My boy is scared of his bow-Help!

[NewtoTrad2008]

My son Zachary was the winner of the January kids bow givaway put on by Vermonster and was very excited to get his bow, arrows, quiver and arm guard. We were shooting a couple of weeks ago and I was not paying enough attention, his index finger on his bow hand was a little high and the feather had a sharp edge on it. It hit his finger and took a bit of skin off, now he is afraid to shoot. I checked all the arrows and trimmed down and sharp edges on the feathers. I gave him a glove to wear on his bow hand and helped him hold it, but he is still a little shaken. I even shot the bow with my finger up to show him the problem was fixed. I don't want to pressure him to shoot. I told him that if he does not shoot the bow we will have to send it back so they can give it to someone that will use it, he says he will, but when we get close to it he changes his mind.  I know it has only been a couple of weeks but.... Has anything like this happened to you? What did you do to help them get over their fear?

[elkbreath]

Just back off for a bit.  He'll come around.  I've had to do that with mine, they always come back.  Keep shooting, take him with you he'll get over it.  Good luck!

[whitebuffalo]

Give him as much time as he needs away from it and just shoot your bow in front of him till he wants to shoot again. I think its to fresh in his mind right now and he needs some time off. Till his confidence comes back with it,JB

[recurvehunter]

same thing happend when i was teaching my little sister to shoot.
    so what i have found to get younger kids to shoot again is use a fun target like a baloon full of water or take a baloon and put in some flour and fill it up with the air compressor makes a fun reactive target

[rice]

If you have a buddy with a kid a year or two older than your son and have them over to shoot, he will probably join in on the fun himself. Your right not to pressure him. He has to decide to do it himself. If he doesn't want to shoot, ask him to help pull arrows, just be sure to include him in the fun some way.
If you don't have another kid to entice him to shoot, have his mother go out with you and shoot his bow. If he sees her shooting it, he may feel a little safer.

Just a thought.
CKR

[BowHuntingFool]

My boy had that happen to him when he was real young, part of the feather stuck in his finger when he shot. He screamed bloody murder for good reason! He now laughs about it! Get him a batting glove for his bow hand! My son thought that was the coolest thing, he went shooting again the next day to try it with the glove and never looked back!!

[Blackhawk]

rice has the right idea.    

My youngest was NOT using an arm guard and slapped the string against his bare forearm, taking off some skin.   :eek:   He was totally "gun shy" until his friend wanted to learn to shoot. As soon as I started showing his friend, my son could take it no more and joined in.

Always have a glove and armguard for newbies.  

[longbow55]

I agree with the batting glove, the kid will the it's cool and make him shoot better.

[KentuckyTJ]

Great idea rice. Are you a psychologist? Seeing the older kid would definitely perk his interest.

[wingnut]

well I have a solution to make it fun and forget the past pain.  Grab a handful of golf balls and head to a dirt patch.

tose the balls out and start shooting at em,  No measured distance, no form, just fun and games.  You should see there eyes when they hit the first one and it takes off.

Not a bad no pressure practice for us adults too.

Mike

[NewtoTrad2008]

That is all great advice, thanks everyone, I knew the TradGang would come through! I'll keep everyone updated.

[razorback]

Newtotrad; that is uncanny. My aughter won the other cupid bow given by Vermonster and I gave it to her today for her birthday. Sure enough she shot when the arrow had fallen off the rest and scrapped her finger with the feather. We called it quits and I will see if she will shoot tomorrow. Hopefully she will but I may still do some of teh things suggested here anyway. I like the idea of a batting glove.

[Jim now in Kentucky]

I didn't have that happen till I had shot a while at summer camp. Then my big concern was that I would get blood on my arrows!

[Willrett]

The batting glove is a very good idea. Also you can try letting him/her use your glove (over there own glove)and arm guard, kids like to use whats daddies or older brothers.

[bawana bowman]

My oldest daughter got a severe feather cut on her hand when she first started shooting.Couldn't get her to shoot again for almost 2 months. One day I decided to shoot balloons in the back yard. I invited the boy next door over and let him shoot her bow. Well... it took the little guy about 30 shots but he finally hit a balloon! That was all it took; my daughter grabbed her bow from him and proceeded to shoot 4 balloons in about 10 shots....
She was 8 at the time. She hunted with me until she was 15, then she discovered boys..... I tried my best, but I guess hunting with Dad just isn't the same as going on a DATE! I sure do miss having her along.(She's 31 now.)