Take Aim Paintball Reviewed

In my old neighborhood Take Aim Paintball is a close and convenient little paintball facility right in the middle of town, but that’s the only reason I would ever go there. The place has all of two fields, one three man sup air field and an xball field. The fields’ maintenance is subpar at best. Half of the bunkers are either partially deflated or unable to stand up as intended. The running surface itself is supersaturated with paint so you look like a cartoon running in place before you finally start going somewhere. It is rarely cleaned up; it is primarily done before they host one of their tournaments which are generally composed of young guns and the occasional three or five man. Take Aim has an entrance fee of ten dollars and it requires you to buy their paint which is unfortunate because it is fairly expensive at ninety dollars a case. Now it is decent paint, don’t get me wrong, but I can go pick some up on my own for almost half the price. The pro shop is lacking in selection, they carry one type of jersey, one type of pack, etc. They have fill stations for compressed air and CO2, air cost a buck to refill and CO2 is four. The staff is probably the places one saving grace. They are very friendly and accommodating. The people behind the counter will make sure you’re ready to go and the refs keep games moving quickly. Basically, if you have your heart set on speed ball and you don’t want to drive to the extra mileage then you could take money you saved on gas and spend it playing at Take Aim, and you could have a decent time. Quite frankly I think you would be better off just going to a local sporting goods store, buying some paint, and playing out in a forest somewhere or an open field for that matter.

Windy Conditions

How often do you find yourself shooting outside and the wind is perfectly calm? If you have ever shot outside you know that the wind is hardly ever calm. Archers who plan on shooting outside should learn how to compensate when shooting in windy conditions. One main piece of equipment that is very important is a level. A level can be placed on the sight of your bow allowing you to see it during the entire shot. Having a level allows you to be able to tip your bow the correct amount when shooting in the wind. Above is a picture of a level that can be found at http://www.outdoorsuperstore.com/.
What you should do when you are shooting in the wind is to determine the direction the wind is blowing. If the wind is blowing in the direction your arrow will fly or the opposite direction you arrow will fly then there is no need to compensate. However if the wind is blowing left to right or right to left you may need to compensate for the wind. The way that this is done is by slightly tipping the top cam of your bow in the direction the wind is coming from. This will make it a little easier to hold your bow still. To determine how much you should tip your cam look at your level bubble and only move just a fraction off of center.
The best way to determine the strength and direction of the wind downrange is to place a flag above your target. At most outdoor field competitions there will be a flag on top of the target so you can determine the wind conditions down range. After placing the flag you will now need to practice reading it. This will you know what to do so your arrow will end up in the right spot. Unless the wind is very strong you should not have to aim to more than 6 inches off of center.
When hunting it is also important to determine how the wind is going to affect your arrow. The main things to watch are the leaves and the tree branches. If they are moving a lot you may need to consider compensating for the wind. Another option would be to hang a piece of string a few feet off of the ground. This will allow you to see what the wind is doing down by your intended target. The best way to beat the wind is to learn how to shoot when you are in it. The more you practice in the wind the more accustomed you will become to shooting in it. The best archers are the ones who know how to adapt to their ever changing surroundings.

A little rattle makes a big difference

I went out deer hunting this past Sunday morning with one of my friends in his woods. His area has many bucks running around and there have been many big bucks harvested from there. I actually shot my ten pointer out of his woods last year. It is a perfect place for deer hunting.

It was in the 40s that morning so we were sure the deer would be moving as cold as it was. We sat in his two man stand for about an hour and a half and then a doe came along. She came out of the thicket about sixty yards out. We thought there would be a buck not too far behind her but she was by herself. After about twenty minutes she moved on.

About thirty minutes later my friend’s dad says he can see two decent sized bucks about fifty yards away. His dad was about 200 yards from us so we figured the deer were at least that far. Not being able to see the bucks, we decided to rattle a little to imitate two bucks fighting to see if we could get them to come our way. My friend rattled for about twenty seconds when, all of the sudden, we saw those two bucks come sprinting through the wood to where we were. One was a pretty big seven point, the other was a smaller six point, and they were only about thirty yards out.

Unfortunately, they spotted us not to long after they came running up. They were both looking for a fight and their keen eyes picked us out. It is just like when there is a fight between two kids, all of the other kids come running to see the fight. I have rattled a few times before but never really had any success with it. A buck has to be within a few hundred yards for it to work so if there isn’t one close enough to hear it then it isn’t going to work. Rattling is a great way to get bring a buck closer but be ready to shot because they will come running.

Field Review: Paintball To Go

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to review one of my favorite fields. So, this week I figured I would review one of my least favorite fields. This field is also in Illinois and it is called Paintball To Go. I will refer to it as PB2Go, fyi. Please understand that I am not saying that this field is necessarily bad, there are just certain reasons why I feel that playing there is less desirable than other fields. While I have some huge problems with this field, there are some pretty cool things about it. So I will start with the pros.

Pros:

1. Many fields: This field has a wonderful variety of fields ranging from speed ball to hyperball to woods ball. They even took the time to build a full sized pirate ship for one of their scenario games! The sight if it is stunning, it really is. They really went all out to try to make their big scenario games as cool as possible. Clocktapus says "Every player tournament, woods ball, or rec needs to play on that pirate ship!"
2. Fairly easy to find: On their website they list direction on how to reach their field from many different large cities in Illinois. I know that from Springfield it is pretty much a straight shot there with a small detour through Jacksonville. Another thing that makes this field easy to find is that it is visible from the highway (unlike Wildcat which is buried back in a neighborhood).

Cons:

1. Safety Rules: Now don’t get me wrong. Safety should be the number one priority at any field. But some of these rules are absolutely ridiculous. They even have a policy that if one of the refs happens to be “looking into your gear bag”, and sees a marker that is clearly not in operation but has no barrel sock on it, you are penalized. Why would they do this if they can clearly tell that the marker is not in use? If they know that it is not in use, then they should know that it is completely incapable of hurting anyone (especially if it is in a bag).
2. Uninteresting tournaments: For the last couple years the only tournaments I have seen listed at PB2Go have been 2 man tournaments and young guns tournaments. 2 man? What the hell! And not only that, their tournaments do not allow any ramping of any kind because it is a safety hazard (see what I mean by ridiculous?). Not implementing a firing mode that literally every marker has and everyone wants to use is living in the past. If it was a safety hazard, then no one would use it. This keeps the tournaments bland and slow paced. Clocktapus also says “What the hell is a 2 man tournament anyway?”.

Spart Parts Patents in Trouble

Everybody knows that a few years ago Smart Parts decided to enforce their patents on the electro-pneumatic paintball gun. This ran a lot of third party companies, such as AKA, out of business. It also ran the competition's prices up, allowing Smart Parts to create cheap guns and lower the prices of their more expensive guns. Needless to say, this made Smart Parts very unpopular. I distinctly remember a parody of the Smart Parts emblem made to look like a Nazi Swastika. This development has made competition within the industry very difficult for years, but recent developments may have the Smart Parts patents in jeopardy.

Recently there were sketches discovered of an electro-pneumatic paintball gun that out-dates the Smart Parts supposed patents. I was skeptical of this when I first heard about it. I figured they were just some disgruntled engineer that wanted to bring Smart Parts down. But a very reliable source informs me that the President of Smart Parts has been posting on the pbnation.com forums in order to combat the offensive that has been rallied against him and his company. This made me think that there must be some legitamacy to these accusations. Why else would he be so flustered to feel that he must personally try to snuff out this new evidense against his company. Usually when a company is challenged in this way, they would only fight back if there is some truth to the accusations. Clocktapus says "When someone has nothing to worry about, they don't worry about it!"

