Good stuff!  I remember Archery and Rifle & Shotgun Shooting (discontinued) were the two badges I enjoyed earning the most.  My Dad was NOT a hunter/outdoorsman and this is where I got the spark to hunt and my love for archery.


I also recall the man who mentored me in the First Aid badge - he was a corpsman in WWII and I sat jaw-dropped listening to some of the stories he occasionally described.  But they were rare and it was like pulling teeth to get him to talk about it.  I wish I could talk with him now.  He was also the only Silver Beaver (the highest honor for adult Boy Scouts) that I knew personally.

I think Archery was among the first merit badges I earned in scouting, back in the late 1960's. I can't remember the requirements very well, but they sure weren't as tough as 1911!  I think Archery and Fishing were my two favorite badges. (It must have been all the practice....)

I recall My archery Merit Badge.  It was more like the one Jason Highlighted.

I also remember haveing to go back on my free time to become more proficient as I was a terrible shot.  I barely had a passing score but was able to include archery as one of my 68 merit badges.

QuoteOriginally posted by Traditional-Archer:
And I would like to add, if BAPilot2 would like to see if the boys are proficient and competent with a bow please come to the ETAR shoot and judge for yourself these boys can shoot.

             

AJ thank's for posting

TA

My comment was not to imply that today's youth are not competent or proficient.  

On the contrary I was pointing to the fact that we, as a society, are being strangled by rules and regulations.  Whereas in the past common sense took the place of rules and regulations and there was no need to control every aspect of our lives.

Obviously my comment was taken out of context.  Or maybe I was out of line.  

Andrew

BAPilot2
I did not mean to sound like I thought you were being judgmental or criticizing, just putting the boy's accomplishment into perspective. They have come so far and most of them are still shooting after two years. 21 boys built bows some had bows given to them from family and we had some donated from members here on the gang. A lot of material and equipment came from members and sponsors here on the gang what a great group of guys we have here, thank you all again for helping our troop and believing in the future of America. This great USA, I know it seems like we all have too many rules and instructions and we have to get permission for everything we want to do. I think that's what attracts us most to traditional archery and a traditional way of life, we get rid of the junk and replace it with simplicity. One boy out of 21 shoots a compound or did. He shot it for one years and from what I gather he is back to shooting his bow he made. I know this sounds political but it is not intended to be, God bless our rules and our government, without them what are we? God bless America.

Bruce

Kudos to the scouts for their accomplishments and continued interest in archery.  It sounds like they are quite adept and are enjoying their toxophilitic journey.

God bless our country, our people, and our traditional way of life!!!

Earned that MB in the mid 70's with my Kodiak Hunter. Sold that bow many years back; you would think I'd miss it but I like my early 70's Grizzly better than that bow, guess I'm strange.

Stumpkiller, not to derail the thread but we had a WW1 vet at our troop when I was a boy also. He played the banjo and sang songs, a lot of old WW1 songs too. Great man and personality.