[Daniel Boone]

I think during the summer months. You try to shoot in the shade as much as possiable. Keep the walking distance down.

I think courses should be set up with an average distance for open class shooters tough but not ever shot long. Courses can be set tough and challenging but not long.

Who cares if the scores are higher. Most get disgusted if they shoot bad and dont return.

I think you need to move the shots, some courses have a tendacy to have the same shooting lanes ever time. Archers realize the distance after awile.

Of course I like shotgun starts:mg:

What make you want to return to a course.

 

[TRX32]

I think mixing it up, like you said, is a great idea. this past weekend at Sage's shoot we had some different shots. We shot one from a treestand across a holler, one in a field shooting throught the top of the grass, and a strutting turkey out of a ground blind. He also had a mountain goat up on steep ridge. Having neet realistic shots like this makes for a great course IMO.

 

[NE1C_my_arrow]

I think during the summer months. You try to shoot in the shade as much as possiable. Keep the walking distance down.

I think courses should be set up with an average distance for open class shooters tough but not ever shot long. Courses can be set tough and challenging but not long.

Who cares if the scores are higher. Most get disgusted if they shoot bad and dont return.

I think you need to move the shots, some courses have a tendacy to have the same shooting lanes ever time. Archers realize the distance after awile.

Of course I like shotgun starts:mg:

What make you want to return to a course.

I would have to agree with everything you've posted so far.. There are a few courses around here that don't move anything with the exception of a few of the targets possibly being in a different spot. Distances rarely ever change.

I know this is kind of in the opposite direction of the initial post but these are a few other things that I've noticed lately that would make me NOT want to go back. I guess you could turn them around to say this is what I would want to see happen to make me go:

(1) Very little water/refreshment stands on the course. Especially in this hot weather we've been having. You should have some type of refreshments at least every 10 targets or so. We shot a 30 shot course about a month ago in about 100 degree heat, and the first water we came to was past target 21!

(2) I don't like to see people that set up the course or being directly affiliated with the place putting on the shoot, that shoot for score and turn in a card. I'm not saying that if you shoot for the place putting on the shoot that you shouldn't be out there having fun, but I've seen some rediculously high scores turned in from shooters that were sponsored by the place putting on the shoot. That just seems a little fishy to me especially when they are outshooting the Top Gun class by 14 points.

(3) This wouldn't make me not want to come back to a shoot, but I don't think that people should be able to shoot in more than one class on the same weekend. If they had different courses for each day, that would be OK but not shooting BHR one day, then coming back to shoot Open or Unlimited the next day on the same course.

I overheard one of the owners of a local 3D course saying the other day that their attendance was way down. This place was the one with very little water and rarely moves a target. I wanted to tell him that this could be the reason why but I didn't think it was my place to say anything. I'm not one to try and tell a man how to run his business but I know alot of the higher caliber shooters around here (this definitely DOESN'T inlcude myself. :embara: ) won't go there because of these two reasons. The figure why go if everyone that's ever shot the course more than once already pretty much knows the distances. It's a shame because this is an awesome course and has hosted a few of the Arkansas ASA State Championships.

Anyway, that's just a few things I could think of... I'm just glad to shoot anywhere I can so I don't really like to say anything negative about it.

 

[pa10point]

There's a fine line in target quality -- if you put money into your targets and course design, the crowds will follow. When you stop investing some of the money back into the event, the crowd will go elsewhere.

One shoot in our local area I won't go to any more. They set it up too far, where 35 yards is the easy norm (not that I'm opposed to shooting that far for practice, I don't like to hunt that far), and the targes are in terrible condition. If they update anything, its a repair job to the center and then they move the entire target out another 5 yards to get another five months of life out of them.

I know they are expensive, but if you want to really raise some money, set up a shoot people will talk about positively.

John

 

[Bowzone_Mikey]

A good mix of targets and distances .... nohting I hate more than using the same pin for 18 of the 20 targets and shooting 19 deer .... If the club can afford 19 deer targets ... they should bought alot more little ones....

