A Slight Downturn, and an Ominous Occurence

Lower scores today. Not sure why. Had some frustrations with the way the line was being run. Felt like a sprinter in the blocks just before a race, where the starter says "set" and then keeps everyone waiting for way too long before firing the gun. We kept getting the command for "on line," but then the person running the line took the time to answer a ton of questions, leaving us waiting for him to say "begin." He could just as easily (and much more conveniently) answered their questions between ends, or while they were shooting.

More important than frustration, however, are the first indications of potential problems. Friday I tweaked a muscle in my upper left of my back. It stopped hurting, but was still noticeable. Also, drawing back the bow for a few ends, I felt a pain in my left (drawing) forearm. Not sure what this was about.

Score: 227 + 232 = 459.

The good news: My worst scores with the Inno are better than my best scores with the Mizar.

More Scores

A week in classes where I was mostly thinking about shooting, and then back to the range on Saturday. Nothing especially exciting to report, except for the fact that I was able to log two more rounds in the 240s and tie my tournament double record at 489.

Score: 246 + 243 = 489.

Sunday's Scores

Once again, I just could not stay away. After a solid first round score (second best ever round), I started my second round. Through 9 ends, I was sitting on a 224. I needed 26 out of the 30 possible points in the final end to reach what had for so long been my goal: 250, Master Archery level.

When the three shots were taken, I was looking down at the target from the line. I could see that one arrow was a 10, and the other two were in the red. It looked like both were in the 8 ring, which would give me 26 points and my goal. When I got up to the target, however, I saw to my complete and utter disappointment that one of the "8s" was actually a 7, giving me 25 points for the end and 249 for the round. I was so close to 250 I could taste it, yet so far away.

It was pretty easy to console myself when I realized that I still set a personal record both for a single end (249) and for a tournament double-round (489).

Score: 240 + 249 = 489.

For my first weekend scoring with the new bow, I set my top 4 single round scores (249, 246, 240, 236) and my top 2 tournament double-round scores (489, 482). Not a bad debut.

The First Time Around (With the New Bow)

Kept score for the first time with the new equipment. Draw felt smooth and easy, shots were silent, arrows flew fast.

Score: 246 + 236 = 482.

First round is a personal record. Second round would have been a personal record except for the first round. Needless to say, total score is a personal record.

Can't Stay Away

Slightly obsessed with my new equipment, I had to go back to the range on Sunday to keep firing arrows into the wall. Sighted in and getting comfortable with the bow, the time to keep score was coming near.

Putting it All Together

Got the rest of my new equipment, finally putting together my whole new set. Learned how to put spin wings on carbon arrows. Spent the day pumping arrow after arrow into the wall, and damn did it feel good.

Here's the rundown of the new equipment. An asterisk (*) means that the item is a holdover from my old set.

Win and Win Inno riser, LH, blue.
Win and Win Inno Power limbs, 34#.
Red and blue combination bowstring, handmade at Archery USA.
Shibuya DX plunger button, red.
ARE magnetic arrow rest.
Shibuya Ultima RC Carbon sight, LH, silver.
Doinker stabilizer.
Shibuya folding bow stand, black.
*Beiter clicker.
*Aurora 3-tube quiver, LH, denim.
SKB Compact Recurve bow case.
*Beiter armguard.
*Win and Win 360 Perfect finger tab, LH.
*C.R. Para-Cord finger sling.
Easton A/C/E arrow shafts with pin nocks and LH silver Kurly Vanes.
*Cartel bow square.
*Saunders Recurve bow stringer.

Paying Up

So that Saturday, through a combination of excitement and the T working remarkably efficiently, I arrived at Archery USA especially early. So early, in fact, that the training class was still going on. And there, on one of the locking clamps, was my new bow, with an ugly yellow bowstring. Anthony saw me come in, and I think he may have collected some money from the parents in the class by winning a betting pool on my arrival time. Only the riser, limbs, plunger, and arrow rest had arrived at that point. The rest would show up the next weekend. So I got the arrow rest, plunger, and clicker set up, borrowed a stabilizer from Anthony, temporarily moved my sight to the Inno and started pumping arrows into the wall.

The difference between my Samick Mizar and the Win and Win Inno was like night and day. The draw on the Inno was so smooth. The shots near silent, especially when I twisted the bow string up to raise the brace height. This thing was incredible. I couldn't wait to get the rest of my new equipment the next week.

Oh, yeah. And I put the largest ever purchase on my credit card. But it went through, and all I had to do was wait out one...more...week...