Shooting In the Rain

Last week I talked about the Missouri Shoot I went to and how it was raining all Saturday and so this week I want to tell you what you should do to clean your gun after shooting in the rain. First of all you want to make sure to wipe your gun down after you come in from shooting. First wipe it down with a towel or paper towels and then after you get all of the water off wipe it down with your regular oiled cloth. You will also want to run a Bore-Snake or rod down your barrel if you have one handy because water will get down your barrel.

We stayed in a motel and so on our way back from the shoot we stopped and picked up a couple cans of WD-40 and some other gun cleaning supplies. When we got back to the hotel everyone who was cleaning their guns got in one room because as we found out you will make the room smell of cleaning products. You will definitely want to have a window open or the door cracked because there will be a lot of aerosol fumes in that one little room.

You then want to take the wood off the gun if you can, unfortunately I couldn’t. You will want to take the wood off because you are going to completely spray down your gun with WD-40 because that gets rid of all the water trapped in the receiver and other metal parts that will rust. The reason to take off the wood is because the WD-40 will dry out your wood and that is not good, if you can’t take your wood off you will just have to make sure to wipe it down good with oil to protect it.

You will want to then go through your regular cleaning routine and make sure to wipe the gun off good. I say this because the Sunday of our shoot I was shooting trap and we ran out of targets so the puller was filling the trap and so during that break I began to look over my gun and found rust puddles between my rib. I immediately tried to wipe it away but could not reach so after I got done shooting I went in and took a paper towel and tore it into little strips to get the rust out from underneath my rib.

So that is how you take care of your gun after shooting in the rain. Of course you generally avoid shooting in the rain but sometimes it is unavoidable and you just have to make the most of it.

Tournament Preparation

Have you ever been to a tournament and wonder what do I do? If so you are not alone, many beginning archers don’ know what to do after they arrive at the shooting venue. Here are some things you need to do as soon as get to the shooting venue or before you arrive there.

1. The first thing you need to do before the tournament is find out where and at what time you shoot. This is imperative because many tournaments will not allow shooters to shoot if they arrive late to a tournament. It is also important to confirm the time and location of where you shoot once you arrive at the shooting venue. This needs to be done promptly because sometimes a course may have to be moved due to numerous uncontrollable reasons.

2. The first thing you should do once you arrive at the tournament site is to register. If you haven’t already registered it is important that you do this immediately after you arrive. If you don’t register on time you will either not be allowed to shoot or you will have to pay a very large late fee.

3. After you have registered and check the time and location of where you are going to be shooting you can now start to relax. Relaxing, before and during a tournament, will greatly improve your success at a tournament. By allowing your body to relax you will be less likely to tense up and force your arrow in a direction that it shouldn’t go in.

4. Before you start competing make sure you practice. Many things could have happened to your bow during your trip to the tournament so make sure everything is where it should be a working correctly. However it is also important that you don’t practice too much. If you practice too much then you will get tried during the tournament and likewise your score will suffer.

5. The most important thing that you can do on tournament day is to arrive to the tournament location early. This will allow you to get settled in and relaxed. If you rush to the tournament because you are late you are more likely to rush your shots. Remember, just because you have time doesn’t mean you need to practice once you warm up stop shooting.

6. Last but not least have faith in yourself; you have been practicing for a long time for this moment so make sure you make the most of it!

Heads Up

Squirrels are entertaining and annoying at the same time while deer hunting. It seems I see twice as many squirrels while deer hunting as I do when I am actually squirrel hunting. I know that this happens mainly because I am not shooting the first squirrel I see when I am deer hunting so it allows all of the squirrels to come out of their nests. Also the fact that I normally deer hunt from a tree stand makes a difference. When you are sitting on the ground the squirrels can easily see you from the tree tops, where as in a tree stand you just look like part of the tree.

When the squirrels start to come out they make a lot of noise which can sometimes spook the deer or even give away your position. I have already had many close encounters this year with squirrel while deer hunting. A couple weeks ago I had squirrel come down the tree next to me. By the time I realized it was there, it was close enough that I could reach over and grab it. When I turned and looked at it I think I scared it as much as it scared me. The squirrel took off into the tree wondering what I was.

I also have had many squirrels jump into the tree top of the tree my stand is in. This sends a very indescribable pulse down the tree that travels through your spine. There is no other feeling quite like it and you will only know it when you feel it. Most of the time these squirrels will jump on to another tree top, except for the curious one.

I could feel that pulse in the tree getting closer and closer. I kept looking up, but couldn’t see anything. Finally, I looked up and there was a big squirrel five feet directly above my head and looking straight down at me. Still curious, it kept coming at me. Soon after, I stood up to scare it off because it was too close for my comfort.

This is just a warning to all you other deer hunters. If you feel a strange pulse from the tree, then you might want to look up because there could be a squirrel closer to your head then you think.

Hybrid Traitor Fusion Reviewed

In a previous blog I mentioned that I went paintballing up at my friend’s farm. What I forgot to mention is that I also got a chance to test out the Hybrid Traitor Fusion. Hybrid Technology is a private label company. They have three guns out right now, the Mummy which is based off of the Bob Long Marq 6, and their own variations of the Smart Parts Shocker, and the gun being reviewed today, the Dangerous Power Fusion.
Like I said the Hybrid Traitor Fusion is based off of the Fusion made by Dangerous Power. From what I have been able to discern, the DP Fusion was already a pretty good gun to begin with. Then Hybrid Technologies got its hands on it and tweaked it to make it better. They swopped out some of DP’s parts for theirs in an effort to use the Fusion to its full potential.
When I got it in my hands for the first time I thought it was just your standard mid-range electric marker, nothing special. Boy was I wrong, I shot loader after loader out of that thing and was just awestruck by it performance. The Fusion is ready to get up and go straight out of the box. The board has pretty much every setting you would ever need in your life, from nppl to psp to nxl and everything in between. The Fusion is capable of shooting up to twenty five balls per second and trust me; as long as you have a hopper that will feed fast enough this gun has no problem spitting them out of the two piece cocker threaded barrel. This thing shoots ropes and the break beam eyes do a fantastic job of preventing ball breaks. The milling on the marker itself looks sweet and you can get your hands on one for 425-450 bones. This thing will easily match a PMR or a Mini and can even hang with the DM6 and other high-end guns at a fraction of the cost.

World Cup Time!

It's that time again, World Cup time! And you know what that means. All of the companies will be releasing the new versions of their markers and/or releasing new markers that will be the future of paintball. Here are a few things to look for in the coming weeks and in the next year.

1. Dye: Dye will be releasing the new addition to their Dye Matrix Series, the DM8. It is an even numbered year so that usually means new features. The only new feature that I am aware of is the new Hyper3 reg. It will supposedly make the DM8 more air efficient than the Hyper2 made its predicesors.
2. Smart Parts: Smart Parts will be debuting yet another entry level, "high end" marker, the Vibe. This thing looks like a fancy Epiphany. Once again Smart Parts takes advantage of their patents to release another low cost marker.
3. Blast: Bob Long is releasing their own low cost marker, the Protege. They have gone back to the Intimidator look and dropped the price to about $500. This marker will most likely perform like similar markers, the PMR, Epiphany, and Ion.
4. MacDev: I know I have already mentioned this but I don't want us to forget about it. MacDev's Droid will definately be a new one to look for.

We have our licenses, Officer

A while back I did a post about how to get a hunting license titled “Licensed to Kill.” After doing this post I recalled an experience I had last year that I was glad I had my license with me.

