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Spot shooting?

brock ratcliff

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Do any of you have any experience with it? Mason is dragging me back into 3D shooting. Ross Co Bowhunters have expanded their facilities to accommodate indoor 3D shooting through the winter. They can shoot out to 50 yards. We have gone the last two Sunday afternoons and have enjoyed it immensely. They also host spot shooting on Monday evenings, so we went down to give that a try. I'd never done it. It seems to be an entirely different game. Huge diameter shafts, light weight bows, magnifying scopes and intricate stabilization systems. Crazy gear. Impressive shooting too. Mason and I just took our hunting set ups. Lol. I could see how a person could get hooked on this type of shooting but I'm not sure I want to make the investment. Here is a pic of my first round. Anyone else ever done this type of shooting?
 

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bowhunter1023

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I've done it a handful of times, but never customized my equipment for it. Always shot my hunting gear and actually took 3rd in a league of 16 guys one year. I like it because it's all muscle memory and executing a system. I might turn my Mathews in to an indoor rig now that our local shop is building an indoor range. Turn it down to 60#s, go to a single pin with a lens and clarifier and shoot some fatties. Be good training for me.
 

finelyshedded

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Yup, Ron and I did it back in the late 70’s thru most of the 80’s. We both, along with several buddies belonged to the Morgan County archery club which consisted of about 20-30 archers. The elders were very knowledgeable and were huge in helping us newbies get familiar with our gear and the mental and physical aspect of archery. WOW, what a great ride! Sure, we all had our bouts with frustration and mental errors but we also had our high moments as well. I know I can speak for Ron and our buddies in the fact we owe so much to those older gents for getting us hooked and where we are today. I’m at work now and my break is over but I’ll share much more later when I get time. Loved shooting at 5 spot targets :pickle:
 

bigten05

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i have not shot 3d or spots for years. i keep talking about doing it again. i have a buddy that is really good and wins alot of events, hes going to vegas and lancaster again this year.
 

Gordo

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That brings back memories.

Me and the old man used to shoot a lot at 'Solon Archery'. Must have been early 90s. I was a little man.

I think it was every Tuesday night and whenever else we would go.

It was a fun ride. A lot of 20 yard indoor spot shooting(don't remember referring to it as that, but I assume it's the same thing). We'd travel around a little bit shooting random tournaments. I do remember being in the 'cub' class if that makes sense.

Long story short, a horrible; and I mean horrible bout with Target Panic/anxiety ended all that jazz. It was really bad. I went from being pretty f'n good, to not even being able to hit the damn target.

To this day, I still deal with TP if I'm not careful.

It was a major glitch in my psyche. Unfathomable. Argh.

I turned into a trap and sporting clays maniac after all that. [emoji1598]
 
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brock ratcliff

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I can see target panic creeping in due to this style of shooting. Mason struggled badly at first. He couldn't settle in to save his skin. Once he realized he'd blown his score completely he dialed right in. He does not battle TP nearly so much in 3D.
 

loose_is_fast

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I shot a bow league for a few years. Twenty yard indoor 5 shots a round at a time. We shot in two man groups with a high and low target. We had the option of a single target or the other side of the paper was 5 smaller targets. It was pretty fun and I placed in the top 10 using my hunting setup.
 

Gordo

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I shot a bow league for a few years. Twenty yard indoor 5 shots a round at a time. We shot in two man groups with a high and low target. We had the option of a single target or the other side of the paper was 5 smaller targets. It was pretty fun and I placed in the top 10 using my hunting setup.

I remember the target being a 5 spot like that of a dice.

Them were some good dudes. Fuggars could shoot. It was like a damn dart tournament... Money involved? Possibly...Lmfao
 

Jackalope

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My FIL and his brother shoot it a lot. FILs nephew Chris Webster shoots for hoyt, shot worlds a couple times and placed 16th in qualifying for the US Olympic team. Me personally its just not my style as I'd rather shoot at a big foam animal. Lol. Those dudes get nuts with their rigs. He told me how much they pay for just the field points and i was out. Something like $250 a dozen as theyre made of some special metal like unobtanium.
 

