Traditional Archery

In its purest form, archery requires a straight stick (the arrow) and another stick bent with a string (the bow). There is a whole lot of science behind archery. However, archery predates science. It has been around for thousands of years. It likely predates agriculture. So the term "traditional archery" doesn't really mean much. In reality, it would be better to refer to non-compound-bow archery.

Whatever the name, I have a fascination with traditional archery. The thought of going into the woods with a bent stick and a straight stick and matching my skill to the senses of another animal are highly appealing. Primarily, it comes down to one word... Skill. 

A compound bow can compensate for a low-skilled archer. Precision machined cams and sights and rests and releases make a beginner archer into a mediocre archer and a mediocre archer into a good archer. However, a traditional bow directly manifests the archer's skill.

In the past couple weeks, one thing has become apparent. My archery skills suck. I didn't shoot from January to July. Ideally, I would spend at least 3-5 days per week shooting year-round. Whatever...

I shot a few rounds at 5 yards, expecting to be rusty. Rusty would be good compared to the way I shot. After a couple days of shooting and bow adjustments, I was back into decent form. I moved back to 10 yards and have been getting better groupings each time. Soon, I'll move back further. I would like to be accurate in the 15-20 yards range before hunting season starts. If I can swing it, I'll push back to 25-30 yards but only take shots at 15-20 yard animals.