Next time when you go out camping, try to play with archery. It is fun-filled activity and can give you great way for entertainment and sense of accomplishment.

Read further to find intructions on how to prepare the target, making arrows and archery techniques.

The Target -

A target can be made of a burlap sack, or oil cloth, about five feet square. Stuff this with hay or straw.

It may be flattened by a few quilting stitches put right through with a long packing needle. On this the target is painted.

In scoring, the centre is 9, the next circle 7, the next 5, the next 3 and the last circle 1. The shortest match range for the
target is forty yards.

Making Arrows -

Arrows are divided into three parts: the head, sometimes called the pile, the shaft and the feathers.

For target, practice a wire nail driven into the end of the pile with the head of the nail filed off and pointed, makes an excellent head.

The shaft is generally made of hickory, ash, elm or pine, and its length is dependent upon that of the bow. For a five-foot bow, make the length two feet and the width and thickness about one-half inch.

Feathering is the next operation. Turkey and goose feathers are generally used.

Strip off the broader side of the vane of three feathers and glue them to the shaft one inch and a quarter from the notch, spacing them equally from each other.

One feather should be placed at right angles to the notch. This is known as the cock feather and should always point away from the bow when the arrow is shot.

Archery -

The archery rules for the five essential points are these:

1. Standing:

In taking position to draw the bow, the heels must be seven to eight inches apart, feet firm on the ground, yet easy and springy, not rigid.

2. Nocking:

This is manipulating the bow string. Hold the string with two fingers and the arrow between the first and second fingers. Grip firmly, but not so as to give awkwardness to any finger.

3. Drawing:

In drawing stand with the left shoulder toward the target, turning the head only from the neck and looking over the left shoulder.

Then raise the bow with the left hand, keeping the upper end inclined one or two degrees from the body. With the right hand draw the arrow to chin-level and below the ear.

4. Holding:

Steady the aim a moment and keep the point of aim directly in view, looking along the whole length of the arrow.

5. Loosing:

In letting the arrow go, do not jerk, but loose smoothly, and be certain your bow arm does not move when loosing. To get a clean, sharp loose is more than half way to hitting the target.

Happy camping!

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