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!