With the temperatures solidly in the 100 degrees it would be very easy to forgo shooting a few ends at the close of the day.  But like its been all week, I headed for the field to shoot and try to get my muscles used to the 55 pound draw weight.  Tonight I had some things on my mind and I’ve read where you shouldn’t shoot your bow if you have anything else to think about.  Well, I figured if I went down and shot it wasn’t for score or groups or whatever, it’s more for muscle strength.

I set up at the 20 yard mark with my usual 8 arrows…you know, the 6 good ones and the two odd balls.  Actually they are all good arrows, just the two are those 3050’s that seem to like to go wherever they want to go.  I will continue to shoot them just for the muscle work.

I don’t have a thermometer to let me know exactly how hot the temp is, but it had to be OVER 100 degrees down on the range.  The shade of the vehicle made it feel 20 degrees cooler sitting there, when in actuality it was probably still in the mid 90’s.  Lots of liquids were needed.

I did my usual and shot to warm up and then went for ends for pictures.  End one looked like this:

It doesn’t always work this way, but my first arrow was the one that hit way up over the target.  It was then that I had to force myself into forgetting about what was bothering me.  The remaining arrows found their way into the rings.  Between ends there was that haunting “non-shooting” pain going through my head.  I could feel my muscles especially in my drawing arm when I drew back, but even though it let me know it was there and in some pain, it also let me know things were getting some strength built up.

End 2:

By the time I released the last arrow, I knew my head was not in the game.  And as I studied the target and the arrow in it, I thought, “What the heck, Butt, only one of them missed the rings!  Keep shooting”!  I also made a mental note to forget my problem when I was shooting and concentrate on my form.

End 3:

You can guess why the two missed the entire backstop on this end.  Get your head in gear Bears Butt!  What you are worried about will all be gone in a day or two!

End 4:

For sure the daunting thoughts swirling in my head are controlling the evening!

End 5:

I took 3 to 5 minute breaks after two back to back ends and sat in the shade of the truck.  But my thoughts were always on “that other thing” than on archery.  And this wild group is proof positive I might as well have been home in the air conditioned house.  But, I decided that while shooting this end I had noticed the noise the bow was making had gotten louder.  Was it my imagination or had my brace height changed?  I pulled out the tape measure and gave it a look.

It’s under 8 inches, but would that little bit make that much difference?  I wish I had more knowledge about these things.  And I made my mind up I would take off the string, twist it 4 turns and restring it.  I got to thinking that perhaps this string, the one that came with my 30 pound limbs, isn’t strong enough for my 55 pound limbs!  Anyone out there with thoughts on that?  As tough a task as that is for short little old me, I got it done, pulled the tape out again and checked it!

I actually expected to be closer to 8 1/4 inches than what it actually ended up being, but I went ahead and shot the next end.  The bow was much more quiet.  Did it shoot better?  Well, you can say what you will when you see the next end, but again, my head just wasn’t with the program.

End 6:

By now my shoulder and right arm were feeling very fatigued and I knew it was time to head for the barn (home).  One more end and I’ll head that direction, besides it’s hot!  🙂

Last End for the day:

HEY!  I can only count 7 arrows!  I know I shot 8!

There you are you little stinker!

So, with all of this, there is something to be said about having something bothering you when you are archery practicing.  Of course we should not use that as an excuse to not practice.  We all have something bothering us all the time…it’s part of life.  7 ends plus a practice round = 8 ends….8X8 = 64 arrows on a hot day!  Will I feel it in the morning?  Probably!

So I’m writing this “the next morning” and can tell you I feel my neck muscles on the right side of my neck.  My right shoulder muscle is sore and my bow arm muscle below the elbow is also sore.  Not so much to stop me from doing anything…I haven’t injured myself, they are just toning up!  I won’t be shooting today but should be back at tomorrow!

Bears Butt

June 28, 2015

A Chest protector will save you a sore boob!  Just saying!  I am not using one because I’m not hitting mine very often and so I’m good without one.

Last night I hit the field for a little bow practice of my own.  Nobody else was with me and so I had the whole field to play in.  Of course I only needed the 20 yard line to work with.  But my main objective was to adjust my brace height on my new limbs.  When I first put the limbs on my riser the string I have only spanned to 7 inches of brace height.  I thought I would see how that worked out even though the makers suggest a brace height between 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 inches.

