3D Practice

aroney@bowcast.com — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:41:34 +0100

Challenge yourself this summer

On Episode #49 of BowCast - Half Time! - 5 tips to ensure victory in the fall! , you will hear about the first point that we recommend all of us archery hunters doing in the month of June before upcoming fall big game seasons - shooting 3D.

This morning, I had a new opportunity fall into my lap. I met John North during a turkey hunting trip in Kansas this past spring . As a "friend of a friend" John joined us for a turkey hunt, and I had the chance to get to know him a little better, and I quickly assessed he was one of the most knowledgeable every day bowhunters I had met in awhile. His knowledge on archery equipment and tactics was impressive. He talked of success with Whitetails in Kansas, Elk in Colorado, Turky in Texas, and a Caribou in the North country and a variety of species in Africa.....just to name a few. John's got a great sense of humor, and some great experience under his belt- and to boot he is a Brit who has lived in the US for quite some time, but it is still great to hear hunting stories and adventures through a British accent (has anyone else ever heard a Brit talk archery hunting?).

During that camp, John talked about his "backyard" 3D range and extended an invitation for me to come out and shoot it in the summer. You never know where these "first time met in hunt camp" invitations will go, but John made good on that invitation this morning as myself and Matt Hogue from Sportsman's Warehouse traveled into the foothills of Denver (where John lives) and got after his course.

The Course

Now, both John and Matt have shot this course before, and both told me it was a great challenge. No big deal, my G5 Quest is dialed in with my Sure-Loc Sportsmans's Special. I have been shooting accurately at paper out to 65 yards, and am getting more and more confident each week with this new 2008 bow. So, Matt and I headed up at 7:00 AM (took about an hour), rolled out of the car with quiver strapped and bows in hand, and got after it.

When I told John I only brought 6 "good" arrows along, and commented that was all I would need, I seem to remember a smirk that looked like there was more to it than this jolly Brit's normal smirk. I would find out soon enough.

First shot - 46 yards with a 20 degree uphill slope at a Dahl Sheep. Challenging, but I have done these shots before - no sweat. I hit a little high, but probably still would have put that ram down.

Second target - 52 yards and a 30 degree uphill slope at a black panther sitting on top of a rock - nothing but blue sky behind him. As this was only my second shot, it became my first lost arrow as I skipped it right off his back and watched it backdrop on the crystal blue sky. I think I was starting to understand what John and Matt meant by "Challenging". Usually on a 3D course you get a couple 20 and 30 yard flat shots to warm up. No sign of that on this course.

BTW, no retriveing arrows. We walk up a rock face behind the 2 targets we just shot and stand on a rock ledge (sorta behind the black panther I just missed). The ledge is pretty high with about a 50 foot drop off and just enough room for the 3 of us to stand. Matt and John shoot first and I can't see down in the shadows exactly what they are shooting at. I step to the line (meaning the edge of the rock ledge) and am presented with a shot at a buffalo - 67 yards, 20 degree dowhnill. I make a decent shot, and start thinking, "What the heck could be next?".

What's next on the course?

We moved on to some more tame shots - elk at 40 yards broadside with 10 degree downhill, 50 yard mulie with vitals between 2 feet of trees with a 10 degree dowhnill, and a turkey at 30 yards. I was told "headshots only" at the turkey. I killed that target, but was a few inches to the left of his quartering towards red head.

Back to the challenge. As we moved down to the "valley" (by valley I mean a Rocky Mountain stream trickling like piss through the 40 degree slope we were walking down, and the rock face on the other side we were heading towards). Next thing I know, Matt and John are looking at the rock faces about 30-40 yards across and in front of us. I almost missed the various rams and gems buck that were situated on the rock ledges - nothing behind them except rock walls. We talk about this in an upcoming video cast we also shot, but this is where focus is real. You need to put the rock out of your mind and focus on the target. All three of us made great shots across the valley.

