Well, I'm back from the Worlds. Interesting experience. Unfortunately I only got to shoot the first day. My six-year old son fractured his elbow at the campground, and suddenly nothing else in the world mattered. So I skipped day 2 to help my wife and 2 boys try to enjoy the rest of our camping trip.
I checked the scores to try to gauge my performance. The first day I ended within 5 points of Ralph Blake, who ended up taking fourth. So I optimistically figure I would have been close to being in the top 5 anyway
At the first target, the other 4 in my group had already shot, and I stepped up to the stake. A couple of them yelled at me to hold on, because I was shooting at the wrong stake. They thought I was in the longbow class since I wielded my Howard Hill. After politely correcting them, and re-settling my nerves, I proceeded to shoot an 11.
I must say that it was NOT a fun shoot. It took 4.5 hours to shoot 20 targets! I knew that getting stuck behind compound shooters took a long time, but I had hoped they would have had the trad guys on their own course.
I also noticed that the shots were quite a bit more difficult (farther away)than what I'm used to at the local shoots. I averaged 7.4 points per target, and locally I've always averaged over 8. There was not a single target closer than 20 yards at the Worlds, which surprised me.
Anyway...it was a learning experience. I got to meet the now 3-time longbow champ, Dave Wallace, at the practice range. He told me I needed to shoot wood, so I could shoot in the longbow class. I told him I refused to shoot from the kiddie stakes because it was insulting
I hope he didn't take it the wrong way.
