Some Delayed Pictures

One of my fellow shooters sent them to me... and I also have some that I pulled off the camera. Some were from the FITA shoot, some were from an International round in Inglis, FL at Citrus County Archers. I think I've been inspired to try and not look *too* much like some of my fellow archers but I've also got a very positive role model in the form of my fellow longbow shooter :)

FAA FITA State Championship

I set some records up in the women's longbow division. In fact, the two of us also set a record for the most women wielding longbows at a single event. My scores are as follows: 108 @ 70m, 105 @ 60m, 100 @ 50m, and 202 @ 30m, all out of 360, with a grand total of 515/1440 for the entire shoot. It was a real blast just knowing that I *can* hit the target 3-4/6 times pretty consistently at 60 and 70 meters, although I know the sound of thunder can really throw off my shooting. Just ask my fellow longbow archer about what a storm in the vicinity will do to me :) It was also awesome getting to chat with an Olympic hopeful and her coach and learning some of the things they do, even if a lot of what they do for their shooting goes against everything I've learned as a hunter. We also had awesome moral support in the form of my other half and my fellow IKAC shooters. It was definitely worth getting up early and being lightly cooked this weekend after a week of hell!

Now I just need to break my own state records eventually and make sure my ego doesn't get over-inflated!

Another Bad Idea (tm)

I really like jalapeno peppers although I haven't been eating them (along with beans) as much as I used to, mostly because of the people around me being excessively prudish. I really wanted some so I got a few from the store and made miniature chile rellenos, complete with some really good cheddar cheese, and they came out to be a lot like those little popper things I really, really like, but a bit healthier. At the time, they sounded like a good idea. Now though I'm sitting at my computer and realizing that they're more of a Bad Idea (tm). Let's just say it'll be a while before I can get to sleep so here I am.

For an extra measure of entertainment, either click here or on the title. This was mostly from the 40 yard line in my friend's yard while we attempted to do an IKAC round before we got rained out.

Spider at Work

Would've preferred the prey to have been a big mosquito or something a lot less appealing than a dragonfly, but cool nonetheless.

TBoF Fall Shoot 2009

As always, click on the title or here for the entire set of pictures. Not attaching pictures directly tonight because for some reason my internet is spazzing but might do it later when I have a better connection.

Something urged me to shoot in all three classes (longbow, primitive, and recurve). I knew I was going to shoot longbow and recurve (well, they call it traditional but it's anything that involves any inclusive subset of the following: recurve or non-natural material arrows) but after shooting what felt like a really embarrassing longbow round with my Chek-Mate Crusader (190/300), I figured I was going to amuse myself by shooting the other divisions. My recurve round was a lot better, although the first half was a bit rough because I had a few misses that were worth the damage to my score, including a wimpy little vine that intercepted my arrow on its way to the kill on a standing bear. I pulled a 235/300 with the Chek-Mate Hunter I. Then I returned to the base station and started chatting with the people running the shoot and one of them offered to loan me her self-bow and cane arrows. I have no qualms about borrowing her bow but I do have serious qualms about borrowing cane arrows because they're hard to come by, build, and cost a fortune. So I look around for some subset of arrows or bow. Luckily, there's some guys selling some nice self-bows who not only let me test-shoot it and loan me arrows, but also help me convert a few of my "junker" wood arrows into self-nocked arrows and let me compete with the bow. This morning I shot a 165/300 with the cedar-hickory self-bow, which was surprisingly good for a bow I had gotten my hands on last night after test-shooting, calibrated at 15 and 20 yards only, and then shot without any real experimentation.

I honestly wasn't expecting to place in any of the divisions after glancing and/or overhearing the kind of scores people were shooting... but somehow, I was able to take 3rd in primitive and longbow and 2nd in recurve. All in all though it was a great shoot and I finally got to shoot what my friends call the trifecta of TBoF. It was the first time (in the time I've been around at least) that TBoF allowed people to shoot shorter courses in multiple divisions and I took advantage of that opportunity. The self-bow I got my hands on certainly had a whole different feel and provided a breath of fresh air from its more technologically advanced kindred. It drew smoothly, shot quietly, and didn't shake me up like some other bows do. But when all's been said and done, my favorite is still my fairly high-tech two-part stick with a nice string on it.