The Perils Of Practice
by: suzee
Well I decided I’d better tell my version before Gary gets his word in… although he could make this much more interesting and fun! … Anyways… I’ve had some struggles this year in getting back on target with my bow. In my defense I have been trying to extend my shooting range, hence there have been some arrows that have strayed a bit! But I have to admit I was rather shocked when my arrow stuck in the trim board of our carport! I couldn’t figure out how it happened so tried again… this time it bounced off the trim board! Being rather stubborn, I nocked another arrow and tried again… same result! I guess I’m not a real fast thinker… but it slowly dawned on me that at the range of 60 yards there is quite an arch to the projectory of my arrow, and since I was having to shoot through our carport the arrow was still so high when it reached the carport it was hitting the trim board! Well we now have a parctice head sticking out of the trim along with two little holes! When Gary got home I wasn’t going to tell him what had happened… but the guilt conscience got the best of me … also by this time I could see a little humor in it!
Looking at the target from sixty yards. Because of trees in the way, I have to shoot through the carport to be lined up with the target.
I added a little character to the trim board!
Well after I finally figured out that I couldn’t stand up when shooting from sixty yards through the carport I was able to have some success hitting the target! … but there are plenty of little reminders around the place to keep me humble and attest to the fact that there are some perils to personal property in practice!
Tags: arrows, bow shooting, shooting range
8 Responses to “The Perils Of Practice”
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Now Sue, however will you and Gary mount that carport in the trophy room?
I feel your pain on this issue. The good thing is you learned about the arc of that arrow/bow combination and how if affects your shots at 60 yards. When I first started shooting at 60 and 70 yards at our range, I was putting arrows into the wooden fence barrier. The scary part about that was that people aren’t very smart and they picnic or walk right behind said fence. I quickly got my bow tuned in and was shooting well after that.
Good luck with your season and put a band-aid on that carport.
Al, I think we’ll just mount the trim board and place it above the two ventilated gate panals and the two hoses that now make good soaker hoses. The water tanks, the barn and the wheel barrow have all survived so far but they do swett when Sue walks by with her bow. When Sue took up archery I bought extra stock in duct tape and shoe goop so I’m partly covered. Since, I’ve found out I should have also got extra stock in freezer paper.
What isn’t told here is that I’m saving some extra cash to purchase a little tomb stone and put the inscription on it “To the lost and unknown arrows,wherever they rest or if they are still flying in orbit ” – if those buggers ever grow from seed, I’m going to have a forest of arrow trees around here.
Its a good thing this is all fun or I’d be the grouchiest cat in Idaho.
I hear that! At least she just shot the carport. I was tuning in a rest last year on my bow and set up my block target against my freezer. Wouldn’t have guessed that I’d shoot right through the darn target and leave a nice hole in my freezer. Fortunately for me it didn’t hit anything inside, just the insulation. Needless to say I was angry with myself, by happy with the power of the bow.
My dad used to tell me I needed radio beacons on my arrows. That’s when I was just buying them at Wal-Mart. Now I take a bit more care and pride in my arrow choices and it shows.
Have a great time practicing, both of you.
Gary- Wellll…. it seems you had fun with this anyway!! I should have let you write this post!
Al- I’m sure glad there are no humans or animals that have been at risk when I’m shooting!… but like Gary has mentioned the personal property has taken some pretty big hits! I’m totally impressed with the power of your bow… through tne target AND the freezer!! I’ve been seriously thinking of getting Luminock nocks for my arrows… that way I can take a flashlight out at night and maybe find all those lost in no mans land arrows! You mentioned taking more care with your arrow selection… I hate to admit that I’m shooting those pretty expensive ones… and still lossing them… OUCH!
That’s some funny stuff right there, but you are not alone.
When I started shooting bows, I refused to use anything but traditional. The thing with trad shooting is that a slight mistake can result in a really big miss. I figured I was good though, with a big, block target in front of a hay bale in front of my wooden, privacy fence, in front of a cinderblock wall.
What I never counted on was clipping a branch and seeing my arrow fly right over that six foot fence! Fortunately, the neighboring property was a commercial nursery (plants, not kids) and they had big piles of decorative rock and gravel in the field behind my “range”.
I was a lot more careful after that, but by the time I stopped shooting back there, the fence looked like swiss cheese, and the poor little plum tree we’d just planted had a big split right in the fork (I duct taped it and it grew back together). The big recycle bin has two nice holes through the lid, and the compost bin has a couple as well.
When I finally broke down and switched to compound tackle, the margin of error was much improved. I’ve only shot four or five holes in the new fence (so far).
I won’t even go into the number of arrows I’ve left in the field, but when I count up the cost of arrows, points, and broadheads… well, I could probably buy myself a nice new Mathews Z7!
Phillip- WOW!… I don’t feel quite so alone now! You also added a new use for Duct tape… I didnt realize it could have such healing powers!
Suzee, didn’t you know? Duct tape can fix ANYTHING!
Hey Sue, I’m sorry to leave this in a comment, but I’m trying to get in touch with you by email and can’t find any contact information on the site. Could you please shoot me an email at hheyser@norcalcazadora.com? Thanks!