[307]

I am getting more serious about archery. I have enjoyed shooting for a couple of years but other interests have limited my time in the sport.

Bowhunting for elk brought me into the compound archery world and that is still an important focus for my archery but recently competed in a Vegas 450/indoor 3d (unknown) competition. My slider sight pushed me into the Open category and somehow I won. It wasn't a very big competition.

I'm wondering whether to go full "open" mode with a target rig, scopes, stabs, the whole 9 yards, or whether to retreat to BHFS which would require me to go back to a fixed sight.

I really enjoyed the competition and can see myself doing more 3d, paper, and some of the mountain type 3d courses in the future (Total Archery Challenge style). I enjoy the heck out of shooting long distances, out to about 100 yards.

Any advice on how the two classes compare? The BHFS would be more applicable to hunting, obviously, but seems a bit less fun from my naive perspective.

Thanks

 

[nswarcher]

Shooting open brings a whole new challenge, at least here it does, the top 5 shooters in our association are only ever split buy a few points, its high pressure to perform but a great boost to push yourself to being the best archer you can be, when i shot bhfs i was definatley fun, but accuracy was limited for known distance as in between pins on cetraim target faces, many of the shooters here swap to pins for unknown 3d because they can change thier mond about distance mid shot then switch to open for indoor and field

 

[knarrly]

Many ways to go about this situation.

If you really like BHFS and want to stay there just pick up a fixed sight that has the same diameter pin guards/same length bar as your slider and change over to it for your tournaments. Takes 5 mins and good to go.

If you really want to branch out and shoot indoor league, field, etc and want to try out all the open style stabs etc, I would just pick up second bow and set it up for open and then you could just grab whichever one you felt like on that day. If you use the classifieds here you can get set up for around 1/2 the price of new. Then you wouldn't have to mess around resetting your hunting bow.

As for the open vs BHFS at local level 3D's, in general i've found that open shooters whine less about equip (mostly because there are no restrictions) but some shooters can be very slow in their rounds. As for results since there are usually far fewer open shooters at the local level, sometimes you can end up averaging a higher finish position in open class just from lack of competition. At our club our best shooters have a tendancy to go back and forth between BHFS and open depending on what they feel like that weekend.

 

[triumph]

I myself go back in forth. But it is true open or free style shooters are a bit slower. Each target requires an adjustment with there pin, vs multiple pin.

 

[SHPoet]

I'll just add this in. If you decide to shoot Open because of the movable sight, go all the way and get a set of long stabilizers. They really do make a difference. You will also want some fat arrows.

 

[1/2 Bubble Off]

I've ended up in the Open class because of my sight (HHA or IQ Pro 1) even though this is my hunting/3D/everything bow. I don't have scopes, long stabs, side bars etc.... I just go and shoot. Most of the time I'm quite competitive in the Open class with my hunting bow.

 

[Kstigall]

I am getting more serious about archery. I have enjoyed shooting for a couple of years but other interests have limited my time in the sport.

Bowhunting for elk brought me into the compound archery world and that is still an important focus for my archery but recently competed in a Vegas 450/indoor 3d (unknown) competition. My slider sight pushed me into the Open category and somehow I won. It wasn't a very big competition.

I'm wondering whether to go full "open" mode with a target rig, scopes, stabs, the whole 9 yards, or whether to retreat to BHFS which would require me to go back to a fixed sight.

I really enjoyed the competition and can see myself doing more 3d, paper, and some of the mountain type 3d courses in the future (Total Archery Challenge style). I enjoy the heck out of shooting long distances, out to about 100 yards.

Any advice on how the two classes compare? The BHFS would be more applicable to hunting, obviously, but seems a bit less fun from my naive perspective.

Thanks

You can use any sight without a lens in BHFS class. You just can not adjust it once you fire a single arrow for score. By NFAA rules your sight is perfectly fine. For Hunter class in 3D you can't adjust your sight so you have to use a multi-pin sight. All sights are adjustable but you can't move them during a game. A multi-pin head for your sight will work.

Actually hunter class in 3d is more "fun" than as there is more for you to do. Knowing how to use each pin to aim precisely at 3 different distances is much more interesting (complicated) than simply clicking in the yardage and shooting. Don't think for a moment that BHFS class in national spot shoots isn't tough. If you plan on winning indoor nationals in BHFS you best be laying 59-60 X's every time in real tournaments and not just back yard games.

In most local shoots around the country a good slider sight on a good hunting set up with possibly the poundage backed down a bit is all one needs to become a very competitive 3D'er. If you have a drop away rest and a 12" front stabber you are set. For starters, you may want to get some cheaper arrows if you use high dollar hunting shafts.

You could go out tomorrow and drop $3,000 on open equipment and your scores will be only a fraction higher if any than will shoot with the equipment I mentioned above. The guys that are very good Hunter class 3D'ers will beat many if not most of the Open class guys at local shoots. There is a ton to learn about the game and the equipment you use does not help you learn it. When I was at my peak shooting Hunter and BHFS I was shooting 58+ X's NFAA 5-spot and typically 10 up in 3D.

If you have a fat fiber in your hunting sight you might want to swap in a smaller pin for 3D.

 

[mn.moose]

Personally I moved from BHFS to Open for one reason... I hatted pin gap and only being allowed 5 pins. If they ever adjust BHFS to allow a moveable one pin sight I will drop back down, the lens and bars don't make that big of a deal to me but I hate not being able to put my pin on say 54 yards and just shoot... It was a pain in the butt to cover 6 yards to 80 with only 5 pins...

 

[rogersaddler]

I have been shooting BHFS for over 20 years. Bhfs is a fun group to shoot with. I stayed in the BJFS division because of shooters that I shoot with plus I hunt with fixed pins and short stabilizers. my thinking is the more I practice gapping pins the better I will be when comes to shooting a animal