What's that for?

My 6 year old granddaughter pointed to my recurve bow hanging on the wall and asked what it was. Well it wasn't too long before we had rounded up some arrows, quiver, arm guard and shooting glove. I've a simple bow range on my land across the street.

I thought she'd might be satisfied with a quick demonstration, but no. Before long she had me shooting further and further distances. I was happy just to not lose any arrows in the woods, but the kid had higher standards. She wanted bullseyes. Good thing I hit a few.

Archery stirs something primal in me. Maybe it's in my genes. Take your pick, Native American or Scottish, there are bowmen in my ancestry.

I've a couple recurve bows and a compound bow. They all have more than a few years on them. Even my “modern” compound bow is a relic. That doesn't matter to me, as it works just fine. Sure, the new ones are lighter and faster, but they don't give them away.

Modern bows are long long way from the bows constructed with stone tools. However, there are still plenty of archers building and using traditional bows, right down to knapping their own stone tipped arrowheads. Deer still fall to these old style bows, so who's going to argue with success?

After a trip to my range I see I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for some good kid's bows. It won't be long before the grandkids will go from watching to doing.

-Sixbears