What I found was that the bow was noticeably noisy!   I made a comment to Weasel about that when I shot it the other day.  So, at home I took the string off and twisted it until I got it up to 8 inches.  Figuring half way in between the recommended brace height was a good starting point.

So, with that I began my shooting last night.  BOY HOWDY WAS IT HOT!!!!  Well into the low 100 degrees at 5 pm!

I took a practice end and didn’t take a picture of that but I did for each end after that.  End one ended this way:

I’m shooting 6 arrows that are the same and two odd balls.  The odd balls are Carbon Express Predators in 3050 weight and uncut, so they are 30 inches in length.  From what little I know about arrows, 3050’s should work with my 55 pound limbs with my draw length of almost 27 inches.  In the above picture those two arrows are pretty much right in there with the rest of them, hitting nearly in the same spot.

So, end one contains the 16th arrow I have shot tonight.  All but one arrow are within the rings.  My goal at this time is all arrows within the rings and so I’m feeling pretty good about my shooting so far.

End 2:

Two outside the rings on this end.  And so I decided I best check my brace height during a break.  These are arrows 17 through 24 and I can feel “the pain” of the extra draw weight.  Low and behold my brace height had changed by 1/2 inch…only 7 1/2.  The string had stretched!  That was an unexpected finding.  I really thought that after Lynn Hayes had pushed down on my bow last spring, I figured he had stretched that string as far as it could go!  Well, I took the time to unstring it and twist it 4 more full turns and then restrung the bow.  I have to tell you that stringing up the bow is very tough for me to do.  First off I’m stretching myself to the max to reach out to the tip of the bow, while all the time pulling up on the riser to compress those limbs.  But I got it done and sure enough the brace height was back to 8 inches.

End 3:

Maybe coincidental, maybe just me, but at 8 inches the bow seemed quieter and the arrows seemed to fly flatter…5 of 8 within the rings and the two odd balls are hanging around each other counting 2 out of the 3 outside arrows.  I checked the brace height after this end and it was still at 8 inches.

End 4:

Only one outside the rings.  With end 4 I was really concentrating on my form and especially my anchor point(s) and follow through.  The pain of holding the bows weight was taxing to say the least, but I need to build up my strength and how better than to draw back to anchor and hold.  My bow arm did not shake like it did the last time out.  The pain actually feels good in a way.

End 5:  I’ve shot 40 shots up to the beginning of this end and I can feel my muscles being worked out.  But I’m determined this time to anchor and hold the weight like I do with my 30 pound limbs.  I have to push myself to the limit!

Even though my muscles are feeling tired I think this group of shots is a good one.  I felt good about holding the bow weight for each shot and following through with the shots, trying my best to hold the bow up and my release hand near my ear until the arrow hits the target.  That is what I’ve been taught.  AND all 8 arrows are in the rings!  Goal achieved!

End 6:

Well folks!  It’s time to head for home!  I’ve managed to beat myself up enough for today!  Only 48 shots today but one of these times I’ll be up to the 60 minimum I need to be shooting!  I’m going to feel this in the morning!  Sweating and pain!

Luckily, no farm animals were hurt during this archery practice session and only a couple of beers were consumed!  The temperature went from a scorching 102 at the beginning of this session down to a cool 100 by session end.

Bears Butt

June 27, 2015

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL YOU FATHERS OUT THERE!

I was way too busy to post my results from Friday evenings shooting so I will do it now…

I decided early on in my practice I would take pictures of each “end”, shooting 6 arrows per end.  The reason is to show you new shooters just what happens when your body gets fatigued from shooting.  Now perhaps I’m not the best one to be showing you this, mostly because my groups are so wide anyway, but you should still be able to see what happens to my already wide groups.

The weather is hot and a slight breeze blowing as the daytime temps begin to cool (like from 100 to 99).  We are shooting at 20 yards still.  As of right now I can’t see me moving back any.  30 pound bows are really not designed to shoot past 20 yards in my opinion.  Even though I can shoot it close to 100 yards, there isn’t any way I could hit what I was aiming at out that far.  I’m pretty lucky to be able to hit my target at 60 yards.  So, for all practical purposes, I’ll stick to 20 yards.

