Closing January the Right Way

Ordered v-bars Saturday. Shibuya Ultima bracket (with quick releases) and Doinker bars (to match my stabilizer). Hopefully will show up by this weekend.

Anthony then let me borrow a bracket and bars so I could see what shooting with v-bars was like. And let me tell you, it is incredible. Tight groups, consistent placement. I didn't try scoring at all, since I had never used the bars before, but I'm hoping that this weekend lives up to my introduction.

Did have one moment of panic, though. I was the only one on the line, and I set up an arrow to shoot. After I released, a terrible sound echoed throughout the range. Everyone turned to look at me to see what had happened. I had a feeling that I knew what the problem was, but I still went through every piece of my bow to make sure nothing was loose or broken. All pieces appeared to be in order, though. When I went down to collect my arrow, my suspicions were confirmed. We had all heard the sound an arrow makes when a vane is being ripped apart. And down to eight usable arrows I go.

At the end of the second party of the day, I had the chance to take the cross-range shot. Loaded with the v-bars, I got set, aimed, and fired. First show success, as the balloon popped and the kids cheered. What a great feeling to have that kind of success on one try.

After the range closed, Anthony had a private lesson. I was meeting people in Dedham around 8, so I had to find a way to kill a couple of hours. Anthony was kind enough to let me keep shooting during his private lesson, so I spent an extra hour and a half pumping arrows five at a time into the wall. This was the most I've shot since the summer, and I was shooting really well. Did not have any pain on Saturday, just some very serious shoulder fatigue. Not unexpected considering the number of arrows I shot. A little bit of extended soreness in the days since, but nothing too bad, and nothing that a few pain killers won't take care of.

Saturday was January 31st. January was not a great month. A lot of things happened, my mind wasn't always in a great place, and my shooting was not up to a level that I would like to, and know that I can, achieve. To finish the month spending all day pumping arrows into the wall in tight groups was exactly what I needed.