Before getting back into traditional archery last summer, I was away from the 3D scene. I used to shoot almost every week in my late 20’s and through my early 30’s, but after moving to North Dakota, then to Ohio, and eventually back to Pennsylvania, it kind of fell to the wayside. Since then a lot has changed. For starters, life took all of us who used to shoot together in different directions so I didn’t have anyone to shoot with. There are also far fewer shoots around and I had to do my homework to figure out where they are now including checking out several new courses.
Starting last summer I decided to make a concerted effort to get to more shoots to continue honing my traditional archery skills. I didn’t make as many as I wanted to last year, but this year I’ve been doing better and have been motivated by my new shooting partner, Will. Back when the snow was still flying I took him to his first ever shoot and he made it through with flying colors. From there I continued to ask him if he wanted to go and he said yes every time.
Not only does Will seem to enjoy going, he’s improved noticeably along the way. He enjoys grading our shots and we have a lot of fun jousting with each other over who shot better. We’ve also added a video element as I’ve been capturing moments from most of our shoots and turning the clips into YouTube videos, which I’ve shared below. I couldn’t be more excited that Will has stuck with archery and now he’s about to outgrow his first recurve bow. Here’s hoping his interest continues through the rest of the summer and beyond.