After trapping yesterday and skinning the catch, I had to take a short break before heading up to the league to post up my second week score for this league event.  I’m not sure what is it called, but each contest has a name.

I learned a little more about “handicap” and I’d like to share some of it with you today.  Well, it will sort of look like a math lesson before I get through with it, but you will totally understand when it is all over.

Remember X + Y = Z?  Well, in the world of handicap it has some of that.  Remember X/2 = Y?  Well, in the world of handicap it has some of that.  Remember that in the world of mathematics you have to complete things within a parenthesis first before proceeding with some other function?  Well, in the world of handicap there is some of that to do.  Now this formula isn’t too far removed from math read and studied in the books, in fact, what you learned in school is actually why you learned it in school in the first place.  You are about to use those lessons in a real life situation.

Here is the Math question:  Bears Butt is wanting to figure out his handicap for archery competition.  His lane captain says he must post up two scores that he has shot while actually in the competition.  So, Bears Butt goes to work and shoots his arrows at the target for his first weeks score (W1 = First weeks score).  The next day, Bears Butt returns to the shooting lanes and shoots his second weeks score (W2 = Second weeks score).

To begin to calculate a handicap, you must first add up the two scores and calculate the average of those scores.  To get an average of any number of line items, you must add up all the line items and divide by the total number of line items.  That sounds sort of crazy, but that is the way it is done.  So if you have two line items, you will divide by 2.  If you have three sets of numbers or 3 sets of line items, you will divide by 3 etc.

To further calculate the handicap, you will take the average you just calculated and subtract it from the total number possible for one score.  In this case the total number you could possibly shoot in one week is 300.  So the formula looks like this:  300 – (W1 + W2 / 2 ).  But!  That is not all true!  You only get 80 percent of that number as your handicap.  So we must further calculate our formula to include that 80 percent calculation.  300 – (W1 + W1/2) X .8 = Handicap.

Bears Butt shot a 114 on Week one and last night he posted up a WHOPPING 136!  Now that was shooting like he has never done before!  Not bad for an old guy with a recurve bow, no sights, new arrows and 5 lessons under his belt!

Let’s do the math:  [300 – (114 + 136/2)] X .8 = [300 – (250/2)] X .8 = [300- 125] X .8 = 175 X .8 = 140!  (Remember in math, you calculate what is inside the parenthesis ( ) first, and then concentrate on what is inside the brackets [ ] and then finish off the rest of the equation).

So, there you have Bears Butt’s first ever handicap in anything competitive he has ever done in his entire life.  A solid 140.

What happens now is that the league captain, will take Bears Butt’s two scores and add 140 to each of them and then total up his two weeks worth of scores.  Let’s look at those numbers.

116 = 140 = 256 and 136 + 140 = 276 for a grand total score of 532 out of a possible 600.

My fellow league members are jumping for joy about now to think they are still in the running for the gold!  I must improve or they will not want me to play on their team in the future!

Bears Butt

February 11, 2015

This picture shows just about how it was last night for my first ever scored event.  Weasel and Squirrel talked me into joining their field archery team and since I had $20, I went ahead and signed up.  You know I have had 5 lessons already and feel like I’m a pro at this stuff.

So, our team is made up of, Marv Bunderson (an old mountain man from wayyyyyy back), Weasel, Squirrel and myself.  A four man team to be reckoned with!  My first thought was that our team needed a name and even though the bulk of archers don’t like that idea, the more I think about it the more I think we do need a name.  My thought was “Marv and the SquWeButt’s”.  We will bounce the idea off Marv.

Ok, so I paid my money, got a target and went to work.  Everything about this has rules and rules are rules.  There were two other guys at the range also shooting their first score and I asked them if they would do the honors of scoring my target, in return they asked me if I would score theirs.  Of course.  So, why would we do this?  Rules!  Rules say you can not score your own target and neither can any of your team mates.  So, as the night went on and we shot our ends, I scored their two targets and they scored mine.

Everything was going great until I shot my first arrow at the target for score and then everything went down hill from there.  I kept thinking, well, at least my handicap will be high.  The zeros continued to add up (to nothing I might add) and in the end I scored remarkably well for a guy with a recurve bow, 5 brand new, never been shot arrows and 5 lessons behind him.

