Good archery YouTube feeds

Hey Archers!

I know there is a lot of information online concerning archery online, and it can sometimes be confusing for new archers to get into the sport.

About a year ago, when I started getting back into shooting, I decided to check around the web for useful information about my new hobby.  YouTube was a wealth of information for me;  Not only were there feeds to help new archers with their form and equipment, there were hunting and trick shot videos to watch as well.

Here are some of my favourite YouTube feeds (note: I am not affiliated with ANY of the producers of these videos):

ArcheryTV

For all of us FITA/World Archery fans, this is one stop shopping.  ArcheryTV is the official YouTube account that provides coverage of various archery tournaments around the world.  This one is good for both compound and recurve shooters.  I watch this if I ever want to be both inspired and depressed about my archery skill.  :-/

Performance Archery TV

This one is great for all us rookies.  Hosted by Alistair Whittingham, Performance Archery TV gives detailed videos explaining and demonstrating proper archery form and technique with Olympic-style ILF recurve bows as well as compounds.  There are other training videos out there, but I liked this one as I felt that it was approachable and well rounded (recurve & compound?  Awesome!).  Its a shame that this feed hasn't been updated in over a year.

Grey Archer

Ah, Grey Archer,  I love this guy.  A traditional shooter that likes to post video reviews of various bows, as well as document his adventures in the woods in Sweden, Grey Archer is fun to watch.  He is currently in a "What is?" series of videos, helping newer archers understand some of the terminology around archery.

Warning:  Grey Archer can occasionally get into "grumpy old guy mode" in his videos, and get a bit ramble-y.

The Field Archer

Okay.  I don't hunt, but if I did, I would hope that I could hunt half as well as this guy.  Field Archer is an absolutely fantastic shot with a crossbow or compound bow.  Just as a heads up, some of the videos can be a bit bloody - this is hunting after all - and as such, some viewer discretion should be exercised.

Tex Grebner Outdoors

Okay, this one is more for the comedic value.  I first learned of "Tex" after watching him shoot himself in the leg on Tosh.O (video here - Warning: Language/Violence).  Tex started putting up archery related videos a little over a year ago, and while his efforts tend to end poorly for him (see above), I can't help but like the guy for the amount of effort he puts into his videos.

Trick Shot videos:

Those crazy Russians sure love their archery.  These two videos (see below) are crazy.  The girl has to be one of the fastest shots I have ever seen (mind you, that bow looks like its about 20# draw), and the technique on the guy is apparently an old Mongol horseback trick.

Anyway, cool stuff!

Well, that's it for my favourites!  Anyone else have favourite archery videos that you like to watch online?

Online target options :-D

Hey archers!

Based on how popular my post on my zombie targets were, I thought it might be nice to locate some fun online targets that can be easily printed and used at the range!  After all, archery can occasionally get expensive, so anyway to save money is a good thing.

Free Archery Targets

This site is great.  They offer printouts of FITA (now World Archery) target faces in various sizes.  I've used these in the past if I forgot to pick up a pack of 40cm faces at Walmart before practice.

Dewclaw Archery

These are great options as well.  Dewclaw Archery lets you download the target in .pdf format (so you are going to need Adobe Acrobat or Foxit to view these images).  Some of these targets are designed so that you can put multiple standard sheets of paper together (8.5" x 11") to form larger targets.  Very nice for those of us that don't have fancy printers.

King Joffery Targets

How much fun is this!  If you're a fan of HBO's Game of Thrones (or the books by R.R. Martin), you are more than likely not a fan of King Joffery.  So, print out a target of everyone's least favourite boy king and let the arrows fly.  Bonus points if you listen to the "Rains of Castamere" while giving Joff his due.

Other target fun:

I know that I have already shared my hatred (and therefore love of shooting at) Zombies.  So, I have located additional zombie targets.  These aren't as nice as the Visicolor options that I shared a few weeks ago, but they offer the advantage of being free:

Zombie profile - These offer a simple silhouette of a zombie.  They also look great on standard paper.  (originally located at ZombieHunters.org)

Comic Zombie - This one is nice, as it offers no scoring lines.  (original available at: www.rem870.org)

District 9 Alien - Remember these guys?  Fire a few arrows at the "prawns" with these! (originals were found  in the Bayou shooter forums)


I hope all of you have as much fun with these as I have.  It's nice to have options to shoot at once and a while, especially on club nights or 4H/JOAD clubs.

Let me know if any of you have other options for fun targets!

Archery can be social

Let's be honest.

A lot of the time, archers tend to be alone.  We are alone at the firing line; it's just us and the target face.  I don't know about all of you, but I prefer a quiet range to a crazy busy one.

That said, sometimes, it can be nice to have someone to chat with while shooting.  Yesterday night, I went to the range on "Club Night".  I was worried a bit that it might be overcrowded (our range only has five lanes), but I arrived to find it empty.  I fired a few practice ends, and then got down to practice.

About 2/3 of the way through my first round the club Chairperson came in.  It had been a while since she'd been shooting, so she was working on fundamentals, getting her form in check.  Since we were both kinda relaxed about our practice, we struck up a conversation about the club, the Olympics, the complete lack of Archery coverage on TV, etc.

It was nice.  I am a bit of a loner when it comes to sport - I tend to prefer the individual vs the team based activities, but it was nice to have someone to chat with while walking up the the target butts, retrieving arrows, or walking back to the line.

Maybe I will have to try and make it out to "Club Night" more often.  I just hope it doesn't get too popular.  :-D