Category: Event Story

Well another great shoot hosted by Caboolture & District Bowmen. The shoot was held off club grounds again (thank you John & Heather for the use of the grounds again this year, always greatly appreciated) and the courses were set several weeks in advance. We all hoped that the weather gods would be kind to us this year knowing that we changed our shoot from September to March in the anticipation that we would be in a better position weather wise at that time of the year.  But Friday came and here were the set up crew huddled under a tarp where we saw 72mm of rain dropped in just 40 mins. There was a torrential river flowing near the canteen area and we could only imagine what it was like on the courses particularly the targets that were set in the gullies. When the bucketing rain was over the team could only say, in true Caboolture style, ‘Well gang, time to reset some of the those targets again’ (maybe there may have been a few more choice words added in there too??), but this could not be achieved properly till the next morning as some rains continued throughout the night. Very early the next morning saw the rain stopped and the crew go out to rearrange the targets so the shoot could go on. This meant delaying the start time to 8.30am to ensure the safety of all. Hey, but this didn’t stop the keenest of archers in attending the shoot. (…..we just thank our lucky stars that TC Debbie happened the week after the shoot and not on that weekend….phew!!!!).

Some of the targets located in the creek and gully areas could not be retrieved as they were under water. Well those targets just needed to wait to be rescued when the water subsided. New targets were set within the existing courses. And what courses they ended up to be – not hard courses but tricky and very challenging, as they always do. Had to really think about what you were shooting at given where and how those targets were positioned. That croc saw a few archers come unstuck and certainly did a few people’s heads in. Well done to the course setters and their band of helpers – job well done again – but still a few 100s being shoot over the weekend.

The shoot saw some 86 shooters attend the event.  Good to see all the familiar faces and new ones too come out and support the club. Saturday and Sunday saw sunny and steamy conditions but everyone came out and endured.

On the Saturday an archer’s string came off his cam, the other shooting team members assisted in getting the string back on the cam (not in a conventional style….. but with the aid of a snatch strap), so that the archer could continue shooting. How fantastic is that…. to see some camaraderie on the course and in the sport. Well done fellas

The canteen also provided a delectable array of food and drinks to satisfy those hungry and thirsty archers. Again another fantastic band of helpers did a magnificent job all weekend and might I say always with friendly and smiling faces behind the scenes.

The Top 10 shoot off was held on Sunday prior to the presentation in a slightly different style teaming 2 shooters together and having 10 teams. The scores of each team were totalled and the highest scoring team the winner, being Jason Van Hass and Elva Smith. Always good for clubs to try different styles of Top 10 Shoot offs, keeps it interesting and entertaining.  Well done and congratulations to all of the placegetters that achieved in their respective divisions and to everyone else who shot in the competition whether competitively or non-competitively. The Committee would like to thank you all for attending our shoot, it was a pleasure to have you there and hope you had an enjoyable weekend of shooting.

Happy Archering

Caboolture & District Bowmen Inc

Diamond Valley Archers Inc. in Victoria has an extremely busy calendar.

Not Just Archery, the Grand Prix, plus much more taking place across Melbourne, all demanding time and effort to prepare, organise and run.
None the less the dedicated 3D shooters in the State look forward to the 3D AAA Series of events and the clubs in Victoria have learnt the meaning of working together.

So let me say upfront, without our dedicated team, these events could not be run and managed so thank you, to my youngest cubs, their parents and our club members.

Next our Sponsors, take time to visit our website http://www.3daaa.com/ and support our sponsors that assist us with gift vouchers and giveaways
The shoot begins weeks before with how do we lay out our field course, how do we make it different and challenging yet safe and fun for all our competitors; from the dedicated 3D Archer to the novice coming to one of our vents for the first time.

For those that have not shot the Diamond Valley field course; it is considered by some as one that has unique challenges from shots taken through gullies, flat shots and incredible shadows that can change the whole profile of a target.

Day One, has members getting their groups together new people to the event are not left out. Seasoned 3D Archers are paired with new members into their groups so that they can learn and enjoy the event.