So, before I tell you my remarkable score, I need to tell you how the handicap works.  There are 300 points possible in this event.  Let’s say I shoot a 200.  Subtract my score of 200 from the possible 300 and that leaves 100.  Take 80% of that and that becomes my handicap.  In this case, 80 points.  So, during the competition, my score starts at 80 even before I shoot my first arrow.  You can see from this that it only gets better as the shots are taken!  (insert smiley face).

Weasel convinced me to join their team for two reasons.  One, they needed a fourth shooter.  Two, my handicap might help them win.  You see, Marv and Squirrel are such good shots their handicaps are only going to be around 10 or less, while Squirrels and mine are going to be at or near 100.  If they shoot their normal 290’s, and we can increase our scores up into the 200 ranges, adding our handicaps to our scores could put us over 300 points.  It is possible using the handicap to go over 300 points.

Well, right now there is no real pressure on my to get a very good score.  But, for my mental state, I need to be hitting the target and not like the picture above.  The 3 arrows on the ground did happen to me last night, only they weren’t laying on the ground, but they were solid ZEROS.  As time goes on I do expect to get better scores than I did last night, but that will also remain to be seen.  I had a few very good groups last night and all I have to do is get them to concentrate a bit more around the center ring and less around the outer edge of the target.  If I could figure out a way to “bribe” them to migrate that way life would be much better in my archery world.  The real answer is to concentrate on doing what I know I should be doing and the arrows will fly the way I want them.  Raise, draw, anchor, shoot and follow through!

My first ever score….114.

Bears Butt

February 10, 2015

Yesterday was filled with videos of shooting recurve bows.  Tons of theories are out there about how best to practice and what method works fastest and best.  Shooting into a cup and stepping back after mastering 3 consecutive shots into the cup.  Shooting at a string suspended down range to get your “up and down” in order, forgetting about left and right shots for now.  Concentrating on a “spot” on the target and forgetting about everything else in the equation.  And the list goes on and on.

The bottom line comes back to “practice”.  Consistently doing the same thing over and over and over again and doing it lots and lots of times.

In the lessons I’ve had (5 so far), they have taught me to raise the bow, pull back the string, anchor my thumb under my jaw, touch the string to my nose and upon release, pull my releasing hand back and touch my shoulder.  The bow holding hand should be “resting” the bow and not gripping it, when the shot is made, the bow will tend to fall forward, at which time I am to keep the bow from hitting the ground by lightly clasping the bow with my index finger and my thumb.

All of this seems easy, and it really is, but in reality, there are a lot of things taking place all at the same time that have to be repeated each time you do it, or the arrows are hitting all over the place.  Last night was no different for me.  I would have two arrows firmly planted in the target right next to each other and then the third arrow would fly over and take out the center of the target next to mine.  Very frustrating.

BUT(T), not to be discouraged, I challenged Squirrel to a win or lose for a soda!  Best score wins.

Again, I must say his arrows are tuned to his bow, his sights are tuned to his eye and form and he is ready for competition much greater than to win a soda or not.  I, on the other hand, am still waiting for my coveted arrows and am shooting my self fletched arrows (see above), but I do have my new bow (30 pounds of pure furry) to fling them with.  Also, I am armed with my new found knowledge as discovered from the various You Tube videos I have consumed my day watching.  I’m ready!  Bring on the games!

The game is being shot at a single black and white bulls eye and we are competing with most (if not all) of the rules of engagement as ordered by the Field Archer Association….we shoot from the black line!  Ten Ends (sets, rounds, give-it-a-goes) of three shots per end (or other whatever you want to call them), 30 shots total.

I will list the ends as they proceeded:  S = Squirrel, B = Butt (all scores were witnessed by Conner, who also kept a score sheet on us for comparison, a proper field judging Judge)

End 1:  B 1,0,0 End score 1, Run score 1      S 2,2,2 End score 6, Run score 6

He only has me by 5 at this point, I can catch him with one good shot!

End 2:  B 2,0,0  E 2  R 3          S 3,1,1  E 5 R 11

Two well placed “5’s” and I’ve got him!

End 3:  B 1,0,0   E 1  R 4          S 5,3,2  E 10, R 21

Can you see Squirrel pulling ahead rapidly?

End 4:  B 4,0,0  E 4  R 8         S 3,2,0   E 5, R  26

Oh dear!  One more end to go to the mid point and I’ve got my work cut out for me!

