I Shot an Arrow Into the Air…

After spending most of today in the service of the kids, we got home and I went outside to spend a little time practicing my archery. Our neighbor had visited yesterday and he’d suggested I might want to figure out a way to raise my target block so I didn’t have to aim down so much. I think the idea is to be able to practice technique without concern for aiming right now- just practice the draw, anchor and release stages of the shot to develop some muscle memory.

So when I went out I took my 2 arrows and the shooting block and scanned around a bit to determine if I had any simple options for elevating the block. After ruling out a few options, I looked at the kid’s play gym. It has an elevated platform which the monkey bars are attached to. From the platform, there is a slide down to a sandbox. There is also a short rock wall climb on one side and a rope ladder climb on the other. The platform is open from one side to the other along it’s length, with a roof made of the old tent material covering it. I went and measured my shoulder height against it.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was close. If I set the target on the platform, I judged I could stand about 5 yards away and fire away at it with a straight arm and little aiming to worry about. Just to be sure, I nocked an arrow and raised my arm into drawing position and it lined up with the lower half of the target.

Perfect.

So I paced off 5 yards and turned towards the target. I set my other arrow down on the ground next to me and then began my shot progression. I placed my fingers on the string. I set the string into the first joint of my index finger just above the arrow. My middle and ring finger go below the arrow and curl around the string allowing me to take the weight of the bow off my bow hand. I then relax my grip on the bow. At this point, I look up and stare at the center of the target, then raised my bow arm into position. As I raised the bow into position I brought my draw arm elbow parallel with the ground and began my draw, rotating my body then transferring the draw to my back (at least, that’s what I’m trying to do.)

I anchored my string hand under my chin with the string touching my nose and the corner of my mouth. I paused a moment, made sure my bow hand was relaxed and my arm was straight out from my shoulders. I felt the tension in my back as the weight of the draw pulled against my fingers. I then relaxed my fingers…

The string sang and the arrow flew.

There are those moments when something goes awry where our mind takes a moment to fully comprehend what happened. When the mind recognizes that something went amiss, but can’t quite put the whole picture together. In my case, I distinctly remember thinking “Where’s the THOCK?” That satisfying sound every archer knows as their arrows strikes a target.

Full understanding came quickly from there. I’d missed the target. High. The arrow has sailed through the opening in the play gym’s platform. It had hit nothing and passed unimpeded into the woods behind the house. Beyond our yard, there is a drop off of about 15 feet into wetlands. The arrow had flown somewhere into there, with barely a whisper.

And where it landed, I know not where.