By Dan Fiske
Timing, FOC, clearance, peep sight, fiber optic pins, cams, release�..
Why does it have to be so complicated? How was it done 40 years ago? How did
things get so high tech? Why don�t I just try something more simplistic?
Those are just a few questions I asked myself while sitting on stand one
October afternoon. I guess this was one of those thoughts that you get while
enjoying Mother Nature. Those just happened to be some questions that didn�t
go away. I guess something in me made me want to experience the way it
was done years ago.
I went to the basement that night to find a recurve I had bought for a
few bucks at a bargain store a couple years ago. I found it covered in dust
resting on its side on a shelf. I only knew what was printed on the bow
and that was it. I had myself an old Shakespeare recurve that pulled 45
lbs. At 28�. I went out a few days later to buy a string for it. I knew little
about what I would learn over the next couple of months, and had no idea what
a great experience it would be.
I started just flinging arrows at a bag target I used to shoot at with
my compound bow. Sometimes they�d hit the target and sometimes� well, they
didn�t. It didn�t matter to me, as long as I was having fun. There was
something about watching the arrow sail through the air that just made
me want to keep at it. Before long I was online trying to learn everything
I could about shooting my new �toy�. I had lots to learn, but was eager
to learn what I could.
With some advice I had received from members of online forums I bought
some arrows with the correct spine and fletched them up. After that I
started to concentrate on my form. I�d shoot every shot being certain to do
exactly as I did on the previous shot. My footing was the same, my anchor point
was the same, and my release was the same. Before long my arrows were flying
the same. Practice was the key.
Here it is only two months later and progress is coming along great. My
groups are getting smaller, and I�m getting more confident with myself.
As winter gets the better of me I am starting to shoot at close ranges in
my basement, but I hope to continue shooting through out this white
weather. Who knows, if I keep at it I may be hunting traditional style next
year! Maybe as I improve I�ll start shooting cedar arrows, and with a Flemish
style string I construct myself. Whatever I end up doing, I�m confident
I�ll have fun doing it- after all that�s what this great hobby is all about,
right?
