Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Shooting and Hunting => Topic started by: Weylin on May 29, 2011, 07:29:43 pm
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I live in Portland and as far as I know there is only one free, public range to shoot bows. Lately when I have gone there to shoot in a couple of my self longbows there have been several people with their fancy hightech laser sighted compound missle launcers shooting from a mile away. It's not that there isn't enough space for me to shoot its that I'd like to shoot from half the range which obviously isn't feasible to do at the same time that they are shooting. Has anyone here had similar experiences and if so how did you handle it?
Weylin
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if they start on target 1 i allways go ahead of them say 5 or 6 then come back to the targets i miss. we have all trad clubs down here, i also shot a compound and i allways let trads go ahead of me cause when i shoot my sticks it may get me a favour in return.
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most ranges near me are indoor 20yd ranges
there is one outdoor near by
it has a 3d course and a standard range
the standard range has bails at 10,20,30 yds etc all the way to 110 yds
all of which have their own shooting stations
most times when the wife and i go there we are the only ones there
but if the wheelie guys are there i do like woodstick does
either let them go first,or try and stay 5 targets ahead of them
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Best way I know to handle it is either hand them a self bow to shoot or buy your own target and shoot somewhere else. :-\
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I would rather be water boarded than shoot with most of the compound guys. I can hang out with them before or after but not during. They get impatient because I don't want to shoot 60 yards and I get impatient waiting for them to play with all their mechanical stuff. I could shoot 6 arrows in the time they shoot 1 sometimes.
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Perhaps you could convince whomever runs this range to install some shorter range targets? If not then maybe you can take your own target to the range? ???
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Weylin I feel for you brother I'm frortunate enough to have a yard big enough to be able to shoot any distance I like uf to about 80 yds. I have two targets on oposite ends of the range I choose to shoot. I shoot one set of arrows usually 3 walk to them pull them and shoot in the other direction. Ron
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Thanks for the replies. to clarify, it is a simple range with one row of hay bales all next to each other so the archers stand together and shoot at the same bales the entire time. So unfortunately I don't have the option of going ahead of them on the course. The only option is for everyone to stand side by side to shoot. so either I would have to shoot from a mile away with them (which wouldn't be very fun or helpful to me) or I would have to make them move up to where I want to shoot from shich I'm sure would piss them off if they'd even do it.
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My range has short range targets so im in luck ;D
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I used to shoot my selfbow at a range in golden gate park, San Francisco. It was as you said basically a field with a row of butts or hay bale style targets. Every one there was shooting compounds from like 80yds. I just walked right up to the first open bale and started shootin at 20yds with arrows screaming past on all sides. It was pretty crazy! Finally I figured out when most folks didn't use the range...when it rains! So I had some soggy days of shooting the whole time I lived in CA. :)
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I have to agree with Justin on this one, I won't hardly go to a shoot where wheels are There,nothing aganist them , just don't want to shoot with them. :)To practice I am lucky and don't have to deal with that. :)
Pappy
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If you can find a place just go stump shooting.
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Hay Bales...Man .... I would not waste a Arrow on a Hay Bale...not with my Compound...would not have any Feathers left ...my Bow shoots through a Round Bale...Arrows come out "Sans Plumes".....thats Less feathers in French.... ;D
As for shooting with Wheelie People...I am lucky...I practice at Home...but at the Range...they have to set Stakes for Me to Shoot...Just like Pappy Does for Recurves and Primitives....at the Proper Ranges...and I shoot and take as much time as I need...I could give a Rats Back Door what they are thinking!!
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I just walked right up to the first open bale and started shootin at 20yds with arrows screaming past on all sides. It was pretty crazy!
Not pretty crazy, it is ABSOLUTELY NUTS! I know someone who caught an arrow in the back of his head and it came out his eye. He was conscious until they got him to the hospital where they put him in a medically induced coma. He died a couple of days later.
Ill shoot in the backyard (by myself) thanks.
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You could maybe bring your own target to the range and put it at 10-15 yards (or whatever you are comfortable with). I just make mine out of cardboard boxes ( 2 feet x 2 feet x 1 foot approx) filled with whatever (foam, plastic bags, packaging foam, raw wool, it all works).
Thats what i'd do.
Cheers
MAtt
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Well Matt, that's entirely to reasonable and practical, probably why I didn't think of it. ::) Maybe I'll bring my foam target along when I go.
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Makes me really appreciate being able to roam and stump shoot on my measly 3 acres (plus my ol' man's) 27 acres...I know I feel a lot better turning my 2 young boys loose out back without a worry or a care about houses, people or things that really matter. Sometimes you don't know your blessing until you see the other side of the coin.
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Howdy, I've heard about that range up in Golden Gate......crazy set up. I would suggest that you talk to how-ever is in charge of your range and see about having the back stops (hopefully they're excelsior or very compacted straw) placed at staggered distances. I have a hard time believing that the compounders always want to shoot at 1/2 mile. If they hunt, or do 3Ds they need to sight in their 20, 30 and etc. yard pins as well.
