At this time of year sees a surge in the number of posts to my own club’s page regarding target rounds. Throughout October and into November there was not a weekend without a target round hosted by either Muckamore Company of Archers or Lisburn City and District Club or Northern Ireland Civil Service.

Whilst I regrettably missed a WA18 hosted by Northern Ireland Civil Service on October 5^th due to autism related issues, I did manage to make it to the Portsmouth Round hosted by Muckamore, and as of this writing will be at Royal Academy on the 25^th for another Portsmouth Round.

With regards the autistic aspect of my archery journey, I would like to touch on this a bit, especially with regards indoor shooting.

Now, let me be clear in saying that autistic individuals are unique in how they are affected by this particular developmental disorder, in terms of behaviours, disorders, and severities. Whilst you might be able to learn something from my experience, it can’t necessarily be assumed of others.

The key reason I do not indulge more in target rounds is the environment. A sports hall with a dense population of archers can very easily become a barrage of noise which overwhelms by auditory senses and can risk either a meltdown, or a shutdown – the latter of which I recently experienced. My hearing is exceptionally acute, and dropping a clipboard to the hard floor after scoring is nothing for most people, but for me, that archer may as well have placed a bucket over my head and battered it with a branch. Furthermore, space becomes an issue, with nowhere to get a moment to oneself and more often than not others breaching my personal space.

Of course, I tell people that I don’t often do target rounds because they are not as interesting, or they are too static, and after twenty ends of arrows, I’m done. This saves me from the risk of hearing dismissive comments from people betrayed by their ignorance, such as how they find it loud too, like it shouldn’t be an issue, or how everyone else will be finding everything to be loud also… And it saves them from a deeply wounding sarcastic comment.

Anyway, with Muckamore, they utilise a great facility for both target rounds and club nights, in the form of a chicken shed. Naturally they previous denizens are no longer present, and the facility is not in use, but it affords Muckamore an enviable resource in the archery community, a club house!

The vast space, in terms of length, has been taken over by their members, with archery-based decoration running along both walls and even the ceiling. Accolades decorate a far-left wall, a rec-room style alcove sits neatly tucked away for visitors, with a facilitators podium stationed to the back and centre of the hall.

Even during the Covid years, this club was able to modify it facilities to continue shooting and hosting competitions – a sure sign of a professional club with dedicated members and a wise committee. It is hardly a wonder that Muckamore Company of Archers is the largest club here in the north.

For this Portsmouth Round, I was feeling confident. Aside from the subdued atmosphere which greeted me upon entering the venue, I was using my flatbow for this. Given this was the afternoon session, those present were already indulging in a break between rounds, which ensured a quieter, easier going atmosphere. Whilst Muckamore’s reformed chicken shed is a great shooting venue, it can be a gamble for me.

Whist I enjoy shooting a flatbow, nothing as come close to the fluidity or natural blending of oneself with the bow, that I experienced with the English longbow. Even during a Vegas Round at the beginning of the year at the same venue, I shot a score with my flatbow that was 1 point less than the previous year’s score achieved with my longbow.

But a crack in the upper limb has me keeping my longbow on the bench for now.

Representing Lough Cuan Bowmen was my father, Bill Latimer, Master Bowman Peter Gilmore, Daria Casement, and me. With target rounds in the North, you can be sure you will see plenty of Lough Cuan blue present.

In my quiver were my rooks, ready to go after gold for me. Of course, some of them were looking the worse for wear, due to 3D rounds. Or, for the sake of specificity, due to hedges, trees, rough ground, and soft soil. I had never intended to use them for 3D, or even field, but for reasons I can not remember, ended up taking them with me. And their seasoned nature certainly shows.

When shooting these arrows from my Aspen flatbow, each spring from the rest as if a bird is launching from my arm to seek its prey. There is a poise in the arrow as it sits at full draw on the rest, a calm before it leaps into the air and soars true to the target.

John Kenny, a seasoned longbow archer, told me regarding the longbow, that you want to begin by working on shooting a round without any misses. This might sound like an obvious piece of advice, however, for those who shoot longbow, you will know how temperamental the bow can be. To look at a competition and rate my progress and success on hits, rather than score, does take a great deal of pressure off, especially when shooting a 60cm face at 20 yards.

Of course, I was far more interested in seeing how I would do with a flatbow on a Portsmouth Round, compared to my longbow. Prior to wound received by it, I was working on breaking into 400 plus points, which John had told me was great progress for a longbow archer. This I had achieved at my last Portsmouth Round.

At the outset I figured it was unlikely that I would achieve the same level of success, given that the longbow is the only bow type with which I have naturally melded. However, I did break a good bit into the 400s, and only after shooting sixty arrows did, I realise my goal of no misses had been achieved too.

It makes me wonder what I would score if I had my longbow.

Come the 25^th of November I shall be at Royal Academy, shooting another Portsmouth Round, this time hosted by Northern Ireland Civil Service. And I shall be using the same bow and arrows. Of course, that report will be in the next issue, as the 25^th happens to be when this all goes to the printers.

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