Our field course is special and respected by all our archers that come there to participate in our events. Last year we saw ducks coming right up to archers as they came down to the field, this year the course had kangaroos lying down on the course as archers walked down to start the vent (they stay out of our way).
This all adds to the atmosphere of the course and the event, all archers know that these animals are so used to seeing us on the course, they can be lying but a few feet away from you watching you take your shot and not flinch. Shrubs also held some more fun creatures and you will see a photo of one later, that was elevated to star status with all the photo people took (we knew where she was and did advise competitors). It showed the importance of following the markers laid out on the course.

In no time the ranges were once again filled with archers of all ages, the sound of arrows making their mark was greeted with a sigh of relief as well as that air of confidence at least until they moved to the next target – our aim was to design these courses with targets not having to be set at maximum distance to make the courses challenging.

In time the archers came back with scores, all challenged and all determined to do better tomorrow.
The indoor range became a buzz with last minute tuning, sight tape adjustments and then onto the target range to cross check the outcomes, while this was taking place the ranges were being reset.

Two range setter across the two ranges, each broken into segments so that no one person really knew where the pegs would be placed or the targets changed (one range setter not competing but gave his time to help out).

Day two sun into place and once again the courses were a buzz with comments, was this the same as we shot yesterday? Why is the shot looking familiar, yet so different? Had to think about that one?

Congratulation to Drew Orton (one of our Youth Archers), shooting the perfect two rounds in succession 200pts out of 200 great work.
Presentations done and the talk was now not only of the next 3D AAA event at Mornington Peninsula Bowmen in April 8th & 9th, but also of the new one day events that Diamond Valley Archers are going to undertake (there will be a series of 5 of these in 2017) – this is designed to complement our 2 day sanctioned shoots by giving new shooters to the event the opportunity to come along to a one day event and enjoy a 3D event.
Our first one day event will take place on the 30th of April 2017 at Diamond Valley Archers.
In closing I thought I would get some words from one of our CUBS on how they found the week end.

My 3daaa Weekend by Shaylen
On the weekend I went to Diamond Valley Archers to shoot 3daaa for 2 days. I had so much fun shooting with Cordell, Jason and Mitch.
I was shooting barebow and it was my first time shooting from red peg. Last year I was shooting off blue peg. Some of the targets were tricky but it was so cool shooting across the gully and down the big hills. My favourite targets were the Turkey, Crocodile and Honey Bear. When I was about to shoot the honey bear I saw there was a big kangaroo behind it. I stopped and took my arrow out and laughed when Jason shoo’d it away a little bit just incase I missed the target. I didn’t miss though!

At presentations I got a framed certificate for 1st place and a voucher from all the sponsors of 3daaa. Thank you to the sponsors. I’m going to buy a new target ball!

I love my archery friends and can’t wait for 3daaa at Mornington next month.

By Shaylen Lowe
Age 8

From a competitors view going to a Twin Cities Archers 3D AAA event.

From the time you arrive, and people are arriving from mid Friday afternoon to Saturday morning before the shoots starts, 3D AAA members and the club members are making sure the members and new people are not left out.

From the initial greeting to the assistance with equipment and the added benefit of having Peters little workshop, bow parts and accessories great to have onsite.
A great indoor range that is a huge building and the club allows all archers the option to camp out onsite, sleep indoors or get accommodation in the local motels. Staying at the local Coal Valley Motor Inn was a pleasure as the venue owners look after the archers attending the events in the area as I am sure others in the area do as well.

The day starts by making sure we have all people present into groups, a brief outline of where the courses are laid out, any anomalies at targets that shooters need to be aware of and then the event begins by archers taking to the ranges.

The ranges are set out around the club house, the walking from target to target is a comfortable walk from ranges that are shot from sand mounds across flats through to treed areas and a great “tree stand shot” from an elevated platform.

After the first days shooting all archers are invited to attend one of the local RSL’s for dinner. A great time for all to catch up over a great meal, relax and reflect on the day that was.

