Tag: english longbow

Its been a while…

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As Stained said, when they tried to break the cycle back in 2001, ‘its been a while’. Unfortunately, Stained didn’t mention anything in their lyrics about not writing an archery themed blog post since 2018 but the sentiment, or at least the title of song, is true in that it has been while.

There hasn’t been a specific reason as to why I haven’t posted in four years it has just been a combination of little things and as Hank Scorpio said in The Simpson’s ‘you can’t argue with the little things. It’s the little things that make up life’ and over the last four years there’s been a lot of little things filling up a lot of life.

However, I am going to make a conscious effort to put my thoughts down on page and share some of my archery, and who knows, perhaps, wider ponderings with you all. There’s a part of me that believes that since 2018 I must have gotten a deeper understanding of shooting a stick and string as I’ve been doing this seemingly simple action for around a decade now; but, if I’m honest, there’s a bigger part of me that acknowledges that I still know nothing. I am however, to share my limited knowledge of all things archery – or at least the things I think I know with you.

So for those still interested then I will attempt to make the biggest come back since Lazarus and resurrect this blog in the hope that it may be read; but with the understanding that I will just be screaming into the emptiness of the abyss that is the internet.

2017 – A Retrospective

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It’s the closing days of the year which is a natural time to look back over the my archery year.

For the first part of the year – the second half of the winter season and most of the summer season – I spent at my old target archery club. Although I’ve been shooting for a few years now I never attempted to get my 252 badges, the club had just revised their scheme so I thought it was the ideally time to work on my badges. The 252 scheme is where you need to get 3 scores of 252 or over at a set distance – 15, 20, 30, 40 and 50yrds – once accomplished you receive a badge. It was a nice way to pass the summer season and it was a good marker to see how I progressed.

In the closing stages of the summer season I made the decision to change clubs from the target archery club to a field archery club. At the time this was a big step but one that I feel has ultimately paid off. At the target club I was one of only a few traditional English Longbow archers which meant that I was pretty much left to my own devices. Overall, I had no issue with this at the time but retrospectively I feel this hindered my progression as I had nobody willing to point out my errors and give me pointers. On the other hand the majority of the archers at the field club are traditional archers who are more than happy to pass on their knowledge and observations, which I feel has helped me progress.

This year I’ve also tried my hand at arrow making which has been a lot of fun. If I’m honest, I struggled with the fletching wrapping as it was difficult to get the spacing the same between the threads. This will come with time and practice so I hope my next batch will be a little tidier.

In 2018 I’m really looking forward to getting out into the forest on a weekly basis and challenging myself to some difficult shots. I’m also hoping to improve the quality and finish of the arrows I’m making. Like everything in life this will come from practice and dedication.