Setting Up a Treestand

There's a very good chance that I will be hunting this season. If I do hunt, it will be on a lease somewhere in Levy County, not too far from Bronson. The site chosen is on the border of some swamplands, so I need to be extra careful of cypress knees trying to trip me up as well as generous populations of mosquitoes.  I personally prefer more xeric sites, but this will have to do!

Inglis Barge Canal and Crystal River Archaeological Preserve

Today was an active recovery day after noticing that my upper body is still a little unhappy with me for sleeping in an awkward position.  I only got about 4-5 miles in today before being summoned home, but it's better than nothing. I'm hoping I'll be able to get closer to 9-10 miles next opportunity I get!

And then there was the Crystal River Archaeological Preserve, which included a small climb to what was probably a temple where the priests did their rituals while the others watched from the ground.

Firearm Fun

I got to have a bit of fun with a Sig Sauer semi-automatic 9mm, courtesy of an old archer mentor of mine.

 And then there's my shooting buddy for today... the same one who first taught me how to shoot a compound bow without getting myself maimed or killed.  

Form Work: Up Close and Personal

Most of my work today was at 9m so I could put most of my focus on my form, particularly at anchor and aiming.

 Below is the end of the first 30 arrows of a 60 arrow indoor round, but at 9 meters. If I could pull this off at 18 meters consistently with a longbow, I would be in archer's heaven. I finished with 257/300, which isn't too bad!

 Below: 10-10-10. I scored a 30/30, even if they were rather close, especially that top one. It just barely squeaked onto the line to give me the higher score!

 This was my second 30 arrows, where I finished with a 260/300, again at 9 meters instead of the standard 18.  My 9 meter composite was 517/600, which would have been the ultimate score for a longbow archer if I had pulled it off at 18 meters instead of 9!

 Compare and contrast - left is first 30, right is second 30.  I did this to examine temporal trends to see if my early game and late game were significantly different. Analysis is still pending...

 And I attempted a 30 arrow round at 18 meters just to see how things translated.  That was pretty darned good for moderately fatigued! I did shoot the equivalent of a full FITA round today, but I had many unscored shots for form work and/or sighting in.  I'd say it was a darned good day with Xibalba! A 209/300 on a 3 spot target with a longbow that could've been 219/300 if I had all the rings is something I'd be very proud of! Now to clean up my form to see if I can bring my average into the 230-240 range and keep it there... or even in the 250-260 range! Then again, I think the 270s was an extreme good day for the Olympic recurve...

The Form-Master is Back

I had some trouble with my shooting form today, so I worked with the Form-Master to reinforce better habits on back tension.  Basically if I maintain back tension, the string and my hand don't go anywhere upon release, or if I'm exceptionally good, it actually goes back a bit. If I don't maintain back tension, I collapse miserably and risk a good mark on my face from my Black Mamba Venom tab.  I maintained back tension but I am going to see if I can increase it and be more consistent about how much I apply before release.

Avengers Assemble!

I didn't shoot particularly well at the Villages 900 round - 531/900, about 70-80 points less than average, but not too bad for someone significantly out of practice.  I also got to meet several other young barebow archers, including two other females! It gets a bit lonely being alone in my division so company was welcome!