I really like the 49 yrd shot at a deer followed by the 2 yrd bunny ...then a 22 yrd doves, 19 yrd javi 37 yrd sheep .... 24 turkey etc.... ... I also like the shoot consideration ... I had this conversation recently infact that when people set up a course they set it for the 6 foot tall guy from the open stakes .... they dont think about the 5 foot tall guy shooting Trad ie: the open stake is at 30 yrds and so is the trad ..... chip shot for Open ....hard shot for a stick.... Think of sight lines ..... etc...junk .... lots of courses are set up for the 2% of the "Elite" shooters .... well a clubs bread and butter comes from the 98% not so elite and generally the 50 percent Flingers that come out to just stick some foam and could care less about competeing .... if you make shots too hard they wont be back.
1: Make it fun
2: Make it intersting
3: Make it a mix of everything whenever possible
\
Personally I prefer the tougher courses with junk and stuff in the way ..... It makes the santioned events with the cut fairways easier ....

 

[JUMPMAN]

I think courses should be set up with an average distance for open class shooters tough but not ever shot long. Courses can be set tough and challenging but not long.

You can take your average 30-40 yard shot and take the ground out of it. What I'm saying, rolling hills or a shot where the shooter cant see the legs of a target. This will screw up yardage estimation in a hurry. Alot of people judge yardage by looking at the ground you do this and its going to make it alot tougher on them and cost them some pionts.

 

[Bowzone_Mikey]

agreed .... If ya take the bottom portion of the legs off a buffalo .... it looks 15 yrds further than what it is .... ....I have sunk legs of a Bou' into some mud over a rise .... alot of people took nickles or high 8s on it

 

[camoham]

im new to 3D undergoing my second year.

i dont mind challenging courses. i dont mind having half of the scoring ring covered up by brances/trunks/ or foilage.

i want the challenge. i need to overcome the urge to pull away from the shot just because the 10 is sitting next to a large branch. teaches me to shoot "like the obstruction isnt there".

puking turkey at 30 yards no complaints.................

as mentioned before.

(1)needs to have nice hosting people.

(2)needs to have water.

(3)needs to have more water

(4)dont plan shoots when 500 other shoots are going on at the same time.


you figure some of these guys could get together and co-ordinate some of this junk. stands to benefit all groups and clubs that list shoots.

camoham

 

[Captain Insano]

What make you want to return to a course.

Distance, brush, unpredictability, challenge, safe, and no booze on the course.

 

[storyteller_usa]

Ranges???

Join us at one of shoots and you will see a little bit of everything.
Steve
http://www.archersforchristparis.com/

 

[acsksbs]

our club has a shoot every saturday. they try and get 2-3 people to set up every friday and ask for volunteers to get it done. it works out pretty well. getting different people out there mixes things up a bit. some long/short range shoots. up hil and down. unknown distance stakes. we try to put a little of everything into the shoots to include the realism you may encounter. it keeps it interesting and fun. we got a small club on base and we get an o.k. turn out for summer time. winter here definetely has more show up than summer but when you get the real hot and humid days we get alot of people opt to stay inside there homes. and we kick off at 7 am. hell some of us even showed up for the shoot when a typhoon was within 12 hours of us.

 

[deermasher]

a couple of weekends ago i went to 2 shoots one on sat. and one on sun. there was a night and day differance in thease two shoots the one was a 48 target shoot in ottumwa iowa and i'll give it many thumbs up. they had really nice bow hangers at every target. there max distance was around 45 yds. but it wasn't shot after shot. then to praise them even more they had the results posted that same night after the shoot was over on there web site. it was a very nice shoot....then the other one was a local shoot where the open class has one long shot after another in the heat it made for a very long day then to top it off they had one shot that was very dangerous and if myself and the guy shooting with me hadn't been paying attention we would have had someone walk right out in front of us. what they did was to put the open shot about 15yards down a hill from where the main trail was and with the brush grown up there was a very good chance of someone getting shot.......so my main point is a safe course is the best course....just my late night ramblings thoe.........

 

[Daniel Boone]

I dont like extra long courses.

Join us at one of shoots and you will see a little bit of everything.
Steve
http://www.archersforchristparis.com/

40yrd plus turkeys. Small kills at 40plus. Just doesnt seem right to make courses long, who cares if shooters shot 10 up on a course. I can make a course tough and it doesnt have to be long.:wink: I garantee you make courses tough here for the everage archer, they wont come back. Archers like to walk away feeling good about themsleves.

