So today was my third time at the archery range since I started this new hobby and I accomplished a few things. Both good and bad.

First with the bad. I broke my first arrow. =( Arrows are not cheap at all. In USD each arrow can range from $7-$15 per arrow. Usually an archer holds anywhere from 6 to 12 arrows in their quiver. Some quivers allow for more but I haven't seen too many people have more than a dozen.

The arrow I broke slipped off the edge of a target and nailed the trunk of an artificial tree (made of metal) and on the recoil the notch and feathers shredded to pieces. I could probably fix it, but we'll see. I also need to get more arrows. I only have 6 total and now I'm down to 5 usable ones. It really sucks having to walk and collect your arrows every 5 shots. You spend more time walking to the targets than shooting when you have a low arrow count.

So, that's the bad news. Loss of money. Bleh. I got a new accessory for my bow. They're called silencers and are literally just a ball of fur on my string that helps remove the fast vibrations on the string after it recoils back to it original position. They make the bow much quieter when I shoot it.

Image of a bow with silencers on the string

Above is an example of silencers on the bow string. It's a random bow I googled. I've yet to add a strip of fur to the very ends where the string is touching the tips. But I will be doing so in the future. It helps prevent excessive vibration in the bow as the string is being released. Keeping you from making the arrow bounce around and go off track.

Today my arm didn't hurt me at all. I had no problem pulling the bow string back. I tell you what though, for the past week, I've had very bad elbow pains. Today I felt great. I worked on my aiming a lot today. I'm trying to get used to quickly aiming and releasing as soon as I have my target. The longer you hold the bow string back, the more you start losing concentration and grow tired. I shot a lot of bullseyes today. My form is getting much better. This is only my third time at the archery range and people at the range say I'm doing great.

The range has machines that randomly have a fake deer, wolf, goat, alligator, and hog appear out in the field for archers to practice shooting game in their vital areas. Shooting an awkward shaped target without circles telling you where to aim is completely different from regular target shooting. They call this 3D shooting. Go figure. It was a lot of fun though. I landed 10/14 shots on all the animals. I felt accomplished lol.

One lesson I learned today was to not look away from your target. Stare at the target until your arrow hits it. This prevents you from lifting your bow too soon and causing you to shoot slightly upward or downward. I also have a bad habit of closing my eyes as soon as I release the string. Reason being, the string makes a whipping noise as you let it go. The sound makes my eyes squint. This has made many arrows miss by a foot or more on random occasions. I have to work on that.

I plan on using everything I learn from this experience in the archer class of my next game. It's really giving me great ideas.