Thread: Practice

Im driving along today and day dreaming....think next contrating season I will get the boys to bale me a really hard compacted round bale as big as baler will make....them park it in corner of transport yard with warehouse cover over top to keep rain off....should make a plurry good backstop and give me endless fun,by getting it made hard it SHOULD help stop arrows going to deep...when its biggigerred I will chuck it in pen for moos to eat and do another LOL.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Im driving along today and day dreaming....think next contrating season I will get the boys to bale me a really hard compacted round bale as big as baler will make....them park it in corner of transport yard with warehouse cover over top to keep rain off....should make a plurry good backstop and give me endless fun,by getting it made hard it SHOULD help stop arrows going to deep...when its biggigerred I will chuck it in pen for moos to eat and do another LOL.

Your an ideas man

Well I'm jealous of the groupings you guys are getting in the photos.

My first excursion consisted of a happy afternoon yesterday, at a little place I've found, that's my own private shooting range

So from having a fibreglass straight bow, 50 yrs ago, I'm new to this Compound Bow shooting and it went as follows:


Paper Tuning at 10 yds from the paper, 12 from the target.

I had no trouble shooting through the A4 papers I'd hung up. Of about 20 shots, I got 4 perfect bullet holes and the rest, were all over the place.

So I'm picking my form is the problem. More practice.


Trying to sight in the sight:

I sent a further 30 or 40 shots at the target from 20 yds, to see if I could get the sight within cooee.

Good news was, they were all on target (wine box stuffed with plastic packing and wrapped with packing tape), but they were not where I'd aimed them.

So my "grouping", arf arf, was about 12 inches.

At this time I was getting quite sore in the left arm, muscles used in compression, hurt a bit and I was having trouble holding the bow steady, a bit like waving an empty pint glass, after 12 Guinness.

My conclusions are, that more practice and then lots more practice is needed.


Again, I'm not trying to be a know it all, but as this is all new to me, my experiences may help other newbies.


Rained today, bugger, maybe tomorrow.

if it makes you feel better...2.5hrs at range on Sunday..... 20ish shots yesterday and 30ish today and at 10 yards Im now down to minute of bucket lid.....muscles are sore but I can see improvement...made up crude sight for the 50lb recurve tonight and straight away saw improvement over bare bow.

Of course as soon as I get a decent grouping there'll be photos

And thanks for relating that, I imagine a recurve is a lot more difficult.



and as a note: I went back and checked my centre shot today and everything is still lined up.

So after 2 weeks of not being able to get out, I spent a morning and re-did the paper shooting at 2 yards instead of the 10 yards I tried before

some photos:



Old tripod makes a handy bow stand.




A couple of good ones, but my form is all over the place in the beginning. The arrows are all pretty parallel in the target.





@ 20 yards, starting to sight in, the big target is a banana box, the small one a wine box. I had to stop, the arm muscles used in compression holding the bow, started to go. Still, I'm happy with the grouping at this early stage.


Again, I'm not trying to be a know it all, but as this is all new to me, my experiences may help other newbies.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Im driving along today and day dreaming....think next contrating season I will get the boys to bale me a really hard compacted round bale as big as baler will make....them park it in corner of transport yard with warehouse cover over top to keep rain off....should make a plurry good backstop and give me endless fun,by getting it made hard it SHOULD help stop arrows going to deep...when its biggigerred I will chuck it in pen for moos to eat and do another LOL.

A polyprop bag stuffed with other polyprop bags makes a very durable backstop. Wool fadge is even better. Lasts and lasts, is cheap (sometimes free) and very light to move around. Don't stuff the scrunched up bags in too tight though - just to the point where the outer bag is firm is good. Field points don't get through it.

found all the old bits of polystyrene around the show...old spapool cover,bit picked up off road etc etc...managed to sandwich them together standing upright between sticks...12'' thick stops field points at 12yards...so does 2 layers of 2" thick foam matress......old unused one forms backstop...
so 1" per 10 yards is minute of bow.......good to know..... was thinking shotgun with cylinder choke is 1" per yard so 12" at 12 yards ....most times Im bettering that.... tried 20 yards and decided not ready for that far yet....close to meter spread.....

Now that I'm improving somewhat, I'll post the following:





I intend to hunt plant based organisms, I will hunt the tips of Pohutukawa. But then, I always thought Hare and Deer were plant based.

*I post these as a record for me and maybe it'll help others, who are new to this like me.

Well I guess it was going to happen one day, I believe they call it "Robin Hooding" in Yokel-land, me I'll call it lucky chance @ 20 yds.