Hey, Folks.
I'm up on Youtube! Of course, I'm shooting. Hope you enjoy the video below, as I sure enjoyed making it, except for a few "learning" moments with the video editing software. The footage was shot with the help of my friend Chris, as well as simply by aiming the camera and leaning it against something. I have a little Kodak "Play" camera, and it's working pretty well, I think.
Anyway, that's the news for now!
Showing posts with label hurling projectiles downrange at high rates of speed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hurling projectiles downrange at high rates of speed. Show all posts
Monday, October 11, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
I Am In Love, and Other Observations
Rhapsodizing:
My first one had wheels. Cams, really. The Bowtech Black Knight 2, a compound bow featuring a formidable 80# draw weight, IBO rating of 353 feet per second, and an exacting nature that has been illuminated in some of my earlier posts. Compound bows are fantastical devices of great efficiency and power. I would, without reservation, recommend them to hunters and sharpshooters who want to diversify into something beyond rifles and pistols. You'll find that, once well set up, a compound bow will probably out shoot any pistol you have, as well as offering terminal performance that exceeds all but the ultra-magnums, which are in no way easy to shoot in their own right.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Black Knight 2, while admittedly applying just about as much energy on target as is available, features fearsome levels of penetration. A 1250 page phone book was fully pierced by an arrow at 20 yards, with sufficient additional energy to push 6 to 8 inches into the target bag behind the book. That's plenty of power to take down anything on the continent, if you're a hunting enthusiast. Moose and bear included. If you put the arrow where it needs to be, something that a compound bow does not make unduly difficult, the animal will quickly succumb to its wounds. Think in terms of pistol ranges, however, with a 40 or 50 yard shot being at the edges of most people's ability to safely attempt. This is not to say the bows cannot shoot further, this is a limitation of the archer and his ability to practice at extended range. Professional archers routinely shoot at 90 or more yards with great precision. For most of us, though, we tend to find it hard to get a safe location where we can attempt such distances.
The following question comes to mind: Why would anyone want to shoot any type of bow outside a compound? For many, those I might term "functional archers", they may find their alpha and omega in the compound bow. They are the most powerful, quietest, most accurate bows (for the layman) in existence. For many people who have shot firearms, especially long guns, they may find that the learning curve is fairly painless. If you can take a good stance, draw the bow to its stop, aim and hold steady, it's likely that your shot will hit very nearly where you're aiming. Compound bows are built in such a way as to make good accuracy an expectation, rather than a hard-won goal.
That, perhaps, is very much the answer to the question referred to above. The skill required to shoot adequately to the purposes of deer season can be honed, at least by the shooter with some aptitude, over the course of a few months of consistent shooting. Of course, this isn't the end of the road, as there are always greater levels of marksmanship and consistency to be reached, but the ability to hit the vitals of a large mammal at 15 to 40 yards is often fruit that hangs low on the vine with a good compound bow.
This last statement cannot, in most cases, be proven true with bows that lack the technical aids of sights, release aids, stabilizers, and sophisticated arrow rests. Traditional bows, as they are frequently called. It would be a foolish and unsupportable argument to make, were I to attempt to convince you that traditional bows, essentially bent sticks of wood or some elastic material, were superior in technical terms to a compound bow. They are not. They cannot store as much energy, or transfer it to the arrow as efficiently. They are far more reliant upon the flawed perceptions and spacial relationships of the human eye. They are in no way as simple to learn (to shoot--maintenance and tuning of a compound can be quite complex).
However, when we thought of bows as children, when we read of the great exploits of archers in the days of yore, or when we envisioned bold heroes shooting down their enemies in our favorite fantasy novels, we did not picture the sophisticated machinery of a compound bow, did we? We pictured the graceful line of a "D" shaped longbow, or the sinuous outline of a recurve. We imagined the hard-won skill of an archer being the work of years, attributable to thousands of arrows shot and the keen honing of her abilities to account for distance, arc, windage, and angle of the terrain.
For some of us, this greater level of difficulty and involvement are in no way a deterrent. They are very much an element we rejoice in, for the road is longer and more fraught with obstacles along the way. We can be more involved with the success or failure of each shot. When we hit the gold center of the target, it means more. We can trace a line back down thousands of years of human experience, knowing that the gentle thrum of the bow, followed by the almost inaudible whisper of the arrow and then the solid thunk of the impact on target are a point of commonality between us and our ancient forebears. We are participating in and extending the allure and wonder of archery.
I've found, over the course of my admittedly short history of bow shooting, that I tend more toward traditional bows than compounds. If asked today to do some functional task with a bow, I would fall back to the compound, but for the joy of shooting, I just feel more of an affinity to the simpler mechanism of a traditional bow. While I rarely shoot more than 30 to 40 times with the Black Knight, I have been known to shoot literally hundreds of times through a day with my traditional bows. Some of that, perhaps, is attributable to the stern draw of the BK2, but that's not the whole story. There is something else at play that keeps me out there, shooting and retrieving arrows after I should probably have gone in.
Okay, that's enough rhapsodizing for now. Let's get down to the news I wanted to convey for this week.
Love, Loss, and the Whole Affair:
I am, after some false starts and difficulties, the proud owner of a longbow. That last requires explanation, I suppose, so I'll start from the beginning and take you through the whole affair.
After having experienced the unalloyed joy of the PSE Snake recurve, then the beauty and surprising authority of the PSE Blackhawk wooden recurve, I took stock of my experiences thus far. I had a compound. I had two recurves, which a large percentage of "traditional" bows resemble. I did not, however, have a longbow of any sort. Advice given to me by a sage archer indicated that a bow that was longer would be more forgiving, and produce less string pinch on the fingers than its shorter counterpart. This launched me into a fact-finding frenzy wherein I scoured the 'Net to see what was out there, how people liked the offerings, and what I'd have to spend to get something of my own. I'd unwittingly built my brickwork in such a way as to trap myself into a mode of thinking that would result in my purchasing a longbow. I should fight against these unseen stratagems, but they are, in their early stages, well, unseen. Drats. Onward, then.
I was knocking around at Cabela's outfitters several weeks ago, and I happened to go by the "Bargain Cave" area of the store, where they have a variety of close-outs, factory seconds, returns, and other marked-down products. There, leaning against the wall behind another bow rack filled with interesting but not immediately purchase-worthy bows, was a PSE Sequoia longbow, 55# at 68". It was long, it was tall, it was gorgeous. It was also marked down about $40. The danger part was in the "as is, no return" mark on the price tag. That, and the lack of string or arrow pass protective "bear hair" stick on material.
I was throw into mental turmoil by this discovery. It was one of the leading candidates on my list of possibilities for purchase. Early competition came from the Fred Bear Montana Longbow, but I was underwhelmed with its appearance in person, as well as wondering if a paltry increase of 4 inches in length above my recurves would provide the requisite difference in "feel".
So, the Sequoia. I agonized for several minutes, looking it over as thoroughly as I could under the circumstances. It seemed sound. I purchased a string to fit the bow, and had the techs set up a knocking point for me. Using the indoor range, any reservations I may have had were erased, as I was able to put every arrow suitable to the purpose of longbow shooting into their bull's eye. I was smitten, and utterly lost, it seemed.
I arrived at home and faced the understandable consternation that comes from witnessing a person in the grips of bow madness. I strung the bow to show how prettily it made the "D" shape. I was making inroads into explaining myself. I then pulled the bow back to anchor, just as a demonstration. I noticed a bit of a creaking noise. Brow furrowed, I pulled once more, of course letting the bow down easily, as one must. More crackling. I examined the bow, finding that there was a tiny sliver of fiberglass sticking up. "Well," I thought. "Perhaps that's nothign fatal. I could just dab a bit of epoxy on that spot. We'll just..."
I pulled the bow once more. This time, the crackling came with rather more volume. My heart plummeted as I saw that nearly a half an inch of fiberglass had begun to lift on the lower limb of the bow.
After a frenzied call and much worry and consternation, I brought the bow back the next day. To their great credit, Cabela's allowed me to return it and gave me a full refund. I was warned, however, that Bargain Cave items don't guarantee any of that. I imagine there may be a "fool me twice" clause in their records. I resolved at that moment to buy only things that couldn't harbor unseen flaws from that area in the future.
So, that evening, I sat at home, the proud owner of a bow stringer, a Flemish twist string, and a bow slip case for a bow I no longer possessed. Not, as you can imagine, an ideal turn of events. Accouterments are fine things, of course, but they are nothing without their primary implement.
Approximately a week of agonizing followed. At last, I decided to give PSE and the Sequoia another chance. After all, I didn't know what had happened to that other bow before I'd taken possession of it. It could have been abused, dry-fired, or otherwise compromised. That production run could have been plagued with issues. Who knows? I elected to buy the next bow directly from PSE, however, as I didn't have any desire to get a middle man involved. If the bow blew up immediately, I was going to be able to talk directly with the manufacturer.
Search as I might, there were no Sequoias available above 50# anywhere, so I went with that weight. My rationale for going with a higher weight than my recurve was that longbows are rarely quite as efficient in producing cast versus weight, and that they tend to need slightly less spine stiffness in their arrows. Thus, a higher draw longbow would probably work with the arrows that its lighter recurve compatriot prefers. In theory.
The Sequoia took its darned sweet time coming. Holy moley. Weeks. I pined away and continued to have quiet bouts of fear that the second bow would be afflicted with the same problems as the first. I had time to second and third-guess myself.
The bow came, however, and theories were then exposed to the observable facts. First, all of the positive things I'd observed about the first bow were still in evidence. It was light, pointable, and could be made to hit the target without massive difficulties. Honestly, the difference in feel between 55# and 50# were not terribly obvious to me. Both of them, despite their modest draw weight, threw an arrow with obvious power, depositing them in the target with a satisfying thud.
My first impressions were that the bow was very quiet upon loose, and responded best to a smooth, deliberate approach. The speed I employed to draw to anchor generally slowed, compared to the recurve, which seemed happy enough with coming back to anchor as quickly as I chose. The 50# in the longbow feels more than five pounds more than the Blackhawk recurve's 45#, having a decidedly "man's bow" aura about it. This extends, to some degree, to the grip and hand shock qualitatives.
With the arrows I'd been using for the Blackhawk (GT Pro Hunter 55/75s at full length with a 100 grain tip), there was a bit of extra handshock, and the bow shot somewhat to the left, indicating an excess of spine. With the Cabela's Stalker Extremes and 125 grain tips, the handshock decreased and the bow shot straighter.
I initially tried split fingers, but quickly settled upon the three-fingers-under method as being more suitable to the bow. (As a note, I've gone back to three fingers with everything but the Snake as of now.) The handgrip initially came with a buckskin-type wrap of black leather. While this was pretty enough, the wrap wrinkled under my palm and caused me to get a blister on my first day out. I removed the wrap, only to find that very tenacious glue had been used to hold it on. I had quite a time getting it off, but it has, at last, been vanquished.
