PDA

View Full Version : Nan. 29th Shoot - Well Attended (long)



Bow Walker
10-30-2006, 09:49 AM
The Pumpkin Shoot (Oct. 29) this last weekend was a hoot. Lots of people, good mix of ages and disciplines for the shooters, great target setup, and a super day to shoot.

The weather was clear and brisk. The wind was the only thing that was bothersome. You had to be wary of falling branches as some of the gusts had to be up around 40 - 50 mph. Just guessing at that but when it was time to go home there was a power outage from Chase River all the way down Island to Timberlands Road at the airport. Then another downed line just outside of Duncan. Windy all up and down the Island on Sunday.

Back to the shoot - I want to give a thank you to the guys who set the course up. The targets were placed in "natural" settings and the pegs were placed so that it was very life-like and "hunter-style" shooting, if that makes any sense to you.

The usual 20 target, 2 arrow round with the usual scoring - except for the moving ghost, and of course the much cursed at pumpkin. The scoring on the moving ghost was a ten for a hit anywhere in the body as there is apparently no "kill zone" on a ghost. The more adventuresome shooters tried for the head or neck shot, and the some even tried for the mouth or the eyes.

The steel pumpkin was a psychological challenge, as it had not much to shoot at in the way of openings. Nearly everybody went for either the eyes or the nose as the mouth looked to be narrow and full of steel teeth.

Of course there was a wide variety of broken arrows stuck in the top of the target when our group got up to it (we started on #4 and the pumpkin was #17 I think). As you were making your way #14 to #15, there was a distinctive ringing to be heard from time to time. Our group was successful in the first round - only one shooter opted for the safer beaver target at the side of the pumpkin, the rest went for the glory.

Rumor has it that there was a big magnet in the honey pot on target #20. I for one believe that rumor. The magnet must have been removed during lunch though.

Speaking of lunch, the fare offered up was quickly consumed by all who were there - it was a "Winnie The Pooh And A Blustery Day" to be sure. That chili was selling fast. It felt good to get inside out of the wind (and wind chill) and to be able to get on the outside of a big bowl of hot chili.

On the second round the Powers-That-Be decided to give a bit of incentive to the shooters to go after the pumpkin. They changed the scoring from either a 10 (1st arrow) or 5 (second arrow). During the afternoon round the scoring went to 30 and 15 !! By the time our group got to the target there were 30 or so arrows festooning the top of the pumpkin. When we moved on to #18, there were four more shafts added to the display. Not my shafts! My little brother and his son each left two expensive carbons for the collection:twisted:

That's not the idea of the pumpkin BOWSITTER and 10 X'er. It must have hurt a bit because one was using CX Linejammers and the other was using another CX "fat shaft".........since daddy was and is buying the arrows for his family - it gets to be expensive. Eh, Ron??

All in all it was a great day to be flinging arrows. I met a young recurve shooter again, (I had first met him at the Cowichan shoot two weeks ago). Coleman was proudly displaying his new bow. First time I met him he was shooting a shorter, 23 lb. bow. This time Coleman had a 50 or 60 inch recurve that was pulling about 8 lbs more! Boy they grow fast, don't they?? Coleman is the kind of guy that I would have wanted for a son of my own - great kid. I look forward to seeing him at future shoots. He lives here in Victoria, but I don't know his last name or email address. I hope he gets to read this.

There were other youngsters out there having fun as well. The group ahead of us was composed of Dad and his two young blonde headed daughters. They looked to be having a great time, like everyone else. Good to see all the younger shooters out and having a ball.


Thanks again to the "NFG" for a super Sunday. Yeah, I agree.....they gotta change their initials!!

timberhunter
10-30-2006, 01:02 PM
Glad to hear such good reports.
There are a lot of people that make the shoots as good as they are. We as with every other archery club, have our core of people that are always there. And always help.
If it wasn't for the wind, I'd say it would have been probably the best shoot for comments, and happy people. I don't think I heard a complaint, or had someone point out a problem, all day.

Thanks to all who came and braved the high winds. See you at the next one.

Marc
Nanaimo fish and game
Archery chair.

Ps. Maybe we'll stick the steel pumkin out at all of our shoots. :lol: