In my seemingly insatiable appetite for archery roving and stump shooting [that delightful field-based archery experience that eschews formal targets for a whole range of informal ones – tussocks of grass, crossed sticks, a brightly coloured leaf … and so on, you get the picture] … I have been shooting in an un-named gully in the Upper Loddon State Forest between Guildford and Franklinford (in Central Victoria) quite a bit recently.
The site ticks many boxes: very little surface rock for breaking arrows, soft soil, relatively open woodland structure for long sight lines, enough topographic relief for some thrilling cross-gully long shots, and not far to walk from the car.
Today I spent some time marking out a roving ‘course’ comprising 10 tagged locations, with shot distances ranging from 19-82m, uphill and down, shots through narrow tree gaps, and a few cross-gully long bombs.
The general idea being that I might entice other trad archers to come and try their luck on a rough roving course, but one which has fixed roving marks to enable a comparison of their efforts – a little bit of healthy competition.
I shot the course twice today and hit about 50% of the marks. Some are very tricky shots – particularly the long ones through relatively narrow gaps in the trees across the gully. Uphill and downhill shots to challenge your distance perception. I’d rate it as very challenging, and therefore a lot of fun! Shoot blunts only, or you’ll leave some arrows stuck high in the trees. đŸ˜‰
Who’s game to give it a try?
Mikrokosm Fotos 