Before dinner, the teams have already rest the courses for the day, and there are hints of what await us on day two.

Day two, is filled with its own challenges, and we are then brought together for presentations.

All in all, if you like 3D and want a fun weekend make sure that you plan to take the time to come to one of these events at Twin City Archers.

In 2016, the 3DAAA National Titles returned to Nambucca Heads for the first time in seven years. This drew an impressive number of archers, with over 250 competitors gearing up for the weekend.

The 3DAAA National Titles were held at the BIG4 Nambucca Beach Holiday Park. Registrations were held in the caravan park, while the ranges were located in the hills of the Nambucca State Forest, overlooking the park below. Many thanks to the BIG4 park manager for allowing all of our archers to pass through over the weekend.

The 3DAAA National Titles Meet and Greet was held at the Nambucca Bowls Club, where a plentiful buffet was on offer. A great number of archers turned up to collect pre-registration forms – thanks go to those of you who managed to pre-nom. The team was kept busy during the evening by overwhelming number of archers that still had to register, as well as merchandise sales, with some stock almost being sold-out. A big thank you to Grace and Emily taking care of the merchandise while the committee was still setting up.

Most archers started their weekend with a walk up what was described as “Heartbreak Hill” to get to the ranges. However, once up the hill they were treated to wonderful views and pleasant ocean breeze. Sadly, this breeze did not continue to the ranges.

The weather on Saturday started out promising, but this changed by the time most archers had started their first range. Dark clouds came overhead, then thunder began to roll in not long after it began to rain. At the first sight of lightning, range captains were prepared to stop the shoot. Thankfully, this didn’t occur, and the weekend proceeded as planned.

The thunder and rain only lasted for a brief period, but that is all that it required to take a toll on most archers. Foggy clarifiers and lens blotched with drops of rain seemed to be common issues, and the lighting on dark targets only added more of a challenge.

Once the rain and clouds had cleared, the humidity hit its maximum level, making for trying conditions. Most archers chose to start on either A or C range, leading to delays. Although it may have taken some longer than they would have liked, particularly given the inclement weather, all of the archers managed to finish out the day.

Sunday began in a similar way to Saturday, another trudge up the so-called Heartbreak Hill to the remaining ranges. Although the weather was quite pleasant down on the beach and in the caravan park, the same could not be said for the ranges. The humidity of the previous day remained, and the heat from the sun may even have made it worse. Despite these conditions, most archers appeared to perform better than the previous day. Probably due to their peep sights being clear and their strings dry.

Ranges D and E experienced lengthy delays, as most archers completed ranges A, B and C on Saturday. The weather conditions made this less pleasant than it might otherwise have been, with the heat and humidity taking their toll. The swimming pool at the BIG4 was certainly very populated after people eventually made it off range.

Later in the day, after some necessary shoot-outs, the Top-Ten was held on the beach side of the caravan park. Mike Parker won the Barebow Top-Ten and Glen Bailey won the Sighted Top-Ten. Congratulations to everyone else who managed to make it in, there were some fairly close scores.

The 3DAAA National Titles saw a great number of perfect and double-perfect(200) rounds shot across the weekend. There were 22 perfect rounds shot, as well as 3 double-perfect rounds. Luckily, the committee had enough spare badges to present to everyone who got their first perfect rounds for the year.

A massive thank you to our range officials, Chris Wakely and Rob Donnelly, and to everyone else who helped set up the ranges for the Nationals. The ranges provided were exceptional, delivering an array of challenging and enjoyable shots for all.

The 3DAAA National Titles Presentation was held at the Nambucca Bowls Club, where again, a plentiful buffet was on offer. The Presentation was an eventful evening with plenty of raffle prizes to be won. The presentations also included three bow give-aways from Hoyt®,and Abbey Archery, one bow for a cub, junior and adult. This year 3DAAA gave away two 3D targets, the 1st going to the club that had the most representation at sancationed shoots which was Lake MacQuarie Field Archers the other prize was a lucky draw going to Ipswich Field Archers.

