Legolas I ain’t

In my continuing quest to find a hobby that Sunny and I can enjoy together, Sunny made the mistake of saying she quite liked archery as a kid. A few days ago, my parents had a bit of a windfall and sent us a few dollars to treat ourselves…so we went to our local sporting goods store and bought a cheap bow.

Now, I don't wish to toot my own horn, but when it comes to shooting sports I have some talent. I put four out of four shots in the 9 & 10 rings my first time with a handgun, and the first time I held a rifle it fit into my shoulder like it belonged there. In my first half hour I was putting rounds through the same hole at 100 yards.

Basically, it if involved sending a projectile down range to hit a certain point on a target, I'm there.

So I figured I'd be good at archery. I'm basically using one stick to fire another stick at a target…how hard could it be? You put the arrow in the string, pull the string back, point the arrow where you want it to go and let go of the string.

Fifteen minutes later I'd destroyed three of my five arrows, the inside of my left forearms was bruised to hell and I was convinced that there was something wrong with the bow, the arrows or a combination of both. I'd shoot an arrow and it would sail right over the target. The next would spear off to the side or hit the ground and pinwheel off into the distance.

I didn't even know it was possible to put nock an arrow upside down.

So I did what all geeks do. I consulted google.

It turns out that archery is a lot more complex than I first thought. Just like scoring a 100 yard hit with a .22 is all about judging wind, bullet drop and controlling your breathing and heart-rate…shooting a bow isn't just about pulling a string back and letting it go. Something as simple as the angle of your hand on the actual bow can make a massive difference.

Anyway, after fifteen minues with google, I gave it another try…and I still suck… but at least I'm hitting the target and my shots are becoming somewhat consistent.

Like I said, Legolas I ain't…but I can put an arrow in a 12" circle at about 20 yards instead of just 'somewhere over there'.