Ok, let’s get on with the pictures:

End one:  Not too bad, clustered low and slightly right.  What does this tell ME?  I just have to concentrate a bit more on the yellow.  I feel good about this as only one arrow went to the left.  That means I’m not anticipating the arrow hitting anywhere special and looking around the bow to see it fly.

End 2:  3 out of 6 where I want them and the other three just somewhere else.  Still not too bad for me and only one that didn’t hit within the scoring rings.  Notice the ‘odd’ arrow, lower right.  I only have 5 of the arrows with the big white feather fletchings.  I’m beginning to like these arrows shooting from my bow.  I shot them at the indoor range before, but I think the one or so pounds different in my draw length then and what it is now is making a big difference in how they are flying.

End 3:  3 shots blue-in (which means hitting the blue ring or toward the yellow), one black and two just outside the black.  My goal at this point in time is all 6 black-in.

End 4:  4 of 6 black-in, two in scoring rings outside black.  I feel pretty good about this end.

End 5:  The upper left two arrows almost Robin Hooded…in this case 4 of 6 blue-in, 2 outside black but still in scoring ring.  My confidence level is rising.

End 6:  There you go!  Goal reached for this time!  6 for 6 inside the black, but even better than that, Blue-in!

End 7:  5 of 6 Black-in….What the heck happened with that one arrow?  In this case it was the first arrow I shot at this end and it missed the entire target backing.  After shooting that one, I concentrated like I should have in the beginning.  They say every arrow is the first of the rest of the arrows you are going to shoot and you need to treat it as importantly as the last.

End 8:  Goal!  6 for 6 Black-in!  The upper arrow is that “one” that doesn’t match the others.  It is a lighter arrow and so to hit high is not out of perspective for me.  Another note here is the cluster low.  I think I might be getting a little fatigued.  This is end 8 and 8X6 is 48 arrows shot on a hot evening.

End 9:  5 for 6 Blue-in!  And one still in the scoring rings!

End 10:  Almost a repeat of End 9.  Notice especially the “odd” arrow placement.  Almost a same hole hit.  I’ll take this!

End 11:  Here it is folks!  I’ve already shot my 60 arrows and now I shoot 6 more.  4 Blue-in and two complete misses!  I’m getting tired.

End 12:  4 of 6 blue-in, one black and one miss.  Not really too bad for having just shot 72 arrows.

End 13:  Looks like it is time to call it a day of practice.  When I think about it, this group would have made me giggly silly two months ago!  Time and perspective makes things different.

End 14:  My last for the day.  I had to see what would happen if I concentrated harder than I did on end 13.  Besides ending on a positive note is always a good thing.  So, they are all clustered low just like end one.  Let’s go have a beer!

14 X 6 = 84 arrows for tonights practice session.  I could have shot more just to wear out my muscles some more, but I had to go get supper ready.  If I can continue to shoot at least 60 arrows and keep up with the 60 arrows a day, keeps the zeros away, thing I’ll be doing good.

Bears Butt

June 21, 2015

Here you go folks….My Gap information….for what it’s worth!

Let me first explain what I understand to be “Gap Shooting”.  In the world of archery, we know that the arrow begins from the bow and travels upward in an arc, reaches a peak somewhere along the way and then falls into the target down range somewhere.  All arrows do that, some don’t arc as much as others.  My 30 pound bow with my draw length and slow traveling arrow arcs a lot and you will see that in my gap chart.

So, Gap Shooting requires the archer to go through just what I have done over the last couple of months to determine where you have to “aim” your arrow in order for it to hit the center of your target at various ranges.  In order to construct your Gap Chart, you have to pick a point on the target down range, come to full draw and visually place the tip of the arrow on that point and then release the arrow.  You will do this at 5 yard increments all the way back to some point where the point you place the arrow at full draw, actually causes the arrow to hit the target at the point you were aiming it.  That final spot is called your “Point On” mark.  Point on is placing the point of the arrow on THE spot you want the arrow to hit and it actually hits it.

Here is my gap chart:

I began keeping track of my gaps moving from 5 yards to 45 yards as time went on.  On my first and second days my Point On yardage was 30 yards and by the end of my keeping track, things had changed enough to move my Point On mark out to 45 yards.  That is a big change!

