After my turkey season bout with Mister No-Shoulders, I’m healing quickly and part of my physical therapy has been suggested that I begin walking each day. Well, I can’t argue with the Dr’s on that point, I need the exercise. But rather than strut down the street, I think I’ll do all of my walking out on the archery range. Only twenty-five rounds of thirty yard targets is nearly equivalent to an extra half of a mile and for a fat guy with a bum leg, that’s plenty to get me started.
Besides, archery season is just around the corner and it’s time to get our gear ready. Time to knock the dust off the old quiver, pull the targets out and begin flinging arrows. For the bowhunters now is the time to begin stretching out the muscles to draw smoothly and comfortably. And it’s always a good idea to put your setup through its paces to ensure we’re every bit as ready for the big hunt as we can be.
Checking my string for signs that it has stretched or frayed is the first thing I do, paying strict attention to the center serving where the arrow nock attaches. If all appears well, I’ll give it a good waxing, whether it appears to need it or not. Next, I’ll check to ensure the timing is still dead on. The timing is the rotation of the cams on the bows; you really want to ensure that they are rotating and breaking over at precisely the same moment. Then, it’s a good time to give each axle a squirt of lubricating oil. But, my recurve bow doesn’t have cams or wheels, so I’ll check my tiller to see that all is in sync and there are no twists, fractures or delaminations anywhere in the limbs.
Then, it’s time to do a test shoot to ensure the tune and your accuracy is still dead on. Hopefully you won’t have any issues at all getting your arrows stacking once again into the bullseye. Beyond that, it’s just a matter of repetition and strengthening your muscles and so that you are ready when that buck you’ve waited so long for, suddenly enters your shooting lanes. If solo backyard practice seems more of a chore and you’d rather shoot with friends, even better! Shooting with friends and family is always more fun and I’ll encourage everyone to perform a quick Google search for the schedules of our local archery clubs and visit with them a while. I know they’d be only too happy to have you join. Personally, I’d love to visit the local clubs some more. But in my current state of decay, I’d only hold up the lines, so for now, I think it best that I stick to poking holes into targets on my backyard range.
I surely thank you for all of your input and as always, if you have any feedback, give me a shout at [email protected]. God Bless and Good Hunting!
