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Editors note: Jered Kimmel is a very determined competitor in
3-D, indoor and outdoor archery tournaments. He is the defending
2002 State Champion for the Texas State Outdoor Championships. Jered
competes in many of the largest state and nationally sanctioned
archery events, is a PSE Pro Staff Member and an avid bow hunter. We
take a lot of Personal Pride in the fact he is a part of our
staff as well.
This article is not about the records and not about winning.
It is all about the “Personal Pride” that I have for this sport and
in myself. From the start of this outdoor season, I made a goal for
myself. The goal was to do whatever it took to shoot my best and be
proud and confident in myself. There would be many hours of tuning
and tweaking and many more hours shooting my bow. A group of archery
shooters would meet at the local archery range (Irving Bowhunters
Association) 3-4 days a week to practice. Sometimes it would be to
shoot some distances that we needed to work on, or it was a full out
competition for score. We pushed each other everyday to shoot the
best that we could, but as everyone knows, some days are better than
others. With the state championship tournament nearing, we started
pushing each other even harder to make sure we were ready to make
all of this worth the effort.
Friday afternoon I headed for Waco, Texas to the ‘Texas State
Outdoor Championships’. It is just over an hour drive from my house
to the archery range (Huaco Bowmen) where the tournament is to be
held. After greeting some fellow archers that had already arrived
from all over the state, it was time to shoot some arrows. A friend
of mine, Josh, showed up. Josh is the Vice President of the archery
club and a BHFS (Bowhunter Freestyle ) shooter. Yes, he is my
competition, but we are good friends and push each other to shoot
our best. We gathered up our gear and set off to shoot a half round
(14 targets). We both shot pretty good and I knew this weekend was
not going to be a cake walk.
I arrived Saturday morning at the range about an hour early
to shoot a few practice arrows to get the body warmed up and made
sure the sights on. I was surprised at the turnout this year. Last
year we had 103 participants and this year was 108. From what I
understand this is a great improvement from 4 or 5 years ago. At
8:30 we had the shooters meeting and then headed out to our
designated targets. At 9:00 the car horn rang through the trees and
hills telling everyone that the game was on. The first Hunter target
was a 58 yard walk-up was for practice but the next one was “For
Score”. My day did not start out on a good note. Our first scoring
target was the 23-20 and I dropped 2 points at the 23 yard distance.
I was a wreck. Was this going to be one of those horrible days that
I should have just stayed in bed or just gone fishing? I am so glad
that things picked up from there. At one point, I shot 9 targets in
a row without dropping a point. The down side was that I dropped 8
points in a 6 target stretch.
Coming down to the last couple targets I knew the state
record of 541 (I tied the record last year) was very close but I did
not want to think about it at all. Our last target of the day was
the 58 yard walk-up that we practiced on this morning. I shot a 19
on it this morning, so I was confident that I could shoot the same
score or even a 20. Well, I shot an 18 and I was not happy with
myself for missing two more points. The four of us in the group knew
I had shot a good score but was not sure of the final tally. We
figured the scores and I had shot a personal best in a tournament
and new state record of a 543. After turning in our scorecard, there
were lots of high fives and hand shakes. The old record of 541 was
set by Steve Coleman in 1999. Roy Riley tied it in 2000 and I tied
it in 2002. I respect Steve very much and was kind of sorry that I
broke his hunter record. I was happy and honored to shake his hand
at the end of the day.
Sunday was the Field round and it was going to be another hot
day of 95 degrees. The start of today was much better that
yesterday. The first 10 targets I was only down 3 points. I shot a
robin hood and a perfect score on the 30 yard target. This was a big
confidence booster to me knowing that I can shoot a perfect score on
the 30 and 50 yard targets in a tournament atmosphere. I was
scoring well on the more difficult targets but I missed at least 5
targets that I usually don’t miss at. With four targets left, I
started to feel some pressure. Pressure was coming from within me. I
had this big monkey on my shoulder that has made me do some stupid
things in the past when it comes down to the end, but I had set my
goals and I was not going to fall apart this time. Target 28 and 1
were both 35 yard fans. I was clean on both of them. As we scored
target 1, I heard one of the score keepers say under his breath “
506 “. I really did not want to hear that. My mind was going 100
miles an hour. 2 more targets – 20 points a piece – dang that is a
546 – that is a state record – That is my personal best…………… I was
going nuts with all the thinking going on in my head.
We had two targets left, the 65 yard and the birdie. That 65
yard target was very difficult, it was next to the cook shack and
there were some people watching, plus there was a back up in that
spot. There was about 10-12 people watching us shoot. On my first
arrow, I pulled back and aimed and aimed and the release never went
off. I was running out of breath and had to let down. After taking a
few deep breathes, I pulled back again. I aimed and squeezed my back
muscles together and the shot went off. It looked like a good shot
and all I heard from the background was someone say “SPOT”. I just
went on autopilot and repeated each shot sequence the same. After
each shot all I heard was “SPOT”. I was so relieved that that target
was over but so enthused knowing that I can make the shot when it
needs to be made. On the way down to score the target, Josh
congratulated me on breaking the record and the win. I reminded him
that we had one more target left. Yes, it was the birdie target and
yes, I have dropped points on that target in the past but today was
not the day to miss any. I did not miss any on the birdie target,
this time.
I did break the old state record of 543 set by Steve Coleman in 1999
and his aggregate two day score. Steve is very respectable man and
has been an archer for a long time. He was inducted into the Texas
Hall of Fame back in March of 2003 for his accomplishments and
dedication in the sport of archery
This weekend was not all about the records and winning the
tournament. It was about competing with myself. I needed to prove to
myself that I could do something and not screw it up somehow.
Consistency is the name of the game. If you can do something in
practice, you need to do it when it counts the most and I proved
that to myself this weekend.
I also won the Shoot Your Way Across Texas overall aggregate
score for BHFS. This score is the combination of three tournaments.
One being the State Outdoor Championships and the other two are
Texas Field Archery Association sanctioned tournaments.
Aim hard – Have fun,
Jered Kimmel
Weekend Highlights:
New
Texas State Outdoor Field Records in MBHFS:
Field …..….. 546
Hunter ……. 543
Total score .. 1089
Equipment Used:
Bow: 2003 Mach 11 w/ Pro65 wheels – PSE
Sight: Hogg-It – Spot-Hogg
Rest: Original Trophy Taker – Trophy Taker
Strings and Cables: 20 strands 8125 – Winners Choice Custom
Bowstrings
Arrows: Carbon Force 200 Competition Pro w/ Radial X Weave – PSE
Release: 2 Special – Carter
Stabilizer: 12" Carbon Doinker -
Doinker
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