End 5:  B 5,4,1  E 10  R 18     S 4,4,3   E 11, R 37

HMMMM.  One point more than double my score.  But we still have half a game to complete!  I can over take him!

End 6:  B 2,1,0  E 3,  R 21      S 4,2,1   E 7,  R 44

I must do better!

End 7:   B 5,3,0  E 8,  R 29     S 4,4,1   E 9,  R 53

Only 3 more ends and my pain will be over.

End 8:  B 3,3,0   E 6,  R 35     S 5,5,4   E 14,  R  67

I need a perfect game from here on out to even stay close to him.

End 9:  B 3,0,0   E 3,  R 38     S 2,2,1   E 5,  R 72

It’s over for me.  But one more end to complete.  I feel like the JAZZ Basketball team (every game), being paid well, just to show up.

End 10:  B 2,1,0  E 3,  R 41     S 5,3,2   E 10,  R 82

Well, he only beat me by twice my score.  I’d say I hung in there pretty good.  And as for “x’s”, I had none, he had 2.  So he would have won even if we had tied.

I offered up his 50 cents for the soda and also bought Conner one.  But I reminded him that the 50 cents could be “squirreled” away and used to help pay his entry fee into the competition coming up…..he tapped his chin in thought and then looked at his dad and said….NAH!  I’ll save it NEXT time!

Bears Butt

February 6, 2015

Watch this for fun:

Lately I have really been nothing but archery.  When you get your head wrapped around something like this it is hard to get away from it.  But, trapping is coming up soon.  It will be a rough start however.  The calendar is filling up with events that need taking care of and it just happens to coincide with trapping.  Add to that the archery stuff and days are filled and probably nights as well.

Tonight is lesson number 5 at the Brigham Bowmens Club.  And with it, I have been asked to help with the lessons.  I don’t know Jack about shooting a bow yet, but I can take money and maybe even blow the whistle.  Lynn will have to do the rest.  For you bowmen who have ventured South to play with the Las Vegas shooting event, rest assured, the place will still be here when you get back.

I’m really looking forward to tonights events and to be asked to help out is really an honor as well.  Lynn says there is nothing better to quicken the learning curve than to get involved!  I’ll do my best.

OK.  I ordered some more arrows yesterday and after I did, I was asking myself, “Why on earth can’t I just go to a place like Smith and Edwards or Sportsmens Wearhouse and buy some arrows”?  I was able to find some on line that are ready to shoot out of the box and why don’t these places carry them?  Oh, well, I guess the more I learn the more I’ll know.  I’ve said before the way these companies label their arrows is almost insane to try and figure out if they will work properly with my bow.  How hard can it be?

HARD!  Trust me with this one, I’ll explain by sharing with you a web site I have discovered that explains why an arrow does what it does.  Let’s learn this together.

The website is:http://www.meta-synthesis.com/archery/archery.html

So, last time I told you I have a bad habit of moving my bow to my right when I shoot and I said there must be some force that is causing this to occur.  I am not doing it just because, you know.  And now I think I have part of the answer.  Remember this?

An arrow has a centre of mass (centre of gravity or balance point) and a centre of drag:

The centre of drag MUST be behind the centre of mass, and the further behind the better, otherwise the arrow will be inherently unstable in flight. Indeed, if the centre of drag is in front of the centre of mass the arrow will have a tendency to turn round and fly “backwards”.

Ya, the flying backwards part.

Now add this to our learning:

During the shot, the arrow is pushed by the draw force of the bow applied to the nock end of the arrow. The high mass part of the arrow is at the front, and separated from the nock by the bendable shaft of the arrow. As a result, the arrow dynamically bends:

The term “dynamic bend” or “dynamic spine” is used because the degree of bending is difficult – if not impossible – to determine without high speed photography.

So, the arrow starts out bending around the handle of the bow.  I can see a problem with an arrow that is too weak for the bow and it might just break in half.  So, why not have an arrow with a shaft that can’t bend?  I makes perfect sense to me to have the arrow begin going straight and continuing to go straight, right off the get-go.  Why have one that bends at all, is my question.

