Evening star., 1960-09-18

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might take up bow hunting.
1t has certain advantages.
For instance, bow hunters have
their own special deer seasons
In addition to which. of course.
they also may hunt during the
regular seasons.
In Virginia. deer of either sex
may be taken with a bow from
October IS through November
/ in. counties having a general
deer season. Use Of dogs is pro-
hibited.
In Maryland, deer may be
killed from October 20 through
November IL except in Mont
gomery County and. in defer
ence to the turkey hunters.
Garrett, Allegany and Wash.
ington Counties. In those three
mountain counties. the season
is November to IL.
So far as danger from stray
shots or trigger-happy hunters
is concerned, bow hunting is
safer in several respects. Ar
rows are silent and deadly. to
be sure, but their range is linn
tied and an errant arrow won't
bring down a man a mile or
more away as a bullet can do.
Bow Hunter No NeOphyte
Furthermore, the avearge bow
hunter is no neophyte. Many
cut their eyeteeth on firearms
and found bow hunting more
sporting. Even the youngsters
usually have had field archery
training and aren't SO apt to
pop at anything that moves.
This sport of field archery is
one-of the most rapid-growing
in the country. Take the Cub
Run Archers in nearby Virginia.
Four years ago Arlington Fair
fax Chapter of the Izaak Wal
ton League set up a l4-target
range on its grounds off Route
% between CentreviNe and
Manassas.
1t wasn't until a year and a
half ago, though. that chapter
members organized the Cub
Run Archers. Within the last
year they have erected the ad-
ditional IA targets required for
a regulation range and OBJ
tanned the approval of the Ma
tional Field Archery Associa-
ton.
Now the Cub Run Archers
have 10 members who take part
alomSt every week in tourna-
ments sponsored by the Virginia
Bow Hunters Association,
whose new executive vice presi-
dent is Ted Crete of Fairfax.
President of the Cub Run
Archers is Irv Sears of Centre
vile who may be found quite
often practicing on the range
with his attractive wife, Mrs.
Sears, an archer for only a
year. was the clubs big win
ner in the recent State tourna-
ment at Staunton. She had two
seconds and a third and
brought home three medals.
A standout among feminine
archers in Northern Virginia
is l5-year-old Madeline Ford
Of Fairfax who successfully de-
Tended her girls intermediate
championship in the State
tournament.
Along with Arthur r. Shope
the club secretary, we JOINED
the Sears recently for a prac.
tice round on the new range
Excellent Training
Field archery is excellent
training for bow hunting. Laic
out something like a. gol1
course through the forest, eacl
target has it's hazards of trees
brush or elevation. Since tht
archer must shoot at various
distances Of from 20 feet to 81
yards, he gets a fair sample o.
what he may encounter on al
actual hunt. .
Tournament bows are lighte
than hunting grade. Ours is ,
Bear Grizzly with a 40-pount
draw. on the heavy side TO
field archery. You'll find bov
hunting calls into play nev
set of muscles and it'll TAX
awhile to draw and hold OF
target without wavering al
over the landscape.
One annoyance for the be
ginner is the tendency of tn
arrow to slip off its rest a
you take aim. This is over
come by starting the draw a
the first joints of the fingers
then letting the string revolv
until it is on the balls of tn
fingers. The twisting actiol
keeps the arrow in place.
Journeys Weekly
These and other annoyance
we overcome so that before tn
end of the round we found tn
arrows hitting the targets witt
a reassuring "thwack."
Besides a bow, you'll need
shooting tab or glove for you
right hand, leather arm guar
for the left, a half-dozen tar