So, let’s look at the numbers.  My average Gap at 5 yards for ALL the recorded times was 12 inches.  That means my bow and I shoot 12 inches higher than where the point of the arrow is pointed at 5 yards away.  For me to hit a carp on the surface of the water at 5 yards away, I would have to actually aim my bow 12 inches under it in order to hit it.  Can you see where this is going?

Now let’s jump to 20 yards.  My overall average gap at 20 yards is 30 inches!  In order to hit the target at 20 yards I would have to point the tip of my arrow 30 inches below the target.  A mule deer stands at about 30 inches from the ground to its belly.  I would have to put the point of the arrow between the deer’s foot and its knee in order to hit the vitals at 20 yards.

And in competition if I was to hit the bullseye at 45 yards, I would put the tip of the arrow right on the yellow X and let it rip!

So, in all competition, and with my memory not being too sharp, I would need these gap distances written down so I could look at them before each shot.  I would have to judge just how far below the bullseye on each target I would have to put the point of my arrow in order to hit the bullseye each time.  I would also have to know just how far away the target it each time.  So I would also need a range finder.  Now let’s say the target ranges at 22 yards.  My gap at 20 yards is 30 inches and at 25 yards it’s 29 inches.  Not much difference.  So I’d pick a point below the target that is around the 30 inch mark and let it go.  I should hit within the marked area on a 3D target and score pretty good (all things being equal).

And that in a nutshell is how Gap Shooting works.

BUT….and there is always a BUTT in my works!  Bears Butt that is!  I changed my form in the process of making up this gap chart.  On day 4/26/15, I went from a two point anchor to a 3 point anchor.  You can read about that on a posting I made either on 4/26 or 4/27 explaining what my thoughts were at the time.  The condensed version is that I turned my body more directly 90 degrees from the target and anchored with the lower part of the bow string touching my rib as well as my nose and my thumb below my jaw.  This made my stance more firm and the bow would not move around as much as it had been.  When I did this my Gaps widened!  Again to the chart:

After my change, my gaps recorded like this:  5 yards averaged 15 inches, 10 yards = 27 inches  etc., 20 yards = 39 inches and my point on moved from 30 yards all the way out to 45 yards!

And now you are asking why I have stopped recording my gap distances.  Well, I’m still changing!  On 3/20/15 I was drawing at 26 inches.  The string touching the front of my nose and my thumb touching and under my jaw.  It felt good and I shot relatively well for a beginning archer.  I felt pretty good about things in general.  On 4/26/15, like I said, I shifted my body in relation to the target and anchored with one more point (the string on my rib).  Everything changed at that point.  Not only is the bow more solid in my hand, I can look right down the arrow shaft if I wish.  Other things have come into play as well.  I built myself a finger sling which frees up my mind from having to keep hold of the bow once it’s shot.  Just one more thing off my mind to allow me to concentrate on where I want the arrow to go.  I have also noted my draw length has gotten longer, about a half inch longer.  Now the bow string is touching my nose to the right side of it rather than at the tip and my thumb is farther back on my jaw.  Small things I know, but they seem to be playing a big part in how my arrows are going down range.

So, for now, I will put on hold any further gap charting or even pursuing gap shooting.  The only thing I might continue to employ is the Point On  distance.  In long range shooting, which I consider 45 yards to be, I will use the point on to help me hit that target.  Keep in mind, when it says “Point On”, it doesn’t necessarily mean to put the point of the arrow exactly on the bullseye, because you and your arrow are going to be flying from right to left (right hand shooter).  So the point of the arrow is actually going to be somewhere to the right of the bullseye back that the line.

Bears Butt

June 28, 2015

Came home from a wonderful field trip with Winemaker and our friend Beth and had time to hit the field for some range time!  The more I shoot my bow the more I want to shoot it.  I’m also thinking I’m ready to upgrade to heavier limbs.  I have noticed the last couple of days my draw length is longer now than it was even a couple of weeks ago.  It’s funny how small changes occur slowly and you don’t even notice them until something suddenly smacks you in the head.  I noticed a change in my Gap shooting the other night.  And studying the numbers I can see how a slight change in draw length makes the numbers climb.

For instance, at say 20 yards, my gap has averaged around 35 for several shooting times and now my average has creeped up to 42 inches.  I might as well post my gap information now, because until I get my form settled in I feel I’m wasting my time “gapping” myself.  It is changing and at some point it will settle in.  At that time I’ll do my gap stuff over.  So, prepare to see the gap information and my analysis in a future post soon.