A moments silence was held for our fallen archers, Jack Lawrence, Cliff Orley and Jake Collins. Shortly afterwards, Jake’s mother, sisters, friends, and his partner, Nat, announced the new perpetual award created in Jake’s honour. This is to be presented at the 2017 3DAAA National Titles by Jake’s family and friends.

The major prize winners for the 2016 year were, Bridget Ryan as the Young Achiever, Jessica Lovering who was awarded the Marg Cowin Trophy and The Steven Reeks Medal going to Matt Bradshaw.

Many thanks should go out to all who made this year’s National Titles possible. Without your efforts, the National Titles could not be pulled together. A big thanks also to all of our sponsors, your generosity this year was exceptional and greatly appreciated. And to those committee members who are now leaving us, thank you for your service to 3DAAA.

From all of us at 3DAAA, we hope you had an enjoyable time at the Nationals and an enjoyable year. We hope to see you all next year on the 3DAAA circuit!

The 9^th & 10^th of July 2016 had been nominated to run the State Titles at DVA and while in January this seemed to be too far off to really worry about with all the other busy events  Diamond Valley Archers were running; this window of time soon disappeared. The team came together, long range forecasts were reviewed, mapping the terrain was being done and a plan soon came together.

The 8th saw members roll in to set up, the week was wet and rains had filled the stream that runs through the course creating other opportunities, along with  the usual crew of reliable members we added one of our youngest Mitch (12). It’s good to encourage these youngsters and as Mitch learn a lot from the day, so did we as we looked at our courses through his eyes.

Day one was promised to have only limited sunshine, but Mother Nature put on a splendid day. In the morning the course were covered with a light mist / fog and the range officials were out checking the ranges were ok to go. Soon the ranges were filled with Archers and the chatter filled the surrounding valley with anticipation and excitement, arrows making their mark were pleasing to the ear, and the sound of “squish” as the arrow missed its mark and ended up in the wet ground.

Ranges were not maxed out yet tricky shots placed so that they gave one a sense of comfort at the shot that changed to surprise when they saw their arrows missed that pro-ring on what seemed an assured 10. The honey bear placed in open, but shaded by trees and the shot taken through the folk of a tree (although big enough to see a Mack truck go through it) saw archer have to consider the shades and shadows as well as what happen to that score zone that appears so clear through the binoculars.

Our Visitors from Queensland, Ian and Jason were soon to see and feel the difference from shoots they were used to, the steep gully shots put a new meaning to sloped shots, canting and other elements, none the less they accepted the challenge, along with the strange feel of the sun rising at 7:30 am rather than what they were used to.

At the end of the day there was only 29 points difference between the leading top ten scores for the day in the sighted divisions, in the Trad division Ian, Richard and Mick were the game in play.

Day two, the weather person was giving assurances of wet and windy weather on the way and the archers gathered eager to get in and out of the new courses laid. The previous evening the team was back out re-setting the courses with some more surprises, coming back in well after 6:30pm.

The turkey, provided its own challenge as the shadows from the moving overhead trees created a new perception of where to aim leaving some archers with cheers and others with an expression on their face that said it all.

Once again the Bedded Elk (one of the largest 3D targets) with the 10 zone the size of a small dinner plate, saw arrows fall in the 8 and 5 zones with archer’s scratching their heads.

As the day progressed, the archers moved through the courses in uniform precision with the objective, get your best shot in and beat the coming inclement weather back to the club rooms.

The range setters provided challenges, that made you think of target placement, one’s footing and the weather.

3D Archery Association of Australia, encourages all archers from other associations to come along and enjoy the experience; our event was no exception to this rule and it was really pleasing to see archers from other associations joining in and sharing their experiences with their fellow archers.

At the end of day two, saw three archers achieve the elusive perfect round of 100, Drew, Ian, Josh congratulations.

With presentations soon finalised, the teams brining in the targets off the courses it was time to close off the State Titles for 2016, and look towards our next Victorian shoot at Twin Cities on the 20^th & 21^st of August 2016.

