For some reason, my best shots of the day came on the bizarre targets. I think this one was a giant frog.
MAHFS photo



By Mac Arnold
MAHFS Editor

On Sunday, I took in the archery shoot at Silver Trails Boy Scout Camp in Jeddo, St. Clair County.

And despite a typical crash at the end of the course, which sent my score into the depths of hilarity, I enjoyed myself.

The weather was perfect -- low humidity with temperatures in the low 80s -- and a mixture of puffy white clouds and bluebird skies. It was great day for a walk through the woods.

Even the bugs were moderate. However, I was warned by one couple about the tiny mosquitoes before getting started on the fun course.

"You have bug spray?" they asked.

"Yep," I assured them, and even pulled out the can from my fanny pack and began spraying my ankles while they were talking to me.

I was still in the outdoors game mainly because I had just been coyote hunting the previous weekend and had the canister of "Backwoods Off" pegged from memory where it was in the garage, otherwise the answer would have been "nope." It was slipped into the fanny pack just before I walked out the door and headed up Wildcat Road in the Jeep.

It was also quite breezy, which assisted in keeping the bloodsuckers at bay.

Mainly with these shoots for this Robin Hood, it's all about shaking off the cobwebs. I'm not gonna try and fool anyone. I know I'm not winning any archery shoot. But by the time Oct. 1 rolls around, I will be ready and confident to put an ethical shot on a whitetail.

This is because I prepare closer to how I will be hunting in the fall woods on the home course.

I would bet 90 percent or more of my archery hunts are from the skies above in a Summit "Open Shot" tree stand while armed with a compound bow, and the shots are at a distance of 20 yards or less. Most of the shots at archery shoots that I have been on are from the ground.

There also is a sportsman course at Silver Trails with shots up to 40 yards. But I rarely if ever plan to take a shot that far with bow in hand during the season, so I opt for the other course.

If I was getting ready for a western elk hunt for instance, then I would make it a point to practice longer shots.

MAHFS photo

The Sunday shoot turned rugged for
me when a dead tree limb jumped out
and nailed my shin. The bump even
swelled up into the size of a golf ball.


I'm sure this isn't the first time previous blog readers have read this justification ... ouch!

Anyway, as the season approaches, a couple times a week you'll find me on the second story of the house raining terror with a Martin compound on a very worn deer target. And I don't quit a session until the shots are on. Dead on. 

In addition, I do a few full battle dress rehearsals with all the gear on and 22 feet above the ground in the tree stand. (Kind of nice at times having a woodsy yard for just this purpose.)

The truth be known: I'm still waiting to land the monster buck with archery gear, but I usually have decent success during the bow season. I know I'm still munching away on venison trying to clear up freezer space for the upcoming harvest.

So, yeah, I missed a few targets and had some laughs at my expense but that's how I roll, on the fun course.

The next shoot at Silver Trails is Sept. 1-2.