As for commentary in terms of hand shock, with an arrow that runs somewhat over 400 grains, the quality is, to me, pleasing. It should be mentioned that I have quite rugged hands and wrists, and have been known to be somewhat recoil-insensitive. The best way for me to describe the handshock of the Sequoia is to say it is like a big cam lobe turning and allowing a heavy pushrod to come to its rest. To me, it feels very reassuring in the hand. I don't know of any earthly reason for a wrapped handle, as there is a slim arrow shelf on this bow. The tapered handle, with differing hand placements, should be fine, just being wood. This should particularly be the case, if you're able to hold the bow with the webbing between your thumb and forefinger, as has often been recommended.
I installed some string dampeners that are humorously dubbed "Beaver Balls". All kidding aside, they're small bits of beaver pelt that one wraps around the string and secures by sliding them between filaments therein. They only further dampen the bow, allowing it to be even quieter. The Sequoia makes no more than a low mutter as it propels the arrow, provided that I don't twist or otherwise interfere with the string with a clumsy release.
Power-wise, arrows from the Blackhawk and Sequoia seem to penetrate a broadhead target (with broadheads) about the same distance. I would say that their energy may be roughly commensurate. With a heavier arrow, it is possible that the Sequoia may be able to confer slightly more, but I believe that the Blackhawk may have the edge in efficiency. With that, the sound of the arrow arriving at the target is decidedly different with the Sequoia. It seems, for lack of a better description, to just have a more powerful, authoritative sound.
Accuracy is, and will always be, something that is produced by the synergy of the archer and the bow. Generalizations are difficult to make, I think. That said, I will attempt to confer some useful information. With the Sequioa, it is easier to hit the dead center of the target, whether it be a gold area on the paper, or the middle of a milk jug. That said, it is also easier to have a lapse in form and have the arrow go significantly astray. The Sequoia is harder on my draw hand, and I've had mildly sore fingers after some extended shoots. I already mentioned the blister on my bow hand, though it has now become a callous.
I have been shooting the Sequoia nearly every day now, and though I have also interspersed shooting with my other bows, it has become the one I use the most. I am in no way less enthused about the Blackhawk or the Snake than I was, but the Sequoia...there's something about it.
I should, before I close up this long rumination, say a few things about the Sequoia and how it compares to other longbows. In today's market, longbows can come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The "modern longbow" is often, in fact, a flatbow, with the limbs being flat on the face and belly, exhibiting a rectangular structure.
Another term you may see is "American Longbow", which indicates a cross-pollination between standard English Longbows and the flat bow, which many Native American tribes used in antiquity. In addition, the modern or American longbow will usually have a slim arrow rest. They can also have "reflexed" limbs or a "deflexed" grip that does not flex in the hand. Reflexed limbs, when unstrung, flex slightly away from the handle. Not so much as to be recurved, but perhaps a total of several degrees of reflex between the two limbs. The Sequoia does this, by the way. Deflexed handles are somewhat forward of the limbs, and are said to reduce hand shock somewhat. Most modern longbows are flat, have an arrow shelf, and are built with some moderate reflex/deflex. Sequoia is, by all these terms, a modern longbow. That said, it still produces the classic "D" shape when braced, and has many of the classic advantages of a longbow. With its bamboo and fiberglass-backed limbs, though, it produces more power at its draw weight than a classic longbow would do.
Talking in Definitions:
What, then, is a classic longbow? The most essential answer to that would be a single piece of wood, most frequently yew, in which the back of the bow would be flat, and made from the outer ring of "sap wood", while the belly of the bow would be round in profile, using the heart wood. The bow would be straight as a pole or slightly curved toward the string's curvature (referred to as "following the string" or "taking set"), and would feature no arrow shelf, allowing either right or left-handed people to shoot the same bow, by shooting off of their bow hand knuckle. At most, a handle of wrapped cord, fabric, or rawhide would be provided. The handle would be essentially round. In the most archaic versions of a longbow, it would "work through the grip", which means that the grip itself would flex slightly as one drew back the string. Later versions strengthened the grip area sufficiently to prevent this flex.
Classic longbows could be made from laminations, if good yew wood were not available, though. Woods that were frequently used included lancewood, hickory, and several others. The very heavy longbows that were used in warfare were mostly made with laminations of yew, often from the Spanish or Italian mountains. These conformed to the longbow shape, but were generally referred to as War Bows. As testament to the rigors that humans are willing to embark upon when called to defend their country, these war bows featured very high draw weights, sometimes upward of 150#. While but few of us today, with our video game fingers and noodle like arms, could manage to draw such mighty bows, the little folk of years gone by twisted, contorted, and sometimes literally altered their frames to do so. It's said that the muscle and joint structures of an archer from the 15th century are clearly marked by the difficulties of his trade.
In today's age, if you want to get a bow that conforms to a classic longbow's ideals, you'll want to look at bows marked "English Longbow", or perhaps one of the sort marked "Primitive Bows". I have yet to go that far back into history, but that doesn't mean that I won't. If I do, you'll surely hear about it on Wolf Hawkwind. After this intolerably long blog, then, I'll just leave you with this. Longbows, modern or not, have a certain magic. I've felt that magic, and I am in love.
My first one had wheels. Cams, really. The Bowtech Black Knight 2, a compound bow featuring a formidable 80# draw weight, IBO rating of 353 feet per second, and an exacting nature that has been illuminated in some of my earlier posts. Compound bows are fantastical devices of great efficiency and power. I would, without reservation, recommend them to hunters and sharpshooters who want to diversify into something beyond rifles and pistols. You'll find that, once well set up, a compound bow will probably out shoot any pistol you have, as well as offering terminal performance that exceeds all but the ultra-magnums, which are in no way easy to shoot in their own right.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Black Knight 2, while admittedly applying just about as much energy on target as is available, features fearsome levels of penetration. A 1250 page phone book was fully pierced by an arrow at 20 yards, with sufficient additional energy to push 6 to 8 inches into the target bag behind the book. That's plenty of power to take down anything on the continent, if you're a hunting enthusiast. Moose and bear included. If you put the arrow where it needs to be, something that a compound bow does not make unduly difficult, the animal will quickly succumb to its wounds. Think in terms of pistol ranges, however, with a 40 or 50 yard shot being at the edges of most people's ability to safely attempt. This is not to say the bows cannot shoot further, this is a limitation of the archer and his ability to practice at extended range. Professional archers routinely shoot at 90 or more yards with great precision. For most of us, though, we tend to find it hard to get a safe location where we can attempt such distances.
The following question comes to mind: Why would anyone want to shoot any type of bow outside a compound? For many, those I might term "functional archers", they may find their alpha and omega in the compound bow. They are the most powerful, quietest, most accurate bows (for the layman) in existence. For many people who have shot firearms, especially long guns, they may find that the learning curve is fairly painless. If you can take a good stance, draw the bow to its stop, aim and hold steady, it's likely that your shot will hit very nearly where you're aiming. Compound bows are built in such a way as to make good accuracy an expectation, rather than a hard-won goal.
That, perhaps, is very much the answer to the question referred to above. The skill required to shoot adequately to the purposes of deer season can be honed, at least by the shooter with some aptitude, over the course of a few months of consistent shooting. Of course, this isn't the end of the road, as there are always greater levels of marksmanship and consistency to be reached, but the ability to hit the vitals of a large mammal at 15 to 40 yards is often fruit that hangs low on the vine with a good compound bow.
This last statement cannot, in most cases, be proven true with bows that lack the technical aids of sights, release aids, stabilizers, and sophisticated arrow rests. Traditional bows, as they are frequently called. It would be a foolish and unsupportable argument to make, were I to attempt to convince you that traditional bows, essentially bent sticks of wood or some elastic material, were superior in technical terms to a compound bow. They are not. They cannot store as much energy, or transfer it to the arrow as efficiently. They are far more reliant upon the flawed perceptions and spacial relationships of the human eye. They are in no way as simple to learn (to shoot--maintenance and tuning of a compound can be quite complex).
However, when we thought of bows as children, when we read of the great exploits of archers in the days of yore, or when we envisioned bold heroes shooting down their enemies in our favorite fantasy novels, we did not picture the sophisticated machinery of a compound bow, did we? We pictured the graceful line of a "D" shaped longbow, or the sinuous outline of a recurve. We imagined the hard-won skill of an archer being the work of years, attributable to thousands of arrows shot and the keen honing of her abilities to account for distance, arc, windage, and angle of the terrain.
For some of us, this greater level of difficulty and involvement are in no way a deterrent. They are very much an element we rejoice in, for the road is longer and more fraught with obstacles along the way. We can be more involved with the success or failure of each shot. When we hit the gold center of the target, it means more. We can trace a line back down thousands of years of human experience, knowing that the gentle thrum of the bow, followed by the almost inaudible whisper of the arrow and then the solid thunk of the impact on target are a point of commonality between us and our ancient forebears. We are participating in and extending the allure and wonder of archery.
I've found, over the course of my admittedly short history of bow shooting, that I tend more toward traditional bows than compounds. If asked today to do some functional task with a bow, I would fall back to the compound, but for the joy of shooting, I just feel more of an affinity to the simpler mechanism of a traditional bow. While I rarely shoot more than 30 to 40 times with the Black Knight, I have been known to shoot literally hundreds of times through a day with my traditional bows. Some of that, perhaps, is attributable to the stern draw of the BK2, but that's not the whole story. There is something else at play that keeps me out there, shooting and retrieving arrows after I should probably have gone in.
Okay, that's enough rhapsodizing for now. Let's get down to the news I wanted to convey for this week.
Love, Loss, and the Whole Affair:
I am, after some false starts and difficulties, the proud owner of a longbow. That last requires explanation, I suppose, so I'll start from the beginning and take you through the whole affair.
After having experienced the unalloyed joy of the PSE Snake recurve, then the beauty and surprising authority of the PSE Blackhawk wooden recurve, I took stock of my experiences thus far. I had a compound. I had two recurves, which a large percentage of "traditional" bows resemble. I did not, however, have a longbow of any sort. Advice given to me by a sage archer indicated that a bow that was longer would be more forgiving, and produce less string pinch on the fingers than its shorter counterpart. This launched me into a fact-finding frenzy wherein I scoured the 'Net to see what was out there, how people liked the offerings, and what I'd have to spend to get something of my own. I'd unwittingly built my brickwork in such a way as to trap myself into a mode of thinking that would result in my purchasing a longbow. I should fight against these unseen stratagems, but they are, in their early stages, well, unseen. Drats. Onward, then.
I was knocking around at Cabela's outfitters several weeks ago, and I happened to go by the "Bargain Cave" area of the store, where they have a variety of close-outs, factory seconds, returns, and other marked-down products. There, leaning against the wall behind another bow rack filled with interesting but not immediately purchase-worthy bows, was a PSE Sequoia longbow, 55# at 68". It was long, it was tall, it was gorgeous. It was also marked down about $40. The danger part was in the "as is, no return" mark on the price tag. That, and the lack of string or arrow pass protective "bear hair" stick on material.
