I drew a tag for a controlled hunt in a metropolitan park this past fall. The park didn’t want any ham and eggers so you had to qualify with your bow. The target was at 20 yards and pretty much down hill. When I showed up to qualify, I was the only one with a recurve. Everybody else was shooting compounds and cross-bows, the latter with scopes, of course. It was a little intimidating to line up with all eyes on the weirdo with the recurve and wooden arrows. I consider myself a fair shot, and to be sure, I practiced for several weeks. What I didn’t anticipate was the down hill shot, but it wasn’t completely strange to me since in the 2 years I’ve been shooting a recurve, I did a fair amount of hunting from tree stands. The target was a 8 1/2″ X 11″ sheet of paper tacked to a traditional archery target. To qualify, you had to get 4 out 5 arrows anywhere within the paper target. From 20 yards, it looked awfully small. My first practice shot was in the target; the second missed the whole thing and skipped into the chest high grass behind the target. Now I’m sweating and I don’t dare glance at the gallery because I can feel the smirks. I shot my other 3 arrows and they were all over the target, one or 2 inside the qualifying target. I retrieved my arrows from the target and made a quick entry into the weeds to look for my 5th arrow. Gone. So I climbed up to take my chances and put all 4 arrows within the paper target. The park ranger who checked me out said I was the first guy in 6 years to hit the target “with one of them.” I started traditional and in 3 hunting seasons I;ve had more fun than a man should have and made some great friends. I don’t begrudge the compound folks and their ability to reach out a lot farther than those who prefer the tradional gear. It’s just a matter of preference. Plenty of room in the woods for both of us.