My friend and I went out goose hunting early one morning at a field next to the reservoir. At 8:00, after about an hour of hunting, I got a phone call from my mom saying a police officer called and that I needed to go to my truck to meet him. We were hunting over a hill in the back of the field so I couldn’t see me truck at the road form where we were at. We got up and walked to the road to meet the officer. We showed him our hunting licenses to prove that we were licensed. After that he told us that he really stopped because he thought my truck was a stolen vehicle that someone had ditched. This made me somewhat mad because he had pretty much ruined our hunt. The funny thing is that he got his car stuck in the mud next to my truck so he had to call a wrecker to pull his car out.

He really wasn’t there because he questioned our hunting licenses but I think if we wouldn’t have had them then he would have called us in. This is proof that you should always carry your hunting license with you when you are hunting. Even if the officer is looking for something else he still might check your license.

Archery Park

So the other day a professor brought to my attention a story that involved a Wisconsin archery park whose members are no longer allowed to shoot there. This is due to the complaints of neighbors who are concerned for their own safety. This is a common problem with outdoor shooting in an urban area. Although the article says that there are earthen berms that surround the park this often is not enough to stop all of the arrows that are deflected by various objects.
Most arrows that are shot hit their desired target however the problem is the ones that do not hit the desired target. Most likely these arrows would bounce off of an object and land somewhere in the park. The arrows that don’t land in the park are the one’s raising concerns. Even though it is an arrow these are usually not that dangerous. This is because most of their energy was lost when they first hit the ground.
What should be done to fix the problem here is to install a netting, like the one a mentioned in a previous post, on top of the earthen berms. This would further hinder any arrows from escaping the archery park, but it is important to remember that this will not fully stop all arrows from escaping the park because it is an outdoor park and arrows can fly really high. Another solution would be removing all hard surfaces that an arrow could possible bounce off of. An example of this would be a rock or anything metal. In this case wood would be acceptable because more than likely it will stop the arrow without making it bounce off. My last piece of advice would be to put a wood awning over the shooters. This would prevent arrows that are accidently released when pulling the bow back from leaving the park. The most likely way arrows are ending up out of the park is because archers are accidently releasing the string when they are pulling the bow back. This makes the arrows trajectory look like a very high arch. The awning would stop most arrows from leaving the inside of the park by stopping them immediately.
Unfortunately there is a good chance that this park will not reopen. However an alternative to an outdoor archery range would be an indoor archery range that could possibly be built on the same location. This would allow a safe backstop for the arrows in all directions. It is important to remember if you do not have a safe backstop do not shoot your arrows!

Young Buck

In my last post, titled “O Deer”, I talked about seeing a small seven point buck Friday evening. The next evening I took my twelve year old brother out to the same spot so maybe he could shot the small buck. This is his first year hunting so he still has a lot to learn. He has a Pearson bow that is pulling 35 pounds which is the minimum you can shoot a deer with. I have been practicing with him a lot so that he is shooting accurately.

We went out to the woods at five and set up my small fence blind. We waited for about 20 minutes and a doe came walking by at fifteen yards. I whispered to my brother to wait because I was pretty sure that buck was going to be coming by pretty soon. The doe went on past and we continued to wait. About thirty minutes later the buck came along. He was only about ten yards away and just inside the woods. The buck had to come into the field for my brother to get a shot. As my brother was slowly getting ready for the buck to come into the field, he spotted us. The buck bolted and he didn’t come back. We saw eight doe come into the field about an hour later. After they passed, it was dark so we left.

Hunting with a bow on the ground is very hard to do without getting busted. Next time I take my brother out I will see if he is comfortable with sitting alone in my tree stand instead of on the ground bellow it. Deer usually will not see you if you are of the ground more then fifteen feet. My brother will have an a lot better chance of shooting that buck if he is in a tree. That buck has a pattern of coming to that spot so there will be other opportunities.

Getting New Shooters Interested

I got to experience something pretty cool today; me and one of the other shooters from Purdue went to help out the local Boy Scout Troop with their campout. We went and helped them do a small shotgun shoot where they were camping. They just threw clay birds off a thrower but the kids all enjoyed it and couldn’t wait to shoot more.

We were just there to help coach them and make sure they were safe. Before we started shooting their scout master and we went through a quick lesson in gun safety. Then we went out and first just let the kids shoot five targets to get the feel of it and get down the basics. You could tell that some of them had shot before and knew what to do, we just kind of helped them with their form and handed them shells. There were some that have never shot a gun or had shot it very little but we coached them and before you knew it they were breaking targets.

As the day progressed one of the other Scout leaders had the kids shooting back up for their friends, and before you knew it we were all having a good time. The kids also got shooting better and you could tell that some of them had a future in shooting sports. We had one little kid that had a little trouble holding the gun because it was too big for him but eventually he even started smoking targets so we figure in a couple of years and with a gun that fits he will be beating us.

The whole experience was both rewarding for us and the kids. We told them about how to get started in shooting and if they wanted they could come up and visit our range sometime to get an idea of the actual competition targets.

Mizzou Shoot

I stated in a post last week that myself and 6 of my other fellow Purdue Trap and Skeet shooters went to Missouri last weekend. Well we successfully made it down and back and that is the big thing for the weekend but we also shot well in the Missouri University shoot.

This was my first shoot so I did not know what to expect but we all had a good time and stayed safe. The shoot was held at Cedar Creek Rod and Gun Club near Columbia, Missouri. It was a nice club but it was out in the middle of nowhere. The weather wasn’t too bad on the way down there, we left at about 5 and got down there around midnight so we made pretty good time.

The weather however Saturday was terrible, it rained all day and it wasn’t just a light sprinkle, it was full on rain. We did have to stop twice because there was some lightning, but all this did not stop us from having a good time. We made the best of it and took this day as practice for the next time it rains during a shoot.

The weather on Sunday was the complete opposite of Saturday; it was sunny and about 70 degrees out, unfortunately that did not help my shooting any. None of us scored in the top three for any events but we did end up with 5th or 6th as a team, I haven’t heard the official scores but it doesn’t matter too much.

We left the shoot around 4 and didn’t get back until 11, we didn’t get lost we just stopped at the Arch in St. Louis Overall I think the shoot was a success and I can’t wait for the next shoot to come around.

Challenge Park Extreme Reviewed

I have played at many places in my paintball career. But none of them can quite compare to Challenge Park Xtreme. This place is insane, and quite frankly I have never seen anything like it. They play semi auto only and it is open all year round and has enough stuff to keep you coming back. They have full rentals, so you can go and play even if you don’t own anything yourself. They host big games and scenario games throughout the year and they even provide law enforcement agencies and military units with a safe, secure place to train. There shop is full of anything and anything you may need during a paintball outing.
But, one of the greatest parts about Challenge is that they have an abundance of fields. They have so many fields I don’t know where to start. There are your standard woodsball fields, hyperball fields, and speedball fields for someone looking to get some practice in. However, they also have five fields that you may have never played in before. They call them theme fields, and let me tell you that they are incredible. They are fields made to give you an experience that you can’t get anywhere else. Armageddon is a post apocalyptic town, full of charred burnt down buildings, reminds me of the cities at the beginning of terminator. .
The Jungle of Doom pits you against the other team in a race to see who can recover the idol from the Aztec Temple. They have a field Wasteland that is riddled with cars, whether they be on their sides or upside down, think hillbilly front lawn times twenty. Fort Courage is a field that is set up like an old western fort where one team must defend against their advancing opponents. But in my opinion the best field they have is a little town named Beldam. From a far it looks like a normal little town, but as you look closer you can see that it is set up for paintball a plenty. It has multiple buildings that are hollowed out, some of which contain two stories. There are roads and cars; they’ve even got mail boxes and a clock tower. Challenge Park Xtreme is an innovative park. It truly has everything anyone could ask for. Anyone can go there and have the time of their life, whether they are a seasoned veteran or just some guy out on a company picnic, Challenge will not disappoint.

