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”.

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“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.

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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

A short read to let you know about my first competition last night at the range.

First of all, Squirrel is really taking his archery seriously, which is very good.  He is focused and very intent on becoming a good archer.  His goal is to be hunting with his bow in 3 years time.  You see he is 9 years old (as of last Saturday).  He received a very nice compound bow for Christmas and has been taking lessons for just over a year.  His bow from the past is just like the one they gave me for Christmas and it has a draw weight of about 15 pounds.  For an 8 year old that is quite enough to draw back.  His recurve bow is adjustable and I think his dad has it set for about 20 pounds draw.  Maybe a little less, but at any rate, it flings an arrow very much in a straight line to the target at 15 yards.

His dad gave him these goals:  Shooting at 10 yards and scoring the same way the big boys do, if he could reach a score of 200 or more, shooting the standard 10 sets of 3 shots each, he could then move out to 15 yards.  At 15 yards, if he can achieve the same 200 score (or more), he can move to 20 yards.  At 20 yards, once he again reaches the 200 mark, he will then begin increasing the draw weight of the bow.

These are very achievable goals and ones purely placed upon Squirrel to achieve.  There are no biases.  Reach the goal, and the goal changes to become more of a challenge.

Well, on Monday, last, he hit just over 200 at the 10 yard mark and was able to then move the target to 15 yards.  He was very excited.

We had our lessons on Wednesday night and he killed his target at the 20 yard mark during the lesson.  So, when his dad said he wanted to go shooting last night he was very excited because he knew he was going to be shooting at 15 yards and scoring.  He was pumped up to say the least and in his own mind he knew the 15 yard target would not have a chance of him not shooting over the 200 point mark.  And then he heard that Grandpa was going to be coming with them!

I will have my little bow and my 3, self fletched arrows and would be shooting along side him.

At the range we set things up and began shooting.  Of course my arrows were poking up and down and around in my target “area”, while his were pretty much sticking straight out and around the yellow ring which is center on the target.

Well, after a full round of him scoring and me just shooting to gain my form, we decided a competition was in order.  We would score my target as well, and whoever shot the best would be owed a soda by the other one.  I’m all for a good competition.  We agreed to score each others targets.

Each “set” is 3 shots and you score each set before advancing toward the next set.  There are 10 sets total for 30 shots and there is a total score of 300 possible.  Of course the very center of the yellow ring has an “X” in it and those get counted as well.  And so if you hear of someone shooting a 286 with 15 “x’s”, that means that half of their shots hit the very center of the target.  Ties are always given to the one with the most “x’s”.  The rings are scored from the center out, 10 (even the X is a 10), 9, 8, 7 etc. out to ZERO!  Zero’s are not good when competing against a 9 year old for a soda.

Let the games begin!

Here is my score sheet at the end of the competition:

104!  With 7 zeros and no x’s.  I did have 2 nines but I also had 4 ones.

Well my competitor shot a whopping 184 and literally “kicked some Butt”!  He won the soda of choice but did not get to advance to the 20 yard mark.  That is his goal for tonight.  I wish him luck!

Bears Butt

January 16, 2015