This year, archers were treated to a change of pace for their October long weekend getaway. Mountain View Archers were lucky enough to secure the shoot date, which has been a favourite among members in the past. Taking on the iconic shoot may have seemed an intimidating task, but MVA tackled the challenge head-on.

The event drew over 80 shooters, a solid turnout considering that the IFAA World Titles were on up until the Friday before the weekend. Some dedicated archers undertook the long trek from Wagga Wagga to Wingham, and those that couldn’t missed a fantastic event.

Saturday’s weather was predicted to be fine, but a large storm system just down the coast threw a spanner in the works. The morning began with a light breeze, which escalated to moderate winds in the afternoon. This may have encouraged archers to move a little faster on range, with most groups finishing nice and early, leaving plenty of time for the novelty events held afterwards.

The ranges set by MVA were exceptional, and many archers will remember all of those challenging shots for a long time to come. When it’s your first target and most of your two minutes is spent standing on the peg, scratching your head, you know it’s going to be an interesting weekend. More than one shooter headed out after the day was finished to search for wayward arrows.

The Top-Ten was held on Saturday afternoon. It was happy days for those involved – the coastal winds had died down, although the afternoon sunlight left something to be desired. In the running theme of the weekend, the shots set were challenging even to the most experienced of our top shooters. Despite making everyone wait all day for his return from range, Skippy Shorten still couldn’t manage his long anticipated win in the Top-Ten. Instead, the honours went to Ben McCulloch. Congratulations, Ben – and better luck next time, Skippy!

After a night of festivity, many forgot to turn their clocks forward an hour for daylight savings time, making for a slow start on Sunday morning. It wasn’t all bad news – the weather conditions for shooting had improved exponentially, making for a perfect day on range. If people thought that they’d gotten the hard ranges out of the way on Saturday, they were most likely wrong – all five ranges were a trial of their own.

Although archers may not have walked away from the weekend with dazzlingly high scores, they will hopefully have walked away with a sense of accomplishment. The ranges were not only challenging, but also enjoyable, and MVA is to be commended for putting on an extraordinary weekend. This concludes all state series shoots, with the only shoot remaining on the 3DAAA calendar being the National Titles. The National Titles are returning to Nambucca Heads, and will be held on the weekend of the 12^th and 13^th of November. We hope to see you all there for another phenomenal event.

Caboolture & District Bowmen, located just south of the beautiful Sunshine Coast in the sunny state of Queensland held the last 2016 Qld State Series Shoot on 17 & 18 September. The shoot was held off club grounds with some challenging courses set by our conniving and devious band of rangesetters…..but unfortunately not as conniving as they thought, with a few 100s being shoot over the weekend. The shoot saw some 80 odd shooters attend the event coming from as far north as Emerald, west from Roma and also of course all of our southern archers. It was great to see some familiar faces and some new ones as well, young and the young-at-heart and some from other archery affiliations.

The club’s band of helpers (including some of younger youth members) started work on the courses on the property at Moorina weeks and weeks before the shoot, plotting and scheming, dreaming to not have any of those perfect 100s shot. Much preparation is needed for these such events particularly when the shoots are held off club grounds, from the cartage of targets, whipper snippers, chainsaws, eskies, tables, chairs, toilet facilities, shade gazebos, BBQ, urns, pie warmer, water, food, beverages, just to name a few…. you name it we transported it to the site.

The courses set for the Saturday and Sunday were implausible and challenging and among the many comments we heard over the weekend, the courses certainly created some enlightening shooting, testing the archer’s skills no matter what discipline they shot. Targets being shot uphill, downhill, across gullies, in amongst the lantana, in the timbered scrub and some even out in the open….made you wonder what the next target was going to be as you progressed through the ranges……try and think like the rangesetters you say!!!!!… sometimes near impossible!!!!

But its not only the courses that needed our attention but the need to tantalise the tastebuds as well, with the tasty and scrumptious array of food that was provided in the canteen. The canteen facilities were certainly well catered for and Cathy and her band of helpers did a magnificent job with the food and drink arrangements.  The food all weekend was exemplary and we were completely spoilt especially with the ‘Gour-met’ Hot Dogs served up on Sunday and also with the eskies stacked with plenty of cold drinks all weekend.

