Recurve or Compound ?

To the uninitiated, the above statement might have come from advance maths. Actually, the terms refer to types of bow used in archery. Why archery? Coz its part of my try-a-thing-once in a lifetime philosophy.

Hunting instincts have always been ingrained in humans. We’ve come a long way from the Stone Age hunter-gatherer to the sophisticated hunter with equipment that could scope out preys from miles away. Some might say that the hunt itself is more satisfying than getting the prey. Which made me think, how does our forefathers hunt with only some crude equipment? How does one progress from sticks and stones to spears and come out with the initial design of the bow and arrows?

Anyway, I’ve always been fascinated by bow and arrows. I could remember doing one during my childhood. It was a very crude design, with a piece of bent wood and a chord tied across it. And we would have grand time playing hunters or cowboys and Indians. Oh, and there were arrows with suction pads as the point and it would stick to most flat surface. Alas, as one grows up, these are soon forgotten and tucked away in the annals of our memory. Until recently…

A group of friends has arranged an indoor archery session and I gladly accept. As I know nothing about competition archery, the session has been an eye opener. I’ve done target shooting with revolvers before (without earmuffs as those are for wussies ;-) ) hence I found that the techniques of aiming and releasing are similar. But nothing beats the stealth offered by the arrows. Once you’ve drawn your arrow and released the chord, the whoosh sound of your arrow whizzing away and the thud on the scoreboard really makes you feel alive. No wonder they say that the hunt is more thrilling than the kill.

For the beginner, they normally suggest that you take up a compound bow initially as its friendlier to use. It takes a while to get accustomed to the equipment, and using a public bow means that your have to suit your draw-length to the equipment. The sights on public bows are also crude, with draw strength about 25 lbs. This is really light compared to the pros as they are doing 35-55 lbs, but being new to this it feels very heavy. For the pros, their bow is suited only for them, hence you can't pick any of their expensive bows and have a go. Also a word of warning, no DRY FIRING of the bow, meaning shooting without any arrows in place as it might damage the equipment.

So how did I fare that day? Suffice to say that beginners luck really do exists. After a few tries, I manage to get the hang of it and beginning to finish my arrows in the yellow section of the target ( 9 & 10 points ). Then my left arm than starts to feel the strain of holding the drawn bow and it went downhill from there. So my dream of packing it up and starts a new career as Robin Hood or William Tell will sadly, not become true.

Archery for Dummies

Modern day Robin Hood in the making

Not bad for the first try eh!