There is a scientific thing called “Archers Paradox” which was observed by some quick eyed dude back in the early to mid 1920-30’s.  That theory (which is probably more of a law than a theory by now) said, the arrow will bend like you see above, fly around the handle of the bow and then bend back the other way after leaving the bow completely.  It will continue to “wiggle” as it flys down range, each wiggle becoming less movement each time until at some point it will either hit the ground or in the case of an archer desiring a certain result, will hit the target where desired.  You can see that in my picture at the beginning of this story.  A smiling faced archer is a very happy archer indeed.

Here is the explanation of Archers Paradox from the website:

Simplified Arrow Dynamics: The “One Bend” Archer’s Paradox

The term Archer’s Paradox was coined in the mid 1930s by Dr. Robert P. Elmer to ‘explain’ why an arrow would hit a target when, from all appearances, it should strike to the left.

The archer’s paradox is most clearly observed with traditional longbows that do not have a cut away in the riser for the arrow rest.

When shooting a traditional longbow, the arrow must point significantly to the left (for a right handed archer), yet a well shot arrow will shoot straight with respect to the centre shot line of the bow.

The “archer’s paradox” is that the arrow shoots straight, even though it starts off pointing outwards.

The diagram below shows a simplified “one bend” explanation of the archer’s paradox, and this is the explanation I give to beginners.

I say, “the string pushes the arrow which bends around the bow”:

TOP DOWN VIEW OF ARROW, STRING & BOW

The crucial point is that the arrow must be of the correct spine so that it dynamically bends around the bow, the fletchings/vanes do not touch the riser or arrow rest and the arrow flies cleanly to the target.

If an arrow of the wrong spine is shot, the fletchings, nock or arrow shaft will hit the bow. Indeed, consistently damaged fletchings/vanes are always an indication of poor arrow clearance.  Thus, the archer, bow and arrows must be matched with each other.

———–

AHHHH!  To be finally matched with my arrows and my bow….that day will come, but in the meantime, I must learn to be patient and to get my form in proper order.  I’ve been threatened with “electric shock” to stop my bow movement to the right.  But, look at the diagram above, it is the arrow that is kicking my bow, like the tail of a large fish!  I can show you my fletchings and how they are torn up!  They are hitting the bow in a very hard manner and to shock me will be causing nothing but pain to me, the bow will continue to move. (This is sounding a lot like when I was working and the boss would come up to us in a staff meeting and say, “THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES”!!!)

So, some of us are a bit hard headed with it comes to believing this “archers paradox” thing.  I did some more research on it and found a very short video in extremely slow motion and by dang there is something to it.  Watch the video.  There are no animals killed in the production of this video.

Alright then, we now believe in this Archers Paradox.  I still have a tough time thinking you wouldn’t want an arrow that was too stiff to bend, but what the heck.  For now I will trust that is has to bend and that I must choose the right arrow for the job.  Continuing with what the website says:

Arrow Selection

First decide upon a make and grade of arrow: Beman, Easton XX75, X7, ACE, etc. Choice will probably be influenced by price. My advice would be this:

If you are missing the target once a dozen, get cheaper arrows. If you are an 1100+ FITA archer, you will want the best, lightest, thinnest and fastest arrows possible. (For the indoor season a tournament archer will choose fat arrows.) If you are in between, then buy in between.

Think long and hard, then choose. You MUST have faith in your choice! Like any sport, archery is in large part about belief. You must know that you have the right arrows.

————————-

Price is definitely a consideration here.  I don’t want to spend, say $10 for one arrow, and then take it out and plaster it against a cement wall at full speed.  But then, I don’t want to spend $1 for a dozen arrows and have them break apart at my wrist when I shoot them.  So, I have made two purchases of arrows, but have yet to shoot any of them (they haven’t gotten here yet).  So, from the above, decide on a make and grade….here is where the confusion “begins”, make is one thing, grade is another.  And don’t ask me what a 1100 + FITA archer is.  The biggest thing I have gotten from this whole statement is this, “You must have faith in your choice”!  I have faith in my choice of bows so far and I have my three trusty self fletched arrows that are teaching me well about form and archers paradox.  They have a flex all their own.

Well, perhaps this is enough information for this time.  Once I get my arrows I can begin to “tune” my bow.  A quick read on this website show me there are still a whole lot of things to come before I can even expect to hit the target.  However, I have been managing to hit the “paper” the target is printed on, and that is close enough for me at this point.  I have faith!

