What a great day for archery today! When we arrived at the range, there wasn’t a breath of wind and the sun was shining.
Unfortunately, not very many members were at the club to enjoy the fabulous conditions, however those that did turn up made the most of the glorious weather.

Club regulars, Jess and Dave Reid shot at 50M at one of the new outdoor targets, while new comers to the club, Vikki and her son Taj made the most of the calm day at shot at 20M.

Super Coach Mike Clark was kept busy most of the day on the indoor range, schooling the 

beginners at the Come & Try Session in the fine art of recurve technique.

We had around 10 novices again this week, all taking advantage of the 3 free sessions we provide to introduce them to our great sport. One new comer, Sam, did particularly well, qualifying to advance from 10M to 20M after only a few ends. Congratulations Sam, I hope to see you back next week!

Dave Reid even crossed over from the dark side, finding one of the left hand club bows and shooting a few ends with the recurve. As usual when it comes to barebow recurve, Dave couldn’t hit water even if he was standing in a lake. At least he didn’t break any arrows this time. Good on ya Dave, but mate, better for every one if you stick with your Mathews MR8 compound bow.

Don’t Forget: 
Our Come & Try Session will be running again next Saturday between 11am and 12:30pm. If you’ve ever wanted to try archery, this is a great introduction to the sport. All equipment is supplied and there is absolutely no cost to come along to your first 3 sessions. After that, you are under no obligation to continue, however we’d love to have you as a regular member. Contact Mike Clark, email – mike.clark@aow.asn.au, Mobile – 0422 868 406 or Dave Reid, email david.reid@aow.asn.au, mobile – 0477 883 694 if you have any questions, or you can just fill out the form on our contacts page.

Only a small turnout today at the club, with just 7 at the come and try session. Well done to Dennis and Zara who showed great improvement today under the guidance of Super Coach Mike Clark.

Congratulations also to AoW members Gerry Mahoney and Jessica Reid…. Gerry qualified to progress from 20m to 30m, while Jess advanced from 30m to 40m.

Gerry needed 213 and shot a 220 with his super smooth Samick Sage recurve and Jess, needing 220 with her Quest Radical compound bow, absolutely belted it by shooting  256.

Well done to both of you, all your hard work and practice is certainly paying off.

A trip to Mount Clay Archers ended in disaster for the Reids when their Holden Statesman passed away on the way home. Caught halfway between Yambuk and Port Fairy, the motor coughed twice then died forever, leaving Jess and Dave stranded on the side of the road.

Prior to this, they had spent the morning shooting the beautiful ABA course at Mount Clay Archers, surrounded by koalas just near Heywood and only an hour from Warrnambool. It was their first try at a 3 arrow ABA shoot, Dave finished with 356 out of 400, which included a complete miss and two targets only scoring 12 points, however Jess was off her game, shooting 295 for the day. Wendy and the team at Mount Clay Archers are all extremely friendly and I highly recommend that we get a group together and pay them a visit. It truly is a great day out!

Jess and Dave Reid made their way to Haddon near Ballarat on Friday 15th Feb for the first ever Goldfields Classic. It was a two day, 70 target, one arrow marked 3D shoot, and what a ripper it was! With really well thought out target placement, it was extremely challenging for even the most accomplished archer, but the shooting pegs were placed in such a way that even the most inexperienced could shoot without fear of losing their arrows. All in all one of the best run archery tournaments this author has been to. Now on to the results!

On day one, Jess finished with a 305, while Dave shot his worst ever score for a 40 target 3D round, ending the day with 268 out of 400. He was so embarrassed that he didn’t even want to hand his score card in, but he was eventually convinced to do so.
Day two saw Dave improve slightly with a 239 out of 300 and Jess had a 212, finishing in fourth place. It was a great shoot with great people. 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have never shot 3D, do yourself a favour and get along to a shoot. It’s one of the best forms of archery and I guarantee that you will love it! With targets like this one, how can you not enjoy it.