Stickbow Target Archery Forums

What an amazing weekend. This was the 25th anniversary of the shoot, and it had the most shooters ever....180. The weather was sunny and beautiful, and there was some sort of electricity in the air.

In the seeding round for the longbow division, I hit my personal best of 16 targets. My brother had his personal best of 18, and the 8-time overall champ, Tasos, hit 17 targets.

I worked my way up the brackets until I was in the semi-finals with Tasos. We met last year in the longbow finals where he beat me in a shoot-out to win 1st.

This year was different and I beat him to get into the finals against none other than my brother! In the 20 years we've been going, we have never had to shoot against each other.
We both shot poorly, but I ended up beating him by 2 points, giving me 1st place in longbow. By the end of that round, my legs were cramping severely and I was dreading going out to shoot another 28 targets against the winner of the recurve division to determine the overall winner.

Curt Cabrera won the recurve division again. He won it last year, and then went on to beat the longbow champ (Tasos). So now he was back to defend his title...against me and my little ol' Savannah that I bought from Rob. Curt is a great shot and a great guy, and it was a pleasure to shoot with him.

In the beginning of the final match between me and Curt, I was not doing very well, and was down by three points fairly early. This is a huge mental advantage for the one in the lead and a big disadvantage to the one getting beat. I was almost ready to surrender to my fate. My target panic seemed insurmountable and I could not get the tip of my arrow where I knew it had to be. On top of that I could barely walk due to my legs cramping so bad.

But then I decided to fight it with all my might. I told myself I did not have to let go until I was on. From then on it was a fierce battle against my own brain. I ended up coming back and even taking the lead.

Throughout the rest of the match we were neck and neck, and it came down to the final target. We were tied, and he got to shoot first. If he hit it, he would win. He missed. I stepped up to the stake, dug deep, and knocked the target from its perch. Somehow, I had done it.
Everyone agreed that it was the most exciting finals in the history of the shoot. A good way to end the 25th anniverary.
It is also my pleasure to note that my brother's son took 1st place in the Junior Division, and my sister took 1st place in the women's division!!n
Thus ends my year of archery competition. My goal at the beginning of the year was to win Tollgate, Eagle Eye, and Muzzy....my self-designated triple crown.
I won Muzzy and Tollgate, and did really well at the Eagle Eye, so I am satisfied. I have a lot of hard work to do and will try to get rid of the mental demons for next year.

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Good job Todd! ....O.L.

Way to go Todd!

Congrats on a job well done!! Nothing better than seeing a longbowman outshoot a recurver.

You said it, Floxter! I keep trying to make people see there should not be so many bow divisions in tournaments! LOL.

Todd congratulations on some very fine shooting
very well done
What Bow/arrow set up did you use
i.e. string, feathers, arrow type.
You know all the good stuff
Was Tasos there this year? It seems so from the leader board but its hard to make out his large greek name,n
If you did indeed shoot him out of the game, you must give us a report, that must have been a killer match
Come on spill the beans.

Dana
Thanks for the congrats!n
I used a 45# Martin Vision with dacron string. Carbon Express arrows weighing 500 gr. (135 gr judo tip) with 5 inch feathers
I used a cordovan tab and no armguard
Had on my back quiver with the "Towton" leatherworking that Mr. Morley gave me back in '04 as well as the little dangly globe that Mr. Yien gave me in '04. Quivers are good for hanging lucky knick knacks from.

Tasos was there, and I did have to duke it out with him again. When I won the Muzzy back in '99 I had to beat him for 1st, and it ended his 8 year winning streak.

We also met last year in the longbow finals, and it came down to a tiebreaker, which he won.

So this year was my turn again, and he didn't put up quite as much of a fight, as I closed him out with 2 targets to go.

I have a feeling we will trade wins back and forth as the years go by.

The best match was when I had to go against the winner of the recurve division, Curt Cabrera. That was a match for the ages....a duel I shall never forget!

Way to go Todd

Yes! People always referring to recurve scores better than longbows. Not this time...congratulations.

Great looking trophy, too! :bigsmyl2:

Thank you, sir!