Bears Butt

February 4, 2015

What a great day yesterday was!  I had a visit by the UPS guy who delivered my new bow!  YEAAA!  I have been mentored by a man named Lynn Heyes from Brigham and he is the go to guy for traditional archery information in the Brigham City Utah area.  A great and knowledgeable guy.  Anyway, he told me to come to his home when I got the bow and he would set it up for shooting.  I could hardly wait to head to his home.

Here is a look at the bow.  You have to understand first off the bow is 64 inches long and so to get all of it in a photo I would have to be too far away from it for you to see the beautiful wood that makes up the handle (riser in bow terms).

This baby is made by Samick, a company out of Korea.  It is their Journey model in 30 pound weight.  It is also a take down model, in which you can remove the limbs for storage and to make it even more unique, I can purchase new limbs in different weights if I want.  Say to increase the weight to meet Utahs bow hunting laws (40 pounds).  So why a Korean bow?  Lynn tells me that the Koreans are the world class act in bow making and shooting in the world.  They take their kids from the womb and put a bow in their hands…..well, not quite, but they teach them from a very young age.

So, Lynn recommended this bow for me.  One, for the quality and two for the price.  This bow was only $140!  Limbs cost $75 if I choose to buy some later on.  Ok, so it came with a string and that is it.  I rushed up to Lynns place and he quickly put the string on the bow.  Then he put a leather patch on the side where the arrow rests.  See the dark half moon looking patch right behind the red mark on the bow.  That patch is to protect the bow from the arrow shaft sliding along it.  He also added an arrow rest, and that is what looks like a red mark.  It is actually red feathers glued down to a plate that form an arc about 1/4 inch wide.  The arrow shaft rests on top of that.

Well, that was not all Lynn wanted to do, he made me a sling to be able to safely put the string on the bow.  By standing on the stringer, you can pull up on the bow and place the bow string around its end groove.

I have to say, Lynn is a remarkable guy and I’m sure glad he took me under his thumb to show me about this archery stuff.

Well, with the bow ready for action, Weasel called and wanted to hit the range.  He is scoring his targets for the upcoming archery contest and Squirrel and I need to shoot our new bows.

Squirrel was not up to a duel with Grandpa as yet and so it was a night to get the feel of my new bow.  Going from a weight of 10 pounds to 30 pounds is quite a change and it was very noticeable down range.  However, I never once missed the back stop and mostly hit the paper the target is printed on.  I really like the feel of this new bow.  Later in the evening, we moved a “bunk” up to the 10 yard mark and had ourselves a little contest.  Weasel spotted Squirrel and I 100 points and told us he would still kick our butts.  We took the challenge and in the end both of us beat his butt BAD!  He will never spot us 100 points again.  During this contest, I got to see exactly what my new bow is capable of:

All 3 arrows in the 10 ring!

Of course that was the only time that happened all night, but that doesn’t matter, I now know the bow is capable of doing some great stuff!

Bears Butt

January 31, 2015

More archery stuff.  You know this archery thing is getting more and more interesting.  I’ve said it before and I’ll probably be saying it until I die:  There is a whole lot more to shooting a bow than I ever thought.

Last night was lesson number 4 for me.  We learned about scoring our targets the official way.  I scored my neighbors target and they scored mine.  Here is something else I have observed about archery.  You have no advantage to be a large framed person.  You have no advantage being a tall skinny person.  You have no advantage being short, young or old.  This is one sport where it is all up to the individual to do good or do bad.    Yes, I see all the fancy stuff attached to a lot of the bows that must help the shooter hold the bow steady or sight on the target better.  I see some with what looks like magnified sights, like a scope on a rifle only not so long and “in the eye”.  There are some with long stabilizers sticking out the front, the side, the back.  Even Weasel has some of that on his bow.  But, if you don’t have all that stuff, you can still put up a pretty good score.  I’ll stick with my recurve bow and wooden arrows (I just made up the wooden arrow thing), no frills shooting.

Back to my lesson and scoring.

Chris is trying to teach us (some of us older than others) the right way to do these things and last night was no exception.  We need to learn what to expect if we ever get into competition shooting.  What are the signals that tell the shooters they can approach the firing line.  What are the signals to tell you it is OK to load (knock or nock) an arrow and take your shots.  What are the signals that stop the line and indicate a problem that needs to be fixed before you go on.  What are the signals that tell you it is alright to go down range and score your target and pick up your arrows.  These are the stinking rules that the archers have developed over the years that keeps things even and up and up….and most of all….SAFE!  HEY!  No RUNNING!

