Sight Marks? What Sight Marks?

This weekend was one of contrasts and was defined, like much of this year, by the weather. Saturday dawned bright and sunny but by the time we had to leave for the field, light rain was falling and we were in two minds whether to shoot at all. My keenness won over Mrs EA's reticence so off we went. The scheduled round on the short range was a Windsor, but the club captain decided that nine dozen arrows was not a good idea given that the rain was expected to get worse and the wind was building. He concluded that a Warwick was a better idea in the circumstances, but I was a little unsure of shooting 60yds - further than I had ever tried before. Having done a bit of conversion, I found that 60yds is less than 5m over my previous longest distance of 50m, so I decided to give it a go.

I am learning that it is important to record sight marks for each of the distances you have shot so that you can set the sight next time out. I have been doing this but, to date, they have been of limited use as I keep changing the specification of the bow as I buy my own equipment. Today was no exception, as I have just bought a new sight, having found the Cartel sight that I had been using was difficult to to adjust and screws would quickly shake loose. The new sight is a SF Premium Carbon sight (in blue to match he riser colour). This is the same model used by Mrs EA, but have noticed that there are minor differences in construction between the model years. I am expecting only one more disruption of sight marks shortly as I have just ordered my first set of arrows (more of this later).

Although the temperature was into double-figures, the persistent rain combined with the strong wind served to make the round fairly unpleasant and more than once we wished we had stayed at home. However, being British we soldiered on to the end! Sixty yards actually felt a lot easier than 50m, as a Warwick round is shot on 122cm faces, rather than the 80m faces used in the Metric I round (but with 5-zone scoring, of course). Getting the sight right was not a problem in the end, taking only two misses before hitting the boss.

The first two dozen at 60yds seemed to go very quickly. I was again working on getting my draw right, going through the correct sequence to get to the point of release. This seems to be getting easier and more repeatable, but my accuracy is still not brilliant. I am sure that this will come with practice and experience. The final two dozen at 50yds seemed almost as difficult as the longer distance, perhaps because the rain was lashing down by this time. My hands got very wet and started to slip on the bow handle, and the platform tab rubbed on my softened skin and drew blood - my first injury. Later, at home, I checked the score to see what handicap it would give and was pleasantly surprised to find that it matched my personal best. Not bad given the conditions.

After the round, Andy kindly helped me measure-up for correct arrow length. We had been pinging emails backwards and forwards during the week discussing the types and spine of arrows that I should consider to match my bow and take into account increasing draw weight over the coming months. We had settled on Easton Platinum Plus xx75 1816 arrows, which have one of the higher spine values in group T3 on the Easton chart, but needed to check that my assumptions on arrow length were correct. We used a measuring arrow and confirmed that the distance from nock to button at full draw was 27.25", giving a minimum arrow length of 28.25". Andy advised that I should allow for an increase in draw length and advised that a cut length of 28.75" or 29" would allow the use of a clicker once a point had been added. Later that afternoon I priced the components for a set of eight arrows on a number of retailer websites and placed an order, and I am hopeful of delivery later this week. Maybe I will have them ready for next weekend.

Sunday morning was totally different to Saturday. Although there was a stiff breeze, the temperature at 10am was up around 15°C and the sun was out. Not only did I not need thermals, but I didn't need a sweater, either. I had to be home by midday, so I decided to spend the morning on the practice range, getting used to the new sight and trying to improve my consistency and groupings. I was fairly happy with the results, but there was a noticeable drop-off in consistency towards the end of the session, which I put down to fatigue. I am still getting used to the heavier limbs and I have yet to develop the strength and flexibility in my back and shoulders, so perhaps this is not surprising.