When I finished a challenging 3-D archery course Aug. 16 with fellow traditional bowhunter Larry Morrow, I had one small victory — I had not lost a single arrow.
I’d also shot better than I ever shot such a course with a recurve bow. Maybe I was finally over the hump at shooting a simple stick-and-string bow that lacks the mechanical advantage of a compound bow’s cables and cams, and relies on instinctive shooting, not a $300 lighted sight.
While compound shooters fine-tune their bows with Allen wrenches, tiller adjustments and sight pin tweaks to hit Ping-Pong balls at 50 yards, trad shooters practice at sub-30-yard distances, hoping they will get close enough to slip a fixed-blade broadhead through the lungs.
Although most of the 28 foam animal targets at Clintonville Bow Club’s fresh, new 3-D course have tiny 12-point circles inside the kill zone, those spots are meaningless in a hunting situation.
The 10-ring represents a perfect shot in a kill zone, with a slightly larger 8-ring providing a mostly-fatal zone. Hit the foam animal anywhere outside these rings and it scores a 5.
Clintonville’s course offers various distance stakes for the shot, not unlike a golf course. Target archers shoot from the farthest distances, hunter-class archers stand next to the mid-range hunter stakes, and traditional archers stand by the closest ones.
Some were almost too close, considering a bowhunter must draw the string back and release an arrow without the deer hearing or seeing that motion. Again, compound bows offer the advantage of allowing a hunter to draw and hold the string for 30 seconds or more, because the pulley leverage allows a draw weight about 10-15% of peak draw.
For example, a 60-pound-draw compound bow that “lets off” 90% of that weight when the wheels or cams turn over means the hunter will hold just 6 pounds. The recurve or longbow has no letoff, meaning most trad hunters must release in a few seconds.
While working behind the clubhouse counter that morning, I learned that Morrow, a Luxemburg bowhunter I met at last year’s shoot, had shot the day before. I didn’t want to put my Jeffery Custom 62-inch recurve bow with 47-pound draw weight against $1,500 Hoyt, Bowtech and Mathews compounds, and Morrow shoots a Fred Bear Custom Takedown recurve.
I smiled when I heard club president Jim Schoenike say, “Hi, Larry. Did you decide to come back and shoot again?”
Yes, he did. Now I had a fellow old-school archer to shoot with, as long as I could get out of my food and drink serving duties a bit early. Schoenike gave me the OK, so Morrow and I flung a few arrows at the freshly upgraded practice range before heading to the wooded 3-D range.
Most people shoot the course while standing, but I nearly always sit while bowhunting, so I thought it made sense to carry a folding stool. I made almost all my shots sitting down and feel it definitely will improve my odds come opening day.
Morrow lost two of his feather-fletched aluminum arrows on the course: one near an elk target surrounded by new aspen growth from last year’s Managed Forest Law timber cut, and another by a wolverine target. We took a break midway through the course, talking about everything from traditional gear to Italian Catholic mystics, when a miracle of sorts occurred.
Another shooter, who lost his own arrow by the elk target, found Morrow’s and somehow figured out it was his (the feather fletching probably gave it away, as most compound shooters use plastic vanes).
Morrow and I only passed on two targets, a giant bear mounted on an elevated platform that normally supports archers shooting down (missing the bear would mean an almost certain arrow loss) and a caribou that required shooting across a pond.
Both of us were tired and hot as we neared the final targets near the clubhouse. I missed the mountain goat (No. 26) and bobcat (the last target) but quickly found my arrows. I was still pleased with my 177, total and Morrow finished with a 147 — both respectable for two senior archers with primitive gear.
I bought him a beer and my mind wandered to the upcoming season. One of my hunting spots is the wooded club grounds and those foam bears, elk, wolverines and even a velociraptor could be a real, flesh-and-blood whitetail in a few weeks.
Now, I felt ready and confident.
Our club’s weekend shoot drew about 80 archers, earned us a little money from food, drinks and entry fees, and got 80 bowhunters ready for the hunt. Whether you try out a full 3-D course or shoot at an indoor pro shop, be sure to practice before the Sept. 12 opener — and include some shots with your hunting broadheads to ensure they fly as straight as your target heads.
Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.