I was throw into mental turmoil by this discovery. It was one of the leading candidates on my list of possibilities for purchase. Early competition came from the Fred Bear Montana Longbow, but I was underwhelmed with its appearance in person, as well as wondering if a paltry increase of 4 inches in length above my recurves would provide the requisite difference in "feel".
So, the Sequoia. I agonized for several minutes, looking it over as thoroughly as I could under the circumstances. It seemed sound. I purchased a string to fit the bow, and had the techs set up a knocking point for me. Using the indoor range, any reservations I may have had were erased, as I was able to put every arrow suitable to the purpose of longbow shooting into their bull's eye. I was smitten, and utterly lost, it seemed.
I arrived at home and faced the understandable consternation that comes from witnessing a person in the grips of bow madness. I strung the bow to show how prettily it made the "D" shape. I was making inroads into explaining myself. I then pulled the bow back to anchor, just as a demonstration. I noticed a bit of a creaking noise. Brow furrowed, I pulled once more, of course letting the bow down easily, as one must. More crackling. I examined the bow, finding that there was a tiny sliver of fiberglass sticking up. "Well," I thought. "Perhaps that's nothign fatal. I could just dab a bit of epoxy on that spot. We'll just..."
I pulled the bow once more. This time, the crackling came with rather more volume. My heart plummeted as I saw that nearly a half an inch of fiberglass had begun to lift on the lower limb of the bow.
After a frenzied call and much worry and consternation, I brought the bow back the next day. To their great credit, Cabela's allowed me to return it and gave me a full refund. I was warned, however, that Bargain Cave items don't guarantee any of that. I imagine there may be a "fool me twice" clause in their records. I resolved at that moment to buy only things that couldn't harbor unseen flaws from that area in the future.
So, that evening, I sat at home, the proud owner of a bow stringer, a Flemish twist string, and a bow slip case for a bow I no longer possessed. Not, as you can imagine, an ideal turn of events. Accouterments are fine things, of course, but they are nothing without their primary implement.
Approximately a week of agonizing followed. At last, I decided to give PSE and the Sequoia another chance. After all, I didn't know what had happened to that other bow before I'd taken possession of it. It could have been abused, dry-fired, or otherwise compromised. That production run could have been plagued with issues. Who knows? I elected to buy the next bow directly from PSE, however, as I didn't have any desire to get a middle man involved. If the bow blew up immediately, I was going to be able to talk directly with the manufacturer.
Search as I might, there were no Sequoias available above 50# anywhere, so I went with that weight. My rationale for going with a higher weight than my recurve was that longbows are rarely quite as efficient in producing cast versus weight, and that they tend to need slightly less spine stiffness in their arrows. Thus, a higher draw longbow would probably work with the arrows that its lighter recurve compatriot prefers. In theory.
The Sequoia took its darned sweet time coming. Holy moley. Weeks. I pined away and continued to have quiet bouts of fear that the second bow would be afflicted with the same problems as the first. I had time to second and third-guess myself.
The bow came, however, and theories were then exposed to the observable facts. First, all of the positive things I'd observed about the first bow were still in evidence. It was light, pointable, and could be made to hit the target without massive difficulties. Honestly, the difference in feel between 55# and 50# were not terribly obvious to me. Both of them, despite their modest draw weight, threw an arrow with obvious power, depositing them in the target with a satisfying thud.
My first impressions were that the bow was very quiet upon loose, and responded best to a smooth, deliberate approach. The speed I employed to draw to anchor generally slowed, compared to the recurve, which seemed happy enough with coming back to anchor as quickly as I chose. The 50# in the longbow feels more than five pounds more than the Blackhawk recurve's 45#, having a decidedly "man's bow" aura about it. This extends, to some degree, to the grip and hand shock qualitatives.
With the arrows I'd been using for the Blackhawk (GT Pro Hunter 55/75s at full length with a 100 grain tip), there was a bit of extra handshock, and the bow shot somewhat to the left, indicating an excess of spine. With the Cabela's Stalker Extremes and 125 grain tips, the handshock decreased and the bow shot straighter.
I initially tried split fingers, but quickly settled upon the three-fingers-under method as being more suitable to the bow. (As a note, I've gone back to three fingers with everything but the Snake as of now.) The handgrip initially came with a buckskin-type wrap of black leather. While this was pretty enough, the wrap wrinkled under my palm and caused me to get a blister on my first day out. I removed the wrap, only to find that very tenacious glue had been used to hold it on. I had quite a time getting it off, but it has, at last, been vanquished.
As for commentary in terms of hand shock, with an arrow that runs somewhat over 400 grains, the quality is, to me, pleasing. It should be mentioned that I have quite rugged hands and wrists, and have been known to be somewhat recoil-insensitive. The best way for me to describe the handshock of the Sequoia is to say it is like a big cam lobe turning and allowing a heavy pushrod to come to its rest. To me, it feels very reassuring in the hand. I don't know of any earthly reason for a wrapped handle, as there is a slim arrow shelf on this bow. The tapered handle, with differing hand placements, should be fine, just being wood. This should particularly be the case, if you're able to hold the bow with the webbing between your thumb and forefinger, as has often been recommended.
I installed some string dampeners that are humorously dubbed "Beaver Balls". All kidding aside, they're small bits of beaver pelt that one wraps around the string and secures by sliding them between filaments therein. They only further dampen the bow, allowing it to be even quieter. The Sequoia makes no more than a low mutter as it propels the arrow, provided that I don't twist or otherwise interfere with the string with a clumsy release.
Power-wise, arrows from the Blackhawk and Sequoia seem to penetrate a broadhead target (with broadheads) about the same distance. I would say that their energy may be roughly commensurate. With a heavier arrow, it is possible that the Sequoia may be able to confer slightly more, but I believe that the Blackhawk may have the edge in efficiency. With that, the sound of the arrow arriving at the target is decidedly different with the Sequoia. It seems, for lack of a better description, to just have a more powerful, authoritative sound.
Accuracy is, and will always be, something that is produced by the synergy of the archer and the bow. Generalizations are difficult to make, I think. That said, I will attempt to confer some useful information. With the Sequioa, it is easier to hit the dead center of the target, whether it be a gold area on the paper, or the middle of a milk jug. That said, it is also easier to have a lapse in form and have the arrow go significantly astray. The Sequoia is harder on my draw hand, and I've had mildly sore fingers after some extended shoots. I already mentioned the blister on my bow hand, though it has now become a callous.
I have been shooting the Sequoia nearly every day now, and though I have also interspersed shooting with my other bows, it has become the one I use the most. I am in no way less enthused about the Blackhawk or the Snake than I was, but the Sequoia...there's something about it.
I should, before I close up this long rumination, say a few things about the Sequoia and how it compares to other longbows. In today's market, longbows can come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The "modern longbow" is often, in fact, a flatbow, with the limbs being flat on the face and belly, exhibiting a rectangular structure.
Another term you may see is "American Longbow", which indicates a cross-pollination between standard English Longbows and the flat bow, which many Native American tribes used in antiquity. In addition, the modern or American longbow will usually have a slim arrow rest. They can also have "reflexed" limbs or a "deflexed" grip that does not flex in the hand. Reflexed limbs, when unstrung, flex slightly away from the handle. Not so much as to be recurved, but perhaps a total of several degrees of reflex between the two limbs. The Sequoia does this, by the way. Deflexed handles are somewhat forward of the limbs, and are said to reduce hand shock somewhat. Most modern longbows are flat, have an arrow shelf, and are built with some moderate reflex/deflex. Sequoia is, by all these terms, a modern longbow. That said, it still produces the classic "D" shape when braced, and has many of the classic advantages of a longbow. With its bamboo and fiberglass-backed limbs, though, it produces more power at its draw weight than a classic longbow would do.
Talking in Definitions:
What, then, is a classic longbow? The most essential answer to that would be a single piece of wood, most frequently yew, in which the back of the bow would be flat, and made from the outer ring of "sap wood", while the belly of the bow would be round in profile, using the heart wood. The bow would be straight as a pole or slightly curved toward the string's curvature (referred to as "following the string" or "taking set"), and would feature no arrow shelf, allowing either right or left-handed people to shoot the same bow, by shooting off of their bow hand knuckle. At most, a handle of wrapped cord, fabric, or rawhide would be provided. The handle would be essentially round. In the most archaic versions of a longbow, it would "work through the grip", which means that the grip itself would flex slightly as one drew back the string. Later versions strengthened the grip area sufficiently to prevent this flex.
Classic longbows could be made from laminations, if good yew wood were not available, though. Woods that were frequently used included lancewood, hickory, and several others. The very heavy longbows that were used in warfare were mostly made with laminations of yew, often from the Spanish or Italian mountains. These conformed to the longbow shape, but were generally referred to as War Bows. As testament to the rigors that humans are willing to embark upon when called to defend their country, these war bows featured very high draw weights, sometimes upward of 150#. While but few of us today, with our video game fingers and noodle like arms, could manage to draw such mighty bows, the little folk of years gone by twisted, contorted, and sometimes literally altered their frames to do so. It's said that the muscle and joint structures of an archer from the 15th century are clearly marked by the difficulties of his trade.
In today's age, if you want to get a bow that conforms to a classic longbow's ideals, you'll want to look at bows marked "English Longbow", or perhaps one of the sort marked "Primitive Bows". I have yet to go that far back into history, but that doesn't mean that I won't. If I do, you'll surely hear about it on Wolf Hawkwind. After this intolerably long blog, then, I'll just leave you with this. Longbows, modern or not, have a certain magic. I've felt that magic, and I am in love.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Range Report 9/15/10
Hey, folks:
Here's the latest archery news from this quadrant.
Night Gallery:
I'm pleased to say that the new orientation of my target backstop, now itself being backstopped by the garage, is working out swimmingly. I can shoot from a variety of angles and distances, up to about 22 yards, with no problems, and without putting any innocent bystanders in danger.
As a bonus, the change puts the backstop on the east end of the backyard, which allows for late afternoon shooting without facing the sun. Also, this is the "light" end of the yard at night, with some residual illumination from a nearby street lamp. Thus, my night gallery* hi jinx are easier to pull off. I just put my little battery powered lamp on the patio table, and I have all the light I could need, even on a cloudy night. It's pretty swell, considering that, at least two days per week, it's dark by the time I come home from work, and I might still need to scratch "that itch".
Heavy Arrows:
I read more about arrow weight vs. draw weight in the various nooks and crannies of the Internet, and found that my arrows were not necessarily overly heavy for the draw weight/length of my recurve, the sweet 'lil PSE Blackhawk. To test, I tried using a heavy (nearly 600 grain) Easton 2317 aluminum arrow at @30 overall length. Now, this is a bit short and a lot too stiff for the bow in question, but I wanted to feel what the difference would be in terms of shooting dynamics. The structure of the Blackhawk recurve's arrow shelf is such that it gives you about two inches of effective overdraw, as the hollow of the handle is well forward of the back of the arrow shelf. This allowed me, with care, to shoot the 2317s, which had been prepared for a compound bow.
