Archery

When deciding on a few things they would like to include with their learning plans for this year Andrew and Nicholas added archery to their lists. They've been fairly interested in bows and arrows for a while, mostly thanks to a couple of computer games they play. We decided to look into the cost of bows and got a nasty shock - the cheapest bow we found at one online site was $250!!! So, totally out of the question for newbies to archery and definitely out of our budget. We've since found a number of different types that suit our price range, thank goodness!

A friend of ours offered to take the boys out to camp and teach them how to use his son's crossbow. One Saturday Adrian and the boys headed out to camp with our friend and he taught them about safety first of all, then let them practice with the crossbow. Adrian had made a target out of some leftover carpet pieces we had and hung it from the soccer goalpost. The draw on the crossbow was about 20 lbs, making it possible to Andrew to draw it with a bit of grunting involved. It was a bit difficult for Nicholas to draw it, but his aim was pretty good. Once it was set though, it was as easy as aiming at the target and pulling the trigger. They were thrilled with the results - most of the bolts hit in the coloured areas of the target.

Matthew and I joined them later on and he and I each got a chance to give it a try. Adrian and our friend were taking turns using his compound bow with an 80lb draw on it. I could barely budge the thing! It was so warm that day that after we were done with the crossbow the boys went for a swim in the pond. The water was very clear and we could see some bigger fish swimming around as well as all the schools of minnows. Afterwards all three boys told us they would like to save for their own crossbows. At $150 each, it'll take them a little while of saving their allowance! I think we're pretty safe until at least next summer.