AudioBoxer
Jul 31st, 2002, 12:06 PM
"That'll never hit the bullseye," the aging instructor told Rob. "You've got to aim higher, account for the parabolic path the arrow'll take. They don't call this archery for nothing."
"Hmmph," commented Rob, releasing his arrow half a degree higher. It lodged itself in the bottom of the central gold disk. "If I could put a little more power in these shots, I wouldn't have to worry about 'em curving down so much."
"More power in your shots?!" the instructor protested, taking Rob's bow and pulling the string back. "You've got to have a drawing weight of more than a hundred and fifty pounds in this thing! I can barely pull it back six inches."
"Six inches?" worried Rob, taking his bow back. "Darn, it must've gotten loose again." He tightened the string from a little knob on top.
The instructor buried his face in his hands, then looked up again as Rob tested the bow with his enormous right bicep. "I . . . uh . . . don't think it's all that healthy to develop all the muscles in just one arm that much."
"What's the matter, afraid it'll imbalance me? I'm not gonna be doing any falling over onto my right side; not with a stance like this."
His legs were nearly as beefy as his right arm, and spread about twice as far apart as his shoulders.
"I just can't understand you, Rob," the instructor shook his head. "The farthest distance anyone shoots targets at is a hundred yards, but you insist on practicing on a target that's TWO hundred yards away - not to score points, but just to hit the target at all."
"Hey, that's what I need a lot of draw strength for. Can't plow through six hundred feet of air without slowin' down."
"But even so, you don't need that much tension to have your arrow lodge into a 200-yard target."
"Yeah, that's another thing I need more arrow force for. Penetrating power. It's not enough just to hit the target if all you do is make a little hole."
"Ohhhh, you want to use archery for hunting, is that it?"
"Mmmm, yeah, you might say that."
The instructor took one of the arrows from his quiver and hefted it. "This arrowhead alone must weigh a pound."
"Uh, no, more like half a kilo-"
"You don't need that much mass. A standard arrowhead'll puncture the hide of most game."
'Not the type of game I'll be hunting,' Rob thought, and notched up another shaft. It was in moving his wrist up to his eye level that he glimpsed the time.
"Holy smoke!" Rob shouted. "Time for ME to be at New York Harbor!" Without another word, he turned tail and ran.
. . . so fast that he dropped something out of his back pocket.
Puzzled, the instructor bent down and picked that something up. It was a Chartreuse Arrow comic book. Rob's purpose for learning archery slowly dawned on him.
'That crazy, confused kid,' he thought.
"Hmmph," commented Rob, releasing his arrow half a degree higher. It lodged itself in the bottom of the central gold disk. "If I could put a little more power in these shots, I wouldn't have to worry about 'em curving down so much."
"More power in your shots?!" the instructor protested, taking Rob's bow and pulling the string back. "You've got to have a drawing weight of more than a hundred and fifty pounds in this thing! I can barely pull it back six inches."
"Six inches?" worried Rob, taking his bow back. "Darn, it must've gotten loose again." He tightened the string from a little knob on top.
The instructor buried his face in his hands, then looked up again as Rob tested the bow with his enormous right bicep. "I . . . uh . . . don't think it's all that healthy to develop all the muscles in just one arm that much."
"What's the matter, afraid it'll imbalance me? I'm not gonna be doing any falling over onto my right side; not with a stance like this."
His legs were nearly as beefy as his right arm, and spread about twice as far apart as his shoulders.
"I just can't understand you, Rob," the instructor shook his head. "The farthest distance anyone shoots targets at is a hundred yards, but you insist on practicing on a target that's TWO hundred yards away - not to score points, but just to hit the target at all."
"Hey, that's what I need a lot of draw strength for. Can't plow through six hundred feet of air without slowin' down."
"But even so, you don't need that much tension to have your arrow lodge into a 200-yard target."
"Yeah, that's another thing I need more arrow force for. Penetrating power. It's not enough just to hit the target if all you do is make a little hole."
"Ohhhh, you want to use archery for hunting, is that it?"
"Mmmm, yeah, you might say that."
The instructor took one of the arrows from his quiver and hefted it. "This arrowhead alone must weigh a pound."
"Uh, no, more like half a kilo-"
"You don't need that much mass. A standard arrowhead'll puncture the hide of most game."
'Not the type of game I'll be hunting,' Rob thought, and notched up another shaft. It was in moving his wrist up to his eye level that he glimpsed the time.
"Holy smoke!" Rob shouted. "Time for ME to be at New York Harbor!" Without another word, he turned tail and ran.
. . . so fast that he dropped something out of his back pocket.
Puzzled, the instructor bent down and picked that something up. It was a Chartreuse Arrow comic book. Rob's purpose for learning archery slowly dawned on him.
'That crazy, confused kid,' he thought.