[1bjd]

Anyone got any youth shoots going on this winter?
Who is taking over for Sandsquid?
Anyone hear from Sandsquid in the sandbox?
John

 

[falconpro]

I was thinking about our Sand Squid just yesterday. There's a lot of tough times a person faces being out of country and away from family.
If anyone has heard from the squid man, please let us know. I would like to drop him a line just to renew the connection between us Tradtalk junkies and him..

 

[1bjd]

Think of him almost daily. Hope all is well over there.
Maybe he will check in?
John

 

[bloodtrailer]

We don't have a kid shoot BUT at our Cabin Fever shoot (at black knight bow benders) Feb 27 we have a Kid range with instructers (we can supply the bows and arrows) and some kid friendly targets (DIOS)

 

[SandSquid]

Talk about serendipitous timing!

I am well, especially well. I got sent back CONUS for a little bit....

Turns out that a specific certification, I didn't have, is now _required_ by Executive Order 13491. All the previous schoolhouses I went through were not sufficient for me to perform my job any longer, after the stroke of a pen.

I am absolutely delighted by this legislation as it gets civilian contractors the heck out of the booths and puts every member of every OGA under the same rules and same penalties for violating those rules.

Anyway, my wife and some of the other more experienced parents, and now some of the 2nd year kids are stepping up and running the Wednesday night program. I dare say things could not be better, and my deployment has forced others to step up, and they have done so with aplomb.

Finances continue to plague us, but once I get back to "The Suck" and go tax free, and my HDP and IDP allowances kick back in, I should be able to purchase the three new targets and 20 dozen arrows they'll need to go back to Lakeshore and repeat our Summer Camp program. On many many occasions this fall and early winter I or my wife had been our around town and been stopped by former students from summer camp as the regaled their parents about who we were, and how great archery was at camp. Parents tell us that is all they hear about from camp. Add to that the Director of the Camp told us that many parents of returning campers have inquired about the archery program availability for this summer's camps so we really can't not do it.

 

[1bjd]

Great to hear from you. You know some of us here will chip in a bit!
Thanks for the update.
John

 

[SandSquid]

Great to hear from you. You know some of us here will chip in a bit!
Thanks for the update.
John

Thanks for the kind words brother, If I get into a bind I'll ask for help, But I still feel awkward asking you kind folks for help if I don't absolutely have to.

I do intend on getting 6 mini-genesis (5 RH and 1 LH) bows so the "pee-wee's" at summer camp can at least try it out. Last year the "Pre-Elementry" kids just could not handle the mass and draw weight and over-all lenght of the Genesis bows. And we have been getting a larger number of smaller stature kids wanting to shoot at the church, usually younger siblings, etc.

We are also going to be in great need of at least 3 new targets quite soon. The 3 year old targets are all wearing out, both internally and externally, and even with 8 targets to put out, some nights we need to run 3 or more shooting lines, which on it's own I think justifies the expenditure. A good program really does become a victim of it's own success.

We've tried every target option out there, and for our purposes the Rinehart NASP 32" Round Foam targets are hands down the best there is. (The Summer Camp was able to purchase 3 last year and we use them during the winter for our program.) But at a healthy cost, they do cost 4X that of a big box target, but what they save in bent arrows quickly justifies the extra expense... It's just coming up with the $200 each that is the tough part.

That was our "deal" last year with the camp, we ran the archery program for 9 weeks in exchange for them buying themselves 3 targets, and loaning them to us over the winter.

Sadly due to a decline it Tithes at the individual church level, and thus shorter apportionments from Church's to the Council, it leaves less budget for the council to appropriate to the Summer Camp. there is just not the budget for this year for more targtets.

This summer, if it were not for the fact that my family does not get paid, and our church program supplies everything else, the archery program at the summer camp would simply not exist.

But I digress, the purpose was not to b!thc about lack of funding, but it does feel good to vent sometimes.

 

[Warped Arrow]

If we can help in any way, give us a shout. Cash is tight all over, but you never know what may come our way.

Del

 

[SteveS]

Hey Squid, you were using the Martin Jag bows. Are you getting away from them and going with the Genesis? I have 2 boys from our church youth group that I got into our local youth archery program. We shoot the genesis there, but I thought about picking up a pair of Jags for them to keep them shooting (I think I can get a good deal on them). What poundage were the Jags that you were using?

Steve

 

[SteveS]

Back to the original post, we're half way through our 6 week class at Mechanicsburg Sportsmans. If you are looking for a place to shoot and you're close by, we do this every winter starting the second week of January.

Steve

 

[SandSquid]

Hey Squid, you were using the Martin Jag bows. Are you getting away from them and going with the Genesis? I have 2 boys from our church youth group that I got into our local youth archery program. We shoot the genesis there, but I thought about picking up a pair of Jags for them to keep them shooting (I think I can get a good deal on them). What poundage were the Jags that you were using?

We have (3) 30# Jaguars and (1) 40# Jaguar along with many other 30-45 pound recurves donated.. There is not a bow that does not get shot every week, and when we go to summer camp ever one of them gets shot every day. but they are for sure not for novice shooters of slight stature, if you know what I mean.... you can't learn the basics of good form while struggling to pull back and hold too much weight, eh!

The Jags are perfect bows for our older teenagers because they were "inexpensive" and they sure do take a beating.

The Genesis are for the younger novices.

we really try to impress upon the kids that the recurve is a step UP. Something to aspire and graduate to.