Archery - Lord of the Rings Style

On Saturday morning Dave and I woke up bright and early and went to a free archery class in Pasadena. We wrote our name on the list and hoped to get in the class. We were the last two people let in. About 10 people were turned away.

We were separated into a group of 6 people and an instructor. We were given a bow, 4 arrows, an arm guard and finger guard. The instructor showed us the basics and let us go to it. We shot from 10 yards away from the target.

Dave had some archery experience before and was pretty good from the get go. He was getting a lot of bullseyes. There was another boy in our group who was really good too. I started out ok. Not as bad as the girl beside me who shot arrows into the grass past the target.

Towards the end I was getting a lot better. Here was my first bullseye. It's considered a bullseye if you hit any of the center black circle.

On our last round of shooting in our small group, Dave and I made a bet. Who could get the most bullseyes. I won! I got three bullseyes.

After our small groups we went back to the main archery field. They always have a contest for the first timers. They put a balloon in the middle of the target and whoever pops it, gets the dollar inside.

So all the first times lined up. I bet there were about 50 or so of us. We were counted off, 1 or 2. Dave was 1. I was 2. The twos had to step back and the ones lined up 10 ft away from the targets. There were 6 different targets with maybe 3 or 4 people shooting at a target. You only got two arrows to try and hit the balloon. Dave was super close but didn't pop one.

My turn. It was me and three other people shooting at one target. Two boys and two girls. I saw one arrow fly and miss. Another arrow was shot and missed. I brought my first arrow up, took aim, and POP! I hit it right in the center! I won the $1. I felt pretty good since I was one of very few girls to win.

I had only done archery once way back in grade school. I had heard about this place and thought we should check it out. We had such a fun time and did well for our first time. I'm hoping to go back again this next Saturday. It'll cost $5 but I'll be worth it!