First Indoor Practice

Our friends at Pioneer Sportsman Club in Dunbarton NH are helping us prep for Texas again this year.  This past Friday the students loaded onro a mini-bus for to take advantage of the Club's Indoor Range

Bows are in the process of getting sighted in with new arrows.  Still shooting field points now.  Final adjustments with broadheads will happen when we're on the ground in Texas.

Lucas is excited

Find your target.  Behind the foreleg, quartering away. Release.  Shots like this will help fill the coolers we will bring back to New Hampshire.  Last year what we turned over to the cafeteria was enough as an entree choice for 4 or 5 dinners.

A good night at the range.  Thanks to all the members at Pioneer for the use of your facility!

Unseasonably Mild - Part 2

More pictures from our last day of outdoor practice on November 9.  The weather has since changed dramatically in New Hampshire.  Today (Nov 30) we're rocking 13 degrees at 11:15am.

In the foreground Nick makes a few adjustments to his sight.  Nick was waiting for his ride to the woods to hunt white tails.  Meanwhile, Oliver continues practice with the 3D Boar as his target.  

Not sure who owns the pink arrow.  Oliver managed a good group.

Linnea joined us after her afternoon activity ended.  Linnea is signed up for the trip in March.

I hope I can replicate this shot in Texas!

Unseasonably Mild

On Saturday, November 9 we were treated to some unseasonably mild weather in New Hampshire.  Coach Dave sent an e-mail to the team that the Range was open for practice after afternoon sports and activity commitments.

Carl on the left, Coach Dave on the right.  Good guess is nobody is more excited than Dave about the upcoming trip to Texas, at least based on his sweatshirt choice for the day. 

Dave continues to discuss form and technique.

Carl is a new archer who will be heading to Cactus Creek Ranch in March.

Oliver demonstrates his skills to his dad who was visiting campus.  Dad got to try a compound bow for the first time a few minutes before I arrived.  I asked Dave for the pictures.  He hadn't taken any.  Shocker.

Our little storage shed didn't look this good when it was delivered to campus.  A little paint and lots of work by the boys resulted in a terrific team asset.

Saturday Shopping Trip - Post 2

Date:  Saturday, Nov 9.

Location:  Morse Sporting Goods, Hillsboro, NH

Having chosen a bow with Randy and Jim's help, Evan is measured for draw length

Jim and Evan work on final positioning of Evan's peep.

Another happy customer.  Preston is ready for the 3D season.  

Our last post included a prediction that David would be returning to Morse's for a new bow.  Here he is back at Proctor on Wednesday, new bow in hand. Congratulations, David.

After a few days of cold, albeit sunny weather, the temperature is rising again.  Maybe the Proctor Academy range will be open this Saturday for the boys to get their new purchases sighted in?  A 50 degree day in November in New Hampshire shouldn't go by without some shooting of the foam.    

Saturday Shopping Trip - Post 1

At 4pm Saturday a Proctor Academy minibus departed campus, destination - Morse Sporting Goods in Hillsboro, NH.  Morse's -- along with G-Macs Archery in Canterbury, NH -- has been tremendously supportive of the Proctor archery program since it was started a few years ago. 

The objective of trip was to start outfitting some of the students who will be heading to Texas in March.  Bows, Releases, Quivers - lots of equipment on the list.

 Carl scored a new rig. 

Morse's archery tech Randy setting up a new bow for one of the boys.  Randy always takes great care of us.

David has his eye on a new bow for the trip. But no purchase this trip; first he has to figure out what to keep and what to sell from his current outfit.  Expect him back at the shop soon.

UPS makes a delivery

Texas broadheads have arrived.  Nothing more need be said on this post.

Note the change to our blog header - Planning is underway!

Our blog is now titled Texas Hunt 2014!

After our highly successful trip last year Dave was given permission to schedule a hunt for 2014.  Following the old adage 'don't mess with success', the timing and venue are the same.  We fly out on Saturday, March 1 - destination Nixon, Texas.  We are heading back to the Cactus Creek Ranch with students, dads, Dave and Charlie.  There are a few repeat customers, but most of the participants will be hunting pig for their first time.  Big news this year is there is one female student signed up and hopefully we can add at least one more.