I found out a few things. One, a heavier arrow does, indeed make a recurve shoot somewhat more smoothly. While the arrows I normally use, which are a few hundred grains lighter, don't produce any untoward hand shock or loud noise, the heavier arrows made the release nearly "dead in the hand" and quieted the bow even further. Downside? The big Eastons shoot way to the left, as they've got too much spine stiffness.
My second experiment, and the goofier one, was to fill one of my Gold Tip carbons, which are more or less correctly spined for the bow, with sand, to see how that turned out. I did. According to the rough accuracy of a food scale, the weight went from 30 grams (around 460 grains) to 64 grams (around 1,000 grains). The arrow shot fine, hit the target with a heck of a wallop, but moved pretty darned slowly. Obviously, the elevation aiming point changed.
In the end, I shot the weighted and unweighted arrows cheek by jowel, and found that there wasn't enough difference to fiddle with all of them, trying to get the right amount of sand in each one. Anyway, I wonder how healthy that would have been for the arrows, over the long haul.
Because I'm still interested in a little more weight, I've ordered 145 grain bullet points for the Gold Tip arrows, just to see how that goes. It would add 45 grains to the front of the arrow, and it's possible that it will push them close to being underspined for the recurve, but we'll see. On the other hand, they might be the very thing for the longbow that I have on order (more on that in a moment).
Lean Angles, Draw Hand and Alternate Shooting Stances:
I noticed that, for a few shooting sessions with my Blackhawk, I was having some problems with shooting to the right, which was a new one. It turned out that I was canting the bow too much, a bleed-over from the best angle for the Snake, which is more over-spined with the Cabela's Stalker Extreme arrows I'm using. I straightened up, and hey, the arrows flew a true course. Wonder of wonders.
I've gone back to a split finger draw with the Blackhawk. After a few light hearted shots without any draw hand protection one day, I found that the split finger felt more natural with that bow. I've been using it since, and find it to cause less asymmetrical force on the string, as well as being comfortable and repeatable. I'm not closing the book on three-fingers-under, but for my recurves, split fingers seems to be the very thing.
Shooting from alternate stances has been something that I've been interested in of late. I have tried, in small measure, a variety of different ways of shooting. These include stooping or squatting, kneeling, and even sitting down. I can do all of these with pretty decent results with the Snake, but I've practiced less with the Blackhawk.
I did quite a bit of practice yesterday. Here are my findings. From a double-knee kneeling posture, I'm possibly more accurate than standing up. It's very natural. I don't really have to change anything, and I'm still far enough from the ground to use my normal bow lean without worrying about hitting the ground (with a 60 inch bow). Kneeling with one knee (left) up, is not too bad, but not quite as natural as double knee. I think it might "open" my effective stance a little more than I'm used to. Still, it's certainly not bad. Seated position makes me lean the Blackhawk too far, and the aim point is such that I have to aim several inches to the left of my target. Offset aiming in two vectors is tough for my little brain to work out sometimes, so I feel like that one's sort of a no-go. As to stooping, as long as the shot isn't really long, it works just fine.
Going Lefty and Snap Shooting:
I've been having great fun shooting the Snake bow left handed. I find that, if I'm deliberate, I can get really good results. Due to the change in flight dynamics (something of a mystery to me), I can hold the bow nearly straight up and down, and get good flight from the left handed stance. Go figure. Anyway, that takes one thing out of the loop in terms of things to remember. I may, at some point, get a bow with now arrow shelf, so that I can trade back and forth with a heavier bow than the Snake. As it stands, it's my trick bow.
I read about short bows and snap shooting online, and was interested to see if I could do it. I'd been trying snap shooting (not pulling the string back all the way, using a floating aiming point and just "eyeballing" where the arrow will go) while pretending a milk jug was a fish, but I hadn't tried it while shooting at a standard target.
Well, I tried it with the Blackhawk last night. From ten yards away, I'm pretty darned good at it, it turns out. The thing that really surprised me is the power retained while not pulling the bow back more than about 20 or 22 inches (a guess). It still thuds into the target with pretty good power. I would venture a guess that, with practice, one could get nearly as good from 7 to 10 yards at snap shooting as they are when shooting conventionally. Great fun, and lets you know what the cultures whose bows wouldn't pull back to the chin/mouth/ear anchor had to contend with. I should mention that, to my knowledge, most archaic cultures that used shorter bows had this constraint. It's do-able, though. Just like anything, it takes practice with the bow in question. If you're to be a real archery student, I think you'll find it worth a go.
Waiting for My Longbow:
I purchased a PSE Sequoia longbow (55#) a few weeks ago from Cabela's "Bargain Cave", after having been smitten and altogether put beyond the reach of reason by its beauty and sweet shooting. However, someone had obviously mistreated the bow before I took possession of it, as it began to de-laminate upon the first test draw when I got it home. I took the bow back, and though they didn't have to, as it was an "as is" purchase, Cabela's did allow me to return the bow for a refund.
I was so bummed out. In reality, I was in the dumps about the whole thing. I had liked that bow, big time. Should I trust the make/model again, or should I look for my entertainment elsewhere? On the night of Labor Day, I made up my mind. I would order another one, this time from PSE directly. So I did. I am still waiting for the bow, as there was an inventory issue, it seems. There were no 55# bows available, so I ordered a 50# instead. I just got confirmation that it shipped today, so I hope that it will appear at my house by Friday or Saturday. Expect a detailed report. Man, I hope this one holds together and shoots like the other one. I've got a Flemish Twist string (nock point installed and everything), a bow case, a stringer, some string silencers, and a Bear Hair rest for this bow. It had better do me right. I think it will, though, because my experience with my other two PSE bows has been so positive.
All right, that's enough for now. Hope everyone's well.
* Note: Night Gallery is what my cousin Bob dubbed my archery practice in the dark.
Here's the latest archery news from this quadrant.
Night Gallery:
I'm pleased to say that the new orientation of my target backstop, now itself being backstopped by the garage, is working out swimmingly. I can shoot from a variety of angles and distances, up to about 22 yards, with no problems, and without putting any innocent bystanders in danger.
As a bonus, the change puts the backstop on the east end of the backyard, which allows for late afternoon shooting without facing the sun. Also, this is the "light" end of the yard at night, with some residual illumination from a nearby street lamp. Thus, my night gallery* hi jinx are easier to pull off. I just put my little battery powered lamp on the patio table, and I have all the light I could need, even on a cloudy night. It's pretty swell, considering that, at least two days per week, it's dark by the time I come home from work, and I might still need to scratch "that itch".
Heavy Arrows:
I read more about arrow weight vs. draw weight in the various nooks and crannies of the Internet, and found that my arrows were not necessarily overly heavy for the draw weight/length of my recurve, the sweet 'lil PSE Blackhawk. To test, I tried using a heavy (nearly 600 grain) Easton 2317 aluminum arrow at @30 overall length. Now, this is a bit short and a lot too stiff for the bow in question, but I wanted to feel what the difference would be in terms of shooting dynamics. The structure of the Blackhawk recurve's arrow shelf is such that it gives you about two inches of effective overdraw, as the hollow of the handle is well forward of the back of the arrow shelf. This allowed me, with care, to shoot the 2317s, which had been prepared for a compound bow.
I found out a few things. One, a heavier arrow does, indeed make a recurve shoot somewhat more smoothly. While the arrows I normally use, which are a few hundred grains lighter, don't produce any untoward hand shock or loud noise, the heavier arrows made the release nearly "dead in the hand" and quieted the bow even further. Downside? The big Eastons shoot way to the left, as they've got too much spine stiffness.
My second experiment, and the goofier one, was to fill one of my Gold Tip carbons, which are more or less correctly spined for the bow, with sand, to see how that turned out. I did. According to the rough accuracy of a food scale, the weight went from 30 grams (around 460 grains) to 64 grams (around 1,000 grains). The arrow shot fine, hit the target with a heck of a wallop, but moved pretty darned slowly. Obviously, the elevation aiming point changed.
In the end, I shot the weighted and unweighted arrows cheek by jowel, and found that there wasn't enough difference to fiddle with all of them, trying to get the right amount of sand in each one. Anyway, I wonder how healthy that would have been for the arrows, over the long haul.
Because I'm still interested in a little more weight, I've ordered 145 grain bullet points for the Gold Tip arrows, just to see how that goes. It would add 45 grains to the front of the arrow, and it's possible that it will push them close to being underspined for the recurve, but we'll see. On the other hand, they might be the very thing for the longbow that I have on order (more on that in a moment).
Lean Angles, Draw Hand and Alternate Shooting Stances:
I noticed that, for a few shooting sessions with my Blackhawk, I was having some problems with shooting to the right, which was a new one. It turned out that I was canting the bow too much, a bleed-over from the best angle for the Snake, which is more over-spined with the Cabela's Stalker Extreme arrows I'm using. I straightened up, and hey, the arrows flew a true course. Wonder of wonders.
I've gone back to a split finger draw with the Blackhawk. After a few light hearted shots without any draw hand protection one day, I found that the split finger felt more natural with that bow. I've been using it since, and find it to cause less asymmetrical force on the string, as well as being comfortable and repeatable. I'm not closing the book on three-fingers-under, but for my recurves, split fingers seems to be the very thing.
Shooting from alternate stances has been something that I've been interested in of late. I have tried, in small measure, a variety of different ways of shooting. These include stooping or squatting, kneeling, and even sitting down. I can do all of these with pretty decent results with the Snake, but I've practiced less with the Blackhawk.
I did quite a bit of practice yesterday. Here are my findings. From a double-knee kneeling posture, I'm possibly more accurate than standing up. It's very natural. I don't really have to change anything, and I'm still far enough from the ground to use my normal bow lean without worrying about hitting the ground (with a 60 inch bow). Kneeling with one knee (left) up, is not too bad, but not quite as natural as double knee. I think it might "open" my effective stance a little more than I'm used to. Still, it's certainly not bad. Seated position makes me lean the Blackhawk too far, and the aim point is such that I have to aim several inches to the left of my target. Offset aiming in two vectors is tough for my little brain to work out sometimes, so I feel like that one's sort of a no-go. As to stooping, as long as the shot isn't really long, it works just fine.
Going Lefty and Snap Shooting:
I've been having great fun shooting the Snake bow left handed. I find that, if I'm deliberate, I can get really good results. Due to the change in flight dynamics (something of a mystery to me), I can hold the bow nearly straight up and down, and get good flight from the left handed stance. Go figure. Anyway, that takes one thing out of the loop in terms of things to remember. I may, at some point, get a bow with now arrow shelf, so that I can trade back and forth with a heavier bow than the Snake. As it stands, it's my trick bow.
I read about short bows and snap shooting online, and was interested to see if I could do it. I'd been trying snap shooting (not pulling the string back all the way, using a floating aiming point and just "eyeballing" where the arrow will go) while pretending a milk jug was a fish, but I hadn't tried it while shooting at a standard target.
