ABA 3 Arrow Round 13th March

It was touch and go on Saturday. We had delayed start due to a heavy shower of rain, heavy enough to stop some from even heading out. Even so, 17 Macleay Archers chanced it, and made it through without a drop falling from the heavens.
The scores were;
Men –Alastair Smedley 386, Bruce Crumpton 384, Brett Hodgeman 382, Josh Apps 382, Matt Gray 376, Gary Ward 360, Neil Ussher 358.
Ladies – No ladies this week.
Juniors Boys – Jacob Fuit 390, Dion Ussher 388, Martin Ussher 386, Tim Hodgeman 374, Gene Shea 366, Jack Powick 348, Sam Harwood 336, Ben Ward 278, Cooper Gray 234.
There will be a few of us away this week, the Hunter Bowmen are having their shoot this week end. Good luck to those traveling away. For those staying home, the shoot groups will be done before 1.30pm with kick off at 2pm. Hopefully the weather will be better this week.

Macleay Valley Invitational 3D Shoot 27th & 28th Feb

Nice group of arrows, downhill, 40+metres through many trees

Tricky shot from about 40 metres.

??????

The threatening weather couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the 80 archers who joined us out at Tamban for our 1st ABA Branch 3D Title. The camping ground was a sea of tents, tarps and vans and thankfully the after a showery start to Saturday, the weather cleared away to quite a nice day. The forest was alive with rubber targets, fox’s, deer and goat, all sneakily positioned to test the abilities of the hopeful archers. Jacob Fuit was more than a match, scoring two very impressive 398’s out of 400, that is 796/800 for the day!
For a change, we held the raffle draw on Saturday night which proved popular, the overloaded table of prizes attracted ticket buyers like moths to a candle. The winners dashing out to collect their chosen item and then back to their seat hoping to be called out again.
Sunday dawned with the smell of bacon and eggs wafting through the camp from the canteen. It wasn’t long until we had tables full of hungry competitors readying themselves for the morning shoot. An early start meant an early finish with most finishing the round by 11.30am.
With the tallies done, the presentation kicked off with a big thank you to our club from the executive for holding a smooth running and very enjoyable shoot.
On the podium our members faired quite well with these results;
Sam Harwood 2nd Junior Bowhunter Limited 1340 points out of 1600
Tim Hodgeman 3rd Junior Bowhunter Unlimited 1464 points.
Martin Ussher 1st Freestyle Unlimited Flt2 1514pts
Jacob Fuit 1st Freestyle Unlimited Flt1 1554pts
Dion Ussher 2nd Freestyle Unlimited Flt1 1554 pts (on a count back, Jacob scored 3 more “A” shots)
Shane Fuit 1st Bowhunter Unlimited Flt1 1546 pts
Brett Hodgeman 3rd Bowhunter Unlimited Flt1 1506 pts.
Alastair Smedley 2nd Freestyle Unlimited Flt1 1466 pts
Cec Apps 3rd Freestyle Unlimited Flt2
Josh Apps 3rd Bowhunter Unlimited Flt2
I must mention young Danial Ward, who scored not one, but two personal best scores over the week end to lift it up to 334 points. A bit of competition is good for everyone.
So it’s back to normal for a few weeks until we venture down south to the Hunter Bowmen for their tournament shoot in a months time. As always, you’re all welcome at the Macleay Valley Archers out at Tamban.

Hot Saturday Shoot

What a great afternoon for a stroll through the bush. 19 Macleay Valley Archers did just that. Scores for the afternoon were high with 6 personal bests being recorded. It all looks good for our 3-D challenge in a couple of week’s time.
The scores were;
Men – Shane Fuit 394, Alastair Smedley 386, Bret Hodgeman 384, Bruce Crumpton 380, Neil Ussher 374, Gary Kitchen 372 (PB), Glenn Freeman 372, Darrin Simmonds 370, Gary Ward 368 (PB), Josh Apps 368, Cec Apps 362, Ken Townsend 174 (Bare bow)
Ladies – Ami Brenton 198 (PB).
Juniors Boys – Jacob Fuit 388, Gene Shea 370 (PB), Sam Harwood 322, Danial Ward 312 (PB), Zac Kitchin 268, Zac Ward 132 (PB).
There is still some work to do on the course, so if you can give a hand, please do. We are doing a monster raffle at the 3-D challenge so if you have anything that would be worthy, bring it next week, so we know what we have.
Two of our members are attending Coach Training sessions next weekend. I’m sure they will be a wealth of information after that. They will be able to advise on how to get rid of all those bad habits (only the archery related ones) that we have let creep into our shooting and also be confident to introduce new archers into the sport. As always, if you want a go, come out and have a try, first time is free.

Northern Branch 3D Tournament 27th & 28th Feb

Macleay Valley Archers are proud to be hosting our first Northern Branch ABA 3D Tournament on the weekend of 27th & 28th February. This will be the first 3D event run at our challenging Tamban Forest Ranges. Our diverse terrain should make for 2 great 3D courses.

