Archery

The Geezer · 5 Mar 2014 at 20:46

Not sure if it will be a great leap for you to move to the MAX but the Ex Power would be definitely worth a look

I won't be spending anymore money now, this setup should see me through the next few years

R.C.Anderson · 6 Mar 2014 at 03:40

Hi all fellow archers, can't believe I haven't come across this topic before...

Been shooting for about 18 months now, started at Uni last year, then continued into my final year at Uni.

Looking forward to the outdoor season, only 1 more Uni league shoot to go (this weekend) then I can get myself the ACEs I'm planning and get shooting outdoors again!

R.C.Anderson · 6 Mar 2014 at 03:41

The Geezer · 6 Mar 2014 at 07:36

Welcome RC Anderson, glad you found our thread.

Are you a recurver too, just guessing if you are looking to get ACE's ? There are a number of us who post here regularly although it's been quiet over the winter season.

This sport can be so frustrating but we still enjoy it.

matt_fsr · 6 Mar 2014 at 11:41

I've just started Archery properly in January and completed the beginner course a couple of weeks ago, now looking at getting my own recurve bow.

Thinking of going down to see Aardvark archery in Pudsey, and getting one of their starter kits.

Anyone been there before / had dealings with them?

Am open to advice / thoughts on what to get, I don't mind spending money initially and getting some good quality kit, rather than upgrading several times.

(Been advised to buy the best riser I can sensibly afford, and to upgrade limbs as I work up in power)

Any advice appreciated

Robertnpmk · 6 Mar 2014 at 12:03

Aardvark are very Hit and Miss. It depends on what kind of mood they are. Sometimes I have found them to be the friendliest most helpful people around and other times they couldn't care less. And this typically doesn't correlate with how busy they are.

Personally I would avoid Merlin archery as a shop. Very bad experiences with them.

The advice regarding your riser is very true and what I would tell people. As you have just begun you are bound to go up in poundage so you don't want to be spending a fortune on limbs. Also I wouldn't spend a lot on a nice set of arrows. If you think about it your strength is going to increase and also is your draw length. There is nothing worse than spending a lot on a set of nice arrows just to grow out of them in a couple of months. (on that note I have some Acc for sale) lol.

Any other questions dont hesitate to ask.

Robertnpmk · 6 Mar 2014 at 13:00

R.C.Anderson said:
Hi all fellow archers, can't believe I haven't come across this topic before...

Been shooting for about 18 months now, started at Uni last year, then continued into my final year at Uni.

Looking forward to the outdoor season, only 1 more Uni league shoot to go (this weekend) then I can get myself the ACEs I'm planning and get shooting outdoors again!

Welcome. What rounds are you shooting?

The Geezer · 6 Mar 2014 at 13:12

Robertnpmk said:
Personally I would avoid Merlin archery as a shop. Very bad experiences with them.

I have completely the opposite experience of Merlin, never can do enough plus they even protect me from myself - "you don't need that", "we won't sell it to you"

matt_fsr

I've just started Archery properly in January and completed the beginner course a couple of weeks ago, now looking at getting my own recurve bow.

Thinking of going down to see Aardvark archery in Pudsey, and getting one of their starter kits.

Anyone been there before / had dealings with them?

Am open to advice / thoughts on what to get, I don't mind spending money initially and getting some good quality kit, rather than upgrading several times.

(Been advised to buy the best riser I can sensibly afford, and to upgrade limbs as I work up in power)

Any advice appreciated

For a personal recommendation, I would ask you to look at the SF Forged Plus as a good beginner to intermediate riser and then spending a little more on faster limbs which should change too much over at least the first 12 months.

You will need to get matched arrows for the bow weight and draw length again your form may change in the first few months so I would hold off for now and see what other club members or club coaches say.

I would also ask you to visit AIUK (Archery Interchange UK) forum, lots of archery nerds over there.

R.C.Anderson · 6 Mar 2014 at 13:55

The Geezer said:
Welcome RC Anderson, glad you found our thread.