Well, I tried it with the Blackhawk last night. From ten yards away, I'm pretty darned good at it, it turns out. The thing that really surprised me is the power retained while not pulling the bow back more than about 20 or 22 inches (a guess). It still thuds into the target with pretty good power. I would venture a guess that, with practice, one could get nearly as good from 7 to 10 yards at snap shooting as they are when shooting conventionally. Great fun, and lets you know what the cultures whose bows wouldn't pull back to the chin/mouth/ear anchor had to contend with. I should mention that, to my knowledge, most archaic cultures that used shorter bows had this constraint. It's do-able, though. Just like anything, it takes practice with the bow in question. If you're to be a real archery student, I think you'll find it worth a go.
Waiting for My Longbow:
I purchased a PSE Sequoia longbow (55#) a few weeks ago from Cabela's "Bargain Cave", after having been smitten and altogether put beyond the reach of reason by its beauty and sweet shooting. However, someone had obviously mistreated the bow before I took possession of it, as it began to de-laminate upon the first test draw when I got it home. I took the bow back, and though they didn't have to, as it was an "as is" purchase, Cabela's did allow me to return the bow for a refund.
I was so bummed out. In reality, I was in the dumps about the whole thing. I had liked that bow, big time. Should I trust the make/model again, or should I look for my entertainment elsewhere? On the night of Labor Day, I made up my mind. I would order another one, this time from PSE directly. So I did. I am still waiting for the bow, as there was an inventory issue, it seems. There were no 55# bows available, so I ordered a 50# instead. I just got confirmation that it shipped today, so I hope that it will appear at my house by Friday or Saturday. Expect a detailed report. Man, I hope this one holds together and shoots like the other one. I've got a Flemish Twist string (nock point installed and everything), a bow case, a stringer, some string silencers, and a Bear Hair rest for this bow. It had better do me right. I think it will, though, because my experience with my other two PSE bows has been so positive.
All right, that's enough for now. Hope everyone's well.
* Note: Night Gallery is what my cousin Bob dubbed my archery practice in the dark.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Patrick Went Shooting With A Stick Of Wood
It all comes down to a bent stick, a string, and an arrow. A few weeks ago, I purchased a wooden recurve bow, after having been so enchanted with the little plastic "Youth" bow, the PSE Snake. After doing a good amount of research, I went with PSE's Blackhawk bow. It's got a cherry and hard maple riser and maple/fiberglass limbs. It's a real looker, and a fast shooting bow, as well.
Now, the reason that I'm just writing my review of it is that there have been a few issues, none of which I can blame on the bow. First, the string that was provided with the bow (not the PSE stock string, I don't think, but just a random string that was hanging around the Pro Shop at Cabela's) was too long, and of poor quality. I had only shot a few hundred arrows before the string started to punk out on me. That, and the low brace height (distance from the body of the bow to the string) made for a rough shooting experience, with more shock to the hand and bow noise than seemed reasonable.
I ordered a new string, some string dampeners (marketed as "brush guards"), and covered the bow shelf and undershelf with self-adhesive felt I happened to have hanging around.
After the new string was on, the bow tuned, the nock set placement figured out, and things generally going in a straight line, I was finally able to evaluate the bow under fair circumstances.
The evaluation is as follows:
1) Value: The PSE Blackhawk is a beautiful bow (I'll post pics some time soon). For the money ($200), it is built well, and has sinuous, classic lines that just make you want to touch it and hold it and make it yours.
2) Power: This is an efficient little bow. At 45 pounds of draw, it still really throws an arrow with authority. I use carbon arrows of between @400 and 435 grains, and they get to the target with a lot of power and speed. Now, because I have a long draw, at 32 inches, this adds to the amount of power the bow can create, but I want to stress that, even with the modest draw weight, these little recurves can do serious business. With an Innerlock broadhead, I got about 11 inches of penetration on a foam target from 20 yards away. That should be sufficient to your purpose for most hunting situations.
3) Smooth shooting: With the brace height set properly (around 7 inches), the Blackhawk has almost no hand shock, and is very nice to shoot, even up into the 100 shot range for a session, provided your draw weight is selected to match your level of strength. I found it advantageous to put some heavy felt on the bottom side of the arrow shelf, so that my thumb joint wasn't right against the wood, which seemed to help, too. Different grip techniques and hand shapes may have differing mileage. As to the process of taming string noise, my sense is that the best way to go is to just pick up a pack of those self adhesive felt circles at your local hardware store, and mount them so that they just touch the string where it lays against the limbs. That should dampen the string, and decrease slap upon shooting. Use the left over felt for feet on heavy furniture, or just tuck them away against the possibility that you'll lose one off your bow.
4) Handy: At 60 inches unstrung, the Blackhawk is a handy size, allowing for easy kneeling, bent, or seated shooting, should that be required. I've tried all of those things with good success. The bow is also very light, at less than two pounds altogether. You should have no concerns about getting arm-weary if you're going to take this bow into the field. Across your back, you'd hardly know it's there. Even shooters of modest stature should have no issues with this bow size. In reality, it's probably a bit short for me, but that has yet to lead to any problems. It may be that I will wear the bow out sooner than a person with a shorter draw, or that the bow will "take set" at shoot with slightly less authority after a while, but I see no evidence of that happening, and I'm probably nearing a thousand shots already.
5) Accurate: Now, this is where your mileage will vary most. Traditional bows aren't necessarily easy. You have to learn what they respond to, and where they tend to shoot at various ranges. How much cant should the bow have to shoot straight? How much gap at a particular range (if you're using the gap method)? Then there are all the technical aspects, like stance, posture, head position, anchor point, and so on.
Now, I'm not the world's foremost archer, and I'll admit to being very early in my development, but I can tell you that the Blackhawk will give back what you put in. If you're a good shooter, you'll hit well, once you learn your way around the bow. On a good day, I can go nine-of-ten on a half gallon milk jug from ten or fifteen yards away. With some concentration, it only falls back to maybe seven or eight out of ten when I step back to 20 or 22 yards, and I'm sure that any falloff is primarily my problem. I have, on one occasion, done the "Robin Hood" trick to an arrow. Ouch. There's $6.50 down the tubes. I doubt it'll be the last time, though, as it's not uncommon to have arrows "stacked" touching shaft to shaft in the target.
I'm not saying I don't have my poor performances, but that's not the bow's fault. I'm confident that, with practice, I'll be able to get very close to handgun-like accuracy out of the Blackhawk. Here I'm talking about the accuracy of target-type handguns over iron sights from a standing position. I don't believe it's fair or reasonable to compare bows to firearms shot from a rest, as there's no practical analog for archers. You simply have to hold steady.
6) In Summation: I really dig this bow. It has a wonderful tactile feel, is fun to shoot, and functions well, all at a very reasonable price.
Things you'll need:
a) Protective Gear: With any traditional bow, especially when you're learning or experimenting with a new technique, you'll want to have an arm guard for your bow arm, either a shooting glove or a tab for your draw hand, and some safety glasses. Corrective lenses with polycarbonate lenses will do.
b) Quality Arrows: You'll want some good, matching arrows for your new bow. Your choices are Aluminum, Carbon, or Wood. I've shot all of them, but mostly carbon. Aluminum tend to be a little heavier and thicker than carbon, but extra heft is good for a traditional bow, as they tend to be a bit more efficient in transmitting power to a heavier arrow, and shoot more smoothly. Carbons will tend to be lighter for the same about of stiffness, easy to find, and fly a little faster, with the downside perhaps being a little more harshness in the recoil of the bow upon release.
Wood arrows are generally made of cedar, and tend to be harder to find. They are the traditionalist's choice, and are the heaviest of the three types, in most cases. Many people claim that the cedar arrows are the most forgiving and smoothest shooting, but their level of straightness is not as great as aluminum or carbon. Whichever choice you make, you'll want your arrows to have the correct "spine" or stiffness, for your draw weight. Arrow manufacturers have charts to help you decide if a particular model is right for your bow. I'd recommend that you get an arrow that weighs at least seven grains for each pound of draw weight. Some claim that ten or even fifteen grains per pound is better, but anything above seven should be safe for your bow.
You'll probably also want a quiver. These can either clip or thread onto your belt, or actually hang on your back, like the old style quivers did. Prices range anywhere from maybe seven bucks, up to darn near one hundred, depending on how fancy you want to get. I'd say go for one of the cheaper ones. I've had good luck with those made by Neet. As to arrows, any of the big companies will give you a good product. I've especially liked the Gold Tip Pro Hunters that I've purchased. Sportsman's Warehouse has a killer deal on them, but they are normally very spendy, running over a C Note for a dozen. A less expensive alternative may be to go with aluminum, and for those, I'd go with Easton arrows. The XX75 Camo Hunters can be had for between $55 and $75 per dozen, and are proven, mega-tough arrows that can be had in any spine stiffness you should require.
c) Maintenance Supplies: As you shoot, you'll ding up your arrows, and need to fix them. The fletching (which should be feathers for a traditional bow) will detach or get manky. The tips will hit something hard and grow dull. The nocks will break. If you're shooting a lot, you'll want a fletching jig, appropriate fletcher's glue, replacement nocks, replacement field tips, feather fletchings, and either a knock-around jack knife or a fletching remover tool (I use an ancient butterfly knife). Your arrows aren't the only things that needs to be kept up. You'll need some string wax for your bow string, a bow stringer (to ease un-stringing/ restringing...you shouldn't leave a bow strung over the long haul), and a bow case to keep it from clattering around in the closet. Having a little toolbox for your bow stuff is good, too. I got a cheap one at Harbor freight, but if you have, say, an old tackle box, that works great, too.
d) A Safe Target: There are archery clubs and ranges in most big towns. The absolute safest way to shoot is to take your bow to a range, where the backstop, target and all that jazz has been figured out for you. There will also be people there who can give you pointers on form, equipment, and so on. There will also be some sort of camaraderie, in most cases. The safest bet is to go this way, but you'll have to pay for a membership or some form of range fee, as well as shooting within the hours of the club/range. They will also probably have rules, mostly for your own good, against things like shooting at milk jugs, which I think is maximum fun.
If you're going to shoot around your home, you'll want to remember that bows are potentially deadly weapons. They used to fight wars with these babies. Soldiers with rifles have had their tickets punched by good archers. Hunters have killed just about every land animal on the planet with bows. Elephants included. Even a target bow of 35-50 pounds of pull has plenty of power to take down something of, say, deer or human size. You will want to be sure that your arrows won't end up wandering into a populated area. This requires you to shoot with caution, and also to create a strong backstop.
There are a variety of targets you can buy, both made of foam, and in the form of target bags filled with mystery material. I've used both, as well as creating my own out of cardboard and a variety of stuffing materials. I've found that the "squishy" foam that comes as packing material for some products, used in combination with cardboard, carpet scraps, and so on, work pretty well if stuffed into a big cardboard box. You can create a somewhat weather-proof target box by wrapping a small tarp over said box and duct taping it on.
