I really hesitate in posting on this thread but I felt the need to share my experience on this issue.

In the beginning......

I shot local 3D shoots strictly for hunting practice and was absolutely horrible at them. It was not uncommon for me to loose or damage a half dozen aluminums each week. After a time though I became a better shot and a better judge of distance. Subsequently, the number of arrows lost or damaged decreased greatly to the point that I could actually carry less than half a dozen and not worry about losing any of them. During the same time my scores also increased and I learned to " pick a spot" on the target animal instead of just aiming for color and letting loose.

Eventually I hit a plateau and wanted my scores to improve so I turned to equipment that would allow me to shoot steadier and more precisely. This took away from the practicality of my hunting setup but helped my scores again improve over time. At one point I became discouraged if I had more than a few 8s in any round of 10 and nothing was acceptable until I shot a perfect 300 (30 targets with 10 being the highest score on any one target, " x" s were for tie breakers ). After getting so close so many times I slowly became frustrated and my scores started to show it. Then, I started dreading to go to the shoots because I just knew that I would never top the score from the week before not to mention ever get to that " perfect score" .

In the end I sold all of my microadjustable, magnifying target equipment and just went back to shooting my regular hunting setup. I do not shoot the same scores but I have found the fun again. Leaving something to chance and allowing a few more variables enter into the equation made the activity much more fun and challenging for me.

Is that to say that this is how everyone should view it? No, it is not. It is just to say that I can understand how folks from both sides of the fence view this issue and can sympathize with both viewpoints. Though not practical it might be a good idea if local 3D shoots were split into two categories and corresponding time slots..... 7 am through 10 am could be strictly for folks with hunting bows that want to practice for hunting situations. 10 am and on could be a mix of hardcore 3D shooters and hunters with the understanding that the focus is on the hardcore enthusiast. That would seem to please both sides of this issue.