finelyshedded

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During the spring,summer and fall we shot outside at the Morgan County gun club or near Malta Manufacturing. There were long range target butts at both locations but the Gun Club is where we had our 3D course consisting of about 30 targets. During the winter we shot upstairs of the Malta Village townhouse. A few space heaters and 4 20 yard lanes with selsier(sp?)bales stacked 8’ high and 12’ wide in each lane was plenty of room for guys to shoot. I forget what our membership fee was but we all also were members of the Ohio Archers Association(OAA) so we could participate in the annual shoots they had throughout the year. The State Indoor was held at Shawnee State college in Portsmouth around late Jan early Feb if I remember correctly. The other big shoots put on by the OAA were the AMERICAN Round and the State Field Round. The American 900 Round consisted of shooting a 60 arrow(300round) at 40 yards,50 yards and 60 yards each day on Sat and Sun. So each day had total round of 900 points that were added together to determine who placed after shooting on Sunday with 1800 points being the max. The targets used during this shoot were the large colored targets the Olympic Archers shoot at in the games. The State Field Round was my favorite because it took place in the woods like a typical 3D course but the targets were the standard black and white field targets of different sizes based on the distance at each station. The closest was the birdie targets(20,25,30 & 35 feet), the spot ring was the diameter of your pinky finger and the targets were positioned fanned out away from the shooting stake. From there it was 15 yards to 80 yards in 5 yards increments across hollows, down to a shelf or across a crick or up a steep bank just like a typical 3D shoot. There were also 25-30 animal targets included as well. This like the American 900 Round was a two day shoot as well with points of both days being totaled to determine the places of all divisions. The State Indoor was held in the gymnasium at SSC at which shooters lined up and shot across the floor widthways. There was a tree light(kinda like see at a dragstrip). During each flight the official would blow the whistle starting the 5 min round. At the 4.5 min mark the official blows the whistle and the green light switched to yellow signaling everyone they have 30 seconds left to get all 5 arrow shot. When the final whistle blows the red light came on signaling shooters the round was done. Those shooting the 5 spot targets had to be sure to shoot only ONE arrow at each target as well. Each round the shooters were to shoot 5 arrows. Each shooter chose between a 5 spot target or a single spot and we’re then paired up with someone. Targets were stacked with the bottom target shooter going first then the top target shooter going next. This was done because of shadows from the top shooters arrows casting down onto the bottom target. After the 6th Round or 30th arrow the targets were flip flopped so shooters had same advantages. This shoot was two days as well but only one officials Round was shot by each shooter. The lower classes shot on Sat and the higher classes shot on Sun. Saturday night they had a Vegas shoot that was a split the pot kinda thing that was mostly shot by the best of the shooters. Man!!! There were some great shooters back in the day! Still remember a lot of the names and faces during that great stretch of my younger single days. All three of these shoots had 3-4 classes and different styles. Bowhunter and Freestyle or open. The classes ranged from the higher AA,A,B and C. Most of the guys in our club shot as AA bowhunters(3-5 pins,6” stab and release but there were a few that shot open/freestyle with the 3’stabs,clickers and scopes and shit. I bought a Jennings T-Star with a light blue riser and white limbs that I still have to this day. I let Milo have it awhile to fiddle around with and shoot. Man it was a smooth quiet rig. I started out pretty rough but through trial and error and a bunch of great men that I look up to who took us greenhorns and taught us how to shoot we all became pretty good shooters. Near the end of my competitive shooting in these shoots I was pretty consistent shooting 300/ 40 plus spot games with an occasional 298 or 299 smacking me in the face. My last year I was fortunate enough to have placed 3rd in all 3 shoots in the AA bowhunter class.

Brock, it was a very fun time of my life as being single I had all the time I needed to practice shooting my bow and playing in pool tournaments. The friendships made and the good times had in that stretch will be forever forged in my noggin...:smiley_coolpeace:
 
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brock ratcliff

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Dang Ric! That's a great read. It's obviously a bunch of fond memories for you! Thanks for taking the time to type it up! I used to really enjoy 3 d shooting but have gotten away from it the last several years due to being too busy with baseball and any number of other things. Mason just wants to shoot all the time now, and I know what that's like so I'm enjoying helping him along as best I can. He's a really good shooter, most days. It never fails that just as he gets cocky enough to think hecan beat ol dad, target panic of some new thing he tries will bring him back to Earth. Lol. All part of the fun.

We will be shooting Sunday afternoon again at the indoor 3D. We may shoot again Monday in the spot round too. If we decide to hang with it, I'm going to need some new toys!
 
