This weekend just gone, I treated my wife and teenage daughters to an activity weekend at a centre by Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders. We had great fun kyaking and mountain biking (which we do a lot of). The big surprise came when we had a go at archery. I have never done this before but surprised both myself and my family by being comparatively good set against my wife and the girls. Seems like I am the Robin Hood of my family.
I wont mention kyaking where I spent most of the time paddling in circles!
Shorten the paddle lenght a bit on your dominant side, that should help a bit 😀
I remember too well the feeling of a bowstring against my left inner forearm. No wonder I preferred fencing.
I'm a surprisingly good archer.
Axe throwing on the other hand. The target is entirely safe. Everything else within 10 yards isn't.
Also, my limited foray into clay pigeon shooting with a fowling piece resulted in a 5% hit rate. Apparently I was aiming at the target, but my barrels weren't.
Use to be a pretty good shot with a paintball gun marker (tut) though.
It also turned out that I was a left handed archer, maybe the Warband Barbarians were modelled on me...? Are any of them small, skinny and wear glasses?
I had something similar when we visited Sherwood Forest a few years back and they had an archery range set up for visitors. My first shot was dead on bullseye, which was quite the surprise to me, and led me to thinking I had some untapped natural skills. My following 4 shots quickly destroyed that fantasy.
I'm not too shabby with an air rifle and have got a single trophy somewhere in the loft from my younger years.
I used to practice archery regularly and was fairly good at it. That I understood since I knew what I was doing.
The one time I tried clay pigeon shooting, I got the 10 minute safety drill and the 2 minute drill on how to shoot the clays, then tried shooting them - and kept hitting them! What I couldn't work out was how - it felt like taking a guess every time rather than actually aiming. I went back to archery since I understood it and you didn't need ear defenders!
I've never tried throwing axes, or any sharp objects, which is just as well judging by (lack of) ability at ball sports...
Quote from: Bodvoc on 07 July 2015, 04:53:33 PM
Are any of them small, skinny and wear glasses?
No....People would think I'd modeled them on myself.
Had a go at field archery LONG ago.....That was great fun !
Clay pigeon shooting ?....Yep...Even
more fun, but I didn't hit many of the clays. :(
Like Leon....Not too bad with an air rifle.
Cheers - Phil
As a teen I went to our Village fete (in the grounds of the manor house, relatives of the Queen Mother!)
I had a go at air pistol. I was high and right - in the 7's. However they were all grouped. The guy wanted me to join the club, as the aim can be corrected - the grouping is what they needed. However they met on the same day as the RPG/wargames club, so I turned them down.
I wasn't bad fencer at Uni - my natural style was quite good, but I couldn't get better easily - the instructor said he needed to train away my bad bits, so I would have got worse before I got better.
Used to be unclassified with SMG, 2nd class with SLR, and marksman with an LMG.
No idea why.
IanS
I have th hand eye co'ordination of a warthog (that took 90 seconds to write),
I used to be fairly handy with bow and arrow, but haven't shot for a few years. Now I have a permanent shake in my left arm so I doubt I'll be as good as I was then :(. Due to take the kids for a shoot at some point this summer so will find out then...
Did a weekend archery taster course when I was just out of uni.
Drove the instructor mad.
All 6 arrows in the first end in gold ... on the target next to mine!!
Didn't improve much over the weekend :)
I have tried archery and crossbow shooting at Centre Parcs, I wasn't too bad. Paintballing on the other hand I was more of a danger to my own side ;D ;D
I've done Archery a couple of times at Centre Parcs and the like - the last time I seemed to get worse as we went round the course :(
Haven't shot an air rifle since I was a kid - seem to remember that I could hit things - but that pellets were always in short supply.
My shooting career ended when I became short sighted (I was an air rifle Shooting Champion in the Boys Brigade). :(
And my archery career ended when I lost my arrow. :(
.... which ... kinda fits in well with one dictionary definition of the word, "career."
"A reckless progress, usually down hill ...." :)
Quote from: Westmarcher on 12 July 2015, 09:47:17 AM
...in the Boys Brigade...
That explains a lot ;) :D ;D
Not tht good at archery, but sister-in-law is the Herts ladies indoor champion.
Pretty god with air rifle, as the pigeon in the freezer will confirm
Clays - not too bad.