So today was a bit of a mix up, I tried new arrows but they were absolutely crap. I didn’t realise when I ordered them they were are really thin, much lighter and weaker version of proper arrows. Two broke on impact with the tree trunk, one got stripped of the feathers by going through the target box and as far as I can tell the tips are glued on and can’t be changed. They may be alright for kids bows to learn on with a pull of maybe 10-15 lbs but while very fast and I can be accurate with them, they serve no purpose in my archery since I plan for even my target practice to be “as if hunting”.
here is an image of the crappy points:
I will post in the next archery post a link to whatever I use, so that it can be critiqued and/or save others who want to take this up from making the same errors I made at the start.
I fired the arrows in 4 lots. The first 9 were a mix of the older and better arrows and the newer and weaker ones. Predictably switching between them and alternating did not go well. 5/9 at 20 metres is pretty bad.
Second set was 10 shots only with he new arrows and 8 were definite hits, the first one was a miss (I shot high) and one we think hit the box but bounced back out, so it was probably a hit but I am counting it as a miss.
Third set was back to the old better arrows and I was trying to use the riser to aim and got 4/6 which is ok, and the last set I was just shooting instinctively and correcting based on where my previous shot went and I did 5/6 with also my first hit on the 4” target at 20 metres. You can still see the very back of the arrow poking out of it.
Lessons learnt:
- Get the right arrows and stick to them for consistency.
- Like with rifles you get occasional fliers, but they are not as common and just as with rifles, user error is usually mostly responsible.
- My bow compared to my wife’s (60 lbs vs 30 lbs) makes a clear difference. When we hit the tree-trunk I can pull her arrows out. When I do I need to get the hand-make to chop the wood near them to get them out.
- Aiming works, it definitely improves consistency but I suspect I am still not consistent in when I draw the bow in where exactly I place my hand I draw with in relation to my own body. Archers talk of a “welding spot” they use generally on their face, to always touch, or “weld to” before releasing the arrow. I am not doing that, or at least not consistently, and the result is that I am more accurate when I aim for a bit, but then it feels “unnatural” and after a couple of shots I get uncomfortable and don’t stay consistent.
- My last set was done mostly on instinct without trying to AIM by using the riser as such, only by “feeling” it, and I did the best. I think the secret will be to find a natural position from which I can also aim using the risers without it feeling uncomfortable. I think it will mean shooting instinctively but noticing where the target is in relation to the riser and when I have some consistency then I will mark the riser. Then I will change distance and repeat the process, so over time I should have two or three marks for two or three different distances and I can learn to guesstimate between them.
Also… the wife enjoys it too. She can’t own guns until she gets citizenship, but I know she likes those too because when we went to South Africa she shot everything that was available to shoot at the range.
It’s actually quite an enjoyable little diversion, although the wife is hyper competitive, and she gets quite irritated with herself if she doesn’t do perfect scores, but she does listen to instructions well and even with guns she was fairly decent right out the gate. I suspect if she manages to find some time to practice (easier than one thinks though, because you can just fire ten shots in ten minutes and be done for the day) she will eventually become fairly accurate.
My aims for archery have not changed and the fact I actually managed to hit the 4” target at least once at 20 metres is encouraging. Luck though it may have been this time.
This post was originally published on my Substack. Link here