O Deer

It is Friday night and I just got back from a hunt about four hours ago. I had more close encounters with deer tonight then I have ever had before. As all of you in central Indiana know, a pretty big storm moved through last night. This weather front caused the temperature to only be in the sixties today. As I said in a previous post, the prime time to hunt is right after a cold front. The deer become very active, making your chances of one walking by a lot better.

I climbed into my stand at 4:30 this evening. After waiting for about an hour, I was startled by a small buck running by at about fifteen yards. He was clearly in shooting range but he was too small for my standards. The buck looked very similar to the one pictured above.

I sat for about another hour thinking that buck was the only deer I was going to see all evening. Suddenly, I hear some sticks cracking behind me. As I look back I see three doe, a fawn, and a really young buck, that hasn’t developed antlers yet, appear in the field. The fawn and two smaller doe pick up a little of my scent and get curious. They walk toward me until they are directly underneath my stand. The big doe was standing about fifteen yards out. I drew back and took aim. I stood ready to fire but then I decided to let her go. The big bucks will be where the doe are later in the season so I want to keep them comfortable in my area. The four of the five deer went back into the woods about fifteen minutes later.

The really young buck was still curious. As I looked at him I noticed he was looking at something past where I was. I slowly turned my head and there stood a different fawn. Behind it was that small buck chasing a different doe about 20 yards away. I couldn’t believe it.

The doe ran right under my stand and into the woods. As the buck followed, he stopped when he got under my stand. He had picked up a little of my scent and was curious just like the other deer. This allowed me to get a closer look at his rack. He actually was a small seven pointer with a drop tine. This buck will be impressive in a couple of years. After about ten minutes of loitering under me, he disappeared into the woods.

After all that action, it was getting dark. I decided to climb out of my stand and call it a night. I had finally seen a buck in the 2007 deer season. I am going out hunting again in the morning and hopefully it will be even better then this evening.

Busted!

This past Sunday I had an interesting experience while I was out hunting. I arrived at my hunting spot a little after seven and it was getting to where you could just barely see. My tree stand is about a quarter of a mile from where I leave my truck. This is my tree stand pictured. I started heading for my stand and when I was no more then ten yards from the tree my stand was in, I heard a bunch of racket in the brush about thirty yards away. I focused on the movement and it was two doe and a buck that I had spooked coming into the woods.

I didn’t get a very good look at the rack on the buck because it was still pretty dark. I could just make out the body structure of the deer to tell it was a buck. The deer ran across the field to another woods. I went a ahead and tied my bow to my lift string and climbed into my stand. This is where things went wrong.

For those of you that are not familiar with a lift string, I will explain. A lift string is a small rope that is tied to the tree stand that hangs down to the ground. You tie your bow or gun to the string on the ground and use it to pull it up to your stand. You also use it to lower your bow or gun down. If you are hunting with a gun, it is important not to have your gun loaded when you raise and lower it because it could accidentally be fired and injure or kill someone.

Ok, now back to where things went wrong. I was in a hurry to get into my stand so I only tied a single knot around my bow. After I was in my stand I started to pull up my bow and I bet you can’t guess what happened next. My knot slipped and there laid my bow on the ground of the string. Right then I looked up and those three deer were running straight back at me. There must have been something in the other woods that spooked them and caused them to come back.

I didn’t know whether to stay in my stand and let them pass by, or try to hurry down, retie my bow, and hope I can still get a shot. I decided to go ahead and try to get my bow. Unfortunately, they spotted me before I could get my bow and they took off in a different direction. They never came back that morning after that.

This is why it is a good idea to be prepared for anything when on a hunt. If I just would have tied a double knot I probably would have a deer in my freezer right now. I am not to angry about it because I will be ready next time.

Target Panic

What should you do if your arrows are consistently not consistent? After you check your form and make sure that everything is going the way it should it is now time to focus on releasing the string from your hand. This will differ a little depending on if you use a release or if you just use your fingers. The first thing to make sure is that your anchor point is correct. I discussed the correct way to anchor in a previous blog titled “Anchor Points” so you can go and check that out first. After you make sure that your anchor is correct you need to focus on the release of the string. It is important when you use a release that you gently squeeze the trigger and not forcefully pull it. A common term that is used to describe the problem that people who forcefully pull the trigger have is called target panic. This is when the archer pulls the trigger as soon as the sight pin comes on or even close to the desired target. Ideally what you want to do is guide your pin to the center of the target without forcing it to stay in the center. When you have your pin hovering towards the center of the target then it is time to squeeze the trigger of your release. Another problem of forcefully pulling the trigger, “punching the trigger”, is that your hand can move from its anchor point. Between the inconsistency of sight pin placement and the inconsistency of your hand location it is very easy to see why your arrows are all over the target.
Target panic can be developed over time, and with determination it can be gotten rid of over time. I battled target panic for five years before a got it through my thick skull that I was supposed to allow the pin to stay on the target for at least a second before I released the string. There isn’t a really good way to correct this problem overnight, but because it is a mental problem the change can occur soon after you get your mental problem figured out. The release process itself should seem like a surprise every time; you shouldn’t know when the shot is going to go off. If you know when the shot is going to go off or if you make the shot go off you can potentially affect your trajectory of your arrow.
Another thing that you want to focus on when you release is your follow through. As soon as you release your hand should continue in a straight line from your anchor point on your jaw to the top of your shoulder. This is shown above in a picture from centenary archers. This allows for minimal left and right movement of the release after the shot has been fired. This should be a very fluid motion and not delayed. Overall your release can have a great effect on the place where your arrow lands so it is very important to learn these techniques correctly the first time.

What is a Poser?

This post is going to have a little less to do about paintball. I feel a little responsible for the throwing around of the word poser. I had no idea it was going to offend so many people. But I think it is all due to a misunderstanding. The Dimer recently experienced what it is like to have a poser on his team, thought back to my description, and made a comment affirming my depiction of the poser. Why does that make him a douche? It seems that people are getting riled up about the word poser because they are thinking that I (and others) are calling those who go out to play paintball for fun every now and then posers. I'm not! I've said this before, these people are called recreational players and we know that.

Next let's discuss what a poser is (in anything). It is someone who pretends to be something they are not. Let's say there's someone who thinks they know a lot about music, but in reality knows very little. When talking to people who actually know a lot about music, they will instantly reveal their ignorance. There was a comment about 15 year old kids who think they're badasses with their $1000 guns that they don't know how to fix. Gee, that sounds to me like a poser. And yes, yes I know that dressing in appearal that is all from one company does not necessarily make you a poser (remember I was speaking in general terms).

There was also a comment about teams that act incredibly arrogant and name drop for their sponsors and stuff like that. These people are equally annoying as posers (I know because I have played with some of them). But in most cases it is not everyone on the team that is cocky and obnoxious. Like in many things, there are usually genuinely nice guys that inherently hold the team together. You just tend to notice the loud, cocky guys more because well....they're loud and cocky. And now, Clocktapus says "Lets put an end to all of this poser fighting".