This post is like the previous one…my targets from last nights shooting!  I’ll call these targets Ends 1 through 4, but in reality I only took pictures of the groups I was most proud of.  Talking with Weasel about “goals”, he and I differ on how I should proceed.  In his mind and if he were me, he would shoot from 20 yards my 6 good arrows and one bent one and if 4 out of the 7 hit within the blue rings, he would step back one step and shoot again.  He would continue to shoot in this fashion until he was back to 40 yards consistently shooting 4 out of 7 within the blue circle of the target.  Then he would start again with the red circle as his goal, 4 of 7 within that etc. etc.  In 50 years he would probably be doing it with 4 of 7 in the X.

He also has this “thing” about me shooting “instinctively”….my shooting stinks as it is without it being “In-Stink-tive”.  I’ll continue to shoot my way and try to improve in my way.  20 yards, inside the black for now!  And I won’t settle for 4 of 7, all 7 have to go there.  AND, when (and it will happen), I can put all 7 inside the yellow, I’ll move back 5 yards.

OK, so here are my targets from last nights shooting.  Given that you only get to see the ones I took pictures of, trust me with this fact, I never missed the block behind the target, not even once last night.  Remember back in January, my goal was to hit the block and not necessarily the target pinned to it?  I’m improving!

There is that “ONE” arrow!

There is that ONE arrow again!

ONE again, but at least closer!

And there that little sucker is again!

When I’m shooting I’m always “trying” (cuz I don’t always do it) to make it a conscientious effort to think about all the steps that go into the shot….Smooth draw back to my anchor point(s), Riser at an elevation I think will cause the arrow to fly to the yellow center, Smooth release and follow through until the arrow hits the target (or the dirt or where ever it ends up going).

Like I said in yesterdays posting, I’ve noticed a change in my anchor point and it is back about 1/2 inch from what it has been.  Still the string touches my nose, it’s just to the side of it not on the end.  My thumb is still parallel to my jaw bone and anchored behind where the jaw bone connects.  It’s comfortable and solid and about 3 times a night, the string takes a tuft of beard hair with it when it goes.  Talk about “plucking”….OUCH!  That’s OK, occasionally the string will pinch my left breast nipple a bit too.  I’m thinking that is what those shoulder braces or breast protectors are for I see for sale in the archery wish books.

So, if you notice me with no hair on the right side of my face and an enlarged nipple on my left side, you will know I’m getting my 60 arrows a day training in.  Like they say, “60 arrows a day, keeps the zero’s away”!

Bears Butt

June 18, 2015

I simply love my new little finger sling!  Simple, Cheap, and keeps my bow from hitting the ground….how much better can it get?  Plus, I don’t have to worry about my bow at all while shooting!  BONUS!

Went to the field tonight.  Sure it was hot, but what the heck….I did my Gap shooting and was amazed at how different the numbers were from previous shooting.  And then I noticed my form had changed!

WHAT?  FORM HAD CHANGED?  Yes!  I am drawing a longer draw length than previously.  Instead of the string touching the end of my nose, it is now alongside my nose.  Parts of inches!  But I have to say it makes a difference!  Right now I can feel a bit of muscle issue in my shoulders and neck area.  That has to be a product of my drawing back farther.  Those that know can chime in now.

So, I show my gap and noted the differences.  Then settled in at 20 yards and began my practice for the evening.  Here are the ends I took pictures of:

These are all shot at 20 yards and if you notice I’m starting to hone in my shots into the black ring and closer to the yellow.  Sure there are those errant shots that miss the entire while target, but for the most part they are zinging into the target in pretty good fashion if you ask me…..just ask me.  The black and red fletched arrow is bent and I shoot it first in my series.  It makes the rest of the arrows feel really good when it happens to hit the target.  Sometimes it evens finds the center!!!!  BONUS!  I had to retire arrow number 8 because the fletching I put on it yesterday is off several degrees.  So I will re-fletch it and it will be a winner then.  Until then…I own 7 arrows!

Tonight it did not miss the “bunk” once!  A bonus in my book!  And in all my sets I only had two arrows miss the big white target a couple of times.  I had one end where “if” the last arrow would have flown where I wanted it, I would have had them all within the blue ring!!!!  So, listen folks!  If I can do this so can you!