 

[boojo35]

I like a course to be tough from the open stakes. The yardages need to be varied from target to target to keep you from getting your "eye". I like the ground taken away by foliage and terrain. I like the use of shooting from the dark to the light and light to the dark, it is another way to mess with yardage estimation. I dont like kills to be obstructed, and as someone already mentioned, the course must be set for shorter people also. I'm short and it is very common for a stake, or hill or something to make a shot unfair for someone my height. I do think that a course should have stakes that are set for any speed of archer. Most of the courses I shoot will have stakes for classes that are 25, 35, 40, 45, and 50 yard maximums. I believe that walk up shooting should also be encouraged for non money class shooters, and of course the little guys. I like the course to be well marked and easy to follow. The targets need to be in good condition. It needs a good practice range. The perfect course to me will bring back the elite shooters and the newbies also. It needs to cater to all types of equipment and ability.

 

[njshadowwalker]

Def need shade in the summer. I shot a fathers day shoot thid year....half the course was open fields in 95 degree weather.

I was mentally/physically and emothionally shot after 40 targets. It may keep me from shooting their event this month. Too hot and 300 yard walk between targets is a bit much. And that is not an exagerration either.

 

[BowHunterOK]

This is my first year shooting 3D, I have only been to 5 different shoots so I am no expert on how to set up a course, but I can tell you as a newbie what I liked and didn't like.

1. I don't like shotgun starts because of a busy work schedule and my whole family shoots, and we like to shoot together.

2. I don't like every target between 20-30 yards, I shot one course and used one pin for 15 of the 20 targets.

3. I really like a varied course of distances and animals, made like a real hunting situation, even shot out of a blind, and a tree stand (1' off the ground for safety) at one course.

4. I shot one course this year that me and my family really liked and will do every thing in our power to shoot again because we had so much fun (it's this weekend too and I am headed out of town on work today for the weekend ) all the targets were fairly close, plenty of water, last shot was a 57yd elk, that I shot at 65 (found the arrow), all the others were 20-40 yards and varied animals, and the people that ran the course were great about everything.

5. I shot one course this year I did not care for at all, and won't return. Super flat terrain, it was set up for the open shooters, which is cool, I shoot bowhunter, so I'll stick with courses that are more inline with hunting. Ticks, chiggers, and every other critter fed on us, not much care was given to prepping the course, a little weed eatin' was about it. Great people, poor course in my opinion tho, other people enjoyed it, just not my bag.

All in all I love 3D, good hunting practice, affordable and fun for the entire family!

Oh yeah, every course I shot was not a club or anything like that, the "owner" set up the course's without help from anyone, so don't flame me for not "getting involved" with course preperation. I'd love to belong to an archery club and help whenever/wherever I could, but there are none around here, most are just ran as a buisness to make a little cash.

 

[Brown Hornet]

It has always tickled me how people will complain in archery about how tough a course is. This is the only sport I have ever heard people cry about stuff like that. Most any other sport or people that are competitive by nature or who want to get better won't complain about how tough it is. They may say that was a tough course but they will be back. I am a very good golfer and I have played some hard courses in my day....and I have yet to say or hear anyone else say they won't play that course again because it was to hard.

I mean come on guys. I shot some courses that had "ridiculous shots" but I have yet to find a course that was so "hard" that it isn't worth shooting. If you think the course is to hard then you need stick to indoors.

 

[Dusty Britches]

Ditto that, StoryTeller.

I heard someone say that Brazos County Archery is proof positive that you can set up a challenging course without maxing the distances. Our course is tough enough without throwing distance into the equation.

We strive for customer service - water at every 4th or 5th target, clean shots at the 8, 10 and 12 rings, variety, shade.

 

[flightmedic]

make it fun

make it fun for the kids, give ribbons or medals to all the kids that shoot, dont have to be the expensive ones, just something for kids for completing the course. if the kids want to shoot so will the parents

drinks a must

somebody to be a greeter ( Wal-Mart) :wink: to welcome the folks as they arrive, sometimes we get caught up in our own little groups and new pepole feel out of place.

and vary the targets my kids flip out for the dionsaures, and the boar, etc

 

[cobowhntr]

Time Limit

I love shoots that institute A time limit. Weather a mid way or finish or both. It drives me nuts to wait until 4:30 or later to get results/awards because of a few people. Then have a shoot w/a limit & have those same people finish w/everyone else.
I don't really care if its shotgun or trickle as long as I know that I will be out @ a reasonable hour.