10/12/2025
When our Taste of Archery and Historical instructor stops talking long enough to actually shoot his bow, he's not bad at it. Encourage him to do this.
I started 2025 without any goals. 2024 had been horrible, I just wanted to finally longbow after a year of waiting and dive into the division I belong in. Showing up to Lancaster for their first official longbow division was full-circle for me, I never would have known about competition longbow if it hadn't been for Trad Tour Archery being the sport's ambassadors and answering my questions as a guy on the street.
Just for fun, I decided to double-entry in a state shoot to help grow the Traditional division. I then figured, may as well try that again for USA Archery Indoor Nationals...By the end of Sunday I was so delirious I was calling myself Napoleon. But, I made 5th place in both longbow and trad while shooting them back-to-back.
Summer came around, and I shot Field for the first time after years of being too afraid to try it. I played it safe shooting Trad, but man longbow looked a lot more fun...I took the summer off to work at Seven Suns Archery booth at Bristol Ren Faire, then shot both bows again as I finished the year in the National Field Archery Association national target league.
All software in my brain regarding archery and coaching came from BowDoc Archery who supported my chasing these obscure divisions with patience and necessary innovations. My Trad ILF brought home more hardware this year than my entire previous career, but in a perfect world I'd be shooting my Java Man Archery Impala Takedown every single day with a quiver by Whiskey City Trad Gear.
It was NOT easy, and I realized how much free time I really needed for myself. I was juggling new jobs, facing internal flaws of my shot process that needed a total rebuild, and asking myself 'Am I enjoying this?' to prevent the burnout I gave myself in Barebow.
What's next? Keep an eye out for Historic division blunders, it's going to be awful.
Field Archery of Illinois State Indoor: 1st in Longbow and Trad
NFAA Indoor Nationals: 3rd in longbow, first national podium
NFAA Field Great Lakes Sectionals: 1st in Trad
NFAA Field National Series: 2nd in Trad
USA Archery Field Nationals: 1st in Trad
NFAA Outdoor Target League: 1st in Trad, 1st in Longbow