Western MA Hunter

I shoot a couple of indoor leagues in the off season just for practice... they are competitive, but more for fun and practice.

ahunter55

2008 is the start of my 52nd year in Archery/Bowhunting. Yes,the sport,not my age. In the late 60s &to about 82 I was someplace competing nearly every weekend & locally 3-4 times a week. When Bowhunting started, I was Bowhunting as much as possible but still shooting nearly everyday practicing when not in the field. Over the years I have competed in many state & NFAA sectional tournys plus Cobo Hall in like 1968.I did many other things during this time also. servedas a rep forstate Bowhunting & target assn., wrote a archery column for a state sports newspaper, lobbied for better bowhunting laws, owned & operated2 Archery shop & lanes. Now, I just Bowhunt & make a few informational Bowhunting videos. I spend the off season taking a few out of state trips for hogs & Whitetail in the fall. My shooting is on a regular basis at home with broadheads to keep me from becoming rusty, though I know even being rusty I could outshoot many (haha). I have thought about doing some competition in the senior division to see how I would fair...wouldn't want to embarress the younger hot shots. Competition can be LOTs of fun & you will meet & make many long time friends on the archery ranges you go to. Go to have fun, I always did.

Rick James

I do agree with you that they are different pursuits. The same as a pool league, or darts league, etc. Only thing in common is that we talk hunting the entire time, and for me it's time to spend with a community of people that do share common interest with me. I'm a competitive person, and do enjoy competing, and this is a great way to enjoy the fellowship of others interested in like things and give me an outlet to compete.

Explain "differences in preparation and their hunting in general". I'd like to understand what you mean by this.........give us examples.

Arthur P

I shot competition for 20 years. Only reason I stopped is because I can't walk a full ciruit of the range any more. If you consistently shoot with folks who are better shots than you, you can learn more about shooting a bow in one season of 3D - NFAA field archery is even better - than you can in 20 years of farting around on your own. And make a lot of good friends doing it.

Indoor shooting? I agree with ya. I'd rather floss GMMAT's cats teeth. Two things should never have a roof over them. Football and archery.

GR8atta2d

I do it in the off-season it's fun and it's a night out, with Dad and my Uncle. Who both shoot in the over 70 division andboth won first place in theirindividual classes last year.It also gives me a "reason" to go practice on the weekends if I so desire.

Some guys like it, others would rather sit around and shoot through a chrono and take pictures of the numbers

Different strokes...!

GMMAT

And I love shooting indoors, Arthur. We can stand around in January/Feb. in my shop with short sleeves and shoot for hours.

And your statement doesn't bother me a bit. I understand where many wouldn't like this.

Just don't mention you'd rather floss my cat's teeth than gun hunt.

rybohunter

My take on competitive archery in general…..It’s cool they’ve got some fancy gear & it takes great talent/skill/mental toughness to be good. Is it for me…..NOPE!

Paper punching……boring.
3D shoots…… don’t see the fun at all. It will do nothing to help my style of hunting. I’ve got better things to do when they normally run. And I’d probably get way too mad if people intentionally busted my arrows or I lost them on my own.

I never understood the draw of 3D shooting on a competitive level and its implication of importance to being a good bowhunter. I shoot deer where I need to kill them, not where I need to score well on them. I don’t need to do precise yardage estimations as my setups don’t really allow for that. And if so, they are pre-ranged.

I hear a lot of the questions about how can you be into bowhunting and not be into 3D? It’ll help you be a better shot, etc etc. Meanwhile most (not all) people I know heavy into 3D aren’t that great of hunters. Some excel greatly at both, that’s great for them. But I hardly think being good/enjoying 3D is a prerequisite for being good at/enjoying bowhunting.

Now that being said, I am signing up for an indoor traditional 3D league. But that is going to be fun, not competitive. And it’s the middle of winter while its dark outside. Not many other options for things better to do. I can easily see how some may like just hanging out with people shooting the breeze and shooting some targets. That’s fun. But for me the fun goes away when serious competition comes into play.

GR8atta2d

Can we gun hunt for your cat and mount it's teeth?

mauser06

if i have time later in life, i might give competetion a try. just to do it. right now, i goto some local 3D shoots...thats about the extent of it...slight competition between us guys, but other than that we are just having a good time and doing some in the woods practice.

i target shoot because i am a hunter. plain and simple. i strive to be the best that i can because i owe it to the animals i am pursing.

no, i doubt i ever EVER need that 60yd pin when im hunting. but, ive learned that if you can shoot groups at 60yds, your 30yd shooting is going to gain big. some guys practice hard core at 20 and maybe some 30yd shooting, but not much of it..thats it. they say they are hunters and dont need to shoot past 20 in the treestand...agreed...but, i like to know that i can...and under proper conditions and range finder, will shoot past 20 to some extent.

ive never done anything competatively in my life. not even gradeschool sports. i guess i played basketball when i was in gradeschool every saturday for a year or 2 before i was 12..and bowled every saturday around the same era, and bowled a few competetions, but it wasnt real competition...just a bunch of kids and everyone got prizes lol...so i dont really count that...so id like to get into competion just to try it...if i dont like it, what did i loose?? dad says shooting is my gift and i need to persue it. just seems gun, bow, pistol, shotgun, if it can be shot, i can most likely pick it up and learn to shoot it fairly decintly, fairly quickly. not tooting my own horn...but thats just an ability i seem to have...archery was the same...self taught other than HNI guidance and i feel i am a good shooter for the short time ive been at it, being self taught, and my equiptment and time i put in...i feel with better equiptment, more time put in and some coaching, i might shine....might fall on my face...one day, i might find out...i hardly ever goto the proshops..but ive yet to have anyone try to correct my form or anchors or anything...but everytime im there they are pulling their hair out trying to help a guy paper tune that doesnt understand what tourqing the grip is or whatever his problem may be...

we will see...im going on 21yo...with any luck, i got alot of time left to do all the things i wann do in life...if i did get into it, i dont know how far i would persue it...probably just local, unless i did turn out to be awesome...then i just might persue it a little farther, but that takes alot of time and dedication...be hard for a family man to do such a thing...so who knows...

GMMAT

Agreed!

Agreed, again!

Yet for others...the competition IS the fun. It's that way, for me. I never could stand to play a round of golf when there wasn't "something" on the line. Never could have been a player of that game for the "fun". I'm competitive.

So imagine when I find this 3D thing. I never knew such existed! It's new. I can be competitive with myself in my basement (me v. a score) and competitive against others in a 3D competition.

To ME....."Boring" would be going around a 3D course and not knowing what you shot (score)or how you did against the other guys shooting.