About Archery, 2008

So. As if I needed something else to to "get into", it happens that I have discovered something new. But maybe "Discovered" is not the right word, as it somehow implies ownership. As if it is something that I could claim. No, perhaps a better metaphore would be to say I wandered into a Party which had been going on for a long time, but to which I was comfortably oblivious. Here is what happened. My daughter brought home a flyer for "Junior" Cheerleading, and asked if she could do it. After reviewing the start up fees, costume fees, facility use fees, participation fees, transportation fees, material fees, and of couse the cost of the lessons themselves, (not included) I would have to say, I was less than excited about the prospect. Now, taking into account that she has many school years ahead, which may offer the same sort of program, but with perhaps a bit more school sponsership, I asked her if she might not like to try Archery instead. She gave me a quisical look. "you mean with bows and arrows and stuff?" she asked timidly, and then her eyes widened, and she said "cool!". So we went down to our local archery range to take a look. It was league night, and quite crowded. So we talked breifly with the proprietor, and set up an appointment to give my daughter an introductory lesson the following week. It seemed simple enough, and quite a bit more affordable. Now, we had a couple of old wooden bows, and a quiver of mouldering arrows, which we brought in to be evaluated. It turned out that our bows were much to big for my daughter, but after a bit of clean-up, would be quite serviceable. Our arrows needed new feathers, and some new points, but were also in good shape. The only drawback was that the bow that was my size was a hunting long bow, and although I could pull it, was something I would need to work up to. So we all rented bows, and had a fine evening of shooting arrows roughly in the direction of the targets down range. we came back in the next week for more of the same, and My wife signed us up for a tour of our local outdoor range, and a few weeks later, My daugher and I did just that. First we stopped at the archery shop and picked up some equipment, a glove and arm guard for my daughter, a new recurve bow for me, and then we joined up with a small group of Archers at the Delaveaga Archery Range. After a breif lesson from one of the Range masters we took a fine hike through the forest, pausing now and then to shoot arrows at targets. My daughter shooting from the ten yard mark, me from the 25 or 30. Some arrows hit the targets, some the haybales, and some went off into the bushes, but it was still a lot of fun. after a while we came to "the long shot" which was 80 yards over a little canyon. we paused breifly while our guide told us that this was the longest shot on the range, after which he proceeded to head down the path. I asked "umm, is it ok if I try it?" He looked at my bow, which was 35lbs, and then laughed, "yeah, sure. Aim real high and use an arrow you don't like". So, I did my best to aim, took the shot, and to everyones suprise it hit the ground about two yards in front of the little structure that held the target. Our guide gave a nod of approval, and said, "try it again". So I drew back and was trying my best to aim and at the same time to figure out all the variables, and how much to compensate, and was there a breeze, and how heavy was the arrow, and then, like some weird obi-wan-kenobi thing, I heard the voice of our instructor in my head "...as far as aiming, point your arm at the target and focus on what you want to hit". So, I did just that, concentrating on the top of the target, and this time landed my arrow on the haybale only about two feet from the bullseye. I would have to say, that shot changed everything. it opened my mind and wallet to a whole new world, and within a few weeks had gone from exileration of "getting on the paper" to rarely missing the target rings. Now I just have one question, what do Archers drink?

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