The 12 Days of Christmas… Archery Version

My archery version of the 12 days of Christmas ( same music … )

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me an arrow lost in a tree.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Four Compound Shooters, Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Five FITA Stars, Four Compound Shooters, Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas,my true love sent to me Six Make-up arrows, Five FITA Stars, Four Compound Shooters, Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Seven Cracked Nocks, Six Make-up arrows, Five FITA Stars, Four Compound Shooters, Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Eight Lost Fletchings, Seven Cracked Nocks, Six Make-up arrows, Five FITA Stars, Four Compound Shooters, Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Nine Recurve Shooters, Eight Lost Fletchings, Seven Cracked Nocks, Six Make-up arrows, Five FITA Stars, Four Compound Shooters, Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Ten Perfect ends, Nine Recurve Shooters, Eight Lost Fletchings, Seven Cracked Nocks, Six Make-up arrows, Five FITA Stars, Four Compound Shooters, Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Eleven Target Butts, Ten Perfect ends, Nine Recurve Shooters, Eight Lost Fletchings, Seven Cracked Nocks, Six Make-up arrows, Five FITA Stars, Four Compound Shooters, Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Twelve Carbon Fiber Arrows, Eleven Target Butts, Ten Perfect ends, Nine Recurve Shooters, Eight Lost Fletchings, Seven Cracked Nocks, Six Make-up arrows, Five FITA Stars, Four Compound Shooters,
Three Bulls eyes, Two National records, And an arrow lost in a tree!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Arrows Series – Part 8: Fine Tuning and Numbering

Now that your center-shot is right, you’ll need to continue to fine-tune your bow periodically to change as you grow and develop as an archer. Start by labelling and numbering your arrows. Labelling your arrows with your name or initials is required for tournaments and sometimes is the only way you can distinguish your arrows from someone else’s; especially if they have the same nocks, shafts and fletchings.

Numbering is a good idea so you can track your arrows, if you have a single stray arrow. If the stray is consistent on every end and the number is the same, it may be that something is not right with that arrow.

Once you know your arrows and can track them, you can further tune your bow by adjusting various components such as the tiller, plunger, nock height etc… . You can perform some or all of these various tuning test to help tune your bow for maximum performance.

Paper Tuning Test: Tuning test involving setting up a piece of paper on a frame, stretching the paper taught, and shooting field-tipped arrows (not broadheads, which will affect the arrow flight) through it starting about 6 ft away.

Bare Shaft Planing Test : Tuning process were one shoots a bare arrow (shaft with no fletchings) for comparison with fletched arrows.

Walk-back Test: Tuning process where groups of arrows are shot at increasing distances to give a useful combined test of both centre-shot and button tension.

Check out these two very useful resources: Easton Tuning Guide and Tenzone’s Bow Tuning test documents: for instructions with these tests and many more.

As you develop as an archer you will need to make changes and tune your bow. Remember that making multiple adjustments at the same time can be hard to track and can be very confusing. It is important to only make one change at a time and test again.

This concludes the Arrow Series; Thanks and good shooting.