Details about my idea of a good backstop are provided in an earlier entry. If you happen to have ten or twelve hay bales, that's probably the easiest way (short of having a handy upslope that obviates all building requirements. Remember, though, that very powerful bows, like compounds, will shoot right through a hay bale. You'll want hard fortifications for anything over a 60 pound draw, or for a compound. Then again, a well-tuned compound shouldn't have as much variation. They're as accurate as all get-out in most cases. Still, sight pins slip, arrow rests fail to lift the arrows up to level, and (perhaps most frightening) release aids let go of the string prematurely. Do yourself a favor and break the habit of aiming high while drawing your bow, and always aim low the first time you test a new setup. Arrows that hit the ground are a little embarrassing, and can even get damaged, but they generally don't cause friendly-fire incidents.
--Thanks for reading another of my great-big posts. I hope that I've provided some good information for any of you who are thinking about getting into archery. There's a lot of great stuff out there on the net, and also some fine books to read. I can't speak too highly about the mystique of archery. There's just something magical about the arrow flying straight and thunking into a target. It's addictive. I highly recommend the disease.
Now, the reason that I'm just writing my review of it is that there have been a few issues, none of which I can blame on the bow. First, the string that was provided with the bow (not the PSE stock string, I don't think, but just a random string that was hanging around the Pro Shop at Cabela's) was too long, and of poor quality. I had only shot a few hundred arrows before the string started to punk out on me. That, and the low brace height (distance from the body of the bow to the string) made for a rough shooting experience, with more shock to the hand and bow noise than seemed reasonable.
I ordered a new string, some string dampeners (marketed as "brush guards"), and covered the bow shelf and undershelf with self-adhesive felt I happened to have hanging around.
After the new string was on, the bow tuned, the nock set placement figured out, and things generally going in a straight line, I was finally able to evaluate the bow under fair circumstances.
The evaluation is as follows:
1) Value: The PSE Blackhawk is a beautiful bow (I'll post pics some time soon). For the money ($200), it is built well, and has sinuous, classic lines that just make you want to touch it and hold it and make it yours.
2) Power: This is an efficient little bow. At 45 pounds of draw, it still really throws an arrow with authority. I use carbon arrows of between @400 and 435 grains, and they get to the target with a lot of power and speed. Now, because I have a long draw, at 32 inches, this adds to the amount of power the bow can create, but I want to stress that, even with the modest draw weight, these little recurves can do serious business. With an Innerlock broadhead, I got about 11 inches of penetration on a foam target from 20 yards away. That should be sufficient to your purpose for most hunting situations.
3) Smooth shooting: With the brace height set properly (around 7 inches), the Blackhawk has almost no hand shock, and is very nice to shoot, even up into the 100 shot range for a session, provided your draw weight is selected to match your level of strength. I found it advantageous to put some heavy felt on the bottom side of the arrow shelf, so that my thumb joint wasn't right against the wood, which seemed to help, too. Different grip techniques and hand shapes may have differing mileage. As to the process of taming string noise, my sense is that the best way to go is to just pick up a pack of those self adhesive felt circles at your local hardware store, and mount them so that they just touch the string where it lays against the limbs. That should dampen the string, and decrease slap upon shooting. Use the left over felt for feet on heavy furniture, or just tuck them away against the possibility that you'll lose one off your bow.
4) Handy: At 60 inches unstrung, the Blackhawk is a handy size, allowing for easy kneeling, bent, or seated shooting, should that be required. I've tried all of those things with good success. The bow is also very light, at less than two pounds altogether. You should have no concerns about getting arm-weary if you're going to take this bow into the field. Across your back, you'd hardly know it's there. Even shooters of modest stature should have no issues with this bow size. In reality, it's probably a bit short for me, but that has yet to lead to any problems. It may be that I will wear the bow out sooner than a person with a shorter draw, or that the bow will "take set" at shoot with slightly less authority after a while, but I see no evidence of that happening, and I'm probably nearing a thousand shots already.
5) Accurate: Now, this is where your mileage will vary most. Traditional bows aren't necessarily easy. You have to learn what they respond to, and where they tend to shoot at various ranges. How much cant should the bow have to shoot straight? How much gap at a particular range (if you're using the gap method)? Then there are all the technical aspects, like stance, posture, head position, anchor point, and so on.
Now, I'm not the world's foremost archer, and I'll admit to being very early in my development, but I can tell you that the Blackhawk will give back what you put in. If you're a good shooter, you'll hit well, once you learn your way around the bow. On a good day, I can go nine-of-ten on a half gallon milk jug from ten or fifteen yards away. With some concentration, it only falls back to maybe seven or eight out of ten when I step back to 20 or 22 yards, and I'm sure that any falloff is primarily my problem. I have, on one occasion, done the "Robin Hood" trick to an arrow. Ouch. There's $6.50 down the tubes. I doubt it'll be the last time, though, as it's not uncommon to have arrows "stacked" touching shaft to shaft in the target.
I'm not saying I don't have my poor performances, but that's not the bow's fault. I'm confident that, with practice, I'll be able to get very close to handgun-like accuracy out of the Blackhawk. Here I'm talking about the accuracy of target-type handguns over iron sights from a standing position. I don't believe it's fair or reasonable to compare bows to firearms shot from a rest, as there's no practical analog for archers. You simply have to hold steady.
6) In Summation: I really dig this bow. It has a wonderful tactile feel, is fun to shoot, and functions well, all at a very reasonable price.
Things you'll need:
a) Protective Gear: With any traditional bow, especially when you're learning or experimenting with a new technique, you'll want to have an arm guard for your bow arm, either a shooting glove or a tab for your draw hand, and some safety glasses. Corrective lenses with polycarbonate lenses will do.
b) Quality Arrows: You'll want some good, matching arrows for your new bow. Your choices are Aluminum, Carbon, or Wood. I've shot all of them, but mostly carbon. Aluminum tend to be a little heavier and thicker than carbon, but extra heft is good for a traditional bow, as they tend to be a bit more efficient in transmitting power to a heavier arrow, and shoot more smoothly. Carbons will tend to be lighter for the same about of stiffness, easy to find, and fly a little faster, with the downside perhaps being a little more harshness in the recoil of the bow upon release.
Wood arrows are generally made of cedar, and tend to be harder to find. They are the traditionalist's choice, and are the heaviest of the three types, in most cases. Many people claim that the cedar arrows are the most forgiving and smoothest shooting, but their level of straightness is not as great as aluminum or carbon. Whichever choice you make, you'll want your arrows to have the correct "spine" or stiffness, for your draw weight. Arrow manufacturers have charts to help you decide if a particular model is right for your bow. I'd recommend that you get an arrow that weighs at least seven grains for each pound of draw weight. Some claim that ten or even fifteen grains per pound is better, but anything above seven should be safe for your bow.
You'll probably also want a quiver. These can either clip or thread onto your belt, or actually hang on your back, like the old style quivers did. Prices range anywhere from maybe seven bucks, up to darn near one hundred, depending on how fancy you want to get. I'd say go for one of the cheaper ones. I've had good luck with those made by Neet. As to arrows, any of the big companies will give you a good product. I've especially liked the Gold Tip Pro Hunters that I've purchased. Sportsman's Warehouse has a killer deal on them, but they are normally very spendy, running over a C Note for a dozen. A less expensive alternative may be to go with aluminum, and for those, I'd go with Easton arrows. The XX75 Camo Hunters can be had for between $55 and $75 per dozen, and are proven, mega-tough arrows that can be had in any spine stiffness you should require.
c) Maintenance Supplies: As you shoot, you'll ding up your arrows, and need to fix them. The fletching (which should be feathers for a traditional bow) will detach or get manky. The tips will hit something hard and grow dull. The nocks will break. If you're shooting a lot, you'll want a fletching jig, appropriate fletcher's glue, replacement nocks, replacement field tips, feather fletchings, and either a knock-around jack knife or a fletching remover tool (I use an ancient butterfly knife). Your arrows aren't the only things that needs to be kept up. You'll need some string wax for your bow string, a bow stringer (to ease un-stringing/ restringing...you shouldn't leave a bow strung over the long haul), and a bow case to keep it from clattering around in the closet. Having a little toolbox for your bow stuff is good, too. I got a cheap one at Harbor freight, but if you have, say, an old tackle box, that works great, too.
d) A Safe Target: There are archery clubs and ranges in most big towns. The absolute safest way to shoot is to take your bow to a range, where the backstop, target and all that jazz has been figured out for you. There will also be people there who can give you pointers on form, equipment, and so on. There will also be some sort of camaraderie, in most cases. The safest bet is to go this way, but you'll have to pay for a membership or some form of range fee, as well as shooting within the hours of the club/range. They will also probably have rules, mostly for your own good, against things like shooting at milk jugs, which I think is maximum fun.
If you're going to shoot around your home, you'll want to remember that bows are potentially deadly weapons. They used to fight wars with these babies. Soldiers with rifles have had their tickets punched by good archers. Hunters have killed just about every land animal on the planet with bows. Elephants included. Even a target bow of 35-50 pounds of pull has plenty of power to take down something of, say, deer or human size. You will want to be sure that your arrows won't end up wandering into a populated area. This requires you to shoot with caution, and also to create a strong backstop.
There are a variety of targets you can buy, both made of foam, and in the form of target bags filled with mystery material. I've used both, as well as creating my own out of cardboard and a variety of stuffing materials. I've found that the "squishy" foam that comes as packing material for some products, used in combination with cardboard, carpet scraps, and so on, work pretty well if stuffed into a big cardboard box. You can create a somewhat weather-proof target box by wrapping a small tarp over said box and duct taping it on.
Details about my idea of a good backstop are provided in an earlier entry. If you happen to have ten or twelve hay bales, that's probably the easiest way (short of having a handy upslope that obviates all building requirements. Remember, though, that very powerful bows, like compounds, will shoot right through a hay bale. You'll want hard fortifications for anything over a 60 pound draw, or for a compound. Then again, a well-tuned compound shouldn't have as much variation. They're as accurate as all get-out in most cases. Still, sight pins slip, arrow rests fail to lift the arrows up to level, and (perhaps most frightening) release aids let go of the string prematurely. Do yourself a favor and break the habit of aiming high while drawing your bow, and always aim low the first time you test a new setup. Arrows that hit the ground are a little embarrassing, and can even get damaged, but they generally don't cause friendly-fire incidents.
--Thanks for reading another of my great-big posts. I hope that I've provided some good information for any of you who are thinking about getting into archery. There's a lot of great stuff out there on the net, and also some fine books to read. I can't speak too highly about the mystique of archery. There's just something magical about the arrow flying straight and thunking into a target. It's addictive. I highly recommend the disease.
Monday, August 16, 2010
What Are They Building In There?
Strange things are afoot in my backyard. The sounds of construction fill the air. Hammers and circular saws produce their characteristic songs, punctuated by whispered commentary about how hot it is, and occasional imprecations that, in essence, direct some unknown individual to engage in intimate congress with a wild man.