Walking further down the high road on the 40 degree downslope side, we had the opportunity to shoot down at deer, bedded buck, jaguar and beaver. All of these animals where in the shadows, and somehow there was always a branch or tree that tended to "grab" your attention away from your pin. Again, another good round of shots by all three of us.

Now this is getting ridiculous!

We went down, crossed the stream and climbed (and I mean rock climed) the face to get up towards the rams and gems buck we just shot at. I of course thought we were just retrieving our arrows, but we stopped once to shoot a 60 degree dowhnill shot at the same bedded buck in the shadows where you literally had to bend over the cliff ledge to get your shot off. 60 FREAKIN degrees!

After retrieving arrows, back down the rock wall to the stream. Again, I thought we were continuing on - but John kept stopping to point out other shots (which of course we took!). The first - another shot at the bedded buck - only 40 yards this time, but through some quakies. John and I made decent shots, however, Matt stepped off to the side and completed a shot I have never seen before - his arrow actually cross cut one of John's carbon arrows - split it completely in half and left one fletching sticking in the complete center of John's arrow.

The second from the stream bed - did I mention this was a challengig course - John and Matt start ranging the buffalo we shot from the top of the other side (shot #3). The buffalo is 85 yards with a 30 degree up slope. Interestingly enough, John is the only one who made a decent shot - both Matt and I missed miserably low - My arc actually hit some branches that seemed to be 20 feet above the target! The morning finished out with a few other "pop shots" (i.e. 50 yards and only 20 degrees up or down!).

What an amazing opportunity!

Overall the course is extremely challenging. I did settle in and actually had a pretty decent day shooting. I lost one arrow on the panther, broke one on the "rock face" shots, and bent an arrow that went low and just touched a rock on the jaguar in the shadows. The key here is many of these shots were very typical in the field (defnitely on elk and mule deer at 50+ yards with relatively steep up/down slope). Some of the shots were completely ludicrous, and I thank John - that limey bastard has really put together something that has raised his game, and at the very least humbled me.

We got a chance to grab a soda in John's log cabin where I had the chance to admire a wall of 6 whitetail bucks that were massive. When I asked John to tell me where each one is shot, he replied "Kansas - all of them". He had several good bear heads, a monster elk, a couple of great velvet caribou, bob cats, a pig of a muley, and....well I am probably forgetting more than I remember.

Why should 3D be a part of your summer practice?

In summary, I think I took the following points away from this morning's shoot:

1) Tactical 3D practice never gets old - just keep moving targets around and challenge yourself. I have no doubt my summer 3D shooting makes me a more accurate hunter.

2) I have a lot more shooting to do (both 3D and paper) to feel 100% confident when I chase my diet of big game animals this coming fall. Without challenging myself with this course early in the sumer, I might think I am ready, only to miss one of those "once in a lifetime" animals.

3) Man, I hope I get another invite to that course!

4) Disclaimer, some of these shots would not be viable in the field - but it's great fun to try them out on a 3D course.

John - for you a big thank you. Your house and land is beautiful - but for me the targets and challenges you have created in your "back yard" quite frankly overshadow the beauty of your home (coming from an obsessed archery hunter, and not a very normal individual).

BowCasters - For you, a couple of photos of the course. Not a ton here, but stay tuned as we'll spin up some video footage so you can actually see Matt and I making (and sometimes just attempting) some of these very challenging shots.

Late,

Aneal

{multithumb} {multithumb}

Buffalo Shot

{multithumb} {multithumb}

Matt Hogue Shooting Dahl Sheep

{multithumb} {multithumb}

Aneal Shooting Black Panther

{multithumb} {multithumb}

Close up of Black Panther

{multithumb} {multithumb}

Elk with some down slope

{multithumb} {multithumb}

Elk with some down slope - close up

{multithumb} {multithumb}

Matt Hogue shooting downslope at elk in trees (above)

{multithumb}{multithumb}

Deer in Trees - Not Bad

{multithumb}{multithumb}

Deer in Trees - OK, a little challenge

{multithumb} {multithumb}

Deer in Trees - Reality

[...]

Blog Entries tagged 'John North'

3D Practice