Wednesday 17 June 2015

Woodland Archery: Accuracy Is The Best Policy



The woods have seen some action since we were last there. At this time of year the Fallow are gathering into groups and had passed though our little world, flattening the Bluebells and chowing down on the bark of Beech trees.

On Friday as the skies darkened, then burst, we achieved escape velocity and were on the road. By making lateness part of the plan we set off within half an our for the allotted time and made the most rapid pace across and out of town. In all the trips we've made The Northern Monkey and myself have always failed to leave early enough and have sat in traffic most of the way across the south of England. By leaving later we arrived at the same time we usually do, but drama-lessa nd with the serenity of the intentionally late.



Our archery practice sessions are starting to bear fruit.

Things I learned about archery the time around:

1. Archery is seriously dependent on Natural Point of Aim; seeing as arrows are traveling a lot slower than bullets this should have been the bleeding' obvious, but  I guess its taken us a while to get to the bleeding' obvious.

2. On the subject of which, it turns out the shot starts before you draw the bow; by aiming with my left heel before I start to draw the bow is on target as soon as I draw it back. Consistently the pins were over the target, just had to use my hips to adjust vertically and its time to squeeze the release's trigger.


3. Arrows that are so bent they have names come into their own at longer ranges; The Northern Monkey  shoots aluminium arrows with varying degrees of bent-ness They are called things like; The Wanderer, Hook Nose, Curvy Lady and The X-Files [its out there. Somewhere]. At 10 and 20 meters they won't group for toffee, more often than not sailing into the bushes, but at the furthest extreme of our shooting lane, where we can shoot at 50 and then 60 meters, he sunk not one, but two bulls.


It was my turn to feel the pain and dismay. I started the year with 12 arrows, broke one on day one, [pallets are not as good as foam targets], lost two a couple of archery camps back. This time I went from 9 to 4 alarmingly quickly, breaking one trying to get it out of a tree,  'hiding'  3 under the leaf mould and the last a catastrophic failure.

The words of Hodgeman keep ringing in my ears “It's like rifle hunting...only more expensive, and less effective.”

More soon
your pal
SBW


6 comments:

hodgeman said...

Nice shooting... I'm still percolating on the bow purchase. If I wait till hunting season I'm safe till spring at least.

I have been playing with an air rife lately. It's frustrating- but I wonder why I waited so long on that one!

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Thanks, me too. Yes I'm a;ready thinking 'if I arbitrage the cost of a bow against the cost flying this one back and forth...'
you get the idea.

If I may throw my 10c on to the table - mechanical there can't be much in the difference between my carbon knight and TNM's Assassin - both made by Bowthech. I think the pinch point may be my QAD rest vs his generic whisker biscuit
I'd always assumed I'd get a fully captive rest - simplicity, quietness, and price. The drop-aways are clearly better.

Let us know what you end up going for?
SBW

Phillip said...

Looks like you're getting it where you need it, S. What are the regulations on bowhunting there? Will you be able to get after some of those cute little deer?

Bowhunting and Great Britain are just two images I have yet to reconcile in my mind.

And, Hodge... if you pick up the bow, you may be ruined forever. Caribou, moose, TN whitetails and hogs... not to mention all the small game you can shoot!

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Phillip
sadly they are unlikely to be reconciled, our deer law permits some things for killing them and everything not mentioned is prohibited - BUT the good news is there are (I think ) 12 EU nation that do permit bowhunting and Spain is one of them.
I'm heading back to the Coast of Light as soon as I can - to see a man about some architectural salvage - and I hope to be able to take my bow with me.

SBW

Anonymous said...

NOT reconcile bowhunting in the U. K.? Why, that's just BLASPHEMOUS! Ain't nobody ever heard of ROBIN HOOD???!!! And in that spirit, does it matter so much the legality of such an activity? Ha! Lots of Robins never let THAT get in the way of venison acquisition! It does seem very contradictory that GUNS are allowed, but not bows! ESPECIALLY in the home of the "longbow"!....L.B.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

LB

'modern life is rubbish'

SBW