Girls night at Midwest Archery

My fabulous friend Connie invited me to come with her to Midwest Archery in St. Michael for a Girls night.  It was super fun!  I got to meet some new people and shoot a real bow for the first time.  I have shot Esme's little bow, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count.

We used some base model bows which I'm told are a bit harder to shoot with but it was still really cool.  It took me awhile to actually hit the target but eventually I did it!  I'm left eye dominant, so I shoot left handed which basically means that I am fabulous!

Here I am!

The funny thing is that I got this crazy bruise on my right inside forearm from the wire (I'm sure there's some more technical term for that) hitting my arm as it went by.  I knew that would happen because it happens with Esme's bow a bit.  There's a way to turn your wrist and arm to avoid that and if this is something I ever decide to do more of I will have to work on that - a lot!  See the bruise for yourself.

that evening

the next morning

It was worth it to get the bruise for two reasons.  First of all, I won an awesome sweatshirt from Midwest Archery for having the best bruise.  I won hands down!  I don't have a picture of it now, but it's black and has a pink logo on it.  It's heavy and comfy and exactly what a great sweatshirt should be.  Also, here is a picture of the target after my last shoot.

Please ignore the arrow that completely missed the paper target and direct your attention to the one that is in the bigger bullseye area!  WooHOOOO! :)

I had such a great time.  I would definitely consider joining a league at some point.  Aaron and I even talked about doing it as a family because we think Esme would like it.  The hardest part is the bows.  They are unbelievably expensive.  They gave one away that night as a door prize and it was almost $600!  Not to mention the fact that there are all these other accessories that you need - like arrows, some wrist-y thing that you use to let go of the arrow as it flies.  It's an expensive hobby.  One girl even had little blinky lights on the end of her arrows so she could see exactly where they were on the target.  Let me tell you this, if I ever decide to do this for real, I want that!  And I would have to work really hard to avoid any camoflauge - which might be hard to do because most of the accessories and bows have camo detailing.  Let me tell you, I was surrounded my more camouflage than I have been around in a long dang time!!!

It turns out that there were about 60 women and girls there.  That is what I would call a success!  Thank you so much Connie for inviting me and exposing me to a really fun sport!