I shoot indoor spot every year. I prefer color face to blue face. There is a slightly different strategy to the two. Blue face is lost or one on x count because the five ring is so big. Oaa has a youth bowhunter division so mason wont have to compete against unlimited freestyle division shooters. You can choose to shoot the big arrows or not. they will add 10 points to your score in color face. I shoot slight gt kenetic with glue in parabolic points for blue face because they are a little more accurate. You need to get him a 12 inch stabilizer and some weights. Also loose the bow quiver if you havent already done so. If you can set up an indoor 5 to 10 yard target in the garage or basement that he can do blind bale practice at that will help target panic a lot. I shoot 50 arrows a day blind bale. You might also want to get him a thumb release. I dont remember if back tensions amd hinge releases are legal in oaa bowhunter or not.
My indoor range got involved with some sort of dispute with the WSAA and will not be doing blue face mail in. So ill need to find another place to shoot. You can pick up target bows sights bars scopes lens ect pretty cheap on archery talk and facebook. I shoot freestyle for indoor and bowhunter for 3d. If i shoot the random safari i normally shoot freestyle. I sold my pro comp elite target bow because i found if i put target equipment on my spyder i get a better score. I dont know why but that hoyt spyder fits me better than any other bow. I might pick up a used alpha elite because it is similiar to the spyder but has some features that lend themselves to target shooting. It is a lot of fun if you have a good group of people and stay away from the drama
 
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brock ratcliff

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Good information, Tom. Thanks!

I've dusted off an old Switchback, fitted it with an 18 year old sight, rest stab, peep. I shot the thing last night and have yet to figure out why I ever quit shooting it. lol Great bow back in the day, and still is today. I put a WC string on it 10 years or so and it's still in fine working order. Mason was shooting it before getting his Halon. I look forward to stomping him in the ground this weekend while shooting that "old" bow. ha. I have always told him it's the Indian, not the bow, but that's a truth he just wouldn't hear when he decided he needed that ugly Halon. This Indian has no shame, and I look forward to crushing the dreams of a 14 yr old. lol.

3D shoot at Ross Co this Sunday, indoors, at 2 pm if anyone would like to join us.
 

finelyshedded

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Good stuff Injun Brock! I’ve heard nothing but great stuff on the Switchbacks!

One of the elders of our club lent me his hard cover book titled, Behind the Bow(I believe) written by an Olympic Archery coach(I want to say last name was Henderson but not sure). My friend Terry, who let me borrow it had highlighted the important parts with a yellow marker which he used extensively throughout the book. It was a huge help with my mental game. I highly recommend anyone who is considering archery competition as this book is very good!

One thing that really helped me immensely on my aiming was something my good buddy Stacey did for me. He soldered a grounded down nut on the end of a pin he cut the tip off of. Imagine a pin with a small peep sight on it so I am actually looking thru two peeps. This helped me see the X throughout my entire setup helping me concentrate and focus better. Instead of trying to hold my pin steady and having the X disappear and reappear throughout my setup the “pin ring” surrounded the white bullseye perfectly when lined up so I could “burn a hole” into the X hence I hit where I was looking. Aim small hit small so to speak, and that’s when my 300’s started coming on regularly...:pickle:
 

finelyshedded

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I also owe Gary “Coalminer” Coleman a HUGE thanks for helping me back then. RIP buddy:smiley_coolpeace:

Gary could flat out SHOOT!
 

Gordo

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Good information, Tom. Thanks!

I've dusted off an old Switchback, fitted it with an 18 year old sight, rest stab, peep. I shot the thing last night and have yet to figure out why I ever quit shooting it. lol Great bow back in the day, and still is today. I put a WC string on it 10 years or so and it's still in fine working order. Mason was shooting it before getting his Halon. I look forward to stomping him in the ground this weekend while shooting that "old" bow. ha. I have always told him it's the Indian, not the bow, but that's a truth he just wouldn't hear when he decided he needed that ugly Halon. This Indian has no shame, and I look forward to crushing the dreams of a 14 yr old. lol.

3D shoot at Ross Co this Sunday, indoors, at 2 pm if anyone would like to join us.

Oh man! It's only a matter of time until he whoops up on you! Enjoy laying the law down him while you still can! Get'em!
 

brock ratcliff

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He will never out shoot the man with the pencil, Gordo!

Ric, I remember pins back in the day that were manufactured with a ring instead of a pin head. Your friend did you a great service by making you one. I can see where that type of aperture would be a real advantage for spot shooting. That's what I miss about shooting competition- always trying to figure out a better way to earn a couple more points.