The Old Phartt and Arrowl Flynn Attend

Rod Jenkins Class on Shooting Form

Hood River, OR

July 18 - 19, 2009

One of the resources on shooting that I have been impressed by is the DVD series "Masters of the Bare Bow", Vols. I, II and III. Vol. III was only issued last spring and I was really bowled over by the depth that one of the main instructors on the disk, Rod Jenkins, went into on form. Not long after the disk was issued, an announcement came through that Rod was coming out to Hood River, OR to teach a class based on the instruction he offered on the disk. I immediately signed up for slots for myself and best friend, Brent, who was just retiring. I thought going to this class was a great retirement gift and something that would make a terrific start to his freedom from employment.

During the run-up to the class, I completed the bow "Arrowl Flynn", which was made to be a hunting bow for members of the Howard Hill Longbowmen. It occurred to me that taking Arrowl Flynn to the class with me would be a great way to put some beginning mojo on him. I would ask Rod, a multi-national champion and highly successful hunter, to teach not only me to shoot... but also Arrowl!

I, and the other folks involved in the class, found it incredibly helpful. My shooting form improved, I lengthened my draw, found a solid anchor that I desperately needed, and also learned how to use my body mechanics to hold and shoot more weight than I have been able to for quite awhile. In fact, by the end of the class, I was shooting Arrowl, who, at 48@28, is actually a heavier bow than I have been able to shoot for the last couple of years. I will keep practicing what Rod taught. Arrowl will go off this week to begin his own adventures. Hopefully, some of Rod's teaching and hunting mojo has rubbed off on him, too, and he'll do a bangup job for all the Longbowmen who will get the opportunity to use him.

The first day's class was devoted to introducing us to proper shooting form... basically unlearning almost all of what most of us thought we knew, starting with anchor points (most of us didn't have good ones... and the ones you think are good... aren't!) and how to draw the bow. All shooting was at 5 feet, with no targets. The second day was devoted to use of the back to get the arrow to go off... not, repeat: not, be released. Per Rod, you do not release the arrow, it just goes off. He had a neat gadget called a Form Master that helped us get the feel of this. All shooting was, again, at 5 feet and, again, no targets. I think if Rod has his way we'd practice for a long time and maybe, maybe, get to add targets next year! However, when he explains it, it all makes magnificent sense. If you get a chance to go to one of Rod's classes, don't miss it! If you don't, get the MBB III disk.

Here are some pix from the our adventure, including, for the benefit of those of you from back East who don't get to see out scenerly, a few of the "bump's" in our beautiful country...

The class was held on the range of the Appleknockers Archery Club, outside of Hood River, OR	Some stayed in town, either at motels or they lived there, and others of us camped. This was dinner Friday night... Brent and I put water on to boil and anyone who wanted to just dropped their hot dogs or sausages into it, slapped them on bread and had dinner. Real guy stuff...
Breakfast Saturday morning was a more serious undertaking... a full "Guy Fried" meal...	There were some beautiful bows here, but I'm sad to say, mine were the only true longbows... everyone else had somehow or another had an accident and bent their limbs...
Rod and Emily, his assistant. Rod's the one in the red shirt...	Emily's tee shirt was too good not to get a pic of: "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do hunt like a girl!" Incidentally, her family makes RER bows.
Rod coaching Adam, our youngest participant.	Saturday's dinner was fantastic... a barbecue in Ted Fry's back yard, behind Raptor Archery's shop. There was fresh Alaska salmon and barbecued javelina. Yum... I didn't get pix of that. I was too busy eating. However, after dinner Ted invited us into Raptors, which is virtually a museum of early trad archery gear.
The higher walls, above the merchandise displays are all either old bows, old arrows or hunting trophies.
	Mt. Hood is right outside of Hood River, and was visible from a dozen different angles as we drove back to camp from dinner.
Brent helped David with Sunday morning's breakfast	One of the important members of the party was Daisy... who helped keep things lively by bringing us sticks to throw...
And, of course, policing up the area... especially around the cooks!	The Old Phartt and Ted Fry of Raptor Archery
Rod teaching the use of the elbow/back as trigger on Saturday...	I gotta get in my digs about Old Phartt's Archery whenever I can...
Brent being introduced to the Form Master on Sunday. Interesting gadget. It restricts the forward string travel. You get to draw and hold the draw. When the bow goes off (You do not release it!) the arrow kind of goes "plop" a few feet in front of you.	Ah... here's a shot that was very important to me. I had already done my class stints. Rod took some extra time to give individual instruction to Arrowl Flynnm so that he would be prepared to go off on his adventures. Arrowl's looking good... and note that I'm still at full draw, even at Arrowl's weight, after the bow has gone off! I think we both did well in the class.
On the long drive home (Sunday traffic for most of the 200 miles) we caught views of Mt. St. Helens..	and, opposite Tacoma, Mt. Ranier.