40 yards each), Archery Field Animal (walk round a course & shoot paper animal targets at marked distances), and Archery 3-D (walk around a course & shoot 3-dimensional animal targets at unmarked distances). The archery events will be over four days, as the Table Tennis events are over four days. I am now 65 years old and will participate in the 65-69 age bracket in the archery events. In Table Tennis, since I am what is called a rated player (doesn’t mean I’m good, just rated), I may find myself matched with some kid of only 50!!! Hardly seems fair, does it!

I’m really looking forward to these games. Last year there were 9,503 participants from 53 countries that participated in some 25 events. The events cover a wide spectrum of sports, e.g. Badminton, Basketball Bowling, Golf, Cycling, Cowboy Action Shooting, Softball, Racquetball, Swimming, Track & Field, Cycling, etceteras. The expectation for this year is for more than 11,000 participants from more than 60 countries. I will definitely be taking my camera and taking lots of pictures.