These were scenes that took place yesterday, as I was building "the target backstop the likes of which even the gods have not seen."
It occurred to me that, although my cobbled-together backstop had served adequately in the past, it was wise and prudent to create something more permanent. Not just permanent, but, ahem, monolithic.
And I did, with the help of my trusty comrade, Bob. The only difficulty was that, when fully built, said backstop was so heavy that it was nearly impossible to move into place. I had enticed my friend, Chris, to come over, and took the opportunity to prevail upon him to give me a hand with the heavy lifting.
The new backstop is 6'4" by 6', and is strong enough to stop, I'm confident enough to venture, any arrow shot from any bow in existence. I like it.
Now, I just have to get my bows back in order...but that's going to be the subject for another entry.
I finally "finished" work on my now-huge "All These Violent Heirlooms" story. I've put the last bit out for critique, though I suspect that I'll have to write something of a postscript. We shall see. At least I know what the critique will be, if it proves necessary.
Work continues on my other two most current stories, "Be it Dead or Alive" and "Hunting Season Again". Both are reaching impressive word counts, and both await their big climactic scenes, which I hope I'm capable of providing.
After feeling under the weather most of last week, I am more or less back to being myself again. I don't know exactly what it was, but there were issues with my belly and parts south. For the sake of decorum, I'll say no more.
In bending news, I finally was able to hunt down some new flexible PVC pipe on Saturday, which will allow me to get back into the regime with more facility. Just to test them out, I bent a few Iron Mind Blue Nails yesterday. After hours of actual physical work, I found them slightly more difficult than normal, but they fell prey to my onslaught.
Next time, I'll probably have more to tell you about the archery thing, as well as my further adventures with writing, bending, and whatever new hobby I'll have cottoned on to by then.
May your pen be quick, your grip mighty, and your bull's eye crowded with arrows.
These were scenes that took place yesterday, as I was building "the target backstop the likes of which even the gods have not seen."
It occurred to me that, although my cobbled-together backstop had served adequately in the past, it was wise and prudent to create something more permanent. Not just permanent, but, ahem, monolithic.
And I did, with the help of my trusty comrade, Bob. The only difficulty was that, when fully built, said backstop was so heavy that it was nearly impossible to move into place. I had enticed my friend, Chris, to come over, and took the opportunity to prevail upon him to give me a hand with the heavy lifting.
The new backstop is 6'4" by 6', and is strong enough to stop, I'm confident enough to venture, any arrow shot from any bow in existence. I like it.
Now, I just have to get my bows back in order...but that's going to be the subject for another entry.
I finally "finished" work on my now-huge "All These Violent Heirlooms" story. I've put the last bit out for critique, though I suspect that I'll have to write something of a postscript. We shall see. At least I know what the critique will be, if it proves necessary.
Work continues on my other two most current stories, "Be it Dead or Alive" and "Hunting Season Again". Both are reaching impressive word counts, and both await their big climactic scenes, which I hope I'm capable of providing.
After feeling under the weather most of last week, I am more or less back to being myself again. I don't know exactly what it was, but there were issues with my belly and parts south. For the sake of decorum, I'll say no more.
In bending news, I finally was able to hunt down some new flexible PVC pipe on Saturday, which will allow me to get back into the regime with more facility. Just to test them out, I bent a few Iron Mind Blue Nails yesterday. After hours of actual physical work, I found them slightly more difficult than normal, but they fell prey to my onslaught.
Next time, I'll probably have more to tell you about the archery thing, as well as my further adventures with writing, bending, and whatever new hobby I'll have cottoned on to by then.
May your pen be quick, your grip mighty, and your bull's eye crowded with arrows.
Friday, July 30, 2010
The Night Gallery
I have the disease. Archery. Beware, because it might be catching. I'll probably talk about it if we meet on the street. I'll wax poetical, maybe. I'll try to infect you, so you'll have a real physical need to hurl arrows downrange on a daily basis.
I blame my cousin, Bob, who gave me a fantastic, very expensive gift: a Bowtech Black Knight 2. I talked about this bow in my previous post. It's dead silent, super accurate, and hits with all the power of a locomotive. You'll need a very dense backstop. One thing it isn't: easy. The Black Knight doesn't adapt to you. You adapt to it. Lucky I'm adaptable, huh? And that I like to bend nails and rebar. That old oafish might helps.
Anyway, the Black Knight is a compound bow, which means that it is a complex machine. A technological marvel. It has cams and string silencers and harmonic dampeners and fiber optic sights. It's a laser gun, except for the laser part. It's shooting so well right now that I actually knocked one of the fletchings off with another arrow last session. Fletchings, or vanes, are the "feather" parts that keep the arrows stable in flight. Some impart spin, like a rifle bullet (mine do). The fletchings on most compound bows are rubbery material, rather than synthetic feathers. Bob's taught me how to repair or re-fletch arrows, so it's no big deal. Just be aware that, to knock a vane off of one of your arrows, you have to be about 1/16th of an inch away from the shaft that's already in the target. That's pretty close. My last session with the Black Knight, I put a group of eight arrows in approximately 2 1/2 inches. Now, this is from only around 18 yards away, but I'd be happy to do that with any of my pistols. There's no such thing as a benchrest shot for a bow. You're there, holding the riser, doing your part. There's more to it than a trigger finger and breath control.
All that preliminary blather leads me to my deepening gyre of archery obsession. Pleased and fascinated with my early success with a compound bow, I decided that I wanted to try shooting a recurve. No sights, no counterweights, no vapor deposited turbonium ocular mass accelerators of universal spin cancellation. Just a bent stick and an arrow. Just to, you know, keep it real.
I happened to be at the Sportsman's Warehouse last Saturday, idling around the archery counter as I once did over in their firearms section. A dark, lithe shape caught my eye. I examined more closely. The dark, lithe shape was some sort of extruded composite (plastic to the unenlightened) recurve bow. Hmmm. It was sort of pretty. It was pretty inexpensive. Hmmm.
My mind fabricating all manner of complex justifications for my newest possible purchase, I asked, "can I take a look...with my hands, I mean?" The guy at the counter nodded and then became interested in something back in the shop. I was left alone with the dark, lithe shape. I saw it with my hands. I strung it and drew back the string. And it was good. And I said that it was good. And I immediately knew that it had to be mine. It was only forty bucks, and so my possible buyer's remorse could only be so bad. Thus, I became the owner of a PSE Snake recurve bow.
The friendly staff at Sportsman's acted as if I'd actually approached them with an item of some value. They had me draw the bow with a measuring arrow to see my draw length (distance you pull back the arrow--mine turned out to be 32 inches with this type of bow), they mounted a nock point and an arrow rest, and they helped me pick out arrows that would be suitable for my purchase. Now, some of this may have been enlightened self interest on their part, since the arrows (Gold Tip Pro Hunter Carbons, which they cut to length and prepped for me) were of the same approximate value as the bow itself. That, and they may have had some inkling that this little, cheapo bow would be as addictive as crack cocaine to someone of my particular temperament.
The PSE Snake is listed as a "Youth Bow" in the literature. It's only got a draw weight of 22 pounds at the average draw length for kids and small folks. It absolutely no frills. It's not camouflaged, so you'll be able to see it if you drop it in the woods. You just draw it back, look down the arrow shaft, and let it go. Yeah, like Robin Hood or Legolas, had plastic been invented in their time/space continuum.
Because of my long draw length, I'm told that I probably gain somewhere around 8-12 extra pounds of draw weight. That's somewhat counterbalanced by the necessary use of really long, heavier arrows (so that they don't just fall out on the ground when I pull them beyond the bow shelf). All this adds up to the fact that when I shoot the bow, it has somewhat more pop than the 22 pound draw might lead you to imagine. I'm fairly certain that, if some living organism were to serve as a backstop to one of my arrows, they would be injured to an extent that could be beyond the scope of a pocket sized first aid kit. Not that I'm planning any such incidents. On the contrary.
Let me cut to the issue at hand. Traditional archery. That's what they call it when you don't have all the gadgets and Batman toys to help you. First: it's great fun. Second: it's a little humbling at first. Third: with practice, and I mean lots of meaningful practice wherein you learn the basics, isolate flaws in your form, and shoot hundreds, nay, thousands of arrows, you can get surprisingly good.
The first day, I was just happy to hit the target bag from about eight yards away. I shot and shot and shot. The light draw weight makes this possible without any injury or soreness. I stayed out so long I got sunburned.
In the following days, I took the opportunity to read about archery form, devouring first the Basic Essentials--Archery book, then Archery--Steps to Success. There were a lot of great pointers in there, and I put them into practice. A lot of practice. I've been shooting up to three times during the day, often getting near or even surpassing 200 shots between those sessions. I started getting good. I wasn't just hitting the bag. I was actually hitting the CENTER of the bag. You know. The bull's eye. Not all the time, certainly, but usually once per "end" of six arrows.
Instinctive shooting is as slippery as a fish, though. Just when you think you've had that "ah ha!" moment, you find that it's slipped through your fingers, and your arrows are wandering out to the far reaches of the target again. It's a process, and there are so many things to think of, that you can easily be foiled by that one element of your form that you forgot.
Then, it happened. There I was, in the backyard, with my full ten yard course and my bow and arrow set, my fancy cinder block arrow stand next to me. I happened to have a mostly-finished can of Orange Crush on a nearby patio table. In between bouts of shooting, I had the can in my hand, and an evil idea occurred to me. Could I shoot the can with an arrow? Dare I try? How could it safely be done?
I hit on the idea of simply putting it in front of the target bag, which is what I was shooting at anyway. If I shot too low, it would just aerate the lawn. If I shot high, the bag and backstop would suffice to stop the arrow safely. So, like I'd done so often with rifles and pistols in my younger years, I found myself shooting at a can. On about the third shot, I jostled the can and knocked it down. On the sixth, I put an arrow through it. I could, it turns out, hit a can from ten yards with my "Youth Bow", sighting only by instinct. My cousin, Bob, revolutionized the can shooting by finding an old bungee cord and hanging the can on the face of the target bag by its pop-top tab. Hilarity ensued. The can was perforated several more times, until the stuff cooking on the grill was done, and we were forced to call a halt to the hostilities.
Then it got dark. The sprinklers came on. It got darker still. I wanted to do it again. I'd already established that, by turning on a battery-powered lantern and setting it near the target bag but outside the line of fire, I could shoot my bow at night. Now, I would have to go a step further. Could I realistically hit a black can with an arrow in the dimness of my back yard? Yes. I could. Sometimes two or three times in six arrows.
It's not Olympic archery, but I'm actually mightily impressed that it's possible, with a little effort and a lot of (super fun) practice, you can do this sort of thing with a rig that runs about 85 bucks at the local store. Now, there may be a varying rate of learning for each archer, but I'm not the most coordinated person on the planet. I'm too clumsy to play most sports than don't feature knocking other people down. I'm a pretty good shot with pistols and rifles, but the vast majority of my firearms are more accurate than I am. What I'm saying here is that, though your mileage may vary, it's certainly possible for you to get the results I did. It might take a few days, it might take a few months, but believe me when I tell you that a bow can be a precision instrument, if you do your part.
