Fun with archery!

[Kittish]

The way that my archery coach explained it is that the arrow carries all the energy when you release the string. If you release it WITHOUT an arrow, all that energy travels to the top and bottom of the bow and can basically shorten the life of said bow.

This is essentially the same reason that it's also a bad idea to run a microwave without anything in it. The energy of the microwaves has to go somewhere, and if there's nothing inside the little reflective box to soak them up, they bounce around and back into the magnetron that generated them and it goes boom.

[Gizmo]

Would a stick bow be permitted at the Olympics? If it were, I doubt if anyone would use one, since a recurve gives more power and better accuracy for the same draw weight.

Not as far as I know.

A friend went to the local archery club and said he'd like to shoot there and they said "what bow you got" then sneered when he said he had a longbow 30lb at 28". "No, you'll need a *real* bow...."

It may not have the gizmos and be fibreglass but its still a real bow thanks.....

[darkroxas45]

Neighborhood kid got a compound bow recently and I saw him outside shooting, so I joined him and......well kinda sucked lol. Not too badly but I did hit a box with all 4 of the arrows in one go and took out a medium drink cup and can for a drink that used to contain a drug [hint: cans are red for regular] at probably 30 feet.

[Crossbow]

Not as far as I know.

A friend went to the local archery club and said he'd like to shoot there and they said "what bow you got" then sneered when he said he had a longbow 30lb at 28". "No, you'll need a *real* bow...."

It may not have the gizmos and be fibreglass but its still a real bow thanks.....

Yep. One of the reasons I have not been happy with a lot of commercial ranges near me (not like there's many left)... The prevailing attitude is that if you aren't hunting and using a compound bow, you're not a real archer and therefore not welcome.

And since I've been shooting a crossbow in recent years, it's even worse. Too many places hear "crossbow" and cower in a corner...

[darkroxas45]

XD If my fortune [or in a possible case misfortune] we meet up to shoot together I should just say your SN to see if they do lol

[fireheart]

Not as far as I know.

A friend went to the local archery club and said he'd like to shoot there and they said "what bow you got" then sneered when he said he had a longbow 30lb at 28". "No, you'll need a *real* bow...."

It may not have the gizmos and be fibreglass but its still a real bow thanks.....

Ugh, they can have a from me. (Partner is going to shoot longbow at 30lb, he's been shooting at a little less with a recurve at the moment during training.)

Yep. One of the reasons I have not been happy with a lot of commercial ranges near me (not like there's many left)... The prevailing attitude is that if you aren't hunting and using a compound bow, you're not a real archer and therefore not welcome.

And since I've been shooting a crossbow in recent years, it's even worse. Too many places hear "crossbow" and cower in a corner...

I don't know about crossbows, but the club I'm going to start shooting at is going to be predominantly recurve with a few compounds thrown in. (For example, their last club shoot had 5 compounds in the top 25, with the rest being recurves) Then again, they do train at a former Olympic stadium

[Crossbow]

Ugh, they can have a from me. (Partner is going to shoot longbow at 30lb, he's been shooting at a little less with a recurve at the moment during training.)


I don't know about crossbows, but the club I'm going to start shooting at is going to be predominantly recurve with a few compounds thrown in. (For example, their last club shoot had 5 compounds in the top 25, with the rest being recurves) Then again, they do train at a former Olympic stadium

If you're lucky enough to have a club in your area, you're in good shape. Pretty much everything remaining around me is geared toward hunting, and unless you've got a heavy recurve (or you REALLY know what you're doing), the hunting regulations are against you (at least in my state). So the ranges specialize and shy away from traditional archery for financial and liability reasons. Same with crossbows, unless your state allows them for hunting.

[fireheart]

If you're lucky enough to have a club in your area, you're in good shape. Pretty much everything remaining around me is geared toward hunting, and unless you've got a heavy recurve (or you REALLY know what you're doing), the hunting regulations are against you (at least in my state). So the ranges specialize and shy away from traditional archery for financial and liability reasons. Same with crossbows, unless your state allows them for hunting.

Crossbows appear to be allowed under Archery Australia ruling, but I don't know if anyone actually club shoots with them.

We have 2 clubs in the area, but one is easier to get to than the other (partner and I rely entirely on public transport). The (not-so-local) archery shop is geared towards both hunting and target shooters, although they're also geared towards hunters using compound bows. Some of the hunting equipment is going to be re-optioned by my partner so he can use it in re-enactment.

[fireheart]

So I've finished my course on Saturday. I applied for membership on the Sunday. I do my meet and greet this weekend.

Some highlights from the final session:

-5 people at the last class = lot more time with the instructor which turned out to be sorely needed.

-I discovered that I was pulling back the bow WAY too far. Normally you stop around your chin. I was pulling it to the top of my jaw with no difficulty. Upgraded to a 20lb bow at 68" (I was previously shooting 18lb, 66") and found the temptation to pull back had disappeared, except my hand kept shaking on the bow, so I suspect I need to go down in my bow length.

-Despite this, I managed to earn my sight partway through the course, so I had fun trying to adjust it throughout. (the instructor only gave us our sights when we were doing things "Correctly.")

-I'm gong back for a short 1:1 session before I start club shooting to work on perfecting my technique. Hopefully the club also has some coaches on hand for advice

[Crossbow]

Draw point that I was taught was to touch the string to the tip of your nose and the corner of your mouth. they make a pretty consistent line that's more or less right for a fully drawn bow.

[Gizmo]

I shoot with the Hand resting comfortably just in front of my ear so with a longbow that works with Crossbows comment about where the string is.

And? never try to hold it full pull. You pretty much *should* be shaking if you hold it a bit. By the time you've fulled pulled you should have aimed and be ready to loose. None of this stuff about full pulling and holding it waiting for your target....

[Crossbow]

I shoot with the Hand resting comfortably just in front of my ear so with a longbow that works with Crossbows comment about where the string is.

And? never try to hold it full pull. You pretty much *should* be shaking if you hold it a bit. By the time you've fulled pulled you should have aimed and be ready to loose. None of this stuff about full pulling and holding it waiting for your target....

Interesting. That's pretty much the opposite of what I was taught. Intercollegiate shooting gives 90 seconds to shoot 3 arrows. I bring the string back until it's at just under full draw (like less than 1/2 inch away), then slowly flex my shoulder back to pull just that little bit more. When the clicker trips, you are at a consistent length to release the arrow.

That being said, I have done a number of speed shoots where the goal is to get as many arrows off as possible in 30 seconds. With a recurve, I can usually do 7-8. With my crossbow, usually 5, 6 if I really push it, but my accuracy goes to crap.

[fireheart]

Draw point that I was taught was to touch the string to the tip of your nose and the corner of your mouth. they make a pretty consistent line that's more or less right for a fully drawn bow.

That's what we worked on in my last session. The bow trainer is helping me with this for the time being until I get my actual bow. I was drawing past that to the back of my jaw and almost to my ear. Good for longbow, not so good for freestyle recurve.

[Gizmo]

That's what we worked on in my last session. The bow trainer is helping me with this for the time being until I get my actual bow. I was drawing past that to the back of my jaw and almost to my ear. Good for longbow, not so good for freestyle recurve.

Yeah, my recurve (Nomad 1 piece) does bite if I draw it back that far too.

[fireheart]

Yeah, my recurve (Nomad 1 piece) does bite if I draw it back that far too.

I've been using various Cartel brand bows during my training. Most of them were 1-piece wooden ones, the last one I used had a metal/plastic riser.