My house and archery range suffer lots of traffic lately, and this will remain the case for some weeks. This puts a severe crimp in a measured approach to archery practice. Gone are the times to focus and think and prepare, then to feel the arrow in the bow as the target is concentrated on. Gone are the meditative moments between shots.

This approach is sort of like the Parcourse video, but the object is to hit the target rather than trying to do a flip while sending your arrow to the next county. This approach uses the recurve, but I conceive that a compound would do as well, as long as the shooter is quite confident of arrow flight control.

As an aside, I was at a gun show this past weekend and got to see the latest whiz-bang compound bows. They weigh as much as a small kitten and have exit velocities of 350 fps and more. Their cams are as big as coffee saucers, but ovoid with an offset hole. They're made with the minimal amount of secret carbon fiber. Whew.

** The challenge with this method of practice is to have the target already set up, then draw and hold a bead on something else, to the right or to the left about twenty degrees. Then quickly swing the drawn bow to the target and shoot.

I found out about this when I had a large field to myself, an empty OJ jug, and my recurve and two froo froo arrows. I nocked an arrow and held it in place with my holding hand index finger, then threw the jug up in the air with my drawing hand. Then I'd quickly set my fingers, draw, aim at the flying jug, then shoot. Hella fun. I shall do it in two weeks when a certain field opens up. Wish I had a vid camera.

I shot this yesterday using this "snap shot" method. We can see there is one high carbon flyer and one low carbon flyer. I think it no coincidence that all three aluminum arrows are low. The last arrows shot, as always, are the yellow feathers, which grouped nicely.



Into a twenty minute window I can slip a snap shot session with each bow, same number of arrows per side.

CDFingers

If I try archery, can I then claim to be re-loader?

Reloading is when you go get your own arrows. Handloading, which requires more skill, is when you talk someone else into go-getting your arrows.

CDFingers

The advantage to this snap shooting is it leaves only a very small moments within which to lose concentration.

But I was able to lose concentration anyway: I lost my first arrow in over ten years. The strangest thing. The arrow just barely missed the plywood sheet I have behind the bag. There is a wooden fence behind that. I was shooting the recurve, so the arrow could not have gone through the wood. The arrow may have slipped between two fence boards. I went out in the alley behind, and I totally scoured. Nada. The arrow may have burrowed. I'll continue to look because it bugs me. Luckily it was an aluminum arrow, which dates back over fifteen years at least, which was when I transitioned to carbon. I have only three left from the years before I went to carbon. Gad: when I had my first compound, a 35 pounder, I was shooting wooden arrows. Time's fun when you're flying fast.

CDFingers

You're practicing bow hunting. My wife moves my archery target randomly around the yard as she goes about her horticultural experimentations. It makes it interesting for me to pop out my garage door, arrow knocked, quickly scan the yard for my target, draw and shoot.

There is more than one carbon fiber arrow resting peacefully in the soil of my yard. It happens.

Setting the bag, getting out the equipment, shooting ten arrows from each side, and putting it all back: 24 minutes.

When shooting this quickly, I'm concentrating on my release, letting my hand come straight back, and it's feeling really nice.

CDFingers

This time I mixed up my routine a bit, shooting the compound first. I usually shoot the recurve first. I find it the most difficult, so I want all my muscles and concentration to be available to me. So this afternoon I shot the compound first, then the recurve. Still short on time and what not, I'm chasing only one shot, many times in a row. August I can return to increasing time on archery.

CDFingers

A character in a war-bow video game is forced to squat and dodge the airborne assault
of the redwood (seen in the smudges at top frame) simultaneously to avoiding the herd of horrendous hydrangeas galloping in from the right. To complicate matters, the enemy is hiding behind the friendly tomatoes (Early Girl, many green yet) on the left. Luckily, an accident of biochemistry provides white markings above the weak spot in the enemies' armor. 5 out of 6 twice. Vanquished.



CDFingers

CDFingers wrote:Reloading is when you go get your own arrows. Handloading, which requires more skill, is when you talk someone else into go-getting your arrows.

CDFingers

Mason wrote:You're practicing bow hunting. My wife moves my archery target randomly around the yard as she goes about her horticultural experimentations. It makes it interesting for me to pop out my garage door, arrow knocked, quickly scan the yard for my target, draw and shoot.

There is more than one carbon fiber arrow resting peacefully in the soil of my yard. It happens.

You spelled shit wrong.