As for the shooting, well there certainly were many great scores shot on the Saturday and Sunday, with 3 archers shooting 2 x 100s for the weekend. The courses were a combination of long and short shots, a good mix – they got you thinking and you had to be on your game. Three courses set for the Saturday and then two were created for the Sunday, set amongst the hills and the gullies with the many varying target types, it was well planned out.

Saturday saw a sunny day making it a pleasure to be in the undulating hills and bushland, doing something we all love doing – shooting arrows….BUT… then on Sunday saw a different day….the traditional style of weather that Caboolture turns on at times (but tries not to make a habit of it)…..raining!!!!! I don’t think there is ever a major Caboolture shoot where it isn’t dry all weekend long.  BUT…. does that stop us from shooting…. It sure doesn’t!!!  All the more challenging I say….. The rain on Sunday made for some slippery courses, and aside from a few slips in the muddy trails, there weren’t any major accidents.  All of that aside it really was a fantastic shoot in some of the beautiful landscape that the area has to offer.

The Top 10 shoot offs were held on Sunday prior to the presentation with the ‘unsighted’ being won by Bernadette Teelow and the ‘sighted’ being won by Brett Pirlo. Well done and congratulations to all of the placegetters in their respective divisions and everyone else who shot in the competition. We thank you for attending our shoot, it was a pleasure to have you there and hope that you had a very enjoyable weekend of shooting.

So I think you will all agree that Caboolture Bowmen and their band of many helpers really did themselves and the club proud.  The club has always had a reputation of generating such a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and is always very welcoming to all….a club certainly to visit whenever you’re next in the neighbourhood.

In conclusion, Caboolture & District Bowmen has put on another fantastic event that has been enjoyed by all and their efforts are greatly appreciated.The last remaining shoots on the 2016 3DAAA calendar are: Mountain View Archers NSW on 1 & 2 October; Coffs Coast Archery Club NSW on 15 & 16 October and 3DAAA Nationals at Nambucca Heads NSW on 12 & 13 November.

Happy Archering
Caboolture & District Bowmen Inc

Being the newest 3DAAA affiliated club, Gunnedah was the location for the next NSW state series shoot, held over the weekend of the 9^th -10^th July, on the club grounds situated near Lake Keepit. Gunnedah Arrow Slingers has only been established since January of this year, with the express intent of hosting an inaugural sanctioned shoot in its first year of affiliation. The club was set up with the purpose to encourage & promote cross participation between archery associations in the Archery Alliance and without.

The club has been kept very busy this year with a small but dedicated crew setting up club ranges, trying to encourage/establish new members with club shoots all the while setting out and cutting in 5 competition ranges on top of carrying out all the usual shoot arrangements to ensure the success of our inaugural shoot.

The original shoot date was put down as the 21^st August, which would have been a tight but comfortable time frame, but due to calendar & scheduling issues this date was pushed forward to the only other available date, that being the 9^th -10^th July, adding extra pressure on the club to complete arrangements within the shortened time frame.

The club was lucky when they initially approached another local club, in being able to negotiate an arrangement with the Gunnedah Sporting Clays for the use of their exceptionally well established club grounds, which included a club house with kitchen, generator, large camping areas, gas showers, flushing toilets as well as over 100 acres of varied bush terrain ideal for setting up archery ranges.

The week leading up to the shoot saw a hive of activity from club members, setting out and positioning targets, setting up range signage, safety rope/barriers and a myriad of other jobs, all the while with rain, cold weather and gusting winds, leaving club members apprehensive, but with the forecast over the shoot being for no rain, reasonable temperatures & light wind, everyone had their fingers crossed for a successful weekend.