For people wanting to try archery, I can wholeheartedly recommend the PSE Snake. Don't let the desire to be macho or have the bigger, heavier draw bows get the best of you. Nothing will allow you to practice so much and so painlessly as one of these little bows. Everything that you learn on these is applicable as you grow and perhaps purchase a heavier bow. For eighty-odd dollars, I know that I've already gotten my money's worth out of it. I know that I'll continue to do so until I can put six out of six in the bull from my little firing line divot in the back yard grass. Then I'll go five paces back and do it again...
For someone already into archery, but who hasn't tried a traditional bow, this is the gateway drug, right here. Cheaper than a fall-away rest or three-pin sight for your compound bow, this little rig will remind you of how much fun you can have with a bent stick. Plus, all the refinement of your stance, draw, anchor point, and release will stand you in good stead with your fancy compound rig. I saw an immediate, dramatic difference with the Black Knight, which couldn't be more different from the Snake and still be a bow. My groups tightened, my draw smoothed out, and my shoulder twinged less under the admittedly brutal assault of the BK2. At the cost, there is literally no training aid that will help you more. It's like a .22, except for bow shooters. Cheap, fun, and probably what we should all start on.
Finally, if you have a local library around (I happen to work in one!), do yourself a favor and check out a few books on target archery. Though you think you're doing great, and you shoot the stingers off of hornets at fifty paces, there are things about your form that you may have never considered, changes that might improve your results even more. Especially if you've learned to shoot your bow primarily by yourself or from a friend, there will be things that you can improve upon about your technique. In just a few weeks, I'm seeing real progress, and there has been no pain or anguish. I've just studied, engaged in meaningful, well-examined practice, and immersed myself in the zeitgeist of the sport.
There. Another massive post. Hope you're all well, and that you're enjoying my strange adventures.
I blame my cousin, Bob, who gave me a fantastic, very expensive gift: a Bowtech Black Knight 2. I talked about this bow in my previous post. It's dead silent, super accurate, and hits with all the power of a locomotive. You'll need a very dense backstop. One thing it isn't: easy. The Black Knight doesn't adapt to you. You adapt to it. Lucky I'm adaptable, huh? And that I like to bend nails and rebar. That old oafish might helps.
Anyway, the Black Knight is a compound bow, which means that it is a complex machine. A technological marvel. It has cams and string silencers and harmonic dampeners and fiber optic sights. It's a laser gun, except for the laser part. It's shooting so well right now that I actually knocked one of the fletchings off with another arrow last session. Fletchings, or vanes, are the "feather" parts that keep the arrows stable in flight. Some impart spin, like a rifle bullet (mine do). The fletchings on most compound bows are rubbery material, rather than synthetic feathers. Bob's taught me how to repair or re-fletch arrows, so it's no big deal. Just be aware that, to knock a vane off of one of your arrows, you have to be about 1/16th of an inch away from the shaft that's already in the target. That's pretty close. My last session with the Black Knight, I put a group of eight arrows in approximately 2 1/2 inches. Now, this is from only around 18 yards away, but I'd be happy to do that with any of my pistols. There's no such thing as a benchrest shot for a bow. You're there, holding the riser, doing your part. There's more to it than a trigger finger and breath control.
All that preliminary blather leads me to my deepening gyre of archery obsession. Pleased and fascinated with my early success with a compound bow, I decided that I wanted to try shooting a recurve. No sights, no counterweights, no vapor deposited turbonium ocular mass accelerators of universal spin cancellation. Just a bent stick and an arrow. Just to, you know, keep it real.
I happened to be at the Sportsman's Warehouse last Saturday, idling around the archery counter as I once did over in their firearms section. A dark, lithe shape caught my eye. I examined more closely. The dark, lithe shape was some sort of extruded composite (plastic to the unenlightened) recurve bow. Hmmm. It was sort of pretty. It was pretty inexpensive. Hmmm.
My mind fabricating all manner of complex justifications for my newest possible purchase, I asked, "can I take a look...with my hands, I mean?" The guy at the counter nodded and then became interested in something back in the shop. I was left alone with the dark, lithe shape. I saw it with my hands. I strung it and drew back the string. And it was good. And I said that it was good. And I immediately knew that it had to be mine. It was only forty bucks, and so my possible buyer's remorse could only be so bad. Thus, I became the owner of a PSE Snake recurve bow.
The friendly staff at Sportsman's acted as if I'd actually approached them with an item of some value. They had me draw the bow with a measuring arrow to see my draw length (distance you pull back the arrow--mine turned out to be 32 inches with this type of bow), they mounted a nock point and an arrow rest, and they helped me pick out arrows that would be suitable for my purchase. Now, some of this may have been enlightened self interest on their part, since the arrows (Gold Tip Pro Hunter Carbons, which they cut to length and prepped for me) were of the same approximate value as the bow itself. That, and they may have had some inkling that this little, cheapo bow would be as addictive as crack cocaine to someone of my particular temperament.
The PSE Snake is listed as a "Youth Bow" in the literature. It's only got a draw weight of 22 pounds at the average draw length for kids and small folks. It absolutely no frills. It's not camouflaged, so you'll be able to see it if you drop it in the woods. You just draw it back, look down the arrow shaft, and let it go. Yeah, like Robin Hood or Legolas, had plastic been invented in their time/space continuum.
Because of my long draw length, I'm told that I probably gain somewhere around 8-12 extra pounds of draw weight. That's somewhat counterbalanced by the necessary use of really long, heavier arrows (so that they don't just fall out on the ground when I pull them beyond the bow shelf). All this adds up to the fact that when I shoot the bow, it has somewhat more pop than the 22 pound draw might lead you to imagine. I'm fairly certain that, if some living organism were to serve as a backstop to one of my arrows, they would be injured to an extent that could be beyond the scope of a pocket sized first aid kit. Not that I'm planning any such incidents. On the contrary.
Let me cut to the issue at hand. Traditional archery. That's what they call it when you don't have all the gadgets and Batman toys to help you. First: it's great fun. Second: it's a little humbling at first. Third: with practice, and I mean lots of meaningful practice wherein you learn the basics, isolate flaws in your form, and shoot hundreds, nay, thousands of arrows, you can get surprisingly good.
The first day, I was just happy to hit the target bag from about eight yards away. I shot and shot and shot. The light draw weight makes this possible without any injury or soreness. I stayed out so long I got sunburned.
In the following days, I took the opportunity to read about archery form, devouring first the Basic Essentials--Archery book, then Archery--Steps to Success. There were a lot of great pointers in there, and I put them into practice. A lot of practice. I've been shooting up to three times during the day, often getting near or even surpassing 200 shots between those sessions. I started getting good. I wasn't just hitting the bag. I was actually hitting the CENTER of the bag. You know. The bull's eye. Not all the time, certainly, but usually once per "end" of six arrows.
Instinctive shooting is as slippery as a fish, though. Just when you think you've had that "ah ha!" moment, you find that it's slipped through your fingers, and your arrows are wandering out to the far reaches of the target again. It's a process, and there are so many things to think of, that you can easily be foiled by that one element of your form that you forgot.
Then, it happened. There I was, in the backyard, with my full ten yard course and my bow and arrow set, my fancy cinder block arrow stand next to me. I happened to have a mostly-finished can of Orange Crush on a nearby patio table. In between bouts of shooting, I had the can in my hand, and an evil idea occurred to me. Could I shoot the can with an arrow? Dare I try? How could it safely be done?
I hit on the idea of simply putting it in front of the target bag, which is what I was shooting at anyway. If I shot too low, it would just aerate the lawn. If I shot high, the bag and backstop would suffice to stop the arrow safely. So, like I'd done so often with rifles and pistols in my younger years, I found myself shooting at a can. On about the third shot, I jostled the can and knocked it down. On the sixth, I put an arrow through it. I could, it turns out, hit a can from ten yards with my "Youth Bow", sighting only by instinct. My cousin, Bob, revolutionized the can shooting by finding an old bungee cord and hanging the can on the face of the target bag by its pop-top tab. Hilarity ensued. The can was perforated several more times, until the stuff cooking on the grill was done, and we were forced to call a halt to the hostilities.
Then it got dark. The sprinklers came on. It got darker still. I wanted to do it again. I'd already established that, by turning on a battery-powered lantern and setting it near the target bag but outside the line of fire, I could shoot my bow at night. Now, I would have to go a step further. Could I realistically hit a black can with an arrow in the dimness of my back yard? Yes. I could. Sometimes two or three times in six arrows.
It's not Olympic archery, but I'm actually mightily impressed that it's possible, with a little effort and a lot of (super fun) practice, you can do this sort of thing with a rig that runs about 85 bucks at the local store. Now, there may be a varying rate of learning for each archer, but I'm not the most coordinated person on the planet. I'm too clumsy to play most sports than don't feature knocking other people down. I'm a pretty good shot with pistols and rifles, but the vast majority of my firearms are more accurate than I am. What I'm saying here is that, though your mileage may vary, it's certainly possible for you to get the results I did. It might take a few days, it might take a few months, but believe me when I tell you that a bow can be a precision instrument, if you do your part.
For people wanting to try archery, I can wholeheartedly recommend the PSE Snake. Don't let the desire to be macho or have the bigger, heavier draw bows get the best of you. Nothing will allow you to practice so much and so painlessly as one of these little bows. Everything that you learn on these is applicable as you grow and perhaps purchase a heavier bow. For eighty-odd dollars, I know that I've already gotten my money's worth out of it. I know that I'll continue to do so until I can put six out of six in the bull from my little firing line divot in the back yard grass. Then I'll go five paces back and do it again...
For someone already into archery, but who hasn't tried a traditional bow, this is the gateway drug, right here. Cheaper than a fall-away rest or three-pin sight for your compound bow, this little rig will remind you of how much fun you can have with a bent stick. Plus, all the refinement of your stance, draw, anchor point, and release will stand you in good stead with your fancy compound rig. I saw an immediate, dramatic difference with the Black Knight, which couldn't be more different from the Snake and still be a bow. My groups tightened, my draw smoothed out, and my shoulder twinged less under the admittedly brutal assault of the BK2. At the cost, there is literally no training aid that will help you more. It's like a .22, except for bow shooters. Cheap, fun, and probably what we should all start on.
Finally, if you have a local library around (I happen to work in one!), do yourself a favor and check out a few books on target archery. Though you think you're doing great, and you shoot the stingers off of hornets at fifty paces, there are things about your form that you may have never considered, changes that might improve your results even more. Especially if you've learned to shoot your bow primarily by yourself or from a friend, there will be things that you can improve upon about your technique. In just a few weeks, I'm seeing real progress, and there has been no pain or anguish. I've just studied, engaged in meaningful, well-examined practice, and immersed myself in the zeitgeist of the sport.
There. Another massive post. Hope you're all well, and that you're enjoying my strange adventures.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)