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Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

Standby!

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About Standby!

  • Birthday 07/05/1970

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    NW Arkansas
  • Interests
    USPSA , Mountain bikes, Fishing, Music, Photography
  • Real Name
    Jeff Hale

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  1. It would be wise to have both...the drawing fingers take a beating so either a glove, or tab you will definitely need. There are basic arm guards that are very economical, and can save you from some nasty bruising. If you choose not to use one it's best to open your stance a little to allow some clearance. Usually most people stand at a 90 degree angle to the target with feet shoulder width apart. If you shoot right handed, simply move your left foot to back a little to open up the stance, which gives the bow arm (left arm) a little more clearance from the bow string. You'll have to play with your stance to find the sweet spot. If you choose to buy both, it's about a $20-30 investment, which isn't bad because they both last a very long time. (years) I use a Tab, rather than a glove..it's all personal preference.
  2. I'm not the best with words, but I tried to convey that "feeling" as best I could..letting go of other things helped me! The feeling of a well placed shot that is not work, is awesome! You would probably enjoy getting another bow from what you've said. I don't think you'll regret it!! 5 to 20 yards is plenty of space to challenge yourself. Get yourself back in the "zone" and progress to smaller targets. I enjoy blank target faces that I can stick a very small target, like a golf tee, or even using the arrow holes left in the target after pulling them. Bag targets are inexpensive and a very durable, I just bought a decent size one on sale for under $30 at Academy Sports A big white target surface with no clutter does wonders for the focus between you and the target. Most targets have multiple spots with wild and crazy colors these days..nothing a can of .99 cent can of white spray paint can't fix. Going back and revisiting the longbow was a terrific experience! The quote above is from Zen in the Art of Archery, published in 1948. This past past Saturday reinforces the validity. "You can separate from me any time you wish. Even if broad seas lie between us, I shall always be with you when you practice what you have learned." If I can be of any help at all, I'll gladly return the favor for the things I've learned here. Cheers!
  3. Another example: "When one's mind is troubled by fear, one's bow is dead. When one is willing to sacrifice oneself and regards lightly the loss of one's own life, then one's bow comes alive." This passage defnitely shows a Zen inμuence. The Wumenguan (1229
  4. Or if you prefer, the simple answer: "You can separate from me any time you wish. Even if broad seas lie between us, I shall always be with you when you practice what you have learned." or perhaps: "In the case of archery, the hitter and the hit are no longer two opposing objects, but one reality."
  5. Hey all! Just wanted to share a little background and experience on the subject of Zen. This weekend I revisited an old friend I had been neglecting, a sad looking longbow, hanging on the wall of my man cave. I had not even acknowledged it's existence in over two years. I grew up loving archery, and I have my cousins to thank for getting me involved in it. I started archery with a first generation Allen compund bow and learned the basics of form, sight picture, anchor, the release, and follow through. I learned very quickly as a kid, without a lot of money, that losing arrows and expecting them to be replaced was not going to happen. So in order to preserve my enjoyment, I had to learn how to shoot better. My bow was equipped with 3 sights, with windage and elevation adjustments and through trial and error, I learned that I had to follow the arrow to correct right/left and up/down errors. This only worked if my form was consistent..which manifested itself in error with a bruised inside left arm (string slap) and missed targets. I didn't know there were armguards until I had broken several blood vessels. I was sure happy when I finally aquired one..my form had been auto corrected via the punishing string slaps at this point. Fast forward several years..age around 16, by this time I had upgraded my dated Allen Compound bow with a fancy new Jennings T-star model. All the rules that I learned before still applied to this bow, but this bow was supposed to be easier to shoot, as it had more let-off than my previous one. Well they were right! this bow was definitely easier to hold at full draw for a longer period of time. I kept shooting and before I knew it, I ended up at the Tri-county Rod and Gun Club for my very first Archery Tournament! This was before the actual 3D targets, they were basically posters of animals secured to big bales of compressed soundboard. This became very habit forming...walk through the woods and place your foot on a stake, and give your best estimate on the distance because it was unmarked yardage. Now to complicate shooting even further, you added range estimation to the equation...many, many lost arrows! Range estimation became a critical skill you had to learn to be competitive. So I started learning that one large stride was about a yard for me..so I learned to estimate how many steps it would take me to reach the target..worked pretty good. I even won quite a few tournaments Fast Forward 15 years...I uprgaded to a nice Hoyt compund..fast and easy to shoot..or it was so advertised..and I didn't find many flaws in their advertising claims. My archery had progressed with technology and had enjoyed every bit of it up to this point. I added a mechanical release to the mix and learned that you can jerk a release trigger just like a gun trigger. But in archery they call it "punching" the release. My particualr release had a nice adjustable trigger, and was very helpful in giving the string a "clean" release. I also adapted from Aluminum arrows to carbon arrows at this point. I practiced what was called "blank bailing" in archery terms, which is basically shooting a blank target with your eyes closed at close range for what seemed like an eternity. This engrained the execution of a proper release in my head, and once you feel it..you never forget it. I then decided to complicate things even further by using what's called "back tension release" It has no trigger, but rather relies on the position of the release itself, a rotation like a sear and hammer, but different. I don't know how many accidental discharges I had before I learned how to use it properly. Arrows in the ceiling..richocheting off the floor..scared the hell out of me! I was minding my own business at the local indoor range when I noticed a guy