The camp grounds started to fill up from the Thursday, with some choosing to stay in the cabins at Lake Keepit Recreation Park and still others utilising accommodation in Gunnedah, with everybody pleasantly surprised at the quality of the grounds. Friday night and Saturday morning nominations were a busy affair, with archers even rolling up on Sunday to shoot, taking the overall total to 119 shooters signed up for the weekend, which was a fantastic result for our first shoot. The club would like to take this opportunity to thank the 3DAAA and the ABA archery communities for turning up to the shoot, some travelling quit a distance, to show their support for our new club. The club has received many overwhelming compliments from shooters about the quality of the ranges, facilities and canteen, with everybody impressed with what the club has achieved and presented in such a short time, ‘shoot of the year’, and ‘better than Moonan Flat’ were some of the flattering comments, leaving the club members basking in a warm glow of satisfaction from a job well done. The club was also able to secure some great prizes on our raffle table, thanks to some great local and archery business donations. There were many highly sort after prizes on the table, with one father reporting his son had been offered a UHF radio for a particular fox whistle, which he declined.

Saturday morning saw a heavy fog which had rolled in overnight, blanketing the entire area, reducing visibility and the desire of many to venture forth from the warm glow of their camp fires. As the fog started to lift around 9:30am, the day improved tremendously turning the remainder of Saturday and next day Sunday into great days for shooting these new ranges. With the proof being all in the pudding as they say, range master Nathan Murrell, ably assisted by Bernie Hayne presented 5 varied and challenging 3D ranges, utilising the best of what the terrain had to offer, in an attempt to confound, confuse and bewitch shooters. With the result of all this enchantment being that only 4 perfect scores were recorded for the weekend, two of those going to Jamie Bradshaw, one Saturday & one Sunday and one each to Alyssa Mollema and Matt Bradshaw on Sunday.

The top ten shoot off, usually conducted on the Saturday afternoon as the result of that days scores, had to be postponed to the Sunday due to the fog delaying Saturdays start time. The Gunnedah top ten consisted of the best 10 archers from the sighted and unsighted divisions shooting off against each other in front of a gallery of spectators.

The unsighted top ten was won by Paul Brown, in the second round, with a great shot on the brown bear, just under max distance, to wrestle the title from Jeff Thompson from Grafton and Brian Turner from Woy Woy. In the sighted top ten there were three shooters left standing after the first round with Skippy Shorten, Alex Elvin and Jamie Bradshaw going into the shoot off for the title. Skippy was first to shoot, disappointed with his shot, pushing it high, into the 8 zone, next was Alex with a great shot, resulting in his arrow placed high in the eleven ring, looking every bit the winning shot and placing all the pressure on the last shooter Jamie Bradshaw to come up with the goods. But, with the steely nerve of a surgeon and more akin to a laser guided strike, he surgically implanted his arrow to the centre of the 11 zone, to take the victory with one of those long remembered shoot off moments.

Jamie completed his weekend of great shooting, taking out top honours in MBO from Grant Elsley and John Mollema. Other results saw Nicola Alam score a close win in FBO, from Chloe Warner and Jenette Harvey. Jake Collins had a convincing win in MBR. Glenys Allen continued her dominance over her beau in RU, with Karl Peck a close second, followed by Estelle Boshoff. Lachlan Scott continued his good form, scoring a victory in the always close HC division, with Jamie Gilroy second, one point in front of a strong finishing Luke Collins. Natalie Henderson was over the moon with her third placing in FHC, as she has only been shooting for a short while. The YF division saw the girls shooting some very close, competitive scores, with Bridget Ryan first, Haylee Murrell second and Sarah Keene third, and in a pleasing result for the club the nominated team of Lachlan Scott, Bridget Ryan and Haylee Murrell took out first place in the club team event. Full results are available from the 3DAAA website.

Gunnedah Arrow Slingers would like to give a big thank you to the 3DAAA committee and the following businesses for their generous support, without whom this inaugural event would not have been so successful.

