ORIGINAL: Arthur P
The recurve guy that can't hit the broad side of a barn is still going to gut shoot every deer he sees regardless if he was shooting a soda straw or a telephone pole.
Why are you picking on recurve guys? [>:]The guy that can't hit the broad side of a barn is still going to gut shoot every deer he sees, regardless of whether he's shooting a recurve, longbow, compound or a scoped 30-06.
I've not seen the numbers of 'em like someone who works in the retail end of the archery industry does, but there are some darn scary people out there. A wildlife management area near here has a draw hunt every year. They require a shooting proficiency test for hunters to qualify to hunt. For many years, our club conducted a test for those who hoped to get drawn. I was the guy who ran it the last 12 years we did the test.
It was no biggie, basically going through a 14 target 3D course and just showingthe ability to hit the 8 ring on a McKenzie deer target every time at no more than 30 yards. Just for your own edification, I never once had a traditional shooter fail the test. A great many compound shooters did fail though.
One guy in particular has always stuck out in my mind. He walks up to the registration table and signs up. He's got a mid-80's vintage PSE. Looked like it'd been hanging in the barn since the mid-80's too. Covered with cobwebs and it had several dirt dauber wasp nests on it. I pointed over to the practice range and suggested he take a few warmup shots. "Nope," he says. "I'm good." And away he goes onto the course, wiping cobwebs off with his hands as he goes. He didn't pass. Didn't even come close. Got real pissed at me too when I wouldn't sign off on his scorecard.
Now how are you going to educate someone like that?