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greybark
04-01-2007, 07:40 PM
:) The weather was perfect for this event and the steak dinner was awesome . In-spite of the snow still in parts of the north country this course was snow free and those delicious wild onions were again available .
:| The course was great with two exceptions both concerning the Red Course . Last years ""SUMMIT" was replaced with a series of minie summits (some not so mini) . This course beat me up to the extent that I didn`t shoot it on Sunday but shot the Blue Course . Course planners must plan the trails (sometimes this is controlled by the lay of the land) that they present a variety of challenging shots with-in reach of the younger and older archers . I am in the older Catagory and have few problems with other courses around the Province and none compared to the Red Course .
:) Having set up and taken down lots of courses I realize and apreciate the considerable efforts of the Club`c Volunteers .But I know of at least a dozen Merrit keeners that opted out for a rather expensive shoot on the Isl . Unless things change a greater loss of archers will happen . I have attended all of your "spring events" but unless convinced the elevation aspect of your course is modified will consider other events .
One benifit of only shooting half the course was I got home early !!
:smile: Anyone else with similiar concerns regarding this course ??

Trav
04-01-2007, 07:54 PM
yes let's hear all the comments. i was involved in setting up the trails and for the most part, people loved them. there was a fair bit of walking and climbing, but its all part of the game. we just try to offer unique and challenging shots and include lots of variety. all in all it was a ton of fun!

willyqbc
04-01-2007, 09:54 PM
We also attend every year and being young and somewhat spry we can handle the walks but as noted above not everyone can, something to keep in mind in regards to attendance levels. Couple of other issues...firstly, the course could have been marked a little better, we and several others we spoke to found it confusing in places trying to find the trail. You have to remember these folks are guests and what may be the obvious way to go to a local who knows the area will not neccesarily be clear to a non local, a little extra ribbon is an easy fix for this. Secondly more attention needs to be paid to the fact that all archers are not created equal. What i mean is there were MANY targets on the course that were much, much more difficult if not down right impossible for shorter archers. By in large it was okay for me as I am pretty tall but the fellow i shot with had very little of the ten to shoot at many times and sometimes had to purposely shoot for an 8 because there was no way he could get to the ten. You can make the course difficult without having it brushed in to the point this course was...when people make decent shots only to have their arrows deflected time and again, it ceases to be fun for them, if its not fun they won't come back.
Bottom line I'm afraid to say is this shoot lost a signifigant number of shooters from last year, I believe the lady I spoke with said 212 last year down to 156 this year, not sure of those numbers though. I think a big part of that drop is from the displeasure with the "ravine" last year. And unfortunately I think there will be another drop next year, I know of at least a dozen that have allready said for sure they won't be back. Bottom line is clubs need to find a cousre that can make the biggest cross section of people happy if they want to keep attendance up. I hope you will not take this as a slam but rather the hopefully constructive criticism it was meant to be.

Just my opinion
Chris

jessbennett
04-02-2007, 06:59 AM
well put chris..... i have been to merrit the past three years. i have seen the "ravine", but let me tell ya. this was a step in the wrong direction in my opinion. the b side was a great walking course, but i really dont like shooting at wire fences, and bush and branches. dont get me wrong, i like a challenge, i love difficult shots, but some for people my height and shorter were pretty much impossible. i go for fun, but i also enjoy competing. i still enjoyed myself, but think that this year it was put together maybe as a last minute type thing? i could be wrong. but anyways hats off to merrit, for getting things done and starting off our outdoor 3-d season.8)

270WIN
04-02-2007, 08:45 AM
Well I was unable to shoot both days but a group of us did manage to drive up Sunday morning and shoot. I thought the course was realy good. Yes it was a little tuff walking the pink side but I liked how the target were spaced out so you could take your time and you never felt pressured from the group behind you. Sure there was some shots that if in the field I would not take as if it was to far out or there was a tree in the way but in turn I did in joy taking theses shot as I feel it make me feel more confident in the field if a shot does present it self.

Yes I agree all archer are not equal but shooting 3d is sapose to make the weaker archers better and the good archers even better. I sure we all shoot 3d for different reason as my main reason is not for points but for fun and second is to imitate a hunting situation and we all no out in the field we may not all get the opertunity for the perfect shot we may not always be able to shoot the 10 ring but if we practice we can make the best out of the situation.

I will defently be in merrit next year as I have in joyed the last 3 shoot.

