Time Well Spent          
article by: Andrea Muncie

Let me start by saying I am not an outdoor person. I am allergic and I sun burn easily. My high school was not one that did archery as a lesson as some do. Our gym class was only one year and I always got strange looks because I participated when we ran. That was the last year I played soccer too. Basically I spent the majority of my time inside. But as all of you know, it is something my husband loves. For him, nothing is better than being in the woods, sitting on stand, waiting for a big buck or doe. Through out our dating and engagement there was one thing I quickly found out. If I wanted to spend time with my husband, I needed a new hobby, Archery. It was something we could do together after work and he wouldn’t have to make time to go. After I made my decision, we took a trip down to a local hunting/fishing store. He had them pull down a couple bows for me to try. This is a little two level store and the archery store and shooting lanes are the upstairs. Instead of having me actually out in the lanes, they have a little target set up in the store. They had me stand less than 5 feet from the target and try shooting the bow. Well, seeing how I had no experience and am not particularly strong, I couldn’t pull the bow back on my own. That was hard enough with out all the people wandering around the store. So, one of the employees used two fingers to pull the string back for me. I felt bright red. I tried two bows. One, the boy couldn’t get as low as it was supposed to go. I could almost pull that one back. The other was one of the other employee’s relative’s bow. Not only was I intimidated by the bow, the power in that bow and all the people around, I had to try and do something I had never tried before with a bunch of people around. Robert kept telling me that no one was looking, but I felt like I was the center of attention. The string snapped my forearm a few times leaving a heck of a bruise and I closed my eyes every time I released an arrow. Those bows just we not set up for me. After no deliberation on the subject, I felt that shooting a compound was not for me. About that time Robert met the guy who makes Zona bows and had himself a custom longbow made. We decided that this might be the way to go for me. Longbows are not as powerful, are lighter and in a way, easier to shoot for someone with no archery experience. So Robert worked it out to have me a custom longbow made. Unfortunately, it arrived in Indianapolis while we were on our honeymoon. So it had to wait until we got home and it wasn’t until sometime in April last year that I was able to shoot for the first time. We made the long drive back to that little hunting/fishing store on the other side of town for my first time shooting. They have a movable target so we were able to move it closer, about 10 yards away instead of 20, to shoot our longbows. I couldn’t pull my 37 lbs bow back all the way but all my arrows flew in the general vicinity of said target. Some went past it and others came back to me. I even managed to split an arrow! Sure it wasn’t as cool as when Robin Hood did it since it went in the middle of the arrow and not the tip, but it still counts right? The way Robert taught me to shoot helped a lot with my confidence. He slowly walked me through getting my form right. First he had me work on my stance. Then he added in bending my knees a little, eventually making it to the way my shoulders were supposed to be. (I kept dropping the back one.) We did that gradually so I felt comfortable with each step before we added something on to it. The last thing we added was making sure I hold the arrow back one second to help improve my aim. And it has. Over the past year (almost) I have continued to shoot my longbow with my husband. I have moved from shooting at 10 yards back to 15 and I think I am about ready to make the move to 20. When I don’t have string stretch to worry about, or too big an audience, I can usually hit the target (somewhere) with my arrows. I almost never hit my arm anymore. Some of that is thanks to an improved form and the rest to the nice arm guard I have. This fall I didn’t have the opportunity to shoot and I have to re-teach myself some of the things I learned previously. Something called deer season took my husband away from me quite a bit around then. I am not sure what this “deer season” is, but I don’t think I like it. Recently I tried one of my husband’s recurve’s that was set at 45 lbs and had no trouble pulling it back. I have also successfully pulled back a 40 lbs compound bow all by my self. Last weekend we went back to that same little hunting/fishing store and I shot a couple arrows out of one. I had no trouble pulling it back either. My arrows went right next to each other too. And the best part was, this time, I didn’t hit my arm at all. My reason for telling you my story is some of you might have wives or girlfriends who start to miss you during the heart of hunting season, in between your trips to the woods and range. Some of them might like to find a way to spend a little more time with you. Compound bows are not for everyone, especially when you are starting out. If my only option when I started was a compound, I never would have taken up archery. Luckily, I was able to start on something else and we are thinking about getting me my own compound. The two bows are so different. I have no idea how to use the peep or the sight. I have just been aiming down the arrow shaft! Plus where you anchor the string is different. It will be quite the experience and to be honest, I am looking forward to it.