Hello all, amazing board you have here. I have been lurking here for about a month now and the information I have gathered from you great people has made my transition to trad a great experience.
I have been shooting bows since I was probably 10 years old or so when my older brother brought home and gave to me a cheap fiberglass kids bow that he found at a job site. The bow had no string but my dad just made one with a piece of rope! I shot that dang bow till I was probably 14 or 15 and my dad got me a used compound. I stuck with compounds until just last month when I saw a TV program about persian mounted archery and the amazing bows they crafted. As their expert rode around on a horse and shot at targets I sat there and thought. "Man, that looks like so much fun! And he's just drawing and shooting and nailing the target without sights..." Then I really got to thinking... Why do I even shoot with sights? I mean, I spend so much time getting my pin perfectly on target that it kind of makes shooting a bow like shooting a gun. After thinking back to when I was a kid and how much fun I had with that crappy fiberglass bow I realised something. Shooting just wasn't fun like it used to be when I was a kid. It was missing something... I looked back and remembered how I used to shoot, instinctively. And to shoot that way I had to shoot barebow.
Not knowing if I would even enjoy shooting barebow again I looked and looked for stick bows at some of the archery stores around my area to try and get some knowledge and couldn't find a single bow at any of them. I heard the same thing over and over "We don't carry them because they just sit and sit and never sell. But I can order ya one..." Yeah, I think I'll pass... Then one evening late at night I stumbled upon a great source of information on shooting stick bows... The TradGang.
After reading and reading this bbs I figured I would just use the knowledge the folks here have put forth and make the leap. So I set forth to try and get a decent bow. Besides, if I didn't like it I could turn around and sell it for very little loss of money on their forums! I ended up winning a Bear Super Mag on eBay at 40# at 28". This little bow is great. I was worried that it might be a bit heavy for me when I was getting a little shakey at full draw. But I just kept telling myself that it will pass if I just kept shooting and building those back muscles like the folks on TradGang said and it would get better. And guess what? You were right! As of now I can pretty much hold at full draw for a few seconds before I start to even get the shakes and since I never hold that long it isn't an issue anymore. As for my groups, well, they have been pretty crappy to be honest. With one, or even two fliers every now and then but I just kept with it and told myself, "It has to be my anchor, it HAS to be... Thats all they talk about on the TradGang!"
Well, as of tonight, I just finally got my anchor sorted out. I am so stoked about this. I am now shooting solid six inch group at ten yards and having an absolute blast! I think I'm pretty much hooked to trad now and don't even want to think about picking up my compound for a long, LONG time. Infact, I may just lend it to my brother inlaw who is currently without a bow.
I have come a long way in the past month and I just wanted to say thanks to all of you here that have been so helpful to all the other people who have come here asking questions and that it not only helps the person asking the question, but it also helps the other people who are lurking about just listening in. :p I have added a photo of my very first solid center group at ten yards as I was so excited that I had to take a pic!
Thank you guys, and thanks to the people who work hard at keeping this place running in their own spare time.
Matt S.
Topic: The new guy and his journey... (pic) (Read 1691 times)