I think as part of a training regiment there should be a movie or a visit to an archery event to see how it all works in the end.  But, she did instill the sense of safe and practical shooting.

My form is coming along as I did manage to hit the paper more often than not last night, so something is coming together in that regard….however…I have developed a BAD HABIT that I had no idea I was developing.  It was pointed out by Lynn, my mentor, that when I shoot, my bow holding hand pushes my bow to my right as I shoot.  This can not be good.  He told me that I MUST hold the bow absolutely rock solid when I shoot and hold that position until the arrow reaches the target.

After being told I was doing that, I actually saw it happen.  Why on earth did I decide (unconsciously) I needed to let the bow move to the right after I shot?  Is there a force caused by the arrow as it proceeds forward that kicks that direction?  I have watched quite a few videos in slow motion that shows the arrow in flight, from the onset of the shot all the way out to the target and believe me there is a whole lot of wiggling of the arrow shaft in the process.

I took the following off a web site called “meta-synthesis dot com”:

An arrow has a massive pile (point) made of high density metal (iron or tungsten), a nock which fits onto the bow string, and fletchings or vanes (UK/USA) that add drag at the rear of the arrow.

An arrow has a centre of mass (centre of gravity or balance point) and a centre of drag:

The centre of drag MUST be behind the centre of mass, and the further behind the better, otherwise the arrow will be inherently unstable in flight. Indeed, if the centre of drag is in front of the centre of mass the arrow will have a tendency to turn round and fly “backwards”.

—————————–

“Fly backwards”!  Holey crap, there isn’t anything safe about that!!!!

Just kidding.  But my point (Pile, high mass) here is that this whole bow and arrow stuff has a lot of science behind it and I’m just beginning to learn about all of it.  I am convinced there is something behind the arrow leaving the bow and my moving the bow to the right.  I just haven’t put my finger on it yet, but I will and I will conquer the errors of my way.

So, we kept a score of our shooting last night.  We were told not to worry so much about how many points we got, but to learn the “hows” of scoring…no cheating now!  It was my understanding that if the arrow shaft touches the line of the higher score ring and there was no “light” between the line and the arrow shaft, the score is to be the higher of the two scores.  I like that way of doing stuff.  You don’t have to break the line, but you must push the air out of it (so to speak).  With scoring you also have to keep track of the “x”s you hit.  X’s are hits at or very near the exact center of the target.  They still only score the highest score for that target, but “X’s” will be used to break any ties between shooters.  So, last night we kept track of all our “x’s”.

As the song says, “All my “x’s” live in Texas”, as none of them came to visit me last night.  Neither did they come and visit the shooter I kept score for.  I felt lucky to hit my target paper (not the rings in the target, put the paper on which the target is printed) and since I began this journey I did quite well considering all there is to accomplish.  Remember one of my first posts where I hit the paper like 4 times all night?  Well, I only missed it about 4 times last night and maybe didn’t miss it at all.  My goal last night was 30 “x’s”, my actual score looked like this:

96.  96 out of a possible 300.  Zero “x’s” out of a possible 30.  I’d say “There is room for improvement”.  Watch for the improvement as time goes on!  When I get my bow hand to hold that bow still during and after the shot, more “x’s” will be adding up…I have faith!

Bears Butt

January 29, 2015

 

Last night Weasel, Squirrel and I hit the Brigham Bowmens archery range for a little practice.  With Squirrel and I it was more than just practice, a double or nothing event was in store.  You see, I promised him a re-match in the quest to see who could out shoot the other and I offered to shoot my 10 pound bow out to the 20 yard line.  After all isn’t it just plain fair that a 9 year old get a 65 year old to succumb to the old vs new mentality?  He with his youth and high powered compound bow and carbon arrows, and me with my age, 10 pound plastic bow and aluminum arrows with self made fletchings.

Well, we shot our six arrow practice and then went to work on the long range shooting for score.

As you can imagine, my butt was getting a bit sore as the contest began and his ego was getting the best of him around the mid shoot mark.  We shoot 10 sets of 3 arrows p/set and score at the end of each of the sets.  By set 5 he had me big time.  I don’t remember the score at that point but I needed something very big in order to stay in the game.  I thought about deflating the football and letting it all out, when at the end of set 6, I scored a huge 17 points!  All 3 of my arrows found the rings on the target!  At the same time Squirrel pulled a zero.  I was leading after that and I told him the lead was mine through the rest of the game!

