Archery

The winter season is with us now - bobble-hats and boots all round! :D

I finally got round to buying my own bow a few weeks ago, after using club kit all through the summer. Kinetic Heat riser with Kinetic 32# limbs. I had a couple of hours on the shop's range and then we had our first winter shoot last Sunday, a postal comp with local clubs - 3doz @30m on an 80cm target. I was reasonably pleased with the 220 I shot, though my grouping still leaves a lot to be desired.
 
Well done Willy its a good start.

I haven't shot since January this year, did a indoor Portsmouth in the mid 500's last Sunday so I must be doing something right after nearly a year of not shooting.
 
Shot 2 portsmouths in the last month, 509 for the first. That was 1st time indoors since april & first time at that distance in several years and 529 for the 2nd. Would have been higher but for 2 arrow failures. I need fatter arrows, X23's or Easton Triumphs. The Litespeeds, while good indoors if they had been fatter i'd have had a few more 10's. Did shoot a three 10 end so i was happy. Best thing is these comps are more a social event, same people down the compound end of the line :-)
 
I went to the CSAA Field Champs last Sunday to compete in the Animal Target shoot and managed to get a Second place for Surrey and 5th overall in Longbow.

Well chuffed! :)
 
Made it out for our 3rd round of the winter competition... and now I know what a limb delamination under load sounds and feels like! On the 4th shot of my sighters as well.

Luckily someone had a pair of spare limbs, 38# though instead of the 32# mine are/were. Took me a few ends to get my eye inso not a great score but they certainly didn't feel as heavy to pull as I was expecting.

So now I'm in the market for some new limbs :D I'm thinking either SF Premium+ (which are maple & fibreglass) or WNS Premium (foam & 'fibre). Or, cough up an extra £20 for some Kinetic BAMBOOM! carbon & bamboo with a lol name :D
 
Treated myself to a new bow at christmas, last one was coming up on 8 yrs old & needing a few things doing to it plus its camo colours and you cant shoot camo bows at some competitions.
So out with the old Martin Ridge Hunter and in with the new Kinetic Trium X.
New bow is 38" Axle to Axle, old one was around 30-32" ATA.
Very nice draw & quiet on release. Nicely balances with long rod & side rod. Just need to swap out the launcher now for a micro adjustable one. 2 portsmouths coming up soon, see how it does.
WP_20180124_19_17_01_Pro_LI (2) by Robb Edge, on Flickr
 
It's been an interesting winter season. I've only been shooting indoors since January but at a neighbouring club as we don't have an indoor range available any more. Nice bunch, very welcoming and helpful. My Portsmouth score is about 470 and I managed to hit my first 6 gold end a few weeks ago :D

With the outdoor season about to begin I'm looking forward to shooting at longer distances again. I'm after a set of non-full carbon arrows so I can go shoot at other clubs and competitions where they don't allow full carbon. My budget can't stretch to ACCs so I'm looking at XX75 Platinum Plus.
 
WillyNelson said:
It's been an interesting winter season. I've only been shooting indoors since January but at a neighbouring club as we don't have an indoor range available any more. Nice bunch, very welcoming and helpful. My Portsmouth score is about 470 and I managed to hit my first 6 gold end a few weeks ago :D

With the outdoor season about to begin I'm looking forward to shooting at longer distances again. I'm after a set of non-full carbon arrows so I can go shoot at other clubs and competitions where they don't allow full carbon. My budget can't stretch to ACCs so I'm looking at XX75 Platinum Plus.
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I used to shoot XX75's, nice arrows indoors but due to size can be prone to wind effect.
Try some of the other arrow manufacturers. I was looking at ACG's but its £160 just for 12 shafts. After a bit of searching i went with a set of Victory VAP Target shafts, £125 for 12. They get cracking reviews.
Currently shooting my lightspeeds outdoors, same diameter as my XX75's were but a lot more accurate out to 60yds in windy conditions.
To help with choice, buy a years subscription to Archers Advantage Online. $12 & its so usefull.
 
Interesting evening shooting. Asked our resident technical guy to measure my draw length and OTF weight. Thought I was pulling 32# but turns out it was at 36# at 28” :eek:

I had been thinking it was a bit heavy and to be honest I’d been struggling to get a steady hold on full draw after a few ends. Wound it down a couple of turns to 34# and it’s much nicer to draw.

Also, borrowed & shot some XX75s in the right size I’d need and didn’t like them at all. Think that’s twisted my arm to get ACCs :D
 
Nice, I started shooting recurve about a year ago and really enjoying it. Only started shooting and recording scores this month (Portsmouth) as I was asked if I wanted to join the winter county postal league, so pretty average compared to some in the club. I managed a 521, 518, 517 and 535 this month.

In tournaments, do they shot using handicaps or straight scores?
 
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Some decent scores there for only shooting ~1 year, keep it up & don't be afraid to ask club coaches/more experienced archers in your club (that you trust) to help you improve!

Tournaments can be either, or both. All the competitions I am involved in are straight up scores, however I know there's quite a few that include handicaps as a separate category of awards, and I've also come across some that are handicap only.
 
Just about to finish the beginners course at my local club, think I'm going to hire their equipment for a couple of months to get a real feel for it.

