Hi,
I know we have a sports thread but I would like to know if anyone else is interested in archery.
I recently got some lessons (2 weeks) and, after that, am starting to enjoy it a lot!
http://viviendoapesardelacrisis.blogspot.com.es/2013/12/tiro-con-arco.html



Anyone else?

I did archery for about 4 years in the 1980's, until the semi-asshole coach decided to quit without an explanation. I don't care much for the FITA system, basic target shooting is pretty boring in the long run. In the Nordics, a pretty popular alternative is the so-called "game shooting", which involves animal picture targets at ranges of 5 to 60 meters in the forest, with 20 or 30 targets and three arrows each. The catch is that the actual distance to the target must be estimated by the shooter himself, and there can be any sort of gradient in each case. Now, hitting a pheasant-sized thing at 15 meters is not much of a feat on a flat range, but add to that the tricky nature of height difference, and the fact that you must combine that with the range estimate, and it suddenly turns into a more interesting exercise.

Great fun, but quite costly due to lost and ruined arrows. Also, the more powerful bow you can handle, the better you shoot, because the drop of the arrow during flight is dependent on the arrow speed.

Now that I think about it, I could well return to it one day.

I poked around at archery fir a couple years too. Was good fun, and especially the use of lifelike targets in a forest setting could draw me back in.

Target archery isn't all that awesome. Bow hunting, on the other hand, kicks ass. Shit, my cousin and I bow fish for flounder sometimes, instead of gigging the delicious little bastards.

My sole attempt at archery consisted of earning the merit badge during a weeklong Boy Scout camp when I was 14. During practice I managed to hold the bow/arrow so improperly that when I fired it the colored plastic "tail" on the end of the arrow sliced my finger and hand guard open, got blood all over the gear and sent said handguard flying down the range, while my arrow plopped 6 inches in front of me.

Not really archery, but I used to shoot crossbows. Or armbrust, as we'd refer them by their german name(they look like this http://www.allgemeiner-schuetzenverein- ... mbrust.htm). Unlike the crossbows you normally see out there, those weighed around 15kg and required a maddening amount of precision work. It has an almost ritual-like process of bending the string to fit the arrow, finding a comfortable position, aligning the sights, balancing the weight, so on. It's not as "radical" as common bow shooting as you are limited to mostly fixed targets on a fixed distance, but it's very pleasing, for a lack of a better word, and you feel like a fucking champ whenever you do a great shot.

It has been some two years since I touched one though. I can't go to the shooting club with the frequency I used to too, and shooting by myself is impossible as the gear is terribly expensive, since everything is imported from Switzerland.

I've shot a bow a few times, and enjoyed it, but I haven't shot in a while. Same thing with guns.

I love archery! I recently moved to an apartment complex that frowns on weapons though, so my practice is limited. I want to get a new bow and some more arrows, cause I tend to prefer the reusability and silence of archery practice over firearm practice. What draw weight are you using?

Uhm... you mean field or 3d archery:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_competitive_archery
We can't do this at my local club. Just fixed targets in the gallery or in the field:




Fishes? But isn't it difficult because of the refraction?


LOL!


Cool!





I like archery but am not sure about firearms.
We just bought some new arrows for me:



P.S: I just started and am using an initiation bow which is just 20-22 lbs.

Refraction is a significant issue with standard bowfishing (done in the day, usually for species that wallow and sun lazily on the surface, like gar or carp), but less so for what we're doing. We do this at night, in very shallow water, with lighting rigs that are mounted under the surface of the water (limiting the refraction issues).

I took archery for a couple of years, and still have my recurve bow and some arrows.

I have this mental block thing where I can physically anchor any bow I can pull to my anchor point (chin), but when I have an arrow nocked I can only draw half of the way to my chin, if even that. I don't know what's causing this anxiety, but I hate it.

http://www.myarcheryclasses.com/wp-cont ... h_hand.jpg

That happens if the arrows are too short. If you have kids and they have archery as a hobby, watch their growth.

I bet that shit hurts! No, my arrows aren't too short cause I can full draw with a nocked arrow when I know I'm not actually gonna shoot it, and still have an inch of the shaft in front of the bow. I should have said I can't fully draw when I'm shooting, but I can when I'm not shooting. It's a mental anxiety thing.

Uhm... I see. Interesting.


I was intending to buy my own bow before starting lessons but I tried to shoot to 30 ms with my initiation bow and, since I have no problem with this distance, I don't see the point now.


That sounds weird.


That's my problem too cause we don't have much long arrows at my club so I had to use some shorter ones to the point where it was becoming quite dangerorus.
That's why I had to buy my own arrows. I had them yesterday:

Some videos this weekend in the shooting field:



And they told me I'm doing it fine shooting with the initiation bow to 30 ms and could try to reach 40 or 50 ms!

Today I have been shooting to 40 ms with no problem and some arrows (I shot 4 outside) have reached the 50 ms mark with a 20-22 lbs bow. Nice!