As fate and my inability to control my arrows took over, I shot the next one with a zero end result.  In the meantime he pulled ahead by one point.

And then my game completely fell apart with arrows going like this picture:

Only none of them were inside any of the rings.  I shot all the rest of the sets netting zero points.

After the 30th shot, Squirrel had me by 5 points.

So, congratulations Squirrel, you won your soda back.  But, remember this, when I get my new bow and fancy arrows and get things all tuned up, you are going down!

Bears Butt

January 27, 2015

The big question:  Is it “Knocked” or “Nocked”, when shooting arrows?  In my mind, if someone said they are are knocking an arrow, they would be putting it down.  And not dropping it or laying it down either.  Like, “These arrows aren’t worth the carbon they are made of”!!!  Or “If I had a crick, I’d throw all these arrows right into it”!!!!  Just a side note.

———————–

There sure is a lot more to shooting an arrow to a point you want it to hit than meets the eye.  I used to think you picked up the bow, nocked an arrow, pulled back and let it fly.  If you were lucky it would hit where you wanted it to hit.  I suppose there is a lot of truth to that.  Actually there is a LOT of truth in that.  But, if you want to hit where you want to more often than not, you have to follow the rules (always stinking rules).

So, I have had 3 lessons so far and these are the rules I have learned to date.  And they are the rules I try to follow every time I shoot, however, sometimes I keep forgetting some of them.

Safety.  Always be safe and never nock an arrow while people are still down range.  And of course never shoot an arrow at anything you don’t want to either pay for or eat.  So, those are the easy ones.  Second, third, forth, fifth and I’m sure there will be a host more coming, all have to do with shooting consistently and hitting consistently what you are aiming at.

Your stance has to be about a 90 degree angle to your target and be relaxed.  Arrow nocked and pointing downward on about a 45 degree angle in front of you.  Raise the bow to be parallel to the ground and the arrow pointing in the general direction of the target.  With a light hold on the bow, draw back the arrow using your other hand to hold the string.  As you draw back, your elbow will rise above your shoulder.  Continue drawing back until your hand  reaches your jaw or face and the bow string actually touches your nose (usually the end of the nose).  With your hand touching your face or jaw and the string touching your nose, you have located your anchor point.  Look down range at the very point on your target you desire the arrow to strike, keep looking at that small point.  Now for the release of the arrow, your fingers will slowly relax allowing the string to fly forward carrying the arrow, and your releasing hand and fingers are to move backward across your cheek, or neck toward your rear shoulder.  If you are a right handed shooter, your “string holding” hand will move back over your right shoulder.

In my short archery career, whenever I have done all these things properly, my arrow will generally go where I like to see it when I have shot.  I have discovered I have a very long way to go.  I’m told by those who have been shooting for years and years, that at some point all of this will become second nature, like riding a bike or shooting under the belly of your horse.  (None of them have said anything about shooting under a horse, I made that up).

Well, I have been practicing all of these things and so far, it is not a natural anything as yet.  I have also been visiting the web and watching Youtube.com for videos on archery stuff.  There is a lot to learn on there.

Today I saw a video about a “second anchor” point, one for your string holding hand.  This guy shoots traditional bows and is pretty good at a bunch of stuff I shall call trick shooting.  But I think he is sincere about this video and its main point….finding a place for your shooting fingers to end up.  Consistency is the name of the game in archery.  Nobody can help you straighten up your shots if you are flying all over the place and not being consistent in what you are doing.

I’ll post up the video so you can see it if you want, but let me tell you about his theory.  I watched the video and grabbed my bow and went out in the garage to see about trying his idea.  I set up my target and walked back to ten yards.  Nocked up an arrow and thought about all the rules, bow up, draw back, anchor point, string against my nose, look at the center of the “x”, and now I had to conscientiously think about the video and what he said, end up with my fingers touching my ear.  I kept thinking about all of these things while looking at that tiny spot on my target, the arrow launched in a perfect arc and landed near the x!  HMMM.  Let’s try it again.

I continued to do this until I was pretty much wore out from shooting.  Well over 100 arrows shot down range.  Here is a picture after I had shot 12 arrows using this technique.