Enjoy the time you have and enjoy every minute of it because GOD does not promise you the next moment!

Bears Butt

June 16, 2015

Everything we do comes with acronyms, even texting BTW.  The U.S. Government is notorious for acronyms, hell I worked for the USDA-FSA-APFO in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Well, archery is no different and while looking at a new bow string for my recurve the other day, they had an acronym of (AMO) after the length of the string.

Not knowing what AMO means, my first thought was AMO was an archery way of saying AMMO, you know, the string is used to shoot the ammo (arrow).  But all the while I knew it had another meaning and so I went searching for that answer.  AMO actually covers a pretty big spectrum of archery equipment and stands for Archery Manufacturers and Merchants Organization.  These guys set the standards for stuff related to archery.  I don’t think my finger sling in the picture above meets their standards, but maybe it does.  It does meet BBOKDOKEE (Bears Butt Okeedokee) standards.

Well, trust me, there are a lot more acronyms out there related to bows and arrows, and so I did the research for you and found an alphabetical listing of what appears to be a pretty good bunch.

http://www.everything-archery.com/archeryterms.html

This website has a lot of interesting stuff on it besides the list of acronyms.  So, go and check them out!  Happy Acronyming!

Bears Butt

June 15, 2015

This stick man is my idol and I need to be just about this close in order to hit my target!  BUT, I’m getting better.

Last night I took the time to hit the field for some more abuse.  I shot my Gap and am just about ready to post up the results of my shooting that.  Stand by for it to come out soon!  I probably shot over 100 arrows last night at 20 yards and was feeling pretty good about the results.  Again, keep in mind my target is the whole target and not just the rings that are on it.  I had to take a picture of this end to show you.

And you are asking yourself:  WHAT?  Why on earth would he want to show us such a sloppy end?  Let’s take a close look at this grouping.  First off, I’m proud that all 8 arrows found their mark inside the target.  Second reason is that all 8 arrows found themselves inside the rings on the target (bonus).  Thirdly, 4 out of 8 are inside the black ring, but most of all I want to let you know that 7 out of 8 are in pretty much a straight line with the yellow (up and down).  That tells me I’m not far off with my left/right adjustment and I’ll take shooting like this all day long.

Another end I want to show you:

Look closer:

My camera makes the arrows look like they are coming into the target from all directions toward the middle, that is called “parallax”, please don’t get disturbed over that.  Just look at the picture for what it is.  One in the yellow, two in the red, one in the blue and 4 in the black!  This is giving me another thought.  Maybe I need to tighten my expectations and instead of accepting just hitting the whole white square, I should expect to hit within the black circle!  If I can do it once (this time) I can do it again!  Inside the black ring will be my acceptable shooting from now on!

Well, there was a storm brewing out to the NW of town and I wanted to be home before the expected winds hit.  I kept shooting until my shots began to be more outside the target than inside it.  That always tells an archer it’s time to quit for the day or at least take a break for awhile.  Besides MaPa’s was ready to go home.

As I was packing up, here came Weasel down to shoot his normal routine.  Well I stuck around for a couple of ends and then decided it was time to go, besides the storm was looking like it was about to hit with the wind.

On my way out, I have to stop and open a gate.  Well, there was a horse on the other side of the fence and MaPa’s likes to bark at them.  He began is normal barking routine and then suddenly came across my lap and tangled up with me with his leash.  It was all crazy as heck for about 2 seconds, but enough that he forced my gas peddle leg down onto the gas and I crashed into the gate!  BLAM!  It is bent up pretty good and the car has some reddish paint on it from the gate, but everything is alright.  The gate still closes but would not hold a Shetland pony in.  We might have to replace it soon.

Bears Butt

June 11, 2015

I’ve been working on the farm too much lately and have forgotten my friends out there!  HELLO FRIENDS!!!!!

In the archery world it is important to keep your bow in your hand but sometimes when you grip the handle too tightly you will throw off your shots…they call it “torquing” the bow.  My bow hand (the one that holds the bow) is notoriously bad for torquing, even though I try my best not to grip it to tightly, I still do not want to drop the bow.  And so, as a result, I grab it just before I make my shot and that causes my arrows to do all sorts of bad stuff.  Actually they aren’t “bad”, they just go where I don’t really want them to go.

