Robin Cooke

Well true to my previous post I have embarked on a journey to learn the sport of archery. It has been a difficult couple of weeks absorbing the lingo and trying to figure out what kind of archery I am even interested in doing. Then it was a few days of trying to buy the right equipment (which I think i finaly got). My advice to the new archer? Go to a class or two before you attempt to buy a bow. While it may not seem that difficult to purchase a stick with a bit of string on it (which truly it isn't) it is easy to get something that isn't appropriate for your dominant eye or is not the right size. Definately don't go macho and get a huge draw weight. For the average person, even a strong one, you will want to start with a 15 pound bow as you'll find yourself using muscles you never knew you had. Sure anyone can pull a 50 pound bow once or twice but doing it fifty or sixty times in an hour is serious work. Not to mention that chances are you will (like me) probably "thwang" your forearm once or twice with a bad release while learning the proper arm position. My guess is that a 40 or 60 pound "thwang" on the soft inner arm is seriously not fun.

My first lesson was a blast though and while I won't be shooting apples off of anyones head or splitting arrows "in twain" any time soon I did manage to get a feel for what a clean shot was like.

I'm beginning to think this could be the start of something I will really enjoy.

(and yes josh i am still going to learn to shoot from horseback... just you wait and see... now if only I had a ranch... those of you with ranches should give me a call...)