Local business houses:                                                                  Archery Sponsors:

Reece Plumbing                                                                             Tenzone Archery

Wide Land Ag. & Construction                                                    Archery Addiction

National Farmers Warehouse                                                      Native Hunting Gear

Hanson Concrete                                                                            Silva Fox Whistles

Lear & Smith Electrical Wholesalers                                           Little Acorn Outdoors

Gunnedah Paint Place                                                                  Black Fox Whistles

Ultra Lubricants

Hopes Fuel Supplies

Landlink Communications

Gunnedah Auto Centre

Beautiful sunny weather greeted archers to the Qld State Series shoot at Hinterland on 2nd & 3rd July. Cool mornings but bright sunny skies created a challenging environment amongst the dark shadows of the virgin bush & scrub areas of the newly formed ranges.

The committee did a great job in providing a welcoming atmosphere to the visitors although numbers were down on last year thanks to our federal politicians calling for a vote on the same day…..can’t trust ‘em I say!!

Everyone appreciates the work carried out by the committee & members in preparing the course over several weeks leading up to the sanctioned shoot, so we hope to see more visitors to this wonderful part of Queensland in the future.

Good shooting and have fun out there!!

Casino is a ‘not so small’ town of around 10000 people situated on the banks of the Richmond River. A few kilometres to the south of Casino is the club of the Northern Rivers Field Archers, who hold the State of Origin each year. At the annual State of Origin, NSW and QLD face-off in a fierce battle to determine who is the superior state.

Held on the long weekend of June, the State of Origin is classed as a national event, and it is the second event to be held by the Northern Rivers Field Archers in 2016. Being a national event, makes it a ‘must go’ on the shoot calendar for many archers. Again, this year the State of Origin did not disappoint, drawing over 180 shooters eager to prove their state the better.

The grounds of the Northern Rivers Field Archers are open with scattered patches of dense bushland. Small, rolling hills provide plentiful dead ground, something the range setters made full use of. The week before, small creeks had broken their banks due to the extreme weather, rendering previously set courses damaged beyond use. However, the quickly-set ranges still did not disappoint.

Saturday morning was cooler than some expected, with many choosing to linger by their campfires and make their way onto the ranges later in the morning. The day warmed up slowly, but remained clear, making for excellent shooting weather. The hours went by at a leisurely pace, with most archers choosing to take the scenic route and shoot the ranges furthest from camp.

Sunday began clear and warm. However, many still took their time at making it out onto range. As the day moved on, the weather began to threaten rain. However, to the relief of many archers, this never eventuated. The wind did pick up as the day moved on, making for even more challenging open shots for those who had decided on a later start. As always, a fair number of arrows went for a dip in the water, with those recovered being handed out to their grateful owners when everyone gathered together for the main event of the weekend – the traditional NSW vs QLD shoot-off.

Coming into the shoot-off on Sunday afternoon, NSW held a convincing lead. Unfortunately, QLD did not have the numbers for the unaided shoot-off, with a team of only four, but they fared better in the aided shoot-off. This was still to no avail, as NSW powered home, winning the State of Origin. Again. Congratulations, NSW, for a battle well fought – and to QLD, too, for their valiant attempt. We look forward to meeting you on the battlefield again next year.

The range setters definitely did not win this battle, however, with a total of 18 perfect rounds being shot, as well as three double perfects. An equally impressive eight records were also set with some of these magnificent scores. The ranges setters still need to be congratulated for their fantastic work in such little time. Many people found the ranges quite fun, making for an enjoyable weekend.

A special congratulations also to David Unwin, who celebrated his 50^th birthday over the long weekend. Happy Birthday, Dave.

The efforts of the Northern Rivers Field Archers are much appreciated for their great work, especially in such a short amount of time. Hopefully the weather is kinder next year.

The next shoot on the 3DAAA calendar is being held by Hinterland on the weekend of the 2^nd and 3^rd July, this being the 2^nd QLD shoot for 2016 we think it will be well attended. The next NSW shoot on the 3DAAA calendar is Gunnedah Arrow Slingers. This will be the first sanctioned shoot held by the club, and we are assured that it will be a great event for all. It will be held on the weekend of the 9^th and 10^th July. Also that weekend Victoria have their State Titles being held at DVA.

– hope to see you all there.