Last Wednesday night was the first chance I had to shoot our local 3D leagues. The leagues have been going for awhile, but my personal archery shooting has been on the back burner so that I could coach my daughter’s soccer team (a worthy distraction!) After finally getting a few moments away from shooting equipment for reviews and articles for Archery Report, I set up my trusty Hoyt Ultra Elite for 3D season and was off to the range.
My shooting group consisted of me, my fellow coach from soccer season, a couple of 3D league rookies and another club member I had not previously met. One of the reasons that I like shooting in our league is the opportunity to meet new people and fellow archers/bowhunters. Before the official shooting even began, I had the chance to meet the two new fellows that ended up in my group and we shot the archery and hunting bull for a bit. The chance to connect with people of our same interests is often overlooked and sometimes shunned by people; I would highly recommend taking the chance to get to know as many fellow archers as possible.
Getting to know your archery peers has several advantages. First and foremost is finding new friends and acquaintances. One of the best ways to make friends is to open your mouth and introduce yourself at the range. I often see people mulling around, keeping to themselves and can’t help but think what they are missing. Secondly there is a wealth of knowledge, both of the hunting and shooting variety, to be gained by learning from others. Even the most seasoned archer and hunter (not me!) can find gems of knowledge from listening to others. Another great reason is to learn about and see different equipment. For example, I was shooting the NAP Sizzor rest on my bow and had no less than ten different people ask me about the rest, why I was using it and what I liked about it. I also had the chance to have discussions about several of the new 2010 bows that were being shot.
There is also the pure love of shooting and competition. I will never deny that I don’t like competing and striving to better my scores. I didn’t shoot my best on my first excursion of the year, but I did end the night above 300 and felt decent about my shooting. My yardage judging was nearly spot on, and my arrows hit where I was aiming, but I was struggling with putting the pin where I wanted it. Now I know that my task this week is to work on picking a spot on the target before pulling up and making sure the pin makes it to that spot.
About the only downside to the evening was the clouds of mosquitoes that have emerged over the past few days; one even made a suicide run straight to the back of my throat were it felt like it exploded into a thousand pieces of shrapnel and caused a hacking fit. But even the nasty little critters couldn’t deter me from sitting outside the clubhouse after the sun was down and connecting with friends that I haven’t seen all year and talking about all things archery, hunting and spring tornadoes and hail. To those that don’t get out and shoot leagues that could, do it! You will not regret the camaraderie and joy it will bring you.
A good reason to shoot local leagues: a guy like Larry! He can put a smile on anyone's face and bring fun to the range.
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