Climbing to 70

Spent the day in Golden Gate Park, most of it about 20 blocks from the archery range. May have actually convinced an old friend to take up archery. He said he's been wanting to start it out, and I offered to give him an opening lesson if he can get his hands on a rental bow at a shop near the GGPark range.

After the morning's festivities (which extended well into the afternoon) ended, I made my way down to the west end of the park and the range. Started out at 50 meters for 3 arrows, then moved back to 60 meters for the next 3. Then I made the big jump. 70 meters. Olympic distance.

I ended up putting 18 arrows in six double ends onto the target butt at 70 meters. Groups could have been tighter, but I was mostly seeing if I could shoot the distance with my equipment, and I got a definitive yes. 24 arrows was a bit much, as my shoulder was shaking pretty heavily for the last arrow or two, but overall a successful day at the range.

Also, at 70 meters, I had my sight set so low on the bar (in the 9.3 and 9.4 range) that my problem from last week took care of itself. The sight aperture ended up below the bulge on the clicker, making it visible again. The problem will still present itself from probably 35-60 meters, but at 20 and 70, there is little to no problem at all.

Maybe I should pick up a 122 cm target and start scoring Olympic rounds. Might be fun to start scoring again. Plus, Olympic rounds are 12 arrows, instead of 30.

Might want to take a look at some v-bars...

Up and Back

I'm sitting with an ice pack on my shoulder after shooting today. Got 21 arrows in, pulling me ever closer to a full scoring round.

The archery range in GGPark has 9 target buts, with 2 paved lanes marked at 10 meter and 10 yard distances back to 90 meters.

I decided to change things up a little bit this week. Instead of shooting at the normal indoor distance of 18 meters/20 yeards, I instead moved back to 40 meters to see what I could do. Also pulled out my good arrows instead of just using the older, heavier ones. Ran into an interesting problem. Because I had to lower the sight in order to hit the target, the aperture was sitting partly behind the clicker, making it difficult to see. I'll have to experiment some to see what I can do about that.

Shoulder felt a little tired, tiny bit sore, but no pain. Feeling pretty good about the results.

And Three More Arrows

Hit the GGPark range yesterday. First couple of ends, shoulder was shaking, but things looked up from there. 15 arrows (instead of 12), some good groups (without an actual target), and no pain. I might just beat this thing yet.

At least that was yesterday afternoon. A little bit of pain last night after ice packs (ironic, I know), and some discomfort today (sans pain killers). But I maintain things are looking up. Closer and closer to a full scoring round...

Maybe I should switch to Olympic rounds...12 arrows and out...Have to go back to 70 meters, though...