In the meantime I like Matt's idea. Just take your own target.
The compound shooters are playing a rather different game than us, but my experience is that they're a basically great group, too.
Ron
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Howdy, I've heard about that range up in Golden Gate......crazy set up. I would suggest that you talk to how-ever is in charge of your range and see about having the back stops (hopefully they're excelsior or very compacted straw) placed at staggered distances. I have a hard time believing that the compounders always want to shoot at 1/2 mile. If they hunt, or do 3Ds they need to sight in their 20, 30 and etc. yard pins as well.
In the meantime I like Matt's idea. Just take your own target.
The compound shooters are playing a rather different game than us, but my experience is that they're a basically great group, too.
Ron
they are a great group, they just need all these fancy devices to seem as good as someone with a wood bow ;D
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Fishfinder, I agree... and you should see how impressed some of those guys are if you can shoot from the same stake and post a score that's anywhere close to theirs. They seem awfully resistant to trying to shoot a real bow, though.
Ron
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Guess I'm lucky never used a range could always just shoo in my back yard if I wanted. I only do this when tillering a bow. I do all my real practice stumping.
I
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SORRY ABOUT THAT
I'm sure there public land or a farmer that will let you shoot. I love shooting those fields where the round bales a left setting around. I've even shot back my hall way on those rainy days when I wanted to shoot. Did'nt make the old lady to happy but she dos'nt like it when I deer hunting everyday either. OWELL
Sorry I think everyone lives in the country but I'm sure you can find somewhere to shoot other than the range if you really want to.
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Hi Weylin,
The best and only way is to buy your own wood. Set a purely instinctive club up and post a notice up to the effect:
This wood is only for the use of those who practice genuine instinctive archery. I regret that on no account are training wheels or sighting aids allowed. It takes too long to release an arrow, and that alone could cause those waiting to shoot to fall asleep at the peg, which could prove dangerous.
It is unfortunate, but archery seems to have taken a turn for the worst when compounds and sighting aids entered the archery scene. It takes a high degree of natural skill and a little speed to shoot a primitive and traditional bow instinctively. The modern archer does not know this, they are not taught this, and therefore know no different. It is up to us the primitive and traditional archers to teach them. But then, maybe they have tried instinctive shooting and have chosen the wheels and such as the easier option. I don't mean to be critical of the people who make use of wheels Weylin, but you are right, they do tend to be sloooower and do put the instinctive archer off their stride. The only cure is to be separate and shoot with other instinctive archers in or at an instinctive club, and they, where I live, are as rare as hen's teeth. So I shoot by myself in my back garden, which isn't much fun, but at least I am in no danger of going to sleep. [/b]
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Sloooooower! One of my buddies was practicing in an indoor range and a rather boorish compounder said something about my buddie's yew longbow shooting slow. My friend made a bet that his longbow shot faster than the compound. The other guy agreed, so they stepped up to the line to put it to the test. My buddy shot off three arrows before the compound had even released one, said "see" and then asked the other guy to pay up. I think he's still waiting. Ron
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Hi M-T.
A Jesuit priest once said: "Give to me the child and in seven years I will give you back the man." Maybe we should teach our kids to shoot with genuine instinct at this early age before those with the wheels and other things get to them. Then we would not have sky-high insurance premiums and boring over long shoots to contend with. Then instinctive clubs would be thick on the ground. >:D
Plant the seed and it will grow; do nothing and somebody else will plant the seed for you...usually theirs.
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I hate instinctive shooting... gap shooting is better ;)
I don't think there's anything wrong with sights or compounds. I just think that the whole, "this way or that way" seperation is causing massive issues. Why can't we all play nice?
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I shot a compound bow for years but never understood archery until I started building bows. If you make the equipment it forces you to come to terms with with what ARCHERY IS. I also design radio controlled airplanes which forces you to learn why a plane preform in a certain way under certain conditions. When I take the plane to the flying field pilots that buy ready made planes can't understand why I don't just buy ready made planes. I think in this country we are moving to a "I want it now" mentality. It seems like it is fueled by immediate gratification and connected to comsumerism. With modern equipment you don't need to know why and think for yourself because all you are doing is pushing a button and watching how well someones Else's creation works. Now this is not a bad thing but it is what it is. Sounds like distance for them creates challenge. Think about that idea for a minute. If you take parts off their bow it would create challenge but it does not fit with the idea of selling stuff. More distance more cost. Funny thing I figured out when hunting traditional I learned to hunt so that the long shoots were not necessary. So making my equipment really taught me archery and this taught me to really learn to hunt and take shoots at 15 yards. I did not know how much I did not know before I started building so it make sense that there is problem. I would leave the uninformed alone and take your own target to a safe place that you can shoot 15 yards.
