Indoor Archery For Bowhunting Success - Road to 300
The “Road to 300” is a journey that began in March of this year. It started as a quick test of the new Bowtech Reckoning I purchased, as a standard by which to measure my improvement through the initial setup and tuning process. It was then that I found, not only could this be a great way to test the differences in small setup adjustments, but it was also an incredibly accurate way to monitor my progress as an archer, overall. I quickly found that this “Vegas round” was very unforgiving. It demanded consistency… and highlighted minor flaws in my form. Not only that, but it left evidence as to how and why I was missing. Arrow holes to the low and/or left? My shot was weak... and my shoulders were rolling forward. Missing to the right? My focus was shifting from aiming and to my release hand and arm. Missing high? Usually, a mental over correction to the weak shot. This information became very valuable to me in the pursuit of improving my archery game and the “Road to 300” began.
Once it was decided that this goal of a 300 must be met, I began practicing daily and shooting a “game” every few days. Consistent improvement continued to motivate me. Within a few weeks I shot my first 299… and I really felt that the 300 should have happened that day. The one miss was apparent before it ever broke… a setup error that should have forced a let down… and all 29 other shots were no doubters. One of those, “can’t miss” days that we strive for. I felt pretty confident that the 300 would come on the next “game”. However, it was not meant to be! The very next day my wife and I got told to head to the hospital. Our baby girl would be arriving soon. During the 4 day hospital stay and the time readjusting at home, it was in the back of my mind to get back in the shop and continue working on archery. While I had plenty of good excuses to slack off I just couldn’t let laziness employ them. After all, the excuses were fake… the baby was sleeping and momma was ok. That first round back was a serious backslide. Lack of sleep is an obvious detractor to a strong archery shot.. again, thank you Vegas face, for making that so obvious. After some rest and more home life adjustments the scores started coming back. This past week, I was actually able to shoot a “game”, every single day. The results are encouraging. The 300 still eludes me but the consistently high 290s and 20x make me feel like any day could be the day.
The point of the entire article is this. I have found great lessons in the pursuit of the “Vegas Standard”. Mental and physical consistency is key. I could do this quietly and by myself. Yet, I feel the NEED to share this as a testimonial to the benefits. I hope that it motivates you watching to jump into your own “Road to 300”.
I recently spoke to some friends about the fact that all of the strongest relationships in my life came from archery and bowhunting. As the channel bio states, “I make videos during my pursuit of archery and hunting improvement, with community and fellowship being the purpose.” I mean that. I hope you find value in this. I hope you meet all of your archery and bowhunting goals and I hope to shoot with you in person at a tournament down the line if I haven’t already. I will post another “Road to 300” update video next week. In the meantime, you can track daily, live progress on Instagram at CameronJosephTurner. Video updates for this channel will be on Instagram at Essential_Outdoorsman. Share your progress with the hashtag #roadto300 #essentialoutdoorsman. I look forward to watching everyone progress.
Love you all.