Archery Practice at 50 Meters

A few months ago, after one of our monthly Membership Meetings at Stowe Archers, one of the members came up to me and asked a question. Thier children are involved in the JOAD Program at Lancaster Archery and would be transitioning over to Outdoor Spots early for a major tournament in Arizona. Would the club be interested in doing some sort of 50-Meter league similar to our Indoor 450 League?

Off the top of my head, I thought of six or seven archers that would likely participate. With that many shooters, the club wouldn’t make much money on the venture but we could easily cover the cost of targets. We made the decision to go ahead and began building a new 50 Meter League.

Since that decision was made, we’ve invested a great deal of time and energy into prepping for the new league. Interest has caught on and we currently have 10 two-person teams registered to shoot. With a handicapping system in place, I expect our first year to be pretty competitive and very fun.

Fresh off my team’s performance in the 2017 Stowe Archers 450 League Finals, I’m eager to make a good showing when the new league kicks off. I have set up a new Unlimited bow (Elite Victory 39) and have been trying to get out once or twice a week to practice shooting at 50 Meters.

I’m not thrilled with my performance but I’m shooting 8.9 points per arrow, on average. While that certainly isn’t bad, it is a bit humbling after shooting so well indoors. On the equipment side of things, I set this bow up on a budget and definitely have some issues to work around. It isn’t an ideal setup but I’ll make due with what I have.