Are you a recurver too, just guessing if you are looking to get ACE's ? There are a number of us who post here regularly although it's been quiet over the winter season.

This sport can be so frustrating but we still enjoy it.

I am indeed a recurve archer. I almost transferred to compound at the beginning of last year's outdoor season, and the main reason I didn't was I was the best scoring novice, so we needed my scores for the team

Robertnpmk said:
Personally I would avoid Merlin archery as a shop. Very bad experiences with them.

I disagree whole heartedly, I find they're great, but it does depend who you get serving you. I know a couple of the staff members there quite well (they're ex club chairs at my Uni club, and they still shoot there) so I don't know if that makes a difference to how they treat me, but I would always recommend them.

Robertnpmk said:
Welcome. What rounds are you shooting?

At the moment, mainly Portsmouths, as that's what our Uni League shoots, but I've shot most of the common rounds (FITA18, FITA25, Combined FITA, Worcester, BRAY1, and they're just the indoor rounds! Outdoors I'm planning on shooting mainly Yorks/FITAs/720s)

The Geezer · 6 Mar 2014 at 14:08

R.C.Anderson said:
I disagree whole heartedly, I find they're great, but it does depend who you get serving you. I know a couple of the staff members there quite well (they're ex club chairs at my Uni club, and they still shoot there) so I don't know if that makes a difference to how they treat me, but I would always recommend them.

I'm with you on that - Jim is the man and also find James and Dan to be great guys, as you probably know Rikki has moved on to Archery GB to support the disabled archers.

We have probably bumped into each other in there over the past year, I'm in Derby so it's easier for me and the Mrs to pop in. So you can guess where I got my new bow from.

R.C.Anderson said:
I am indeed a recurve archer. I almost transferred to compound at the beginning of last year's outdoor season, and the main reason I didn't was I was the best scoring novice, so we needed my scores for the team

Cheeky !

We're up at the DCAA Indoor Champs on Sunday at Derby Uni.

R.C.Anderson · 6 Mar 2014 at 14:21

The Geezer said:
I'm with you on that - Jim is the man and also find James and Dan to be great guys, as you probably know Rikki has moved on to Archery GB to support the disabled archers.

We have probably bumped into each other in there over the past year, I'm in Derby so it's easier for me and the Mrs to pop in. So you can guess where I got my new bow from.

Cheeky !

We're up at the DCAA Indoor Champs on Sunday at Derby Uni.

I'm not a huge fan of Jim, but I always get James to serve me, as he's one of the ones I know, and get on with pretty well. I was only ever once served by Rikki, but again I pretty much knew what I was wanting, and she was fine about it, but yea, she's not there anymore.

I'm shooting in at Nottingham Trent on Saturday at our league champs, should be good fun, and I think I've almost got back to my normal scores after going back to my old riser again!

The Geezer · 6 Mar 2014 at 14:30

I've heard members from our club call Jim marmite - you either get on or you don't. Luckily we have as you can't be but impressed by his experience and expertise.

Good luck with your league champs on Saturday, what's your Portsmouth PB ?

Robertnpmk · 6 Mar 2014 at 15:13

Ha must just be me. But I have been stung to much and am determined to not give them any more money.

R.C.Anderson · 6 Mar 2014 at 15:30

The Geezer said:
I've heard members from our club call Jim marmite - you either get on or you don't. Luckily we have as you can't be but impressed by his experience and expertise.

Good luck with your league champs on Saturday, what's your Portsmouth PB ?

Cheers, Portsmouth PB is at 580 at the moment, but I think that was just a very good day! Normally I shoot high 50s or upto mid 60s, but over the last few weeks I've been down in the 40s, I shot a 57 at BUCS last week though, so I'm around my norm again, unfortunately changing setup twice since xmas has not helped my scores as I haven't had a chance to properly get used to it yet!

The Geezer · 6 Mar 2014 at 16:45

WOW ! 580 for a Portsmouth, I'm only in the 540's puts you in the top few percent.

You must have a crazy handicap for indoors, mine is currently 39.

I'll make sure I give you a wide berth if we ever meet on the field

Robertnpmk · 6 Mar 2014 at 17:45

Bloody hell 580 for a porstmouth is amazing, well done mate. My pb is 563 and I usually hover around 545-550.

Recently I have been doing FITA 18 rounds mostly and broke my PB twice last week with 506 then 519. Target this coming week is 525.

R.C.Anderson · 7 Mar 2014 at 04:14

Cheers guys! feel obligated to post a couple of pictures now!

My current FITA18 PB score at 546 was shot at the EMAS indoor champs, where I managed to come 2nd (I was very surprised

)
(I was detail "D")

(I have a slight up & down issue with 3-spots

)

Then recently, the problem I've been struggling to overcome is the inconsistency, as I'm not sure what I'm doing differently...

If you're at any of the competitions in Leicestershire, if there's a recruve archer shooting huge X7s, with 5" white feathers, it's probably me

matt_fsr · 7 Mar 2014 at 10:13

The Geezer said:
For a personal recommendation, I would ask you to look at the SF Forged Plus as a good beginner to intermediate riser and then spending a little more on faster limbs which should change too much over at least the first 12 months.

You will need to get matched arrows for the bow weight and draw length again your form may change in the first few months so I would hold off for now and see what other club members or club coaches say.

I would also ask you to visit AIUK (Archery Interchange UK) forum, lots of archery nerds over there.

I was thinking of a Hoyt Horizon pro.

http://www.aardvarkarchery.co.uk/view_product.php?product_id=1594&search_category=67

The club has advised on getting matched arrows, and which ones to get for my 29" draw. I don't mind spending some money on stuff now and then upgrading later if I'm still enjoying it, but I'm not going to spend loads on arrows to begin with.

As I'm way 'oop North, Aardvark is closest to me and all the club members who I've spoken to seem to rate them, so I'll give them a shot. If I feel like they're talking to me like I'm an idiot then I'll just not buy anything!

The Geezer · 7 Mar 2014 at 11:01

matt_fsr said:
I was thinking of a Hoyt Horizon pro.

http://www.aardvarkarchery.co.uk/view_product.php?product_id=1594&search_category=67

The club has advised on getting matched arrows, and which ones to get for my 29" draw. I don't mind spending some money on stuff now and then upgrading later if I'm still enjoying it, but I'm not going to spend loads on arrows to begin with.

As I'm way 'oop North, Aardvark is closest to me and all the club members who I've spoken to seem to rate them, so I'll give them a shot. If I feel like they're talking to me like I'm an idiot then I'll just not buy anything!

That looks like a good kit, everything you need to get you started. The only concern I would have is, it comes with aluminium arrows which will hold you back during the outdoor season potentially only getting you out to 40 yards comfortably.

What sort of poundage will you be drawing at 29", it maybe worth looking on eBay for some low priced carbons as a replacement.

R.C.Anderson · 7 Mar 2014 at 12:03

matt_fsr said:
I was thinking of a Hoyt Horizon pro.

http://www.aardvarkarchery.co.uk/view_product.php?product_id=1594&search_category=67

The club has advised on getting matched arrows, and which ones to get for my 29" draw. I don't mind spending some money on stuff now and then upgrading later if I'm still enjoying it, but I'm not going to spend loads on arrows to begin with.

As I'm way 'oop North, Aardvark is closest to me and all the club members who I've spoken to seem to rate them, so I'll give them a shot. If I feel like they're talking to me like I'm an idiot then I'll just not buy anything!

The best advice for buying new kit (especially at that sort of price) is to try it before you buy it! A lot of shops have their own small indoor range for this purpose. Try a selection of different risers, from both Hoyt & W&W and see which one feels nicest to you.

Personally I've always been W&W (although I've never actually tried a Hoyt), but some people shoot very good scores with Hoyts too, so just go with whatever feels best to you!