Few questions if you guys wouldn't mind?

As everyone does I've been looking about at risers and limbs etc but there's so much to choose from and they are all names I've never heard of. Any brands out there I should be avoiding?
Where is best to spend money early doors and where am I going to be changing equipment after 6 months anyway?
 
ZG002 said:
Just about to finish the beginners course at my local club, think I'm going to hire their equipment for a couple of months to get a real feel for it.

Few questions if you guys wouldn't mind?

As everyone does I've been looking about at risers and limbs etc but there's so much to choose from and they are all names I've never heard of. Any brands out there I should be avoiding?
Where is best to spend money early doors and where am I going to be changing equipment after 6 months anyway?
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I guess the first stop would be to set yourself a budget. The riser is where I would spend a reasonable chunk of money out of your budget. I wouldnt worry too much about limbs as you should try and get a shop that will do a limb exchange program. Its normal practice when starting out to use a low draw weight to try and perfect your form first and then build up in draw weight. I went with a riser from Kinetic they are the budget brand of Win & Win who are one of the big names in archery

Will you be shooting bare bow or will you need a sight. Then you will need to get a rest, bow string, pressure button, arrows, a quiver, bow stand and a bag to put it all in. Thats the problem with archery, the initial outlay is quite a reasonable chunk of money (depending on budget) but after that, its a cheap hobby with only range fees and target faces to consider
 
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Bear said:
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Thanks.

I went in thinking I'd 100% be shooting bare bow but I think I prefer having a sight, I guess if I end up kitting up for recurve I can just strip the bow back if I decide I want to switch.

I've seen loads of Kinetic risers and they do seem a decent price but I couldn't really find much out from Google, so they are a budget arm of Win & Win? (Those I can find info about)

I've seen a number of things by Mybo that look good and seem to offer the earth but all reviews seem to be directly from what I'm assuming is the manufacturer so who knows.

Limb exchange programe? Is that quite common then? I know the draw weight I'm using at the moment is very low but I still feel it after shooting for a couple hours so yeah I can see how it's a build up to a decent weight type effort.

Is there a online store people trust the most? Or one to avoid? There's only a handful "local" to me but they are still like a 45min drive away or so.
 
ZG002 said:
Thanks.

I went in thinking I'd 100% be shooting bare bow but I think I prefer having a sight, I guess if I end up kitting up for recurve I can just strip the bow back if I decide I want to switch.

I've seen loads of Kinetic risers and they do seem a decent price but I couldn't really find much out from Google, so they are a budget arm of Win & Win? (Those I can find info about)

I've seen a number of things by Mybo that look good and seem to offer the earth but all reviews seem to be directly from what I'm assuming is the manufacturer so who knows.

Limb exchange programe? Is that quite common then? I know the draw weight I'm using at the moment is very low but I still feel it after shooting for a couple hours so yeah I can see how it's a build up to a decent weight type effort.

Is there a online store people trust the most? Or one to avoid? There's only a handful "local" to me but they are still like a 45min drive away or so.
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I tend to buy my stuff from the club shop as they have a shop on site, they arent the best for prices but Im happy to support them. I bought stuff off https://www.merlinarchery.co.uk/ and https://thearcheryshop.co.uk/ and both seem to be ok
 
I agree with everything Bear has said.

For Mybo kit - Mybo is a part of Merlin & a lot of their kit is made in the UK (essentially if it's machined & unique, they'll make it in their Loughborough workshop). In terms of quality, their compounds are shot by some very good archers & get some very good scores. I've not seen/heard from any top archers wrt their recurves, but that's not the market they're currently aimed at for the recurve risers, I have heard many people (beginner -> intermediate) be very happy with their risers. In summary, I don't think you can go wrong with them if that's the route you choose, but you'll most likely find the kit isn't what's holding you back for a good few years either way (and at that point it's pretty much just W&W or Hoyt as options anyway).

In terms of stores, there's also (as well as the 2 from Bear):

Home | Clickers Archery

Clickers Archery - Archery Equipment Retailer In The UK
www.clickersarchery.co.uk www.clickersarchery.co.uk
www.quicksarchery.co.uk

Quicks, The Archery Specialists for all your Archery Equ ...

Quicks Archery, for the largest stocks of bows, recurve bows, arrows, beginner archery kits, targets and archery accessories available! Ready to help you with fast, reliable service to get the best kit to suit you. We also supply archery for clubs, hotels, activity centres.
www.quicksarchery.co.uk

Bowsports LTD

Bowsports are the UK's leading archery supplier for archery equipment and archery supplies. If you are looking for archery targets and archery supplies come and visit us today.
www.bowsports.com www.bowsports.com

That's all I can think of that I've either used personally, or know are decent.
 
Thanks guys.

Good to know spending big early on isn't the way to go as my budget isn't massive and I'm keen to spend it wisely.

My coach is sponsored by Clickers so he of course mentioned them but they are miles and miles away.

Merlin do have a store that's local (within an hour) so I might book an appointment once I'm ready to buy my own gear as I think i'd like to get hands on with not fully understanding how some of the gear works with each other etc.

Last lesson on Sunday and I will see what the hire kit is like, apparently it's pretty decent but you can only hire it for a couple of months.
 
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