Savannah Tovar, April – Do you ever tend to see trends in your scores? Some student’s scores consistently go up a few points fromweek to week, other trend downwards, and some stay about the same. This time in the archery season,many archers begin phase out shooting just like learning over the Summer. The Spring of 2023 when my archery season ended, I put my bow case under my bed and left it there for quite some time. On occasion, I would shoot a few rounds on my home range. I knew that shooting would be beneficial, but making time in my day for something just was not on my to do list. Recently, I decided to shoot 6 days in a row before my archery tournament, some of the daysat home and others at my team practice. When the tournament rolled around, I shot a 283, a personal best forme! Maybe you don’t feel like shooting during the off season or outside of normal practices, but I can assure you that it will help you shoot much better. Even if you practice 3 rounds once a week, all practice will bebeneficial. Setting up a home range may just be the key to your success.
When setting up a home range, nothing needs to be fancy, but rather functional. Here are some steps toguide you.
- Choose a place to shoot
This place can be indoors or outdoors, wherever you can find a clear place: no dangling lights, chairs, trees, or anything else that could block your shooting or potentially hit and damage you or your equipment. Find a place that no one can walk behind your target and surprise you. 10-15 meters will work best. I recommend not shooting inside if you tend to miss arrows.
- Measure & Mark
At this point, measurements may have already been established. Again, 10-15 meter range will bemore similar to that of ranges in tournaments. If there is not enough room for a 10 meter range, it would likely still work. Don’t stress if you are a few inches short. As a result, the aiming spot will likely be lower the closer you are to the target.
- Set up Equipment
Equipment such as a target, net, quiver, or extra arrows may need to be purchased before setting up.Place all of the equipment in their proper locations. Double check that everything is accounted for before shooting.
- Shoot
Now your range is ready! If you are shooting outside, a windy day may blow your arrows around, butthat’s the fun of it. Wherever you shoot, just make sure that no person or pet are in the line of fire. Afterall, it is important to keep everybody safe.
Now that you know how to set up a home archery range, this off season will unveil new opportunities for your next archery season. Even if you are graduating from high school now, this is a fun way to keep your skills up for fun. If you want some ideas for games to play while shooting, read my article, “Adjusting Between 10 and 15 Meters.”