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Hmm, ive been going to a place where crossbows and compounds thrive, but i just found out theres a trad range close to me! Yaaaaaaayyy! ;D
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My grandfather have a old saying. IF YOU DO'NT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT SHUT UP BECAUSE YOU MIGHT LOOK STUPITER THAN YOU REALLY ARE. I think you'll have a hard time makeing instinstive shooters switch when it comes to hunting.
10,000 YEARS of instintive shooting might tell you something.
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Once the compound shooters have shot at a longer distance and you waited on them then I would think they could wait at 20 yards while you shoot your arrows, then all advance to remove them from the target. Are you the only trad shooter there? If several trad shooters are there then it would aid in the support of stopping briefly for the shorter shot. As someone said you can shoot 3 arrows in the time a compound shooter can shoot one, so the wait is brief. Just ask, I believe they would understand.
I started shooting a recurve, then a Howard Hill longbow, then a Pacer compound. Yeah I was around when the first Allen compound was introduced. I also started with a 22 rifle and an 870 shotgun. Went to a 35 Remington and a single shot 3 1/2 mag shotgun. Next step was a flintlock rifle and smoothbore flintlock. Never could find a place for a crossbow.
I still shoot and hunt with all manner of weapons and love them all. To take a deer or an elk with a longbow or a compound requires the same skills right up to the shot. A compound may or may not give a distance advantage, it depends on the person shooting. Folks who say their style of hunting is so much better, then why would you put down someones choice to shoot a "lesser weapon". I have made several self bows and arrows and hunt with them, but also hunt with modern bows. We are all pursing game with an arrow. I do have more admiration for someone who goes out onto the playing field with a self bow and arrows, then successfully takes game. Be proud of what you do and be willing to share the chase. I for one would rather share the field with a compound shooter than a rifle hunter that shoots 500 yard X rings...just my perspective.
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I have shot with alot of compound shooters and I agree most of them will respect the need for you to be able to shoot at closer range. I have just recently started shooting a compound myself (untill I get a self bow built) but all shooters compound and primative need to realize we all love the same sport just with different equipment.
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I shot a compound bow for years but never understood archery until I started building bows. If you make the equipment it forces you to come to terms with with what ARCHERY IS. I also design radio controlled airplanes which forces you to learn why a plane preform in a certain way under certain conditions. When I take the plane to the flying field pilots that buy ready made planes can't understand why I don't just buy ready made planes. I think in this country we are moving to a "I want it now" mentality. It seems like it is fueled by immediate gratification and connected to comsumerism. With modern equipment you don't need to know why and think for yourself because all you are doing is pushing a button and watching how well someones Else's creation works. Now this is not a bad thing but it is what it is. Sounds like distance for them creates challenge. Think about that idea for a minute. If you take parts off their bow it would create challenge but it does not fit with the idea of selling stuff. More distance more cost. Funny thing I figured out when hunting traditional I learned to hunt so that the long shoots were not necessary. So making my equipment really taught me archery and this taught me to really learn to hunt and take shoots at 15 yards. I did not know how much I did not know before I started building so it make sense that there is problem. I would leave the uninformed alone and take your own target to a safe place that you can shoot 15 yards.
Well said. I think the sport is big enough for all of us, even (and I know some will get mad at this one) crossbows. I don't hate the commercialism of it all. I think competition and capitalism creates better products for us all. Every time I hear this argument I am reminded of the Windows revolution. The computer programmers who coined the term "Windblows" hated it because it suddenly put every day people on an even playing field with themselves, after they had spent years to learn to perform the same functions in the old school way. Yet none of these people are complaining when they pick up a new laptop for $250.00.
I believe we should focus our attention on the anti-hunters out there instead of each other. They are the real threat to our liberties. If some older man or child needs or wants a crossbow to get into the woods to hunt I have no issue with that. Many of us came to traditional/primitive archery by way of the compound and if we frown upon those weapons now, we're also frowning on future members of our own chosen skill.
As far as the range goes, I would rather practice a ten yard shot in the garage, driveway or basement than deal with the training wheel folks who are literally years behind everyone here in their knowledge and appreciation of archery, but that's just me. I'm lucky enough to have a yard backed by woods but I'm quite sure that one of the neighbors, farmers or even abandoned parking lot owners would give you permission to practice on their land, if asked. It's kind of like a one-night stand. You may get 99 "No"s before you get the one "Yes" but it only takes one, doesn't it?
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Welyin,
I started practicing archery at that same range. Everything was fine until a couple of months before the hunting season and then it became very difficult to practice. Unfortunately that range is poorly designed so it is not practical to mix modern and traditional shooters. Another problem I experienced with that range was that the bales were useless by the time hunting season was over because folks would shoot broadheads into them and the city would not replace the bales until the spring. That's why I ended up joining Sylvan. Even though the club is dominated by compound shooters, the courses are well designed so that it is not a problem sharing them.