Let’s get a closer look at this:

As a four week old archer I feel pretty dang good about shooting like this and so, I will be employing this man’s idea more and more in the next few weeks.  Take a look for yourself, maybe his idea will help you become a better archer.

Bears Butt
January 25, 2015

Let’s talk about “playing field” for a minute.

When a couple of guys, or a couple of teams are competing against one another for whatever the prize, you want to make sure all the rules (the stinking rules) are going to make the contest even.  This is what I’m talking about when I say “playing field”….the same rules applying to each of the contestants.  The same everything so that when one guy or team doesn’t do as well as the other, at least they were competing with the same stuff to keep it equal.

Recently there was a couple of football teams competing for a very big prize….the championship for their league as it was and with the win, they would go on to play in the big boy game, the Super Bowl.  Well, it has come to light that the winning team of that game had done something “not quite right” by deflating the football a bit which supposedly gave them an advantage over the other team.  You see it was raining pretty good during that game, and not being a football player myself, I can see where a deflated football might just give the guy throwing the ball and the guy catching it a bit of an advantage in being able to grip the ball better.  I don’t know if that is true or not, but the fact remains, there were stinking rules to be followed, and the one team didn’t follow that rule exactly.  Well, they won the game and are going on to the Super Bowl, but not without a lot of fans (of the losing team) calling fowl and wanting them out of the game, calling them cheaters and chanting the age old saying “Cheaters never win”!

So, they altered the playing field.

Last night at bow practice, I was using my Christmas present bow, which is about a 10 pound draw weight bow and my hand fletched arrows to fling down range and try to hit the target.  I tried for the 20 yard mark, but every arrow fell unbelievably low and I think in order to make the arrows reach the 20 yard target I would have had to of aimed at the heater blower that is mounted to the ceiling in order for the arrows to even reach 20 yards.  At any rate, I moved the portable target up to 15 yards and placed my target on that.  Still not an easy thing to reach, but I was doing OK, for a guy who has only been shooting for 3 or 4 weeks with limited equipment.  After all, I have had 3 lessons.

After about 30 shots, Squirrel was ready for competition.  Much like that of last week, where he cleaned my plow and I had to buy the sodas.  He was uncertain about the playing field.  You see he graduated to the 20 yard line with his shooting expertise and I have to admit, he is pretty good.

So, let’s examine the “playing field”:

Squirrel:  Compound bow, with sights, arrows made to shoot straight and true for his bow and bow weight, a trigger release for the bow string, a full year of experience behind him and shooting out to 20 yards.  Age 9 years old.

Me:  10 pound draw recurve bow, instinct shooting without a sight, arrows altered by hand to try and make them shoot straight, a hand made 3 finger tab to assist in bow string release, 3 lessons behind me and shooting out at 10 yards.  Age 65.

Does this seem to be about an even playing field to you?

We have shot our first round of 3 shots each.  I have scored a solid 20, and Squirrel has netted a grand score of 17.  Now, in bow and arrow competition, 3 points is not a big lead and one poke of an arrow could yield a 10X.  X’s scores are the breakers of ties and every archer tries their best to score as many X’s as they can.  I felt good about my lead, however, I know the hazards of over confidence.

Enter the “big deal”, the “deflated ball” if you will.

Suddenly, without warning, a young shooter approached me and asked if we could move the target to a distance he could shoot….8 yards!

Of course we can move the target!  That is what bow shooters do…accommodate!

But, what is that going to do with the “playing field”?

I counseled with my competitor.  HMMMMM.  We will have to see.  Was his comment.  (At least he knew about the “deflated ball”).  I was confused at that but continued to shoot and rack up my score.  Weasel was kind enough to score my target as he went down range to his own.  I wrote my score on my target and Squirrel put his on his scoring paper.  At the end of the 30 shots I ran my score through my trusty calculator and Squirrel scored his using his trusty brain.

Bottom line:  Squirrel = 143, me = 188 with one X.

Well, it is obvious who won, but Squirrel did not have 50 cents with which to buy me a soda.  We agreed that “next time”, I will shoot fairly at the 20 yard mark with my trusty 10 pound bow.  He calmly said “I would have conquered you if I was shooting at 8 yards”.  And I have no doubt about that.

Bears Butt

January 23, 2015