# really off topic, anyone into archery?



## sashamerideth (Jul 24, 2011)

I mean not just classic longbow stuff, but hunting, target, and compound bows. I used to do it before college, and have saved enough to buy a bow of my own. 

I don't like the local shop, bunch of chauvanistic pigs last time I was there. I know what one I want, but can't find anywhere online to buy it. Matthews does a Mission Craze, with pink camo limbs for a bit more than the normal, but I would settle for the normal one. 

To make it more fun, I need a left handed bow.


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## Joe the Gnarled (Jul 24, 2011)

I used to shoot a compound bow, but have never gone bow hunting.  Have you tried looking online?  I can pretty much guarantee you can find anything you want for a comparable or lower price.


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## BeigePalladin (Jul 24, 2011)

not to sound stupid, but pink camo.... I can't think of a single colour that stands out more?

unless by camo you just mean the print, rather than teh function.

I tried archery once, didn't find it all to intresting though


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## sashamerideth (Jul 24, 2011)

Ever see the blaze orange camo hunters wear? The deer are color blind, and I am not hunting. Target shooting. 

I have tried searching but the particular bow is rare, Matthews doesn't sell directly.


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## Kaellpae (Jul 24, 2011)

If the deer are colorblind what's the point of the camo? 
Me? I prefer running naked in the woods, chasing down my prey and slitting its neck. 

Now that's hunting.


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## Meg the Healer (Jul 25, 2011)

I just started using a bow myself. Target shooting - not big into hunting. I found that even though I'm right-handed I am left-eye dominant so I actually shoot left-handed. It's kinda weird.

The orange vests are so the humans don't shoot each other....and it's not that the deer are color-blind persay, but rather it's the shading. If you have a lot of vibrate colors on - animals will most likely see you, but if you're wearing more muted colors, they tend to not. At least that's something I saw on Dual Survivor a few weeks ago.


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## Kaellpae (Jul 25, 2011)

That's why I would wear camo and then just one bright thing. Like a hat or something similar to that.


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## sashamerideth (Jul 25, 2011)

I heard tell of a man.  He hunted deer with a heavy recurve bow, feather fletched wooden shafted arrows, tipped with triple bladed broadheads.  He had hiked into the forest and found recent deersign and a patch for grazing.

This seasoned hunter suspected the deer would return so he climbed a nearby tree, anchored his treestand and waited. Close to dusk, a doe wandered into his clearing. He nocked his arrow and waited. The deer put her head down and began to graze. Slowly, the arrow was drawn back and when the moment was right and the hunter's shot sure, he loosed his arrow. 

He did not know why, but the arrow veered off ever so slightly, and did not pass into her heart or even the lungs for a cleaner kill. Rather the arrow passed straight through her stomach, out the other side and buried it's blood slicked point in the soft ground. 

The doe did not look up, or even flinch, but continued to eat as it bled. The archer dared not fire again for fear the animal would bolt. After a minute, the animal laid down in itss own blood and closed its eyes for the last time. 

This death was not the longest the hunter had inflicted. He had needed to track animals he merely wounded, not always finding them. Today though, was the last straw. He dressed the animal and sold it to the butcher rather than keep it. His bow and arrows went in a garage sale after spending several years in storage. 

I would say he became vegetarian after this incident, but that would not be true. It was only many years later that he considered hunting again at the request of his son, and related this story before committing to a trip.

His son then related this to me after we had been together for a few months. He regretted not having the hunting trip with his father, but the hunter passed away mere months after the telling of this story. 

That is why I will never hunt, but there is a great deal of skill required for archery, and I enjoy it, even if I will never participate in the events behind the original of the bow.


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## Edgemaker (Aug 6, 2011)

Definitely into Archery, I am a level 2 Archery instructor, And I shoot target compound and target recurve looking for going in to real hunting or 3d shooting.


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## sashamerideth (Aug 7, 2011)

Edgemaker said:
			
		

> Definitely into Archery, I am a level 2 Archery instructor, And I shoot target compound and target recurve looking for going in to real hunting or 3d shooting.



I have had some people tell me that I should'nt try to do target compound with a bow as small as the Craze, what are your thoughts? 

Short axle, 31", but goes all the way from 25# up to 70# though I will probably never draw that much.


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## Edgemaker (Aug 7, 2011)

Sashamerideth I think you can do any kind of target shooting with any bows, after doing some research Yea I dont see why its a problem if you want to, It seems like a decent bow for target shooting, just start low on the poundage and work your way up when it feels comfortable.


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## Argentum (Aug 9, 2011)

I used to be into archery. Still am, but I can't find any place suitable to practice. We got a cheap compound bow at a garage sale with a draw of 60 pounds, but had to lower it in order to even pull the bow taut once. Arrows are so darn expensive! I would shoot at hay bales in the back yard up north, but they would always disappear into the woods or...break. One awful time I shot the haybale and watched in horror as the hay bale tipped over and broke the arrow... Another $12 gone. There has to be cheaper arrows somewhere! When or if I can get back to the states, I'd like to try (what do you call a non-compound bow?) traditional bow and get into serious practice.

On a side note, I can't see how this topic is off topic. We're fantasy writers. It only makes sense that we do some of the things we write about.


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## Edgemaker (Aug 10, 2011)

Even after the fact that much of fantasy is written around Archery, Ranger apprentice, How many elven rangers do you know that DONT carry a bow, and finally for the creme of the crop LEGOLAS anyone?


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## sashamerideth (Aug 10, 2011)

I like the idea of compound bows in stories, at the least a penobscot  bow where there is a let off and other means of increased accuracy over instinctive shooting.


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## Argentum (Aug 11, 2011)

Compound bows for the snipers of fantasy!

Well, as for rangers... Everyone needs a sort of long-distance weapon. Arrows can be made, whereas throwing knives would probably be too expensive or too much work to constantly replace. You can shoot arrows while not making too much movement to attract attention, which is handy when you want to blend in with the surroundings. You could use a sling (also in Ranger's Apprentice), but the whole movement of your arm would gather attention to your movements pretty quickly, as well as the sound of the sling. A sling also looks less formidable. You could have darts. Effective, good for assassinations, though personally I find them rather cheesy for anything else. But yes... It is rather overused.

I would sign up for classes here in Korea, but their archery is different and I don't really like the Asian form of archery. I just wanted an archery range so I could use different bow, but they don't seem to just have ranges. You have to be part of a club or something.


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## Edgemaker (Aug 11, 2011)

On the contrary I have found that Archery in Korea is one of the best teaching enviornments the kind of archery that they do there was praised by my certification instructor when he was training us.


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