So, they (the archers that preceded me in my quest) have developed (invented) things that will keep the bow from falling to the ground after the shot is made.  I noticed early on in my archery days folks had really cool looking straps going around their wrists that were attached to the bows with a bolt.  When they made the shot it bow would be hanging from their wrist and not hit the floor.  I thought, “Hey that’s cool!  Maybe I need one of those”.  But then none of my “traditional” archer guys had one and so I bagged the idea.

Then one day I was watching an Olympic archery shooting event and noticed the guys and gals shooting with traditional type bows had something else they were wearing that kept the bow from falling to the ground.  It’s called a “finger sling”….now this bad boy item was small, concealed (well not to notice too much anyway) and kept the bow from falling to the ground, unlike in this video:

I began searching the web for ideas on how to make one for myself.  I’m all over this “Do It Yourself” stuff…always have, always will.  Sort of like my sandwich last night, I call it “I’m all over you ketchup man”!

That picture doesn’t have anything to do with this post except maybe pique your interest.

Well, Winemaker had some paracord laying around and I took a few feet of it.  I knew I needed a slip knot or two to attach the thing to my middle finger and thumb of my bow hand.  A simple devise and made out of cheap material, I can throw it in the trash if it doesn’t work or if I don’t like it.  Another great aspect of DIY stuff.  You spend little and if it doesn’t work, you are not out much.  After all, the archery supply places want like $6 for one of these things.  That’s the price of one of my arrows!  I’d rather buy an arrow then spend that on a piece of string.

Well, here is the one I made:

The book behind the picture of my finger sling is “Guide to the longbow” by Brian Sorrells….A perfect book for those getting into traditional archery shooting!  This guy is amazing.

So, you see it is just what it is, a piece of string with two slip knot loops on it.  The length of the string between the loops has to be sort of short to accomodate wrapping around the bow and then fitting over your thumb comfortably.  There is nothing worse than going shooting and having something like a “too tight string” cutting off the circulation to one of your fingers.  Not a fun day of shooting, besides having to cut the string off with your too dull knife when you are done shooting.

So, the first loop goes on your bow hand finger.  I haven’t figured out which finger is best as yet, so I figured I’d start with my middle finger.  It just made sense to do that.

It’s kind of hard to see it, but you get the idea.  By the way, that elk head mount was put together by none other than White Trapper!  Best taxidermist in Northern Utah!

Next you grab up your bow and put the second loop around your thumb

You can see that this string is going to keep your bow “near you” once you let go of the string while shooting your arrows.  Once you have exhausted all your arrows in your quiver, you simply remove the string from your thumb, put the bow down and go retrieve your arrows.  You can even drink a beer while that string hangs off your middle finger.  Other archers will wonder to themselves just what on earth you have on your hand, but they won’t say anything and will go home, address their computer and try to find out for themselves just what it was you had on your finger.

Well, I wasn’t sure about this finger sling idea.  Would I even use it or not.  Well, I attached it to my bow with the idea that the next time I ventured out to practice I would give it a try.  The whole idea behind this is that you can forget about having to hold onto your bow at all while shooting.  Outstretch your fingers, point them in the direction of the target and let it rip!  Your bow hand will not be affecting the shot in any way.

So, let me say this about that!  The damn thing works!  Not only can I now NOT think about my anchor points, I have them pretty much engraved in my form, I can now forget about the bow at all.   The pressure of the string being pulled back toward my face keeps the bow tight against my hand (the web of the hand between thumb and first finger).  I have no worry about the bow going anywhere near the ground once I release the string and so, I can totally concentrate on the target.  Here was my first end after using my new finger sling.

Man!  I was quite surprised.

Later in my practice session I took a picture of another end.  Please notice I’m missing one arrow of my eight…I hit a nail holding one of the corners and the nock popped off.

Still, 6 out of 7 arrows in the target…not the rings, but the whole white square thing.  That’s my goal, hit the square thing.  Counting rings are bonus even though I am concentrating on the yellow part of it, that is just my focus spot.

And after about an hour and a half of shooting my arrows were starting to fly all over the place, which is normal after shooting 100 times or more.  This is my last end and MaPa’s was ready to get out of the mosquitos.

So, what I’m saying here is that the finger sling actually works.

Bears Butt

June 3, 2015