It was at a friend's birthday party, at the age of 11, that my first archery lesson would have occurred. But being England, it was canceled because of the rain. That happens a lot. But somehow, the interest was still sparked, and all these years later, remains. So last month, I finally picked up a bow for a proper session at the range with a friend, and we discovered, together, how easily you can suck at archery. But I was already hooked, and had added archery to my list.

Despite sucking like a vacuum cleaner, I was determined to make a go of it, but owing to my un-anchored living arrangements, it's not so easy to start a routine. Heck, I don't know which city I'll be living in next week, so joining a club is right out. The only way is to get some gear and take it into whatever field I can find along the way.

Thankfully, here in Czech Republic, so as long as you don't do something really stupid, nobody will give you any trouble if you whip out your Robin Hood gear in a field. That basically means that any open space is a free range. I did some research, chatted to some knowledgeable types, and sorted myself a bunch of gear, and with the weather finally being warm enough, I took it out, today, for the first time.

Results were as expected;
10 broken arrows and not a single bull's-eye, but it was great fun. So, today, I became an archer, albeit a new one. Here's to trying things out.

My new archery gear, as modeled by Byron's butt.

Epic results on my first solo session.

Note to self: Don't use randomly placed driftwood as a backstop unless you want to break all your arrows in under an hour.