The youngster - PICS - Update 8/20/08
 

Just tought I'd share a few pictures of my son. We usually work on form, but today, I totally let him go and shoot on his own. I really don't want to take the fun out if it. He's always asking me about going to wheels and he always asks when we pass one in the store if he can get one. I keep telling him that's he's still young and really doesn't have to worry about the wheels, and he should just have fun shooting. He does love his longbow though. I figure when he turns 13, he can make his choice. I don't think it will take him more then a year to learn to shoot wheels if that's what he still wants to do for hunting (age 14). At least his roots will start traditional! Here's a few pics.

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That kids got better form than me, you wanna come to illinois and help me work on my form. Nice job with him, i'm starting my 3 yr old daughter with a longbow and she loves to shoot it. Hope her form gets that good. Thanks for the pics...

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Poking groups like that downrange, he won't have any need for wheels.:D

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Awesome pics Co-Bob, thanks for sharing!

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I tip my hat to you. ArthurP sums up the whole thing. Darn fine shooting, whats he want wheels for?

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Great pics! With him stacking them in there like that, he won't ever need anything with sights on it. My son is 9, and has mentioned a compound a time or two. He has been shooting with me since he was 2, and had become an excellent shot. Then came a big growth spurt and glasses--really buggered his shooting for a while. He's gettin it back together though--hopefully before long he'll be back to shooting groups like you posted. Great job! Errrrrr.....you did teach him how to shoot didn't you? [8D]

Chad

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Well I'd like to think I did. - It's what I tell myself at least.:D:D:D

Thanks guys.

And I agree about the wheels, if he keeps it up, there will be no need for them. I'm trying to keep him away for a while yet. He will outgrow this bow by next year, and I'll get him a fairly decent youth longbow.

When he started shooting that group in the picture, I could actually feel the shot with him. ---You know how it feels when you make a good shot, how you don't even have to look at the target to know where the arrow went. He put four of them in there, and on the fifth shot I said, you make this one and we take a picture and call it a day. He actually hit the nock on another arrow in the target and deflected the arrow upward (It's the top arrow sticking in the target). BTW He was shooting between 8-10 yards.

This is the third year that he is shooting, he is 9 now. What really impresses me is his relaxed stance. He is starting to really get into the grove now.

Thanks for the kind words mshane. If you ever need help, give me a hollar!

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When i first started archery i loved the speed bows and the nice big cams and all. But after reading some articals in my hunting magasins i favored them alittle more. Then i got 2 deer with my bowtech pro38, and after that i read all the articals on the awsome looking black widow bows and the other fine long and recurve bows with a different veiw[&:] i was thinking of it as more of a challenge. i told my grandfather about the no sights and stuff and he said your crazy. Now i want to get a nice looking long bow or a takedown recurve. I bet if you let him get wheels and he gets a deer he to will think of it as a step up in challenge too. But i could be wrong:D

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Bobco, right on. He is shooting very well. Seems like we always return to where we started as kids though if we had good experiences.


=keith=

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Yup, good point, me included!!!:)

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Just wanted to share a few updated pics of my son;

This is Josh, now 10 with his selfbow which Arthur helped helped me find. He shoots it at 20 pounds, uses 1416 Easton Jazz and one of Chads custom strings.---That's his groupings at 10 yards also.




This is him shooting his mother's 25# Bear BearCat. The recurve is 66" long, he is 54" tall. Another LBR cusom string on that bow.

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Got to be the string![8D]

Looks like he's really coming on in there! My son is still struggling with growth spurts, glasses, and now braces. Ten years old, a little over five feet tall, and near 150 pounds. He can pull my60 @ 28longbow back to his ear and hold it, but he hasn't gotten his shooting back yet (he normally shoots 38 @ 28, but draws maybe 24-25"). He's still a fair shot--he went on his first real bowfishing trip a few weeks ago, and put more fish in the boat than the rest of us--some pretty good ones too--still got to work on 3D though.

Thanks for the update! Keep up the good work!

Chad

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Proverbs 22:6 – "Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it."

Great looking lad there.

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Wow LBR that's one strong kid you got there! I'll probably keep moving him up in poundage each year until he 14(legal hunting age NY). I'm sure by then he should be able to shoot a 40-45 pound bow without a problem.

Thanks for the kind words. We'll have to see if we can get Byron to sign this one also. ;)It's a riot watching a young one watch someone like Byron shoot and really appreciate and get into it.

I'm not arguing.;)

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Just wanted to share a new pic of my son shooting his Howard Hill Cheetah Longbow. The bow is 40#s at 24", 58"s long. I think he's a bit overbowed with it right now, but he should grow into by the time he is old enough to hunt big game (he just turned 12). The first few shots with it are fine, but he runs out of pulling power quickly. He seems to be wanting to shoot this bow over his self-bow lately, but I may ask him to shoot the self-bow also. That one is 30's and he pulls it with ease.

Hey, alsmost forgot, that's one of LBR's strings on it.

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The boy is growin' like a weed! Pretty soon you're gonna have a teenager on your hands and he'll be stealing YOUR bow.;)

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Great lookin' pictures. . .I love the progression. . .tells a story itself.

Great lookin' string too.

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Nice job, it looks like he growing like a weed. Looking good!!

I could be looking at it wrong, but has he switched from right handed to left handed in the last couple of years? Like I said, I may be looking at it wrong, but I think that is whatI see. If so, how did that come about?

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Goodness, the boy has better form and shots than I do. Should be a fine archer one day.

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Yea, he grew six inches in the last year. Going through clothes and shoes too fast.

Millertime, you are correct,he switched from righty to lefty two years ago. We were finally able to determine that he was left eye dominent after a lot of trying.IMO it was better to switch him when he was still young.

