Baloo Update

 I decided my new bow needed a name, so Baloo Bear it is. Now let's see if I can manage to not sing "Bear Necessities" every time I take him out for a range trip.

Just being generous and sharing the ear worm. Enjoy :)

Anyway ... let's get back on track.

Before the storm arrived over the weekend, Jay and I went to the archery range. I wanted to get Baloo sighted in, and Jay wanted to dress his bow up. While his bow was getting his accoutrements, I did my best to get my bow sighted in.

It's opposite of sighting in a rifle, so I had to think a bit each time. I was told to "chase the arrow", so after my first three shots were down and to the right, I had to move my sight to the right. Still seems backward to me. 

It didn't take too long to get the windage correct, by just moving the sight a bit at a time. As long as I paid attention to my form and release, I did okay, but there were times when I screwed something up and had a flyer.

Bottom left arrow? Flyer.
Holes in the black and blue? Flyers.

I'd like to say that the ones in the yellow were intentional, but I think that was dumb luck, as I was just beginning to adjust elevation. I didn't do a ton of shooting, only about 20 at this point, but shoulder fatigue was starting to set in.

I wanted to dial in elevation just a touch more, so let fly another few sets of three. One set was freaking awesome! Unfortunately, it highlighted that I might be consistent, but not accurate (yet). 

I couldn't duplicate this if I tried! Love me some beginner's luck. About that time, Jay's bow was ready and my arms were shaking, so I thought it'd be a good time to wind up. I'm not sure if my elevation is correct or not. There are some decent shots in the yellow, and I felt like I was pretty steady on those three, but could have been dropping them due to muscle fatigue.

One more trip to the range with fresh shoulders should get us dialed in. 

I'm excited to join Jay at some of the nearby outdoor ranges this summer!

I Adopted A Bear

Sort of. 

It's a Bear Cruiser G2 compound bow, but still.

A few years ago I bought GunDude Jay a bow for his birthday and kind of played around with the idea of eventually getting one of my own. Yesterday was "eventually" and we went to an amazing place, Rocky Mountain Archery in Fort Collins. The staff was incredible, not only with me, a complete novice, but with the kids who were in and out. There were so many families and children in the store and the range. Every single employee who interacted with a young 'un treated them with respect, looked them in the eyes, explained whatever they didn't understand, and never once seemed impatient. They treated the kids the same way they treated the adults, they did not talk down to them, or talk around them. The kids were their customers and were treated as such. Even if I hadn't planned on buying anything yesterday, I would have, just to support such a great company.

Speaking of treating people with respect and showing patience, the gentleman (I think his name was Colin?) who helped me spent a lot of time helping me to not only find the bow that fit my needs, but he took the time to *literally* fit the bow to me. I am a rank novice with archery. The last time I played bows and arrows I was in Girl Scouts some 40 years, and I used a recurve bow.

He didn't just help me find a bow and send me on my way, he took me to the range and gave me a quick lesson on how to stand, how to draw, etc. My only criteria was that my new bow couldn't be pink. Yet, one of two that we thought would work for me was pink, so I sucked it up and tried it out.

It did match my lavender shirt, though.

Unfortunately, the not-pink bow wasn't going to work. He couldn't adjust the pull weight low enough (safely) for my wimpy arms to draw it. I started to try to talk myself into the pink bow, but before I'd convinced myself to just suck it up and buy it, a co-worker reminded him of a different bow that might work.

That's when he broke out the Bear. Not only not-pink, but adjustable enough to fit me. As I get stronger and more comfortable with my bow, we can increase the pull weight if necessary, but we didn't have to decrease it so much that it became unstable like we would have with the other not-pink bow.

Once we decided the Bear was going to work for me, he then spent time helping adjust the peep sight and explaining how it worked. He explained everything thoroughly, from how to adjust my sights, to caring for my bow strings, to arrows (sticks) and tips. 

Sadly, I've never had such great customer service in a gun shop. And, sadly, while I thought I gave good customer service when I worked at the shop, I was nowhere near this good. We're talking Chick-Fil-A level customer service.

I still have to figure out how to actually sight in my bow, but I know if I go back and use their range to do so that they'll help me out and not make me feel stupid for not knowing.

I'm excited to step out of my comfort zone and learn a new skill. And I'm not gonna lie, something about my new Bear makes me feel like a total badass.

(Oh! I almost forgot! I can mount my Mantis to my bow and it can help analyze what I'm doing right or wrong - I think it'll be helpful to have a coach in my phone.)