New young archer in the family

tomsm44 · September 22, 2013, 08:34:00 PM

I've been wanting to get my son a recurve or longbow for a while but funds haven't allowed it lately. He'll be 8 in October so it's a bit overdue. Well today I was heading outside to shoot my Red Wing Hunter and decided to take my other two bows and shoot them a few times also. I wanted to make sure they were ready to go for a church shoot next Saturday in case any of the wheel bow guys wanted to try them out. They are a 70# Super Kodiak that was given to me a couple of years ago and a 35# Black Bear that belonged to my late uncle. After a couple of shots it suddenly hit me. 35# at 28" would probably translate to around 20# at my son's 18-20" draw. Long story short, 10 minutes later my son was stacking 3 arrows into about 6" at 5 yds. Not too bad for his first day, even if it almost drags the ground when he shoots

. After we finished, I explained to him who the bow belonged to (my uncle was killed in a boating accident when I was around 12 years old so my son never got to meet him) and then passed it on to him. I didn't think to take a picture, but I'll try to get one up soon. He makes 3 generations of my family that has shot this bow. Never know, maybe he'll be the first to kill a deer with it since my uncle and I neither used it to hunt with.

God bless,
Matt Toms

bow loving man · September 22, 2013, 09:00:00 PM

Matt that is awesome, my avatar is my 6 year old son shoot a 35@28 browning curve....Good on you! I bet he thinks he is good as dad! Congrats! May you have many more days shooting with your son!

Mudd · September 22, 2013, 09:33:00 PM

PS: I'll be watching for his picture.

JAG · September 22, 2013, 09:39:00 PM

LB_hntr · September 23, 2013, 12:01:00 AM

Nothing better than shooting and hunting with your kids!
Great job and how cool for him to shoot a bow with 2 generations of shooters from his family.

tomsm44 · September 23, 2013, 07:54:00 AM

He started squirrel hunting last year with a 22 and has killed a couple of rabbits and armadillos out of the yard/garden with it. He will be starting deer hunting during the firearm season this year with a 308 that I shortened the stock on and loaded some light hand loads for. Only restriction on archery that I know of is draw weight and that's 35#, so I guess it'll just depend on when he reaches the right skill/maturity level before he can bow hunt.

Kyodai · September 23, 2013, 08:39:00 AM

AWESOME!

I think I have as much fun, if not more, teaching as I do shooting. That's the other side of the trad archery coin! Passing it along to others. Congrats to your son and you, and may you have many long days together flinging arrows!

VictoryHunter · September 23, 2013, 09:47:00 AM

Great story! It will perfect for deer hunting in a few years.

Brent Hill · September 23, 2013, 10:58:00 AM

Very cool. I love watching my daughter and other kids shooting trad bows. Does the soul good.

tomsm44 · September 23, 2013, 12:23:00 PM

Thanks for the kind words guys. I've to get him some youth arrows fletched up with feathers. That little bow doesn't put a whole lot behind my 530gr hunting arrows from a 18" draw.

Matt

paoliguy · September 23, 2013, 12:32:00 PM

My kids and I made their arrows. We made them from dowel rods, painted them all up (sometimes pretty flashy!). I think they enjoyed building the arrows ALMOST as much as shooting with the old man. I know I sure enjoyed those moments! Just gotta remember newspaper on dining room table - Mom doesn't seem to like paint on it ....