This is a great opportunity for any club members who haven't had the chance to shoot 3D to try it in familiar surroundings. I can assure that anyone travelling to Kempsey for this event will have a great weekend. Our range captain is sure to set some challenging shots.

There will be meals available all weekend from Friday night on. So if you arrive late on Friday you will still get a feed. We have plenty of camping for caravans or tents, hot showers and composting toilets.

See our link for a map of our location and we will have signs from the Pacific Hwy at Frederickton.

Sat 27th

Registrations Close - 8.30am

Muster - 9.30am

3 arrow Round

Lunch

1 Arrow Round

Sun 28th

Muster 8.30am

2 Arrow Round

Lunch & Presentations

Fees:Seniors - $30.00Cub, Juniors, Pensioners - $25.00Families - $60.00

Back To The Ranges For 2010

Wow , 2010, a new year, a new season, lots happening, lots to do. The Macleay Valley Archers will be back at it, on the 30th January. Sign in from 12.30 with the round to kick off at about 2.oo pm. Hopefully the grass wont be too long and the cobwebs too thick from our break over Christmas. Anyway the first group out will clear them away for the rest of us.
There will only be few weeks before we host our first tournament for the year, a 3D shoot on the 27th and 28th of February. If you haven’t had a go at the life-like targets, you’re missing out! Should be a great week end and you don’t have to travel far to do it.
If your and old hand or wont to give archery a try, come on out, we have a selection of club bows and arrows for you to use, check out the ABA website for a map or just ring for directions.

Merry Christmas To All.

Last week end saw us in disarray, with some archers venturing down to Taree for their Christmas Shoot, some having a shot at the range and most must have been getting over some socializing I suspect. Who can blame them; it’s the time of year.
The away shooters, Glenn freeman and Cec Apps, came home from the Manning Bowman with Glenn taking a third and Cec a forth position in the Free style Unlimited class. While at Tamban, only 2 dedicated members took to the Goanna Range for a quick fire round, it only took an hour to shoot the 20 targets; they both shot Personal Best’s. Gary Ward shot a 360 out of 400 and Neil Ussher had a 380 from 400 points. A pity there weren’t more people around to witness both these good scores.
This week was a great ending to a great year for the Macleay Valley Archers. 21 archers turned out for our last shoot for the year, being a two arrow, both score, round on the Goanna Range. The scores were;
Men – Shane Fuit 782, Alastair Smedley 782, Cec Apps 762, Eddie Clebshe 758, Bruce Crumpton 756, Glenn Freeman 752, Brett Hodgeman 742, Matt Gray 706, Darrin Simmonds 676, Neil Ussher 672,
Ladies – No Ladies this week
Juniors Boys – Dion Ussher 778, Martin Ussher 754, Tim Hodgeman 654, Gene Shea 636, Jack Powick 570, Sam Harwood 476, Jacob Fuit DNF (gear failure).
After the round the scores were tabulated and the club champions were announced. By using the average of the best 7 scores over the year to show who was the best, we came up with the Senior Club Champion going to Shane Fuit, second place to Brett Hodgeman, third to Alastair Smedley and forth to Cec Apps. Junior Club Champion stayed in the family by going to Jacob Fuit with Dion Ussher getting second place, third went to Marty Ussher and fourth to Tim Hodgeman. Well done guys!
It was then down to business with a club meeting, were it was resolved to hold the reelection of the new committee until May 2010 to align with our parent body, the ABA. With the meeting out of the way we all enjoyed a hearty BBQ and a few refreshments. There were many a tall tail told that night.
There are few dates to put on your calendar for 2010; January 9th is a working bee to make some more backing butts. Our first Club shoot will be the first Saturday in February 2010 and we will be hosting an ABA 3D shoot on the 20th, 21st February as well. So it will be straight back into the thick of it.

Very Hot Round

Wow, was Saturday hot or what? 14 of us, dragged ourselves around the Ant Hill Range to post some great scores despite the high temperature. There were personal best scores abounding. Sam Harwood shot fantastically to beat his own record. Ben Ward shot 80 pts better, Gene Shea, PB of 336 and Brett Hodgeman an unlucky 398 out of 400. He was on the 3rd last target and just missed the “A” zone, scoring only 18 points to dash his chance at the elusive 400 out of 400, maybe next week.
The scores were;
Men – Brett Hodgeman 398, Alastair Smedley 380, Cec Apps 370, Glenn Freeman 366, Neil Ussher 366, Gary Ward 330, Lenny McGlashan 284.
Ladies – Karen Smedley 346.
Juniors Boys –Jacob Fuit 380, Sam Harwood 340, Gene Shea 336, Ben Ward 330, Dion Ussher 232 (Bare Bow), Zac Ward 98.
A warm welcome (pardon the pun) to Zac Ward who gave competition archery a go for the first time. He shot quite well from the second peg (green peg) as he thought the 1st peg (yellow peg) was to close!
Remember our Christmas Party is set for the 19th of December and coincidently so is the AGM. All positions will be vacant for new blood. Don’t let that put you off coming to the party though. Looking forward to seeing you all there