So what's the big attraction to archery

[Doc]

So what was it that fascinated you about shooting a bow? I remember poking around up in the shop over our garage where I found an old draw knife way back when I was about 10 years old. I took my trusty hatchet and went up on the hill where I hacked down a hickory sapling, and used that draw-knife to fashion something that looked like a pretty good version of a longbow, and built some arrows out of willow branches. The bow worked fine, but the arrows didn't fly all that well. Of course the question comes up as to what the heck I did all that for. There was nobody in our family that was into archery or bowhunting. No magazines or books or TV programs for encouragement. But as soon as I saw that draw-knife, that was the first thing that came to mind was that I had to use it to make a bow ..... lol. There was just something about a simple bent stick being used to propel another stick at a target that was and still is fascinating. It had nothing to do with getting a deer or hunting anything at all at first. I suppose all of that is not all that strange because quite a few kids get involved with archery and never really do have any thoughts of hunting. It's just a challenging activity.

So how about the rest of you? What was it that was the big fascination with shooting a bow?

[Four Seasons]

More time in the woods, more closer one on one interaction with the animal. The xtra  tag and the challenge of only killing a top end,smartest animal in the woods at close range. 

[First-light]

Great time of year to be in the woods. You get up close and personal with the deer!

[Doc]

Actually, I really like archery, just for archery's sake too. There is something about manually holding back all that force, and then letting go of the string and seeing the arrow go into the target (or not). At one time I was deep into tournament archery. I was never really super good at it, but it was just fun. Like any sport, it was the challenge of developing a skill that was difficult to master. I always enjoyed the 80 yard shot on the NFAA field archery course. When I shot it with a recurve, I had to have a prism sight pin just for that shot, so I could see the target around my fist.....lol.

Hunting was really a natural offshoot of archery. I was bowhunting before I ever owned a gun......shooting pigeons in the barn at age 10.

[GreeneHunter]

I like Crossbow hunting - now the entire season - because it's so quiet out there !  If I score I score , if not I've enjoyed the silence !

[landtracdeerhunter]

It takes me be back to Native American times. Develop a skill level way beyond any other weapon out there. Challenges and goals to set a sense of accomplishment like no other.  Archery season is far more enjoyable, for me than firearm.

[airedale]

The challenge and the fun, the quest for perfection, rifles, handguns, shotguns, airguns, slingshots, you name it, I just love shooting!

Al

[Doc]

1 hour ago, airedale said:

The challenge and the fun, the quest for perfection, rifles, handguns, shotguns, airguns, slingshots, you name it, I just love shooting!

Al

There is a common thread of challenge in all forms of shooting. But the mental and physical demands of archery seem so much more rigid. The unbending rules of form consistency, stance anchor position, release, follow-through and all the little rules of absolute consistency are all so critical in archery. A lot of the challenge came from my years of tournament shooting when I became enthused with the idea of putting arrows into the same hole. Never realized but that was the imagined goal.

But I still remember that old hickory stave that I fashioned into a fairly decent long-bow, and the shooting challenges that started me off on a lifetime of archery fanaticism. I still idolize the more famous archers like Darrell Pace, Fred Bear, Howard Hill and Stacy Groscup and others that did amazing things with rather basic equipment. And up until I got involved in tournament shooting these were the people that I tried to emulate. Of course the tournament stuff is where I really got hung up on the thought of perfection. I never got there but the pursuit of perfection became fanatical. It's been a grand journey through all the phases of archery and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I am not saying that all those other weapons of shooting can't be attacked with the same kind of fanaticism. I have brother-in-law who goes through a lot of the same kind obsession with his guns. But archery was the thing that I began obsessing about, and it has been a lifetime obsession from age 10 to today.