When I'm not doing my "regular" job, I'm teaching archery to kids.
I run a JOAD (Junior Olympic Archery Development) program, and help coach the Colorado County 4-H program in Columbus. Before that, I ran a JOAD program in Southern Illinois for 4 years, and before that I taught archery to cub scout day camps in Roswell, NM for years.
Like most of you, I'm a bowhunter and like most of you with kids, I wanted my kids to start bowhunting as soon as they could.
But I have a request for all you new and new"ish" parents out there. Please, I'm asking you, start your kids out on a recurve bow and teach them how to shoot before putting that $300 youth compound in their hands.
Why do I say this? Experience. A kid that learns to shoot a recurve, whether with a sight or without, will always be able to shoot a compound well when they are older. But a kid that starts out with a compound and 65-80% letoff, a trigger release, a peep sight, stabilizer and whisker biscuit or drop-away rest will develop bad habits within minutes that will probably never go away.
I've seen it too many times.
The recurve will teach them discipline. It will teach them patience. It will teach them body control and it will help them develop strength.
My son killed his first deer with a 40# Browning Micro-Midas compound when he was 12. Yes, at 12 he was able to draw a 40# (legal min. at the time) compound and execute a perfect double-lung shot on a doe at 15 yards, from a tree stand. Why? Because I had started him with a recurve at 5 years old, and he began shooting target recurve at 7. By the time he was 9, he had developed enough strength and discipline to draw a 40# compound and be accurate with it. And on his 3rd deer season, at 12, he took his first deer with a bow.
I'm not saying this to brag on my son, but rather to say that by starting a kid out with a traditional bow, they will develop shooting habits that will last them a lifetime.
I know not everyone will agree with this and that there are plenty of parents who are going to head to Bass Pro and buy whatever the "guy behind the counter" tells them to buy so their kid can go hunting right away.
But bowhunting was never meant to be an instant-gratification endeavor, especially with the youngest hunters among us. Give them time to learn to shoot. And help them learn the right way.
Please.
I run a JOAD (Junior Olympic Archery Development) program, and help coach the Colorado County 4-H program in Columbus. Before that, I ran a JOAD program in Southern Illinois for 4 years, and before that I taught archery to cub scout day camps in Roswell, NM for years.
Like most of you, I'm a bowhunter and like most of you with kids, I wanted my kids to start bowhunting as soon as they could.
But I have a request for all you new and new"ish" parents out there. Please, I'm asking you, start your kids out on a recurve bow and teach them how to shoot before putting that $300 youth compound in their hands.
Why do I say this? Experience. A kid that learns to shoot a recurve, whether with a sight or without, will always be able to shoot a compound well when they are older. But a kid that starts out with a compound and 65-80% letoff, a trigger release, a peep sight, stabilizer and whisker biscuit or drop-away rest will develop bad habits within minutes that will probably never go away.
I've seen it too many times.
The recurve will teach them discipline. It will teach them patience. It will teach them body control and it will help them develop strength.
My son killed his first deer with a 40# Browning Micro-Midas compound when he was 12. Yes, at 12 he was able to draw a 40# (legal min. at the time) compound and execute a perfect double-lung shot on a doe at 15 yards, from a tree stand. Why? Because I had started him with a recurve at 5 years old, and he began shooting target recurve at 7. By the time he was 9, he had developed enough strength and discipline to draw a 40# compound and be accurate with it. And on his 3rd deer season, at 12, he took his first deer with a bow.
I'm not saying this to brag on my son, but rather to say that by starting a kid out with a traditional bow, they will develop shooting habits that will last them a lifetime.
I know not everyone will agree with this and that there are plenty of parents who are going to head to Bass Pro and buy whatever the "guy behind the counter" tells them to buy so their kid can go hunting right away.
But bowhunting was never meant to be an instant-gratification endeavor, especially with the youngest hunters among us. Give them time to learn to shoot. And help them learn the right way.
Please.
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