Farmball

If one of your friends has a very large piece of property, something like a farm, I highly recommend that you grab your gear and go paintball there. That’s what I did and it so freaking awesome. The friend I mentioned going to Fox Paintball with in a previous blog took me and my brothers to his farm in western Illinois to compete against his brother and three of his friends for a weekend of paintball fun.
We got up to the farm late, no time to play then but the next day was a completely different story. After a quick air fill we headed out to far recesses of the farm. After a long journey through a field, a creek, and what seemed like an endless forest we reached our destination, a large hill two stories high. The top of the hill was as large as a football field and it was riddled with trees and overgrowth. Our teams split up and went to their respective sides of the hill, and after a brief argument with the neighbors over property lines we were off.
We walked casually through the forest, my brothers went right and my friend and I went left. Shortly thereafter, shots rang out from the right and my little brother was a goner. Then out of nowhere the deputy showed up, he just came to confirm that land was indeed my friends and did I mention that farmer’s rock. They’re not all iffy about guns like people from the city, everyone I met up there was actually a paintball enthusiast. After he left we restarted the game without my little brother and boy did we get rocked. Let’s just say that starting out three on four is definitely not the ways to go.
We switched sides and started another game. We decided to get a little sneaky. We pulled back as far as we could on the hill and took up sniper positions on the ridge. We waited patiently as the other team crept forward. My brother had cleverly placed a sweatshirt hanging from a tree so when the other team drew nearer they opened fire on it and exposed their positions. I continued to wait until my friend, who was the farthest forward, opened fire. I quickly sprung up from my position and joined my team in annihilating the enemy, it was over quickly. We switched it up the second game and blitzed them right from the break. We caught them with their pants down and then just like that it was over. We dominated for the rest of the day, not stopping until we used up every last bit of air. The farm was like our own private field and we will be returning again to build it up and make it even better.

Archery Products

Until now I have only recommended generic products that are made by many companies, but now I will tell you more specific products and brand names that you should look for. Starting with arrows, there are two main names when it comes to arrows they are Easton and Carbon Express. Easton, related to the baseball bat company, makes a very high quality arrow that is very consistent and accurate. I have shot Easton all of my life so I am kind of partial to this brand. Carbon Express is still a very good arrow company that produces more of a commercial grade arrow that can be easily found at large archery shops.
When it comes to bows there are many manufactures out there that are competing for you. It is very important that when you are selecting a bow that you find one that fits you. Some of the “name brands” of bow companies are Hoyt, Mathews, PSE, and Bowtech. These four companies are high quality bows that can be used for recreation or competition. The company that I have dealt with the most has been Hoyt. Hoyt makes very reliable and accurate bows that are used in both competition and hunting. I personally have owned nine Hoyt bows and have yet to have a major problem with any of them. The other bows are still good but I personally have never owned them so it is hard for me to say “this one is better than that one” and not be biased. However I can say that a majority of professional archers select their bows from one of the four companies listed above. These bows can be seen online or at your local archery shop, but they are usually harder to find at large hunting stores.
Sights are very important especially when you are competing. Two main sight makers are Sure-Loc and Toxonics. Once again I am more partial to Sure-Loc because it is the only sight that I have ever owned. Sure-Loc has a wide variety of sights that can be used year around in both hunting and both indoor and outdoor competition. Toxonic does make very good sights that can be used for hunting and competing. Most of these sight’s will only be found at a local archery shops and are less likely to be found at large hunting stores.
The best place to find quality archery equipment is at a reliable local archery shop. They tend to know more about the sport and are usually experienced archers themselves. The down side to this is they tend to charge a little bit more because they are usually the owners, but this little extra money spent is worth it in the long run.

Field Review: Wildcat Paintball Park

I saw that my associate had recently reviewed a field he had been to so I decided to review a field that I personally enjoy. Wildcat Paintball Park is a little known field in the small town of Staunton, Illinois. It has built up a lot in the last year and a half. It’s too bad the indoor field had to be closed due to zoning regulations. But anyway here are some pros and cons of this field and I hope you all have a chance to check it out.

Pros:

1. Up-and-comer. As I mentioned before, this field is on a huge up swing and will one of the more successful fields that central Illinois has ever seen.
2. Great Staff. The first time I attended a tournament at Wildcat, it was the most organized and well run tournament I had ever been in. It was nice to see that a small local field could maintain a laid back feel without sacrificing efficiency. The staff was very welcoming to our teams (even though we were the new guys).
3. New fields and Big ideas. The owner, Jimmy, has big plans for Wildcat. He has ordered a new airball field in the last year and has also installed stadium lights for night practices. I think this is the most important aspect of a small local field. If there is no drive to become bigger and better, the field eventually dies (I have seen it before).

Cons:

1. Hard to find. This field is not at all where I originally expected it to be. Most local fields are located out in the middle of nowhere, or somewhere close to it. But this field is smack dab in the middle of a residential area. I don’t know how this is allowed by the neighborhood with all of the noise that paintball generally produces but I don’t live there so I’m not complaining.
2. Up-and-comer. I know I listed this as a pro but I can also see how this would be a turn off to some players. If you are looking for a big X-ball field with big name competition, this is not the field for you. This may be the site of those things in the future but as for now, this field is still on the rise. Come back in a couple years maybe and you will probably find those things. Clocktapus says “Overall this is one of my favorite fields in Illinois”.

Fox Paintball Experienced

Well now that everyone knows what Fox Paintball has to offer I would assume that at least some of you are wondering how it plays. Well lucky for all of you, I like to talk about my paintball exploits. So me and my friend got there about mid day, there were quite a few people there but I wouldn’t say it was packed. We took out all of our stuff and started to set everything up. We assembled our guns and aired up. As we sat in my buddies van loading our pods and hoppers we could hear the rapid gunfire of paint leaving barrels and the screams of players cheering in victory or crying in defeat. After we had all our stuff together we tried to decide what we wanted to play. I had my A-5 set up for woodsball for the Big Game and my buddy had his Hybrid Traitor Fusion. Well needless to say I with my big ass A-5 with the stock shooting off the back was in no shape to play speedball. We decided to forego the speedball and play in the woods, after all that’s what we would have been doing at Paintball Sam’s. The only bad part was that there was a game starting right as we got there so we had to wait for the next game to start up.
We sat and waited for the game to end, and as we did we started to see people slowly trickle back into the parking lot, and bringing up the rear was the refs. Quickly after everyone was off one field they started congregating at another. My friend and i followed suit and joined the crowd. The refs came over and outfitted half of us with armbands made of orange duck tape. As I looked through the crowd to find the rest of my team I was pretty pleased. It was my friend, a group of kids who were unmistakably the regulars, a couple guys decked out in gillie suits, and myself. After the teams were set the refs lead us onto the field.
We walked onto the field and moved to our respected sides. We stood there in anticipation waiting for the refs to get ready. My team decided where we were going after the break and everyone took a couple shots at trees just for the hell of it. The refs counted down and just like that we were off. My friend and I moved up the right side with one other guy as the rest of the team swung left. We soon ran into some limit resistance. My friend tried to move up just a little too far and got pegged three times in the chest by a guy who had hid himself behind a board that was laid up against a fallen tree. We traded paint for a minute or two; he spent most of his time hiding behind his cover and popping out a few times to let me know that he was still there. I took a couple pot shots at him but just couldn’t time it right. Then I noticed that the board he was behind had holes in it and I could see when he moved. I waited for it, and as I saw the holes closer to the edge of the board get filled I opened fire. I nailed him just as he was poking little head out. After dispatching that guy we quickly moved through the rest of the field.
We switched sides and the game started again. We took the left side, moving down the same part of the field as last time but now in the opposite direction. My friend and I moved up to where the other guy had been in the last game and quickly noticed that there was a little more resistance from the other team this time. A guy behind us asked us for a little recon and as I pointed out the three guys spread out in front of us I took one straight to the neck. I raised my gun in the air and walked off the field. As I left I wiped my neck with my hand to notice that when I pulled it away there was no paint on it at all. Remember to always make sure it popped before you declare yourself out. Anyway, I watched the rest of my team play for what seemed like hours. After I left my friend stopped talking and started going solo. The rest of my team on the left side of the field froze. I started to think about a blog by Clocktapus about posers and their tendencies during games,see here, and I couldn’t tell you how spot on he was. My friend took out two of the guys on the other team and not until they had overwhelming numbers did the rest of the team move up and finally win the game. Overall it was a good experience and I would recommend it field to anyone.