Dave is working with one of last year's sponsors/partners -Wac'Em Broadheads - to get us geared up.  A few of us have already ordered some sweet gear from a new partner, Dead Center Archery.  URLs for Wac'Em and Dead Center are provided below.  Their support is greatly appreciated!

 http://www.wacemarchery.com/

 http://www.deadcenterarchery.com/main/index.php

Planning is starting to accelerate - flights to book, trucks to rent, menus to plan.  Please check in occasionally as the blog will be updated with our progress. Pictures of Dave telephoning rental car companies won't wow! anyone (sorry Dave) but there is a practice day for the archers coming soon and we'll post pictures from that.

 

IBO World Championships

Short update on recent activities of some of the Texas Hunt participants.  The picture and post below were copied from the Proctor Academy website.



3D Archery coach Dave Kenney and rising sophomore Henry Johnstone (Hopkinton, NH) finished 20th and 24th in their age groups at the IBO World Championships last week. Read more! 

Andover resident and Proctor faculty member Dave Kenney began Proctor's 3D archery program four years ago, and has built the afternoon activity into an incredibly successful activity offered each spring. After all ten members of the team qualified in April for the International Bow Hunting Championships held August 7th-10th in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, the team continued their success this spring by sweeping the podium at the first ever New Hampshire High School 3D Archery Championship held at the Proctor Ski Area. 

 

While not all of the qualifiers were able to compete at the IBO World Championships, Kenney and rising sophomore Henry Johnstone (Hopkinton, NH) made the trip to Pennsylvania to represent Proctor amongst the world's best archers. Both Kenney and Johnstone not only competed, but shot incredibly well as Kenney placed 20th in his age group and Johnstone shot a nearly perfect first round before finishing 24th in his age group. 

 

Congratulations to both Dave and Henry on their accomplishments this summer! 

Guiding Principles

We were very fortunate to have Mark Ballard as our Guide for our hunt.  Mark did a terrific job for us.  In his welcome and farewell remarks Mark reminded us of the the Hunter's Ethic, emphasizing our responsibility to the environment and to the animal being hunted. His farewell remarks included his observations on the changes he'd seen in us, as a group and as individuals, encouraging us to use the lessons we learned and the our experience in Texas to continue to enrich our lives back in Andover, NH and as we return to Proctor Academy for the spring semester.

We learned a bit about Mark during our stay.  We learned he is retired military, he is proud of Texas and he enjoys sharing his love of the outdoors and hunting with his clients.  Mark is the (I believe) co-founder of Freedom Isn't Free Veteran Hunt program..  The link to the organization's website is provided below.  I highly recommend a visit!

Freedom isn't Free Veterans Hunts

Much thanks and appreciation to Mark.  You helped make our Texas Hunt 2013 an experience we'll all remember for the rest of our lives.  

The Man with the Plan

Dave Kenney

How far we've come in four years!  Proctor Academy's Field & Stream activity began in 2009 with just a few students and some Genesis bows.  A good start, but those who know Dave know if he is in, he is all the way in.  Dave's passion for the outdoors and archery in particular--along with the endorsements of the students-- helped the program grow quickly.  He worked with local archery shops to outfit the students with their own equipment and began amassing an impressive collection of 3D targets for an on-campus range.

As the students became more skilled Dave signed them up for local 3D competitions.  In the summer of 2010 PA Field & Stream participated in the International Bowhunting Organization World Championships in Ellicottville, NY.  In the summer of 2011 the team traveled to Ellicottville for a second time.  A third IBO visit was not possible, but Dave did participate in the 2012 Vermont Triple Crown with an alum, a current student and a prospective PA student.

 At  the 2011 IBO World Championships the team discusses aquisitions for the campus range. 

We got the Gator!

In addition to the archery component, Field & Stream has participated in a number of service activities in the last four years, including helping the the spring trout stocking of local streams and assisting local Fish & Game Clubs with spring clean-ups.  Future plans include a focus on New Hampshire's Barry Conservation Camp.

Congratulations for a successful trip!  Thanks for all you do for the students of Proctor Academy.