At last, some decent weather and a good days shooting

Today was a really great day for shooting, and I spent about 7 hours down at the range getting the Monster tuned in and sight marks for all the FITA/York distances.

After attempting a paper tune, I promptly gave up. The Monster never paper tunes that well, and settled for a 1" left, but level tear and got on with getting sight marks and ensuring that centre shot was was good. The centre shot at all distances was spot on after setting it at about 3/4".

I was shooting my 420 Protours, and wondered if they would be too weak for the Monster (originally bought for the C3). Nothing to worry about here. The good shots (and I had a fair few today) drilled the gold at all distances. Some of the groups were fantastic. The speed I am getting from the Monster @ 60lbs is blistering. I would love to be able to chrono the Monster, maybe I will try and borrow one some time.

I focused on a straight, but relaxed bow arm, and pulling hard into the stops, and when executed right, resulted in some great, explosive shots.

The only scary moment was an exploding nock. I had fitted Beiter Pinout nocks to my Protours, because I can use these with the same nocking point setup with my indoor arrows. This was only an issue with my C3 but kept the nocks. It seems these cannot take the brute force of the Monster. I had also shot another arrow that on release sounded OK, but I found it had the nock distorted (it had not been hit by another arrow either). I have now gone back to the Bohning Blazer nocks. These are the only ones that can withstand the Monsters high energy.

All in all, very pleased. The Monster does demand a good technique, otherwise it can punish you, but on the good shots there is no bow I would rather shoot. Having tried out the C3, I am now sold on speed bows. I do suffer with sight marks and the C3 is just too slow. It will be used for a dedicated indoor bow from now on.

First York of the year, and some new arrows

Finally, got the chance to go out and shoot a full 12 dozen practice round! I shot a York today, and it was a mixed bag of really good shots and some pretty poor ones.

Its clear I am struggling with cramping up on some shots. When I lower the shoulder and open the body out, the shots are great. At least I have a clear set of things to work on and correct. In the end I shot 1238. Some way off my practice PB, but at this time of year and so little practice, its not to bad, and its a good base to work from.

I also tried out the new Protours (420's). I had a quick paper tune to get a level nocking point, and the tried them out at 100, 80 and 60 yards. The groups were great, visibly better than any other arrow I have shot from the C3. The tungsten points make a difference, pushing all the mass up front, making for a better shot than the steel points of the same weight.