The New Gun

My Dad purchased a new gun at an auction in August and this past weekend was the first time he shot it, luckily I was home to try it out too. His new purchase was none other than the infamous M1 Garand. This particular one was newer and had never been shot so it was in great condition. The M1 Garand shoots a 30-06 bullet and Dad purchased ammo cans from CMP which already had the clips loaded and ready to shoot.

So last Sunday my Dad, Brother and me loaded up the truck with guns and went out to local Conservation Club. Dad took his Garand and I took my rifle that I had wanting to shot since I left for college and my brother took the squirrel gun out. First we set up our targets one at 25 yards and one at 100 yards.

Dad threw the Garand down one the benchrest and loaded a clip in the gun. He first took a couple shots at the 25 yard target and when that 3 shot group just stretched out a hole in the bullseye he stepped up to the 100 yard. For the 100 yard I looked through the scope of my rifle while my brother looked through the spotting scope and called out our dad’s shots. We were all amazed when Dad shot a 1 inch 3 shot group from 100 yards with factory open iron sights.

After we all took our turns shooting the new gun we each got out separate guns. I took out my rifle and began shooting a bowling pin that someone left. It wasn’t that good though because it kept falling over. Once we had all had our fun we packed up and headed back to conserve ammo for another day.

Fox Paintball Reviewed

So in my last post I talked about how I was unable to go to the Big Game over the weekend. I also said that my friend and I went to another place to play instead. Well, we ended up going to Fox Paintball, formerly known as Fox River Games in Millington, Illinois. It was the first time I had ever been there but I thought it was a pretty decent facility. They have a pretty good field set up. They have got five fields to play speedball on, one x-ball field, two sup air fields, and two trapshot fields. Along with that they have a bunch of woods ball fields. I’m not totally sure how many there are exactly, I was unable to play on all of them and they are not exactly easy to see like the speedball fields are. I do know they have at least four. They have a pretty decent pro shop that could hook you up with anything that you may have left at home or anything extra you wanted to get. They even have food if you don’t want to bring your own, and speaking of bringing your own stuff. Did I mention that it’s bring you own paint? No more having to pay ninety bones for a case at the field like some places do. However, they do have paint there for purchase, it is pretty reasonably priced. The paint there is priced by quality, anywhere from forty dollars for a case of cheap paint to sixty-five for a case of premium. The place is pretty well maintained and the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. I will definitely be going back again, especially when you take into consideration that it’s open all year long.
Check out their website for more information.
www.foxpaintball.com

Missouri Shoot

This weekend I will be going to my first collegiate shoot in Missouri. The shoot is hosted by the University of Missouri and held at Cedar Creek Rod and Gun Club. The shoot is a 2 day shoot with 50 skeet, 50 international skeet, and 50 trap on Saturday and 100 sporting clays and 50 wobble trap on Sunday. The cost of the shoot is $100 dollars and the Purdue Trap and Skeet Club is contributing $40 of the cost to all of the shooters going out.

With 7 of us going to the shoot that is a major contribution by the club. The 7 of us going down are planning to have a good time on and off the field. We will hope to bring back a few trophies and I will hopefully make my mark on the collegiate shooting world.

The preparation for this shoot has been crazy we are all trying to stay in contact and make sure we have everything we need for the shoot. Since some shooters live in the dorms and don’t have their own guns we are taking a few of the club guns and they of course had to be cleaned. Fortunately we did get a van from Purdue so it will be an easy trip down there. We will be making the trip back on Sunday night so we can all make it to class Monday.

Fishing License Joke

Last week I did a post on how to get the different hunting and fishing licenses and I found a joke that goes along with it. This joke proves that you might get into trouble if you are caught without a fishing license but if you are a female you might get off the hook. (Off the hook. . . get it…) Any way here is the real joke:

A husband was out fishing until late afternoon… tired and hungry after a long day of fishing; he finally came in to grab supper and left his gear in his canoe. His wife decided that she wanted to go out on the lake and enjoy the sunset so she went down to the lake and pushed the canoe out. Not long after wards a DNR officer came by asked if she had her fishing license with her. “I’m not fishing” she replied. The officer answered back, “While perhaps not, but you have all the equipment. I’m going to have to write you a citation for not having a license.” The wife slightly agitated but quick on her feet said to him, “Well, alright. But I’m going to have to call the cops and have you arrested for raping me.” “What!” the officer replied, “I didn’t rape you!” To this the woman replied, “While perhaps not, but you have all the equipment.”

Maybe you ladies will be able to use this one if you are ever caught with out a fishing license.

Gap Between 5-man and 3-man

5-man [left], 3-man [right]

If you all recall, in a previous post, I had stated that X-ball was a completely different game than the other two common types of tournaments. While writing my post about my first win in a 3-man tournament, I got to thinking about my first 5-man tournament with the same group of people. To make a long story short, we got crushed. This made me think of how different 5-man is than 3-man. Although the point systems are virtually the same (with a few adaptations due to change in team size), there is a large game in strategy and intensity.

The first main difference is obvious. There are four more guns out there! And with all the different kind of ramping settings there are these days, that makes for a huge jump in the intensity of the game. Another big difference between these two formats, is probably the most important. The game is never over! In 3-man, the game usually goes to the team who eliminates an opposing player first. In 5-man, there is always something big that can happen. 5-man is generally played on a bigger field (as seen in the pictures above) and it is easier to lose track of five guys than it is three. Having said that, you're probably thinking that 5-man games would last a longer amount of time than 3-man games. In reality it is the opposite! 3-man is more about digging in and waiting for the other team to make a mistake. While 5-man is a more aggressive fast pased game that has the potential of lasting a few seconds. Clocktapus says "Whichever one you play, play it well".

Think Before You Shoot

One thing to consider when you are shooting or even hunting is what is behind your target? You need to make sure that there is nothing behind your target. Believe it or not your arrow can fly about 100 yards past your intended target if you miss. The best thing to do if you are practicing at home is to make sure that you have a backstop behind your target. A good backstop would be a couple of square bales of hay or one large round bale of hay. These make good backstops because your arrow is not ruined if you hit them. If you use a piece of wood as your backstop it will usually stop your arrow but it could also ruin your arrow. Another good backstop is a special cloth that can be purchased from an archery retailer. The downside of these backstops is that they are pricey. The picture at the top shows this system being implemented. Even though you have a backstop behind your target you should still exercise extreme CAUTION! Even with a backstop behind your target you still shouldn’t allow people to be down range, anywhere between you and the target and behind the target. This must be enforced because when you miss the target the possibility of it hitting something before it hits the ground is great. When an arrow hits or glances off of something that is hard its direction will greatly change. There have been times when I have missed the target from 20 yards away and hit the rubber mat under the target and my arrow came back to me and stopped at my feet. Therefore since the trajectory can change so much it is very important that you don’t allow people around your shooting area while you are shooting.
While this is as big of a deal while hunting it is still something to keep in mind. When you are hunting you need to make sure that there’s nobody around you. Another important thing to do is to tell people where you are hunting at. This will allow them to avoid certain areas where you are hunting and will reduce the risk of an accident. Another thing to consider is your backstop. Since most people hunt out of a tree stand the usual backstop for them is the ground because they are shooting at a downward angle. However some people shoot out of a ground blind. When hunting out of a ground blind or when hunting from a tree stand you need to make sure that you have something to stop your arrow. This could range from trees to dirt as long as your arrow can stop in a reasonable distance you should be fine. The overall point is that all people involved with shooting sports need to make sure that the projectile they are shooting has somewhere safe to stop. The likeliness of an accident to occur is drastically reduced when range safety is implemented.

