How long have you been participating in archery?

My Grandfather loved to bowhunt. I thought he hung the moon so whatever he done I wanted to do. He started dragging me along around 1978 at the age of 8 years old. I’m pretty sure I missed more deer than you could fit in a semi truck but I sure had a blast. I’ve never missed a season since then and have been fortunate enough to make part of my living in archery.

Looking forward to seeing how this page grows.

I shot a bit just messing around when I was a kid, then I bought a bow in 2019 and shot it 3 times. Then I actually started shooting a decent amount in March of 2022. My first blog post is pretty much about that journey.

https://www.thwacklife.com/post/welcome-to-the-thwack-life

Now for the rest of the story...

When I was a teen and even earlier than that I was doing trad until I got my first compound in my late teens. I lost interest in trad in my early twenties because I got caught up in the compound craze and by the time I was thirty life and a bunch of other stuff got in the way and I totally got out of archery or any other hobbies I had. Well, I finally kinda got things straightened out so here I am now many years late getting back to what I used to love more than life. Let my new, old addiction begin again and be as strong as it was so many years ago!

Good day! 😊

Thank YOU for sharing this. We all have such different archery journeys. It's fun to hear how others got to where they are.

Hi all! Missouri here! I've been away from archery for almost 30 years. That's way too long so here I am back at it again!

Hi, I'm Alvaro from Miami, FL. I have been practicing the sport of Archery since 2012. It is curious that I started because of my daughter, but over time I developed a passion for the sport and today I lead a JOAD club in South Florida, and collaborate with the Florida Archery Association as an editor of its magazine and as social media manager.

Congratulations Tim for the creation of this online space for all Archery fans

Hi, I'm Bobby and I'm from Grundy, a small town in southwest Virginia. I've been shooting for a while now.

I had a Ben Pearson solid fiberglass recurve in the mid 70s. In 1978 my dad bought himself and me a Bear compound bow.

We had no real training and had to mostly figure it out for ourselves.

I mostly hunted up until 1988 and my cousin invited me to my first tournament. I was hooked. Turns out I loved tournaments more than hunting.

Around 1994 I began getting target panic. Living in a rural area and no internet back then, I couldn't shake it, and knew nobody that could explain to me what was happening. So I quit competition.

In 1998 I bought a Parker compound bow. I kept it a couple years and sold it. Giving up on compound bows all together.

I had also shot traditional bows since around 89 so I shot those off and on until 2022 but could only enjoy them at close range due to the target panic.

Then, in November 2022 a friend I used to shoot competition with called me wanting me to get back to shooting. I read everything I could about getting over target panic. I fixed up an old 35 pound bow and bought a Tru Ball Xtension RT back tension release and began a new journey. Within a couple weeks I was once again able to hold on target. I soon purchased a Bowtech Fanatic and then after a couple months I was added to the High Country Archery Field Staff and began shooting a High Country Ascension XR bow. I now use a hinge release or thumb button release.

I would consider myself an upper level intermediate shooter. I place well and even win once in a while at the local level. At known yardage I actually feel like I'm a better shooter than I was over 30 years ago before I got target panic. However my eyes have grown older and it's hard for me to determine unknown yardage now.

But it's really great to be shooting again and competing and especially being able to hold on target without target panic!

I hope I can shoot many more years before these shoulders give out.

Thanks for creating this new site.