Barebow Recurve

[Desert Archer]

Greetings. New to your board but glad to have another place for info and discussion.

I'm a barebow recurve shooter here in the Desert Southwest of the US. My favorite excuse for flinging arrows is NFAA (IFAA) field archery, followed closely by FITA Field. Sadly neither is very popular in the US. Somewhat envious of you over in Europe where FITA Field is so wide spread and accepted.

Anyway, glad to be here and looking forward to participating.
Dave

[gwynn]

And a big welcome to you!
Got any pics? always interested.

[JohnK]

Welcome. Nice to see you over here, Dave.

[NeilM]

Welcome Dave.

I rather like the idea of flinging arrows into the dessert. That would give me the chance to really try out my Hungarian bow :-)

Neil

[Desert Archer]

Neil,

I have come to really love the desert. In the worst of the summer (115-120 degrees F) I shoot early in the morning before it gets much above 95 or so. Fall, Winter & Spring are delightful. Today was a perfect example. 22nd of November and it was sunny and 84 degrees. Cold spell is coming and we will be in the low 70s by next week.

Desert requires some care when retrieving arrows. Virtually every plant here has thorns or stickers. In the Spring rattle snakes are pretty bad. They hibernate in the coolest months but can be found most of the rest of the year. Watch where you step and reach.

If I get a digital camera and learn to use it, I'll post some pictures some day.

Dave

[NeilM]

Dave,
sounds a little on the warm side for me during the day, but early morning would be very pleasant.

I used to have quite a lot to do with snakes, and I know that it is our responsibilty to saty out of their way :-) But I guess it does make you think, as you reach down to pick up an arrow.

Neil

[AndrewR]

Hi Dave
Keep the faith, man. We are very lucky here in England and Wales, as we have around 20 two day FITA field shoots a year, plus lots more nearby in France, Belgium and Holland. Still, the lack of opportunity doesn't seem to have hampered you Americans too much. I watched Mark Applegate shoot some fine arrows to win the team gold in Sweden this year and I shot with (a near neighbour of yours?) Harold Rush, who seems to know which end of a bow to use... Some of your people will be over here for the World Field Champs test event next September. You should come - its cooler than the Arizona desert and as it is in Wales, you should see some rain.....
Andrew

[tgross144]

Dave, have you looked into NAFAC? The North American Field Archery Championship? This year it will be held in Homestead FL, December 9-10. It was a good time last year. There are few barebow shooters, but the longbow crowd is good fun. Last year several shooters were there from the UK, Germany, Australia, and Argentina. If you get a chance you should try it.

Tim

[Desert Archer]

AndrewR,

Harold Rush introduced me to Barebow Recurve and talked me into trying my hand in competition. Prior to that I was strickly "traditional/instinctive", meaning I couldn't shoot for crap (LOL).

I would love to shoot in Wales with you chaps, even though I would be in danger of melting (Rain? That's not a concept I am familiar with - LOL again.) Trouble is I believe the cost of travel is prohibitive for an old retired geezer like me.

tgross144,

I was supposed to go to the NAFAC last year but a family chrisis made me cancel. Surgery I'm just getting over kept me from signing up this year. I think we need more IFAA events in the US. You folks in Europe seem to be having all the field fun. (smiley face goes here)

Dave

[Macbow]

Hi Dave and welcome - always enjoy your posts over on TT. Macbow