Still no Buck

This past weekend I went out deer hunting three times. I was able to go out two mornings and one evening. The first morning a farmer came to work in the field right next to where I was about thirty minutes after I had set up and ruined my hunt.

The next morning I went out just when you could see across the horizon. As I walked to my stand I spotted a doe walking along the fence line on the other side of the field. I am pretty sure it saw me too because it sped up to a jog and disappeared. I should have been out there thirty minutes earlier because that deer was heading straight for my stand. The only thing I saw the rest of the morning was a couple raccoon and about twenty squirrel. If I would have been squirrel hunting then I would have had more squirrels then I could carry.

That evening I went to a different woods and set up my self- climbing tree stand. That evening it was pretty windy. The wind was blowing into my face and carrying my scent away from where I expected the deer to come from. After waiting for about an hour I spotted six doe in the field to right of me about fifty yards out. Unfortunately, the deer were far enough behind me that they picked up my scent. Even though they never saw me, my scent was enough to spook them. After that I saw those six doe I didn’t see anything the rest of the evening.

I am seeing plenty of doe in my area but I am yet to see a buck. The good news is that when the rut (mating season) comes in the bucks will be where the does are. This means that I am sure to have bucks in my area later in the season. Hopefully the big buck I am looking for will still be out there later in the year.

Big Game, More Like Big Lame

Ok, before I begin let me just say that the title is a little misleading. This blog is in no way shape or form a negative review of the Big Game. It does not so much refer to the game itself. It has more to do with the situation that I got put in. If you have read just a few of my previous posts you would be able to discern that I was very excited about the Big Game at Paintball Sam’s. I was all ready to go up to Wisconsin with my team join the hundreds of others in a paintball filled weekend. One of the main reasons I was so excited is because we are a fairly well known group among the owners of Paintball Sam’s. Most people that go to the Big Game go by themselves or with a friend or two. My team consists of twelve people, making us one of, if not the largest group that goes up. The people up there always seem to be glad to see us. At this point most of you may be asking yourself, so what seems to be the problem.

Well you see as the date grew closer and closer more people began bailing out on the trip. First there were a couple people who couldn’t make it due to sports teams and other school related complications. That was understandable, but then for some reason everyone else started saying they weren’t going. After our captain said she couldn’t go do to a soccer game I took up the leadership role and tried to figure out why the others weren’t going. The only answer I could seem to get out of anyone was that they had made other plans. This continued until the last few days before the Big Game. By then, there were only two of us left, me and a friend of mine that had just gotten into the sport a month or two ago. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed. I talked to my friend and we decided that it wasn’t even worth going anymore because the experience would not even come close to those in the past years. Instead we went and played at a local field, but that’s a story I’ll save for another day.

Note: Remember, I am not saying that the Big Game is lame; I am simply saying that my team is. I still encourage anyone who enjoys woodsball to check out www.paintballsams.com for the next Big Game date.

Tips and Tricks Vol. III

Well, today is Sunday and that means its practice day once again. This time, I want you all to try a drill that is fairly common but extremely effective and important. I know I have been harping on this all the time but this drill concentrates on communication (particularly from the back players). Like I have said before, there is a difference between being able to shoot a lot of paint and being a good back player. Anyone can just sit back there and drain hopper after hopper. So now without further adieu, here it is.
This drill requires four players (two front and two back). The front players carry everything they usually carry. The same goes for the back players, except they do not carry a gun on the field. This forces them to communicate with their front player. Since they will be unable to shoot at the other front player, the only thing they can do is shout to their front player where the opponent is. This drill gets your back player's mind off of shooting and makes them concentrate more on talking. Practicing this drill will round out your back players' games. And remember Clocktapus says "Keep talking, keep moving, keep winning."

The Big Ten Network

The Purdue Trap and Skeet Club had a cool experience happen to them this Thursday; they were featured on the Big Ten Network. The network apparently does a tailgate special on Fridays that features two Big Ten schools and shows what the schools do before a big game and the atmosphere of the school. They also pick two unique clubs or activities that the schools offer and do a short segment about them. They came out and had all there video equipment and you could tell that these guys had not been around guns too much.

Before the network arrived the club had displayed all of our trophies and awards and had hung a banner showing the club name and the website. The camera men focused on this display for awhile and then our club president took them out and showed them a little about how to shoot skeet. They went out to station one and our president explained what the order was of shooting station one and then actually shot the birds. Then the announcer from the Big Ten Network got up and shot station one and it started out pretty entertaining because he had no idea what he was doing. Surprisingly enough though he actually hit the high house bird, he then missed the low and hit the high again on doubles.

Unfortunately I do not get the Big Ten Network so I was unable to watch it but I am sure it was very interesting for the people of the club and for others that had never heard of the Purdue Trap and Skeet team. Hopefully this will be just the beginning of the fame for our club as we enter into the collegiate competitions this weekend with the first shoot being in Iowa.

Huntin' Time

Since deer season just started this past Monday, I have not had a chance to go hunting yet. Deer hunting this weekend is going to be the highlight of my week. They are calling for rain this weekend in my area so this should cool things down and make the deer more active.

I am really hoping to shot a buck this weekend but I am not going to settle for anything small. Although, my best chance for a big one is here in the early season. This year I am looking for a big mature buck that can top my last years buck. I have three different spots that I plan to try this weekend and with it being October break, I have time to play my cards.

I am planning to go home today and try to go hunting tonight. I have to get some practice shots with my bow to make sure I am still hitting accurately and then I am headed out on the hunt. Hopefully I will have some good hunting stories after this weekend to share.

3-man Stories: The First Win

I recently talked about different types of tournaments that exist in paintball. As I said before, 3-man is mainly for beginners. The first 3-man tournament I was ever in (with the team I currently play with), we won. I’m not trying to say we are the best team ever, quite the opposite. The stage was set for us to lose, and all odds were against us; but somehow we managed to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat in the very last game. The team consisted of me (of course), Big C, and Chan. We were one of the youngest teams there, but by no means the worst or least experienced. We had many practices under our belts and we were ready to win.
We barely made it to the finals. Out of the thirteen teams in the tournament, six went to finals and we were in that sixth spot. Due to some stupid play and uncharacteristic losses, we came into finals behind even the teams that we were clearly better than. The teams in first and second were older guys that had been playing for a lot longer than anyone else in the tournament and should have clearly won. Despite all of this, I assured the refs that the Cinderella team would come out on top this time.
It all came down to the very last game. The points were set in such a way that whichever team won this game, won it all. The head ref called for the silent ten second count and the game began. And just like that, in the first 3 seconds, Big C and I were out and Chan was all alone against the best team in the tournament. While venting my anger in the dead box I heard cheering coming from the sideline and notice that Chan had shot one of the other team out. “So what it’s only one guy.” I hear a ref call out “Player eliminated!” I immediately think it is Chan but then came more cheering. Chan had shot out the other team’s back player. It was one on one. All the other team’s last player had to do was grab the flag and they won the tournament (as the points stood). He reached for the flag, inches away from it. Chan shot his hand away from the flag, giving us the win and first place. Clocktapus has only one word to say about this story “Owned”.

