npub1e7…mfw7d on Nostr: This picture is more than 30 years old. Close to 35. Back in the days when you could ...

This picture is more than 30 years old. Close to 35. Back in the days when you could still shoot a compound bow with fingers instead of a mechanical release. The arrows were aluminum, just before graphite and carbon fibre started to hit the scene. I think my Dad’s bow was a Bear “Whitetail Hunter” model and my Mom’s would have been an Astro Daco. The same make and model that I shot in Ljungby Sweden in 1984 in the IFAA world meet in junior men’s barebow division. My parents shot with fixed sights, but I always shot barebow. I wish I could still get a compound that was long enough to shoot with a finger tab. All I ever did was use the point of my arrow as a sight and “string walked” my draw hand specific small distances above and below the nock for various distances.

One of my fave stories from my competitive days. One morning on the practice range in Ljungby, I was standing on the line warming up on a 50yd field target. I was standing next to a pro shooter with a full unlimited setup, shooting on the same target butt. I snaked four arrows into the spot with no sights, and this guy turns to me and says “Who the heck are you, kid? That’s some pretty good shooting.” That man was Pete Shepley, the founder of PSE Archery. He and Terry Ragsdale were both there shooting pro. I swear if we hadn’t moved out west right at the height of my competitive career I would have been a staff shooter for those guys eventually. As it was, I topped out with 3 Canadian Championship, 2 North American Championship, one world championship, and about 45 regional shoot golds. I got first in every tournament I ever entered. It’s a shame life has taken me away from the sport. I still love slinging arrows more than almost anything.