Crunch Time

I looked at the calendar this morning and laughed at the cute joke someone had played on me. They had rolled the calendar so that it read “August.” Seriously, how stupid do they think I…huh? What’s that? Oh, I see.

So, as I was saying, archery season begins here in Idaho in 12 days. Got that? That’s 12 DAYS! Don’t be alarmed – I’ll wait for you to get your bow out of the closet, and I might not even shake my head condescendingly. But I can’t promise anything on that account.

I’ve been shooting my bow pretty faithfully for the last 6 weeks, and after putting on a new sight this spring, I was excited to be using the new equipment. However, about 2 weeks ago as I was getting my broadheads tuned in, I noticed something bad. As in, arrows flying drastically to the right. Like, missing the target completely to the right. I’ve never thought of myself as a world class archer, but a guy that misses an 18″ target at any distance inside of 60 yards? That’s not me. So I inspected my bow. Everything checked out fine, so I checked the sight – sure enough. The culprit was found, but punishment was delayed. It seems that the screw for the gang adjustment had stripped and with each shot it would move just ever so slightly to the left. So when I jump back to 60 yards, the ever so slight movement turns into disaster. I promptly went to the hardware store figuring I would show the sight which of the two of us possesses brains. I bought a steel socket hex head screw and clamped that baby down. Tight. I’m pretty sure I even heard the sight squealed a bit. I then went to the range and shot my arrows. 20 yards for 3 shots. 30 yards for three shots. They are starting to drift right.  50 yards for three shots. Definitely drifting right. 60 yards for three shots. Barely hitting the box. Frustrated that I’m not shooting like I normally shoot, I begin to fret that I’ve lost my shooting touch. Proving that of the two of us, I may have been presumptive by thinking it was I who had the brains. Then it dawned on me that maybe my sight was the culprit again. I checked it – sure enough. The steel screw to replace the soft metal screw that came with the sight was not enough. So I called the manufacturer to let them know of the faulty sight. That was Friday – and now as I count down the days to the archery opener, and my 6 day backpack hunting excursion, I begin to frantically call my wife every 30 minutes to ask, “has my sight come, yet?”

For the sake of her sanity, I hope it comes today.