Target Archery: Practice Indoor 600 Round

When it comes to competitive shooting, I am a USPSA Shooter through and through. I like walking onto a course of fire and trying to figure out the best plan of action. It is all about being more efficient than your fellow shooters. How can I shave a couple of seconds off of my run, while being accurate, and come out ahead? The end result is a fast paced game. Even a long course of fire is typically shot in less than forty seconds.

What happens when you take a USPSA Shooter and put a bow in their hands? Instead of firing thirty-two rounds in less than forty seconds, the shooter is given two minutes to fire three arrows. The target is placed twenty yards away and the objective is to hit a quarter-sized X Ring.

If you are an Action Pistol Shooter, Target Archery probably sounds as fun as watching paint dry. Up until today, I thought the very same thing about indoor spot league. I’m happy to say, after shooting my first 600 Vegas Practice Round, I enjoyed it a great deal.

It was interesting, and sometimes very frustrating, to see how small changes in my form affected the shot. If my grip wasn’t just right or if I didn’t flex my back enough, arrows wouldn’t strike where they were supposed to. The precision of the game was fascinating.

I won’t be turning my back on USPSA anytime soon but, I’ll most definitely be shooting a lot more Target Archery. I’m finding it to be a nice change of pace and perhaps the focus may even lend itself to USPSA when the season rolls back around next year.

There is an Indoor Tournament next month at Stowe Archers which I was invited to. I shot a practice 600 Round today in preparation and scored a 517. Considering this was my very first 600 Round and I’m not shooting a Target Setup, I’m pretty happy with that score.

Ideally, I would like to get in much more practice before the tournament and go into it averaging about 540. That still leaves a lot of points on the table but I think it is a pretty substantial goal to strive for, given my experience.