An Archery 3D Shoot

Never Been To a 3D Archery Shoot?

I know there are a lot of Bow and Arrows sitting in the bottom of closets out there just waiting to be shot so if this looks like fun get out and get some exercise walking between targets and pullin, releasing and scoring those arrows.

To tune up your bow check out our setting your sites page.

bowequipped.com/setting your sites

Camping

Our Archery range is open for camping year round and some Target shooters and Hunters start setting up there sites the night prior to the competition. Most unload to tailgate status (food and drink) and then go to the practic Archery Targets to see if the arrows are going where there supposed to go. The trick is to get back before it gets to dark to setup camp. You can always tell the bow hunters still out shooting at dusk supposedly cause they want to get use to the same lighting when the deer are moving in the field. There always seems to be a few looking for flashlights.

Local Food

We have a 5 star Archery Target range close and the kitchen fires up early about 6:00 AM. The smell of coffee seems to do a better job than most alarms. The club at this range works hard to help everyone have a great time by setting up the 3D archery targets and range cleanup the day before. They also have several cookshacks along the course with Drinks, Chips, Burgers, Dogs, and all the good fixins the day of the shoot. The gates usually open between 07:30 and 08:00 AM.

Oranco Cookshack has an upper deck with treestand in the far back corner.

There is always someplace to sign in. The entery fee is normally around $20.00 buckskins to offset the the cost of the targets. The standard Equipment needed would be that Bow we talked about earlier and a quiver of arrows. There are several competition classes determined by age, sex, style of bow (long, recurve, compound), type of equipment (sights and stabalizers ect.) and if you shoot with fingers or a release. Depending on the 3D shoot you may also be able to purchase Mulligans or do-overs, and Doe Tags. A Doe Tag is a redo for a target setup to shoot a 3D Buck but they a have placed several Does around to make the shot a little tighter and a -5 on the score card if you happen to hit one of these girls. Most 3D shoots have what is called Double scoring. Each group will have 2 score cards filled out for each member in the group. The other shooters are deligated to pulling the arrows and making sure each is recorded correctly.

IBO Scoring standard.

scoring is normally 10-8-5 meaning the small Center ring shown is used for tie breakers so count how many 10's (Middle ring) you had along with how many were in the small center ring. The (kill zone) ring is 10 points, The outer (vitals area)ring is 8 points and anywere on the body is 5 points. The legs, ears, and antlers of the archery target normally do not score. If an Arrow is touching the line the higher score is recorded. There are normally about 4 shooters to a group and what is called a staggered start meaning every group picks a target number and then shifts to the next 3D target until they work there way back around to were they started.

3D Foam Archery Targets

View from the Cookshacks treestand.

Now Days the manufactures of the Archery Targets have created life size realistic animals of all varieties. There is a lot of tought as to the placement of these animals. Whoever sets up the 3D course will put these animals in real life settings. They will put them in the brush, a group of trees, up hills, down hills, over some stuff and under other stuff. Then they will place the marker that you shoot from so that you have to shoot between trees all the way to the kill zone. We have shot out of blinds and from tree stands. We have an animal on rails that provides a moving animal situation. There is also a steel plate target in the shape of a small game animal. This plate has a small hole about the size of a baseball. Make the shot and it is worth 20 points, miss it hitting steel making a sound louder than ringing a bell and its good by arrow and a hello goose egg on the score scard.

Alligator 15 yard shot from the treestand.

This was a 15 yard shot at a steep down angle to the creek and it takes some time to shoot and pull arrows for each group so this is a great time to wet the wistle and try to find out from the cookshack guys how everyone else is claiming to shoot so far.

For some hints on things to try to improve your shot check out our Shooting Tips page.

bowequipped.com/shooting tips

It can stink to be the last shooter.

We have a 2 arrow spot shoot once a year (each person shoots 2 arrows at the same archery target) there can get to be quit a crowd of arrows so we will put out a couple of these 3D archery targets at the close shots to thin the arrows out and leave a little room for the last shooter. If you look close at the photo you can see the size of the white dot that was added to this 3D target as the spot. If I remember this was about a 25 yard shot.

Some of the other great targets shot that day.