Licensed to Kill

With all the different hunting seasons starting up, I thought it would be a good idea to explain the process of taking a hunter’s education course and getting a hunting license. It is important to get a hunting license before hunting or you could get an ugly fine from the DNR if you are caught without it. Before you can get your hunting license you have to take a hunter’s education course. It is just like taking the diver’s education course before you can get your driver’s license.

The DNR and Parks Department in your area usually offer the course. It is normally a full two day course that teaches you gun safety and about respecting wildlife. You can also take the course online at Today’s Hunter if you live in the ten states that the online course is offered. I took my hunter’s education course through Today’s Hunter. This way is a lot easier to work around your schedule but it takes more time to study the material. You basically study the material and then pay $15 to take a multiple choice test. You want to try to pass the test the first time because you have to pay $15 every time you have to retake it. I studied the material enough that I passed on my first try. After you pass the test they will send you your certification card and then you can get your license.

Hunting licenses are done differently in different states. I am going to discuss the Indiana licenses since I am familiar with them. The cheapest license is for youth, which is 18 and under. The license costs seven dollars and it is a hunting and fishing combo. Once you are 18 or above it costs $25 to purchase the hunting fishing combo. Other licenses such as trapping, turkey, waterfowl, and trout cost an additional amount. The full list of prices can be found on the DNR website. These licenses can be purchased at most sporting good stores, Wal-Mart, Meijer, or online at Access Indiana. I buy my licenses online every year. I think it is easiest to do it online because you just print it out.
Once you have done this you are licensed to kill. I mean licensed to hunt wild animals that is. Just remember to carry your license with you when you are hunting. You don’t want to be caught with out it when the DNR officer stops you and asks to see it.

Eye Dominance

A very important thing to determine when you begin shooting is your eye dominance. Your eye dominance can be determined by a variety of different ways. One way to determine eye dominance is to make a small hole by taking you right hand and placing the palm of it on top of the back of your left hand. The hole should be formed in the area that is between your index fingers and your thumbs. This entire process is illustrated above (by centenary archery club). Then you look through the hole with both eyes open at an object that is about 30 feet away. Make sure that you start with your arms fully extended. As you are looking through the hole at this object slowly move your hands, the hole, towards your eyes. As you bring them closer and closer to your face continue looking at the original object. Eventually your hands will be on your face and whatever eye the hole is around is your dominant eye. You will then use then when you are purchasing your bow. More people are right eye dominant then left eye dominant, but don’t be scared if you are left eye dominant because companies do make products for you too.

Anchor Points

What comes after a good shooting stance? After you have a good shooting stance you need to have a good anchor point. An anchor point is a place that you always come back to shot after shot that allows for accuracy. One key anchor point is the tip of your nose. When you shoot you should bring the string to the tip of your nose every time. This allows you to know that you are pulling the bow all of the way back every time. It is also important to keep the string on the tip of your nose throughout the shot. This will keep you from creeping or letting the string of the bow move away from your face. Another important thing to remember is to not push your nose on the string. Just set the string on the very tip of your nose so that there is very little contact between your nose and the string.
The other anchor point that is very important is your hand placement when the bow is pulled back. You need to make sure that you put your hand at the same spot every time so you know that you are consistently pulling the bow back the same distance every time. The “correct” location for hand placement is on the jaw bone. The jawbone is easy to locate and a place that you can consistently go to. Another reason why it is important to put your hand on your jawbone is because the also doesn’t allow any left and right movement of your hand. If your hand moves left or right during the shot your arrow will either go right or left respectively.
By having these two anchor points you will eliminate numerous problems. (A good illustration from centenary archery club is above.) Most problems are caused by an incorrect anchor point. Many people have a tendency to keep their hand away from their face or the string away from their nose. Even though they may be currently shooting they are still very likely to move either the string or their hand which will affect their arrow. If you keep these two points solid then you will have two less things that could go wrong during your shot.

Product Information: MacDev's Project D

The new release from MacDev in 2007 will be their brand new marker, the Droid. MacDev is already known for its consistent and reliable Cyborg. The MacDev website has little information on the Droid as of right now. All they are letting the public know is that it will not replace the Cyborg and that it will be released at World Cup 2007. The picture above is all MacDev has shown us so far. The Droid was made to revolutionize the single tube gun. MacDev has not been very specific but they say that they have changed the spool design to increase efficiency and reliability (as MacDev is known for). The Droid is projected to be in the upper $1000 range. So if you’re in the market for a new gun, this one will be one of the highest qualities around for the year. If I do attend World Cup ’07 I will definitely be on the look out for the Droid. I have always had an admiration for MacDev’s work as one of the best international companies around. They have also released that the new Cyborg will be available in the first quarter of 2008. Clocktapus says “I might just pick one of these up for myself. How about you?”

Arrow solutions

What do I do if my arrow is not flying correctly? The first thing to do if your arrow seems to wobble when it flies is to go to an archery shop. They can usually solve any problems that you have with your equipment. If you don’t have time to go to an archery shop here are some tips on finding out what is causing the problem with your arrow.
First make sure that your arrow has all of its fletchings. Though this may seem like it wouldn’t affect the trajectory, it in fact can have a huge impact on the arrows trajectory. All you have to do is check and make sure that all three fletchings are properly attached. The next thing to consider if your arrow stills seems to wobble is to check and see if your arrow is straight. An easy way to see if your arrow is straight or not is to sit it on a flat surface like a table and see if you can see a noticeable bend in it. If you can a distinct bend in the arrow you should then throw that arrow away. Bent arrows are not even good to practice with because they do not fly consistently. Whatever you do don’t try to bend the arrow back. Most arrows will snap if you try to bend them back into place leaving two very sharp ends near your hands and eyes.
If your arrow has all of its fletchings properly attached and it does not appear to be bent it is now time to check your arrow rest. This is the hardest part and should be done by an experienced archer. What they will do is have you shoot your bow so that the arrow flies through a piece of paper that is hanging in a frame. What this allows them to see is if the tip of your arrow and the noc of your arrow are traveling directly behind each other. If they are you will see one hole in the paper. If they aren’t flying directly behind each other then you will see two holes in the paper. The experienced archer will then adjust your arrow rest in the appropriate direction so both the tip and the noc fly in the same path one behind the other. This should give you a straight shooting arrow every time you shoot. However if everything above fails it is probably time to get new arrows.

International Skeet: A Whole New Ball Game

Well I shot my first round of International Skeet/Olympic Skeet today and it was definitely more difficult than I thought it was going to be. For those of you that don’t know the rules of International Skeet, they are fairly simple. The stations are the same but the orders you shoot the birds are different. On station one, two, and three you shoot high single and doubles (high first). On station four you shoot high single then low single then two sets of doubles (high first double then low first double). On station five and six you shoot low single then double (low first). On station seven you just shoot a double (low first). Also you cannot mount the gun until the bird is out of the house and there is an automated 0-3 second delay on when the bird comes out. On top of this the birds are moving about 15mph faster than in American Skeet.

I figured with my experience in skeet it wouldn’t be too bad. I figured sense it is basically just doubles and regular skeet combined with a trap delay, low gun mount and faster birds I could get used to it after a couple of stations. I was wrong, the low gun and the delay are a very difficult addition to the game especially on station 8. The pure fact that you never know when the bird is going to come out of the house and you can’t mount your gun until it does, starts to mess with your mind.

I am not writing this to discourage anyone from trying International Skeet it is definitely a lot of fun but it takes getting used to. I am definitely hooked and can’t wait to shoot again just because it is something new and a challenge. I would recommend anyone who wants to try it to find a range close to them that shoots International and give it a shot.

Vincent Hancock, only person to shoot perfect round of 150 birds in International Skeet