Sedibeng IFAA - Bittersweet almost!

Well today I got to take my ID arrows for the first outing, after some practice over the last week I was hoping to finally get my 300. Having shot IFAA 5 spot four times before my highest 3 scores was 297/36; 295/34; 288/36.

Initially I had some issues with my indoor setup, for some reason after a few shots I tended to lose a fletch mid flight and my arrow tended to hit far to the one side missing the target completely. After a miss or two it tends to get you very, VERY negative.

After a few of these I made a few changes, went from my HHA optimizer to a Shibuya CPX520, my arrow rest was moved (the cause of the stripping fletches). Was playing around with different arrows (Gold Tip, Easton, Black Eagle) until I finally settled on the Carbon Core arrows. My blackbirds did not really have the diameter to cut a line when a shot was less than perfect, but the ID arrows did significantly better. Overall everything went quite well I had a 48x count, which is my personal best. All went well until my 3rd last round, where I shot 4X and then as I crept forward I slipped and plonked my last arrow into a solid 4. My mistake...

So after all was shot and done I got a 299/48.

Shoot casual.

Endless Wraps / African Arrow Wraps Review

It seems that after some time you want to give it a bit of a personal touch on your gear. I have been shooting PSE for about 2 years and fell in love with their skullworks camo. So after getting the dimensions, I decided to head off to GIMP for some image editing. Thankfully it did not take me too long to get it the way I wanted it. I sent the design off to Endless Wraps to get it printed who are located in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal.

The wraps

 After a bit of patience, it finally arrived! The DPI on the prints were good enough to get all the small detail in of the antlers and the PSE logo I put on it. After some time on youtube to see how you wrap arrows I had 3 blackbirds that I was ready to give a go. My first attempt was not entirely to my liking so I decided to redo it.

Step 1

I peeled the wrap off, placed it face down on a massive mouse pad, then with a hobby knife I held it in place while taking tissue dipped in acetone to wipe down the arrow shaft and the wrap. I placed the arrow next to the wrap making sure my logo would still be visible after the wrapping it. Slowly and forcefully rolling my arrow onto the wrap it stuck perfectly!

My arrows with those wraps

Step 2

So after my wrap was on, I just added my blackbird pin nock adapter and my Easton G Nock. I was worried that the wrap might be a bit thick causing issues on my blade rest but it did not seem to cause any issues.

My completed arrows, wraps and all!

Step 3

I am not saying that I hate fletching but fletching these arrows with such a small diameter tends to not be the easiest thing to fletch.

However, once the wraps were on, they actually fletched quite a bit easier, the fletches stuck easier and the little bit of body it gave the shaft also made the fletching quite a bit less frustrating.

Conclusion

Well after I weighed my arrows vs my non-wrapped arrows I had a difference of 410 vs 398, so not too much really for a wrap that is 200x25mm, that boils down to 1.77GPI, which puts it a bit on the heavier side. The price for what you get makes these wraps worth it, making your arrows that little bit more unique.

For more information contact Endless Wraps.

North Gauteng IFAA Field Championship

Well, it does seem that not all days are created equal, the North Gauteng field competition was something behold. The wind came in with something you would only see in the fair Cape. The winds were blowing in gusts of hard wind that Saturday that tended to be coming from the one side then the other of constant varying strength.

This made a back tension(TruBall BT Gold4) the wrong choice on the day, my first half I did okay, fighting and wrestling the wind, but it seems this is where the weight advantage did not really help much. On full draw wind from the one side would make getting the arrow to fly near impossible and the wind from the other side tended just to make the arrow fly. My second half I ended up doing 20 points less than my first.

The second day, I was convinced to rather switch to my thumb release (TruBall Fang4). The day went slightly better on my first half, but my second half on the thumb proved a bit better, giving me exactly the same score as my first half. Shooting 24 points better than the previous day.

This was our day's wind!

Overall after being quite despondent after my first day, the second day picked up and I am one step closer to my Gauteng colours. This is the one discipline that I am finding challenging but fun, watching some of the heavy weights shooting field really does get you quite eager to do it.

Ekurhuleni Field Championship

Our first field, our first time we have to shoot more than 100 scoring arrows per day and walk close to 10km per day!

This unlike other competitions we shoot was quite different, there are so many rules with field. The distances go up to 80 yards and you have no excuse for a bad shot, since everything is a perfect round target.

Our first day was quite an experience, thankfully I was on the range before but for some fun 3D shooting. So Archers Edge did not feel completely alien, but the field section that was setup felt brand new. 14 targets to done twice, 4 arrows per target. A chilly and cloudy morning, there were so many people we were two 4 man groups on most targets.

All distances marked, clearly.

The first day was quite an experience that I enjoyed way too much. I loved the technical aspect, the order to shoot in, the distances and the amount of arrows.

A beautiful morning with a massive amount of archers.

My wife getting ready for a near perfect shot.

This is what Carbon Core Blackbirds do outdoor!

So after my first time shooting field I know one thing for certain, I will be back for more!