Archery

I managed to take the bow down to the club today for a little while and get some practice in. It's currently archery season here in mass for deer, and I might go out and get one. I wanted to practice for a while anyway, as there is a serenity in shooting a bow that I don't feel with firearms. Maybe it is because of the muscles used, the weight of violence contained in my hands. Then again, maybe I just need more practice with my .22!

Now for those of you without an education on Zen, here is a brief primer. There is no past. There is no future. There is only Now. There is no target, there is no archer, they are one and the same. I think Zen translates to English as "no mind." Anyway that's the best way to not think about what you are doing.

I was only shooting 10 yards, as I haven't shot in a long time I didn't want to lose any arrows. It was more about emptying the noggin, and re-training my muscles. It was bliss.

Now I don't use a fancy compound bow, I have a German glass-reinforced, lemonwood bow that was given to me years ago. The finish is a little worse for wear, the gel coat is cracking. It still pulls over 60# when I draw it. I do own a 1968 Bear compound bow, but it's just as powerful as my recurve. If I'm going hunting, that recurve is going with me. I have added silencers on the string and they are surprisingly effective. I would have to buy new arrows, though. I do have some cedar shafts, and broadheads that can fit them, but the new lighter carbon fiber arrows are better suited for harvesting game. I like the expanding broadheads, as the slower speed of the recurve is more prone to crosswind interference. And I can get them in a subdued pattern, as my cedar arrows are white and red.

If you have a bow, you should shoot once a week to keep your muscles tuned up, and your arrows in the kill zone.

On an economic note we broke the 10% "magic number" for unemployment. Jobless recovery, indeed.