Keep in mind that safety has to be the 1st issue. use plenty of yellow caution ribbon to keep shooters out of risky areas, this can be picked up from just about any hardware store. Surveyor markers make good shooter stakes (wire w/plastic flag) and can be gotten in all the collors for the different classes. They'r easy to carry around and you dont need to pack a hammer with you. The shooters may gripe cause they bend over. Just act surprised and replie that the shooters are supposed to touch the stakes not stand on them! Mark your trails well at all turns in the paths and you should be able to see a direction marker to the next target from each shooting stake, while the guys are waiting thier turn to shoot and bullshiting they will notice these and know witch direction they will go after they shoot without standing around talking about it. A black majic marker and paper plates work great. walk your shooters to pull arrows on a path, not your shooting lanes or by the end of the day the shot will be totally different for the last shooters because you have had 100 people walking through the woods trampeling and grabbing all the brush and branches. Never walk your shooters behind a target - even after pulling arrows! Walk them back to the path on another path from the target not on the same as they just walked to pull arrows. Have as few pull and retuns as possible, they take to long waiting for the 1st group to get out of the way. Try to start your shoot close to registration area and end it as close as possible to that area. They just walked a half mile and can realy bitch about this.
If your shooting 30 targets set a couple of coolers full of pop and bottled water some where around target #15 with a coffe can and do the buddy system thing for $1.00, it usually works out. Or even better if the land lays right rout em back past the club house for a break about midway through the course.
If you dont have room for 30 targets you can shoot 15 targets twice from 2 sets of stakes, not as popular but sometimes you have to make due.
Try to have some place set up for shooters to warm up from 20-50yards befor the shoot.
Keep your shots broadside for the most part, a little kant on the targets wont hurt. Use the lay of the land, roles were you can put the target in places they cant see the ground to judge the distance really messes with em. Use the light some too, like shooting from a dark spot in the woods to light in a field is deceptive. Or put an elk about 20yrds back into a dark shadow in the woods and set the stake about 20 yrds out in the field. some times it just feels right, you walk up to a spot and feel you could just see a big old buck rubben that cedar tree there----do it!
My advice is to walk it yourself 1st W/60 stakes one for shots and one for targets and get it in you head what YOU want cause the monkey is on your back, then walk it with a couple of friends to stand at stakes and make sure your lay out is safe. Now you want about 4or5 guys W/meschetes (YOU KNOW THOSE BIG KNIFE THINGS) and weedeaters and walk to each target and stake together and boss them as to what to cut.
It's a lot of work but it's a blast too!
You have to be a little thick skinned cause your going to hear some bitchn, but they don't remember the ones that arent a challange. At the same time don't forget these guys have have a lot of money tied up in equipment, travel, registration and all. Now ---- MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU! <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>
Oh yea, don't let all your buddys sneak away about 3:00 cause you've got about 2000lbs of ethafoam scattered all over the woods...
Grummybear
Edited by - taggedout on 08/29/2002 12:14:03 AM