Sub-Yardage Spot Target Generator by Scot Heath

aka:  Tiny Targets

Do You.....
-LIke to shoot spot targets?
-Need to train at home, shooting at less than the standard distances?
-Want exactly the correct sight picture of your target of choice?

Good news! If you have Microsoft PowerPoint, you can generate NFAA 5 spot targets, NFAA/FITA 3 spot targets, their single face equivalents or 60cm FITA singe faces properly scaled for any distance less than or equal to the standard distance. Also, 80cm FITA and 122 cm FITA targets have been added with a slightly different scaling choice (since they are shot at multiple yardages.) In addition to providing the proper sight picture, with the entry of your arrow diameter, dashed scoring lines are drawn so you can establish exactly what your score would be shooting standard targets at the correct yardage. Targets are generated to be printed on standard 8-1/2" x 11" paper.

This prints a proportionately smaller target on notebook paper that will resemble (in your aperture) the standard target at the proper distance.  This is for shooting at a target butt from less than the official distance. 

The macros in this file generates NFAA 5 or single spot, Vegas 3 or single spot, or FITA 60cm single spot targets scaled for yardages less than the standard 20 yards (NFAA) or 18+ meters (Vegas, FITA). 
 
They also generate FITA 80cm or 122cm single spot targets scaled to a user specified factor, that is; the yardage actually shot divided by the standard yardage. 

D. Falks  of the Archery Shooters Association first provided this file to me during an NArchival Archery level III course at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, August 2005.   (Thanks, Dee!) 

I have since discovered the originator's name, which is Scot Heath, of Fort Collins, CO.  Scot has graciously granted permission to post this here, and he has also updated the PPT macro to handle more types of targets.  You can email Scot using this link. Please note that all rights are reserved - you may NOT profit from this by attempting to sell it.

You need a copy of MS PowerPoint to use it, and you must enable macros in the program before you load the PP file.  

First, load Powerpoint and insure that macros are enabled (under tools/macro/security):

and then load the scaled_targets.ppt file.    You may have to adjust your security levels in the program.  Scot says:  "I've had a few folks who have had their PowerPoint security level set to high and this prevents the macros from being enabled. I recommend setting the security level to medium as that setting looks at the macro author and compares it against your trusted list but unlike the high level which disables the macros if the authors don't appear, PowerPoint then asks if you'd like to enable or disable the macros.

To check/set the security level, start PowerPoint, click on Tools->Macro->Security and choose Medium, OK. Close PowerPoint and then restart it. Read in the scaled_targets file and when PowerPoint asks, Enable the macros."

Run the macro by choosing Alt-F8 or else "Tools/Macro/Macro/Run" and pick one of the following:

  • scale_NFAA_1_spot
  • scale_NFAA_5_spot
  • scale_vegas_3_spot
  • scale_vegas_1_spot
  • scale_FITA_60cm
  • scale_FITA_80cm
  • scale_FITA_122cm
 
 

This is the window you will see after loading:
 NOTE:  Do not choose "clear_all"!!

 

Choose Run.

You will see:


Change the default to your arrow's diameter in fraction of an inch and then click OK. 
Hint: for Easton shafts,  such as 1619, the "16" is actually "16/64", which divides to the fraction "0.25" . So you would enter 0.25 as the arrow diameter in inches.

You will then see:


To print a target used at 18 meters, just enter the number of yards
(ie, > 1 and <= 18) , but if for a 60, 80, or 122 cm target then  you should enter a
factor less than 1

So change the default of "0.1" to your desired distance scale factor. 

For 60/80/122 targets:
To convert from yards to meters, multiply yards (distance you are actually shooting) by 0.9144 yards/meter.

To convert from feet to meters, multiply feet by 0.3048 feet/meter.

Example: Shooting at 5 yards, when your target choice (122cm) is normally used at 70 meters: 
5 yards * 0.9144 meters/yard = 4.57 meters, so 4.57 / 70 = 0.066, enter this as the scale factor.

Your targets will print on a 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of regular paper, such as this Vegas 3-spot:

 

What about those dotted lines?

From Scot:

The need for dotted "scoring" lines arises from the fact that the diameters of the arrows used by an archer don’t "scale" as the target scales. This results in artificially high scores when scaled targets are used if a correction is not applied. For an arrow that is not a direct center hit, the arrow strike point can be assigned an angular deviation from the archer. To properly represent that same score at less than the actual distance, the location of the portion of the shaft closest to the center of the target must be properly represented.

Here's an example:

Two arrows of diameter .20” and .40” impact a 40cm target at normal 18m distance and are just outside the 9 ring so they both score 8. The angular deviation that is responsible for the non-center hits is different for the two arrows. The smaller diameter arrow actually has less angular deviation; that is, it was a better shot. Now, imagine moving those arrows back along vectors from the shooter to the center of the holes they made at 18m while at the same time scaling and moving the target back towards the shooter along a vector aligned with the center of the target. As soon as motion begins, the larger arrow immediately moves closer to the center of the target than the smaller arrow and becomes a 9. A short distance further, the small arrow's score also becomes a 9. The centers of the holes distance from the center are still correctly scaled and represented outside the 9 ring but both arrows are now 9 whereas, the actual shots were 8. This means that at any point closer than the original 18m distance, the large arrow makes a hole whose innermost part is closer to the center of the target than the smaller arrow and eventually, both arrows result in scores higher than they should. Taken far enough both arrows would touch the X ring since the rings get very small and the arrows don't. This of course does not accurately represent the relative positions of the arrows at 18m where the innermost portion of both arrows was exactly the same distance from the center of the target. In order to accurately represent the relative position of the innermost portion of both shafts at any distance, different diameter scoring rings must be drawn which correctly account for the difference in arrow diameter. The macros correctly generate these rings. I chose to make the scoring rings faint and print them in addition to the visual rings so that the scope picture would remain correctly scaled while simultaneously, proper scoring could be done.

There is a limit to the useful range of scaled targets, that is, when the diameter of the X scoring ring reaches zero (the arrow must touch the exact center of the target to score an X. This distance is different for different diameter arrows but is so close it can be ignored.

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