Lesson 6 last night and I almost missed it.  After trapping all day, then skinning 32 rats (with Bob of course), my butt was whipped bad!  All I felt like doing after 6 p.m. was sitting back, relaxing and drinking a few brews.  I could have gone to bed right then.  Well, I called Weasel, who was already at the archery lanes and told him to tell my instructor, Chris, I wouldn’t make it.  Then I sat back, watching a little tube, and drank two beers.  I was starting to feel human again.  So I ate supper and felt great.  I told Winemaker I was going to the archery lesson and off I went.

I’m sure glad I didn’t miss this one.  Chris had us shooting at a single target, about the size of the one in the picture above.  Well not quite that big, but pretty big.  It’s the same one we are shooting at for this league shoot I’m in.  But that is not the point of this writing.

Chris had us shooting our 5 arrow ends and after the third end, she came over to me and Sandra (both of us shooting recurve bows) and said something like this: “There is one thing we have not told you recurve shooters about arrow alignment with the target.  When you look at the compound bow shooters you see all sorts of stuff hanging off their bows that helps them get aligned with the target.  They not only have sights, but bubble levels.  Your bow must be level in order to consistently shoot where you want it to shoot”.

Now that is not exactly what she said, but that is what I took from it.

She went on.  “When you draw back your bow and get into your anchor position, align the bow string up with the shaft of the arrow.  Concentrate on the target and follow through with your shot”.

I was skeptical and told her as much.  But then said I would try it.  When I did, the arrow hit at 12 o’clock above the X, about 8 inches high.  HMMMMM.  I looked over at Chris, who was looking back at me with a smile.  My thought went to alignment, and how the arrow hit straight up and down from the center of the bull.  I nocked another arrow and followed the same routine.  The arrow flew like it had a mind of its own and lodged into the X!  Amazing!  I finished with four of the five arrows around and touching the bulls eye!

Chris took a picture of my X arrow and sent it off to e-land.

I was so elated, I told her “Chris, you just unleashed the beast”!!!!

My next 5 arrows felt really good and all came within the 4 count ring of the X.  After that they got a little wild, but still within the counting rings.  She said she wanted me to walk away from the shooting lanes and concentrate on something totally different than shooting.  Go look at the activity board or something.  Which I did and when I came back she had put a ballon over my X ring and four count rings.

I asked her about the balloon and she said just shoot it.  Now here is where things get really interesting.  I concentrated on a spot on the balloon and fired my first shot.  As big as that balloon was how can I miss with my new found knowledge?  Well, I did miss it.  In fact I missed it with all 5 arrows!  How can that be?  I readied myself for my next 5 arrow end and shot them with the same result…misses!  This is crazy!  I was doing so well, now what is going on?

Chris took the balloon away and posted it next to my target.  Told me to shoot two arrows at my target and the next three at the balloon.  My two arrow targets hit in the 3 count ring on my target and my first arrow at the balloon was dead center.  I shot the next two at the deflated balloon, hitting close enough to it that if it had been inflated they would have popped it.

There is some psychological thing going on here and Chris didn’t explain it to me.  I’ll be digging in to find out just what was playing with my mind and why I didn’t pop it with my first arrow.

So, there you have my lesson number 6!  Look out scoring rings, I’m coming to poke holes in you!

Bears Butt

February 12, 2015