i try to attend as many 3d's as i can and always have a blast with good friends. i do however thrive on competition and wonder how others feel at the shoots? like i said i ALWAYS have a great time but i also ALWAYS really want to win!!!! came close a few times but just so happens the fellers i shoot with are top notch!! i benefit greatly by shooting with them and hope to one day BEAT them, you reading this Thorny??? one of my biggest draw backs is my lack of knowledge with arrows set up and tuning which i hope to learn as much about as possible now. i also need to shoot at least every weekend which i rarely do due to the pile of things that need to be done when the work week is over! so those who shoot and have a good time is there a burning desire to WIN the shoot?

I very much enjoy the competitive aspect of 3d shoots but I also thoroughly just enjoy shooting 3d targets. I am fortunate enough to belong to a traditional archery club that keeps 3d targets up year-round and I shoot "against myself" regularly.

More for practice.

The score rings on some targets are off on vitals a bit. Heart shots are usually 8s with some 10s. I go for shots placed as if hunting, not really for score.


Case in point, I shot a deer target yesterday that was leaning backwards about 15 degrees. The shot was uphill so the angle was magnified by that too. I made a great shot in the heart area. It scored a 5. It was about an inch out of the 8 ring. If I were to have hit the top of the 10 or, even worse, the 8 ring, it would have been a single top lung shot at best. A top of the 8 ring would have just been a wounded deer with no chance of recovery.

I shoot for hunting season practice. I get more out of it that way.

I shoot for fun! Occasionally I'll keep score. I usually shoot with my 13 year old son and don't want to put to much pressure on him. If I get to competitive he looses interest...so I try to keep it fun! Although sometimes he tries to lay the hammer on me!   :D  

Jason

Oops!

I go because it is fun to get out and play with my friends but it is fun to win as well so I guess I'm a little of both

i believe shooting with kids or family would play a different role of encouragement and compleatly change the mind set for me, got to get the youth involved!

Hey Ken,
I shoot just for fun.  I am too lousy of a shot to shoot for scores! I really haven't been to very many 3d shoots.

Just getting back into 3D this year after a 3 yr layoff. But I feel the same as you adk. I always shot with top notch shooters when I shot 3D. When I first started out I got hooked up with a Great bunch of guys who started a club in N.H. We always had a great time, laughing all day while having a great time slingin' arrows. I learned to become a complete  archer from shooting with the those freinds. But deep inside the competitiveness reigns supreme... At first it was me trying to do well and place to prove to myself I was getting better as an archer and was almost on par with my freinds. As I did get better and more proficient, the game changed for me. Now I like to compete more against myself. But, to answer your question, YES, Always a burning desire to win. I hope I never lose that desire. After all, 3D does make most archers better shots at bowhunting distances over time with sound shooting pratices, which it did for me. Which in turn, makes us better shots when we take to the woods... It also like you mentioned helps us get to know our equipment to the utmsot as well. Good Luck this year, hope you win a first place or two!!! J  

Hardly ever keep score. I mostly shoot for kill shots and disregard the out of place scoring rings. Sometimes we goof around and go for the eye or nose. And, of course, your buddy's nock if he gets a little too cocky!

Most of the time we don't take a scorecard, but we are still competitive within our own group.  Each shot makes the next shooter wanting to do better.  We encourage each other and always comment on good shots.  We laugh during the entire round and having fun is a must.

I like competing with my fellow archers. But for the most part it is for fun.

I do both. We have some good shooters in the club so it can be interesting but we are always having fun. I really don't care about winning a trophy except for our clubs Traditional Shoot and the Muzzy Shoot where I always try my best.

I shoot every Sunday and never keep score as do the guys I shoot with. We basically have fun. This is an ongoing arguement among shooters on forums though (Do you keep score?). Most who do say they keep track of their improvement and without keeping score you can't do that. I call bullshrimp. For me who has been shooting a bow since 1955 progress in archery would be measured in minute increments. Some Sundays I'm hot while others I'm not. Why fret over scores, have fun.

If you just have to win though, go for it.

I've shot in a total of four 3D's in three years of shooting trad.  I have never kept score in any of em'.  I shoot 3D to have fun and improve my skills, not worry about a score.

I just enjoy the company of other like-minded folks and have a blast shooting.  I never give a thought to scoring. Turning it into a competition, I believe, would take all the fun out of it.

I used to shoot in winter leagues, but gave it up......after a few years, I realized that it took a lot of the "fun" out of shooting.

I never keep score. When I was younger I was competitive now I just try to hone my bowhunting shots by aiming for the kill zone I would pick if I were hunting. At the end of the day I know if I was shooting up to my standards or not. For me that's the bottom line.

I always have fun but do take my shooting seriously. I always want to try and hold my own, and keep creaping up the ladder as far as scores.  That being said when my girls are in tow the scorecard a lot of times doesn't even get filled out.  Joe

Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition.
There is always someone a little better, and that helps to keep you sharp.
Sometimes I keep score, and sometimes I don't.
I maintain that in the average group of guys, anyone can be the best shot on any given day.
Also, if you shoot this summer like you did this weekend, you will be kicking some butt.

I shoot for fun and the challenge of improving against myself.

I have no desire to "compete" against others, except in fun.

I like to score using a kill, wound, miss.  For me it is ALL about practicing for hunting season.