Actually, that would have been easier on my pocketbook. As it is, I have to buy his lefty and mine righty. [:@]

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Bob, That is awesome! Congrats to you for being a great Dad and getting him started off right. He looks like his form is great and there is no doubt in my mind he could out shoot me.

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Well, just thought I'd keep this going again this year. The below clip was taken of Joshua (my son) at the Hawkeye Bowmen shoot this past weekend, he just turned 13 a few months ago. He is shooting his Bear Hunter which is 45#s at 28".The arrowsare shooting Easton Jazz 1716. This is the same bow that he used during the spring turkey hunt. He still has one more year before he can hunt deer. On the shot, he nailed a Raptor!

Better mention, another one of Chad's strings. :D

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Man they grow up fast! My son turned 13 in March--right at 6' tall, 230# or so. He's started shooting his 43@25 flatbow, although he still shoots the 38@28 better (and for longer periods). He's killed a few rabbits with his bow and still loves to bowfish. We're going to FL this weekend (looks like the hurricane missed where we are headed) for a quick trip--stingray and maybe a short hog hunt. Not sure yet if I'll let him use his bow for hogs--shots should be close, but not sure how he'll handle the pressure.

Bob, how has your son handled growth spurts? Cody has had to re-learn a few times now--besides growing, he had glasses, then braces, then got the braces off, then went to contacts......he's still a pretty decent shot, but hasn't gotten back to where he once was. I'm sure part of that has to do with school work and having more interest in girls than in bows....doesn't practice nearly as much as he used to.

Hope to see the two of you in TN next year!

Chad

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Thats sure neat Bob!!! Well done.

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Excellent. You have got to be proud. I love seeing pics of our members kids shooting. I know my girls love it, but not quite that good yet.;)

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I wish we had more oportunities to bowfish here. The only legal species is carp.

Yea, grouth spurts are tough, but I think you may have a tougher time with it. Most of the time he gets a little uncoordinated and has achs and pains especially in his feet and legs.

Josh seems to keep fairly interested though. He always has a friend that is more then willing to come out with us when we go to the club. I also make sure that every morning before school and work that we spend 20 minutes together. We'll usually shoot bows, play chess, play music, scrabble or something (one thing). By the time I get home from work and he gets done with school, chores etc, time is limited. We may loose a little sleep by getting up so early, but we'll all make it up someday.

I'm going to definetely make an effort to get there next year.

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Boy , that young lad looks just like a miniature Fred Bear, with that head position ,except hes right handed. I like his style. Tox

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Josh is a lefty, he made the switch a few years ago.

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posts like thisare what it's all about. i liked all the replies. i have an 8 year old and would like someadvice on getting him more interested in shooting. anyhelp would be good. train up a child in the way he should go.

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I really believe that at that age, you have to make archery as fun for them as possibe. You can not be demanding, etc.

My son at that age really took to shooting at balloon, or things that made noise. One thing my son has always loved (even now) was me setting up a dollar bill on the target (this is after shooting for a while). Hit the dollar and he wins it. He also loves competing with me and his friends on the members 3-d course at our club. We set up a diffent scoring structure for him then me though (he gets a handycap). He is at the point now though where he will not shoot from the cub stake and instists on shooting from the regular barebow stakes. He does make his share of misses, but I try to let him do what he wants and never discourage him. Concentrate on the positives.

I usualy give you a little update on Josh around now. Here is a video of him shooting yesterday. He is now 14 and will be deer hunting this year. In the video he is shooting a 35 pound Ben Pearson Cougar.

CLICK_HERE

Dad gone, seens like last year you posted these pictures first time. Boy is growing up quick.

Bob.

Josh has improved in leaps and bounds, but then again he has a good teacher:s4:

Good stuff there Bob, good luck to your son this fall!!

Thats awesome! Great pics, he sure can shoot!!!!

That is cool, my wife and I just had our first child 2 weeks ago, I can't wait to get him out there and teach him and watch him grow.

Back to right handed I see, I guess he feels more comfortable from that side?

You noticed. Yes, he is shooting right again. I have a friend whose opinion that I respect very much that knows pretty much all there is to know about archery. In his opinion, it is more important to have him shoot from the dominant side of his back instead of the side of the dominant eye. There are trade off in each (as there is in pretty much everything archery related), however the benefits of shooting from the dominant side of the back seem to outweigh the dominant eye side.
FWIW it has made a difference.

Looks like Josh intends to compete next year. Just wanted to share.

Thats awesome Bob, keep us updated, I like these threads!

WOW, he sure is growing!!!!!!! Dom is growing like a weed as well, when we were walking out of the woods the other day he look over and says "Dad, I'm catching up to you" and just smiles, he is getting tall. I told him to watch it, I'll still kick his but when needed..:biggrin:.... good thing its not needed! :lmao: The kid has a size 11 foot at 13 years old.... I told him he should grow a beard for hunting season..:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: He got mad!

Congrats to you both! My son is talking about hunting this year, but hasn't put any work into it yet, so I don't know. I know he's not going to use a bow unless he shows me he can still shoot. He's been ate up with chasing girls the last couple of years....guess I should be thankful he's not chasing boys the way things are these days.

Ya'll need to start feeding your kids better. My son is also 14, around 6'1", and wears the same size shoe I do (14 EEEE). He weighs around 275, and can pick me up off the floor (I've lost a bit, but still checked in at 348 the other day at the doc's office). He's lifting weights a little, but not seriously. He doesn't take much of anything seriously, unless I get mad. Wish I could figure out what it takes to motivate this kid--he's got brains and brawn, but doesn't much care to use either one most of the time. This is me most of the time--guess it's normal when you have a teen-ager. :bash:

Chad