Bow Walker
04-02-2007, 09:05 AM
This is strictly an 'outsider's' opinion, but I think that courses need to be set up with the weakest-link-in-the-chain mentality. By that I mean in terms of physical ability.

It is still easy to make challenging shot placements without the gruelling physical marathon.

I have been involved in both setting up and criticizing courses and I can see both sides of the fence here. Courses must be set up with several things in mind;
1. the financial growth of the host club - why do it if not for the money?
2. the fun aspect of the event - more fun = more participants (see #1)
3. make the course interesting without being daunting (see #1 and #2)
4. think about the physically challenged, older, shorter, and young archers when designing the course

All in all its not easy to set up a course and my hat is off to the people who continually give up their free time to volunteer for jobs of this type.

It all boils down to putting on a shoot that is both interesting and fun. This brings return participants and isn't that what every club wants?

oldtimer
04-02-2007, 10:23 AM
Well this was my wife and I 3rd trip to Merritt and it will be our last. I appreciate all the work that the Merritt club put out but when a large number of people cannott walk a course it is not enjoyable. I am in reasonably good shape for my age but my knees ached so bad after doing the " A " side on Saturday that I chose to do the " B " side twice on Sunday as did the other 4 people I shot with. They also won't go back next year. My wife was almost in tears on Saturday with frustration of not being able to comfortably walk the " A " side.
Having been involved in helping to set up some shoots and going to A LOT of shoots it is my opinion they should be like a game of golf " A NICE WALK " and all shots should be challenging but realistic, ones you would take if given the opportunity. I may be wrong but out of 20 targets there should be 6 relatively easy, 7 moderately difficult, and 7 challenging shots. Merritt in my opinion failed to meet this criteria.
I wish their club nothing but good luck in the future. Mike

jessbennett
04-02-2007, 06:12 PM
270WIN

i can respect your point of view, but some of us actually do care about our scores. some of us go out as a family outing but when some of our families cant shoot because they cant maneuver the course, something is wrong.i know i know ive heard this before, "we cant please everyone" but my mentality is we should "dam sure try". also i dont mind shooting through some junk but when the possibility of an injured person from a deflected arrow is there there is another problem. coming from a very close personal encounter from this, i feel there is no excuse to risk it. some think hey cool,"i'll just shoot through the bush and wire fence and hope for the best." and i personally feel its a DANGEROUS SOURCE of a hahahahaha laugh fest.... all the best to the merrit club in the future and i really hope they dont take all of this as a bash, but as input to make their shoots better for future comers to merrit.;-)

Rainwater
04-03-2007, 09:35 AM
I believe the United Bowhunters of BC will be having an AGM there also and it will be a great time join up if you haven't already.

Bigbear
04-04-2007, 10:16 AM
I only shot The B side of the course., Due to Bad Arthriis in my Legs and Hips. I was asured last year that the A side would not be as chalanging as it was. So I went to Merrit this year with the expection of being able to shoot the whole Course:). We shot the B side first, which was some what enjoyable . When we were finished ,and met up withnsome people that had just come of the A side, they Advised me that there was no way I'd even get past #2 Target:sad:. When we spend, It Cost me Aprox $500.00 for the weekend. rooms Gas, Meals etc. And then not able to complete the course. That sort of gets yer Dander up. Iwas told By one person If i didnt Like it I should have set up the course, "xsdhfihfj". Another said If I wasn't in good enough shape Mabe I should shoot"sdfkasdhf":mad:. In My opinion there was no Consideration given to People that are a little older or people with a little disablity who Are "Still able to get around with a little dificullty, and who still enjoy the sport and don't want to lay doun and die cause it hurt some. Sorry merrit I won't be Back:frown:

Coyote
04-04-2007, 08:56 PM
I didn't shoot the course but during my visit to a pretty nice area I did hear a relatively large number of concerns about the course.

Some things to think about. Please take them as constructive comments.

People go to these events to have fun. They don't want to lose or break equipment. It ain't fun and it's expensive.
Keep in mind the age and physical capabilities of the shooters. Some will not return next year because of this
Extremely long shots aren't necessary for challenging targets. When you start seing perfect scores you may have placed the targets too close but I've yet to see any perfect scores.
You have a beautiful area. Use it wisely
Above all keep the safety of the participants front and center. It will only take one incident to have the government all over us with regulations if we can't police ourselves.
And...have fun. That's what it's all about