walk in with a Palmer recurve. He stepped up next to me on the line, and sent a few very well placed shots on the targets downrange. I sparked up a conversation with him on the way down to retrieve our arrows, it went something like this. "Nice shooting with that old school bow! My name if Jeff, he answered, Thanks! I'm Jason. We got back back up to the line and he noticed me fidgeting with my sights, string loop, adjusting my rest, putting on my wrist strap, putting my release over my right wrist, Jason says: "That's a lot of work just to shoot a bow isn't it?" I said yes, sometimes I spend more time messing with everything than I do shooting. He says is it worth it? I said yes because I'd won a lot of tournaments and it was very accurate. He chuckled and said care for some friendly competition? I accepted the challenge. At 20 yards we stuck nothing but a golf tee into the target face and removed everything else. I chuckled to myself, this will surely be easy. Always being the gentlemen, I said you first. His first shot landed touching the edge of the tee...I took mine..about an inch away. He took his next shot and broke the tee..winning. I said let's do that again..I knew I had the advantage and my equipment was top of the line. To make a long story short, he beat me again. We continued this for several hours..he beat me consistently with something like a 80/20 percentage. At the end of the friendly competition he says, why don't you give my bow a try? I was certainly interested how it felt to shoot such a simple bow compared to mine. I took my first shot and stuck one of his arrows in the wood frame of the target..embarrassed I apologized, and he says no big deal, it happens to me all the time! For some reason I didn't believe this statement. Jason handed me another 11 arrows and said I can have you hitting within 2" of that golf tee in these 11 arrows..I laughed..sure..ok. He said it's all in the sight picture...I said what sight picture there is no sight? He said you are not seeing it...yet. He said when you get bow to full draw look at the relationship of the arrow to the target. Is the arrow shaft lined up left and right to the golf tee? (I drew without shooting to see what he meant) I said yes I think so. He said ok now envision the arrow flight, when an arrow leaves the bow it has an arch, or trajectory, because of this, you have to aim low most of the time. If you use the end of the arrow as reference point to get you started you will see what I mean. I took another shot following his advice, the arrow landed 4 inches higher than the golf tee, but pretty much in line left to right. I grabbed another arrow and he says, do you remember what that last sight picture looked like? I sad yes, he said now with what you have learned, adjust you sight picture. I drew the bow, and recognized the same shot picture and lowered it a couple inches. I let it go and the arrow landed within 2 inches of the golf tee. I shook my head in disbelief...he said do it again, with the same sight picture. I did, and the arrow landed touching the previous arrow...I was elated! This shooting brought a new and fresh perspective to an otherwise stale state of shooting. To watch the arrow fly from the bow to the target..without a mechanical aid, holding the entire weight of 55 lbs at full draw, no sights, no mechanical release..and relying on nothing but sight picture and proper execution was an eye opener. I agreed to meet Jason the next day at the range, and we shot some more..we became really good friends, and still are to this day. The next day I asked if he knew where I could get a good quality bow..a longbow in particular. He said yes..I know just the place! I said, you know anybody looking to buy a top of the line compund setup? He laughed and said no, I don't hang around "those" people..I got the joke. Long story short, I sold the compund and bought a Herb Meland Pronghorn longbow, and spent the next several years having some serious fun with a great group of guys, instead of stressed about having the latest and greatest, and keeping up with Jones so to speak. Jason was a blessing in disguise that day, and still continues to be. I now get more enjoyment out of the sport , and all because of a chance encounter with a stranger on the range. It turns out Jason was an accomplished competition 3D archer using traditional equipment. His trophy room is chock full of trophies, and has been a sponsored shooter. In fact he gave me one of those sponsor bows a couple years later. So what's the point of all this? I think you can read between the lines. Here is a video of the past weekend..hey the weather didn't cooperate for anything else. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVjpjBLW_LQ&hd=1
  6. If you play with grip pressure and trigger finger timing/pressure it will diminish.
  7. I wonder if it was difficult for someone at his level to demonstrate hosing shots all over the place? Since he's obviously spent so much time eliminating it. I would have thought that muscle memory, or subconscious would have overridden his attempt? Just thinking out loud.
  8. I understand..I was just discussing the exercise in the video..
  9. At that distance you can see everything..not just one or the other.
  10. How about give each tgt what it deserves, a close tgt does not require the same type of focus as a far or tight shot does. 7 Yds and under get target focus from me.. It seems the peripheral vision is adequate at shorter distances.
  11. One of my favorite parts is the discussion of focal distance...and sight picture...from what I understand, the focal distance either at the target, or the gun, is optional.
  12. I'd wager TGO's jerk and my jerk don't have a lot in common. Interesting point though, if a top level shooter with millions of rounds downrange says something is true, is it? Is it possible for a lower level shooter to accept TGO's advice and start jerking the trigger successfully, or does that shooter need to work through these issues themselves and end up with the same conclusion before the lesson can be correctly learned? It would be less expensive to take his adive and run with it..
  13. It's impossible not to at that speed....at least he's not selling snake oil, and trying to convince anyone otherwise, he's telling it like it is. He did say that you have to learn to jerk the trigger without disturbing the sight picture. Shooting at those split times leaves no time for preparation.
  14. What a great day! shot 100rnds over lunch..and had no pain in my strong arm!! Time to hit the next match!
  15. The waiting is the worst..hopefully I get rid of the cast on the 12th, of this month..issued a non intrusive brace, and a pass by the Ortho Doc to resume! Thanks! Well, that's only a few days away - which is a good thing! Good luck with the new brace Headed to the range today over lunch...I will try to be good.
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