It's been quite a year for me. Bear with me, this one's a little long.

I'll start with some background. Back when I was 14, my Dad started me into archery. He and my uncle bowhunted almost exclusively, and because they'd both started on recurve before going to compound, that was how he started me. We got an old Pearson Cougar 45# @ 28, a bunch of aluminum arrows and got started.

Even though he shot compound, my Dad remembered enough about shooting recurves to regularly school me with my own bow. I learned alot from him the first two years. I improved to the point where I could take the bow hunting, and did. I never got a deer with the recurve, and as our lives got busy (my Dad working more, and I got a part-time job) we weren't practicing enough, and my shooting was suffering. So I switched to compound. I shot a little better, but not much, even with the sights.

Another hunting season passed, and while I got a shot at a deer, a twig deflected the shot and shaved some hair off the chest of a doe without wounding (thankfully). After hunting season we kept putting off going shooting, and by the time we got back to it I was out of shape and unprepared. I couldn't hit a darn thing. Over time this turned into Target Panic, with a capital TP. I couldn't even roll the bow over before I compulsively released. Practice sessions became frustrating struggles with myself.

That fall I went to college. I moved about 8 hours away, with no vehicle, and with studies and work I had no way to get out and practice shooting, let alone hunting. So my bow gathered dust in the basement.

Last year, around the spring, I got myself a car, and decided the time had come to get back into archery and bowhunting. I dragged out the old compound, looked at it, and said: "To heck with this, I'm going back to recurve." I had a nice tax-return check begging to be spent, so I looked around and tried out some bows before purchasing a Martin Hunter, 50# @ 28.

It arrived in June, and I took it out to the range a few days later, put an arrow on, pulled back - and the TP came back with a vengeance. I couldn't get the string more than halfway back. I went home as frustrated as I'd ever been. Still, I vowed I would practice and practice until I could anchor that bow and shoot well enough to hunt.

I fought my target panic for three long months, twice a week for an hour at a time, standing at five yards and hammering arrows into the buttes. Then, one day in august, pulling back on another arrow, I started to release prematurely and managed to curl my fingers and stop...and then pull straight back to anchor.

The next arrow I shot, and the next, and the next, I came back to full draw and released smoothly. I wasn't breaking nocks or anything, but by the time deer season rolled around I could keep my shots at 20 yds in a deer's vitals. I was elated.

Deer were few and far between this season. We saw a couple, but didn't get any shots. But just being in the woods with a bow in the hand made me feel more satisfied than I ever had hunting before. The simple beauty of the bow, the crisp November air, and the hush of the autumn woods were the perfect reward to months of hard work.

A few months later, I got a new job and moved to Manitoulin Island from Sault Ste. Marie. It took me a month and a half to find a place to shoot. When I did start shooting again, my skills were noticeably rusty. My anchor was sloppy, I was torquing the bow...you name it, I was doing it wrong. Once again I settled down to work.

In the last two months I've gotten back to where I was last fall. The compound archers I shoot with still look at me like I'm a little crazy when I show up with the recurve, but I like to think it's a good kind of crazy.

So that's been my year. I'm loving archery and bowhunting more than I ever did...and I have to say, I think it must have something to do with the equipment. The feel and look of the bow, the flight of the arrow, the time spent fletching and tuning your shot...this is what bowhunting is about for me: The love of simple things.

Sounds like a heck of a year but, remember, it's all about the journey anyway! Glad it's all coming together for ya and hopefully we'll be hearing some success stories this fall.   :D    

Very nice. Being able to recognize your weaknesses will eventually lead to the consistency we all strive for. Not sure if you've read the wealth of books out there but I would certainly recommend Fred Asbell's books. He has a knack of of taking the problems we encounter and breaking them down into simple components that lead to solutions. Enjoy the journey, I certainly am.

I've read the first Instinctive Shooting. I'm hoping to get the others sometime soon, as I am currently short on reading material!

Keep it up and go get them.

Good work, and a good story. I'm one of those dads who introduced children to the bow so I'm glad you got back to it/stayed with it. I haven't been able to harvest anything yet with my bow, however I agree with you that it's a great feeling, being in the woods with a bow in hand. (Especially on Manitoulin !!! I used to go to Providence Bay to visit, and then travel around the island. I passed through the island last fall to catch the ferry to Tobermory after bear hunting in Algoma Mills ) Keep up the effort with your recurve and enjoy every small success and every moment...  

Hang on to that attitude and you will have a life time of treasures to look forward to. Its a way of life, a different way of doing things then the masses. Those compound guys are looking at you with a look of jealousy, because you have found what they are still looking for.

Keep the faith!!!

Stay with it,your time will come as will mine it's been 3 years for me loosing hunting property working alot of hours and not shoooting as much as I would like,this will be our year so heres to you.

Thanks for all the encouragement, guys! This site has been a great place for me to learn and connect. It's good to know that there's such a solid community here.

I understand your frustration. That said, I find that shooting too much is my problem. I think we all find what works for us an Duse that as a primer for practice. Sounds like you are on a good path. Stay with it. Wheels can be fun, but nothing beats the feeling of wood and string in the stand in the fall.