and no face punching

Last night as it has been for the past month or so has been balls to the wall busy. Season approaching.

I had a father & son come in- The Father was looking to upgrade from his 2003 Hoyt UltraTec to an AM35. Then his plan was to get the Ultra set up for his young son (15-ish I'd say). The son had shot a little bit before, but was basically a beginning shooter.

Got an AM35 set up for the Dad with a loop and rest so he could put some shots through it and get a feel for the bow, and you could tell he really liked the bow. AMs pretty much sell themselves.

So the Dad decided to get the AM35 and brought in his Ultra to see if it would work for his son- unfortunately after measuring the son with good form and appropriate release aid it was quite clear that the Ultra was about an inch too long (and could not be adjusted any lower)and too heavy. While he definitely would grow into it (Dad was tall, and had a 30.5" draw, and son looked like he would dang close to the same when he grows up), there was no question he would struggle with the poundage and too long of a draw length at first (and we all know how many poor shooting habits this causes).

So the Dad made the "ultimate sacrifice" and decided to stay with his Ultra and get his son a brand new bow. After checking out the Bear Lights out he ended up with a NOS 2008 Reflex Growler that fit him perfect length and poundage-wise and that would grow with him. When I was done getting the bow set up for him, with just some basic form tips the kid started smacking arrows together in nickel sized groups on our 8 yard test range. (our main range was closed up in prep for a Bowhunter Ed class). Methinks in time he's gonna be a terror on deer/the range

At any rate- I've gotta give big props to the Dad. Unfortunately, I've seen alot of Dad's just say "eh, it will work" and pass the ill-fitting bows down to the kids (or buddies).

I agree, props to the dad, but that a hard decision for some to make.

In the long run, it will pay off. I used the bow budget money on a Razor's Edge for the 14 yr. old, and It has been a very good decision. He is shooting very well, and is happy and motivated.

I am shooting my old Frankensteins as well as I could shoot anything new, so other than the fun of shooting the latest and greatest, no loss as far as I'm concerned.

Oh yeah, as far as the customers go, double edged sword. In this economy, nice that you have the store full. On the other hand, it is stressful and hectic. I still remember working in a gun shop the last few weeks before deer season, all the people who were totally unprepared, wanted guns boresighted and planned to hunt with them without any practice shooting. All the "Remington 760, thirty ought six, with see through mounts and the cheapest 3-9 scope you got" guys.

That's a nice story. Every once in a while you get a dad who will make te ultimate sacrifice and do it right. Unfortunately they are few andfar between. However, it's nice to see that once in a while, isn't it?

As soon as I read Remington 760, see thru mounts, cheap scope and that they wanted it boresighted so that they could hunt with it, I started laughing. Brought back memories of the mid '70's and visiting the hardware store in New Milford, PA where I hunted as a kid. On Thanksgiving weekend that's all they did, whether it was a 760, 336 or a 94; they were all boresighted, which is good enough for deer distances, right and they all had see thru mounts. To top it off I look to see who posted my memory and I see that you're from PA. You can't make this stuff up, definately funny.

Yep it really was- I was having an especially tough time with a particular bow dropped off for a tune-up last night-the thing was totally screwed up (the bow as well as the rest), and I was so frustrated after 2 hours of trying to get it "right" (ultimately I think the bow was just a **** poor toleranced design). Finally got it fairly well sorted out, but between that and a couple of annoying customers I was cranky But helping out the Father/Son turned my mood right around.

The kid was shy/quiet, but you could tell once the bow was set up for him, and he started to do the things I told him, and seeing the result on the target, he was happy. He gets some free range time at the shop w/ the purchase, so I hope he comes back in so I/we can remind him of/reinforce using good form

LOL. MY first deer rifle- remington 742 '06 with see through mounts and a redfield 3-9x

My father was a Remington/Peters sponsored shooter for many years in the 60s and early 70s and absolutely loved his 1148s and 1100s so it it was only appropriate that I ended up with the 742 He and my Uncle (also a Remington shooter) actually got some of the first production model 740s to roll off the line- IMO it was a far better rifle than the 742. They were also smart enough NOT to use the see-through mounts-not sure how *I* ended up with those.

Good story Jeff!

LOL, my first rifle....Marlin 336 .30-30, see through mounts, and a $29 bushnell 3x9!

Nice to see it when someone comes in and understands they need to let the pros do their jobs and actually help them be the best they can be.Glad to hear dad understands what it takes to be succesful.

BUT,it isn't like dad needed to "upgrade",he has a mighty fine bow as well.

Man, I gotta tell you this is a whole lot better reeading than something about "What's the best broadhead".

Now that I think of it I have a story of my own if you guys don't mind.

I was doing some indoor shooting this past winter and there was a family of four came in every week. Daughter was 15 and boy was 14, and a good sized 14.

I spent several evenings helping the girl, as whoever set her up with her Browning Micro Midas had it almost 3" too short. So I got this adjusted and spent some eveings helping her with her "new" form.

The son was using Grandpa's old recurve and bouncing arrows all over the place. One night I asked his dad if he had plans to get the boy a bow and adad said the boy didn't want to spend dad's money. I got the idea that they weren't real well off, but just seeing them doing something as a family made me feel good about them.

I got home one night and pulled out my old Pearson Freedom from 2003. Hadn't shot it in 4 years. Changed the draw length mod and jacked the weight down to 45# (50-60 bow) which I figured he could handle. Got out some old Beman ICS 400's, sight, rest, and got it all set up. Then did some rudimentary tuning and sighted a pin in for 20 yards.

The following wed. night I let him look at it and showed him some basic shooting form. Let me tell you, he had a ball and was at least hitting that Vegas face instead of all over the target butt. He was in love and his dad was pleased.

At the end of the evening he and his dad came over and thanked me for letting him shoot it. That's when I told them both to take the bow and all home---it was his to keep.

I know I could have sold that bow for a few hundred, but archery has been good to me over the past 36 years so I guess this was one of my ways of "Giving something back".

I don't see them very often, but Jason is still loving his "new" bow. That's all I need to know.

NOW, sorry for the hijack, but I had to get this off my chest.

I'd never spend two hours on an old beater this time of year man... I'd never get anything done.