Sometimes I'm Deadly

Kids Arrows at an Archery Event
I never shot a bow when a kid, but beginning as an adult I wasn't too much better than the above.

Today I'm deadly with my slingshot or bow, sometimes.  Sometimes using these simple instinctive tools I can hit anything and seemingly without trying.  But! I said sometimes!

On other days it seems, "I can't hit the inside of the barn."  Well! That's not exactly true, I very seldom have big misses anymore, my shooting standards are higher.  I began with a traditional bow in 1989 and the slingshot around 2007, so I should be getting better; don't you think!

I can remember walking out in the back yard with a friend as a beginning archer and drilling the first target.  He said, "Wow! Great Shot!" I should have stopped with that first arrow, because it was all down hill after that one.

He was not a great archer either, but he was much better with his longbow than I with my recurve. But it was not the bows, it was the archers!  He never made a shot like my first one, but he never made a bad shot either.  He'd been shooting longer and was far more consistent than me.  I missed the whole bag target a couple of times!

I've always known that I have the ability to shoot well because my first shot is often deadly accurate. Even after not shooting for months I can pickup my bow at times and nail what I want.  My first shot is often my best shot.  Then if I start thinking too much about the shooting, "I'm my own worst enemy." as we sometimes say.

If you were watching me shoot today there is still a chance I'd embarrassed myself, but it's far less likely than only a few years ago.  Why after shooting for so many years has my consistency improved in the last few years? "I started shooting a  slingshot!"

Shooting a slingshot employs the same basic skills as traditional archery, but it's simpler and easier for me to find a place and the time to practice.  And, I don't spend half that time going to collect the arrows.  I'm getting more consistent simply because I now shoot thousands of shots a year with a slingshot rather than only a few hundred arrows.

It took me many years to learn to shoot my bow with reasonably consistent accuracy.  It's simple, but there is still a lot to learn, and I'm still not nearly as good as I'd like to be.  I've learned the slingshot much quicker because they're very similar, one compliments the other, and thousands of shots.

 Yes! I'm sure I would possibly be even better if I'd shoot thousands of arrows, but that's not practical for me.  My Point: Don't overlook the slingshot because you think it's for kids... Yes! I'm still a little shy to tell everyone that shooting a slingshot is a favorite activity of mine, but it is.

The slingshot is so easy, simple, convenient, inexpensive...  All you need is a slingshot and ammo.  You don't need much of a backstop, nothing like those needed to catch or stop arrows or bullets.  You don't have to go retrieve your ammo, but it's a simple set-up if you want to.  The neighbors probably won't ever know your shooting or care.  The law is not very worried about you shooting a tin can or at frogs in the creek either.  Slingshot shooting is largely free from worries.