Bear Creek Archery

Bear Creek Archery is located in Englewood, CO less than 10 minutes from my house.  I have enjoyed archery when we participated at YMCA family camps and was looking for a little more involved instruction.  They have a beginner Saturday morning class and we found out they also do private instruction if instructors are available.

The family went this route and were fortunate enough to get a lesson with the owner.  Bear Creek Archery is a family owned business that has been around 30 years and Steve Marsh is an competitive international archer.

We started out getting fitted with armguards and finger tabs.  We were then given Polaris recurve bows after figuring out eye dominance.  Me and the girls needed left handed bows for left eye dominance.  Ratna needed a right handed bow for right hand dominance.

Sanjiv - O 20

Ratna - L 16

Diya - P 14

Nisha - S 16

We were then walked through safety and where to stand and commands that we could expect to hear from the range officer.  Then we were individual instructed on how to grab an arrow under the feathers, nock the arrow below the ring and set the arrow on the arrow rest.  The grip should be pressed against the palm with little pressure on the thumb and fingers.  The arrow is pulled from the back with the elbow at a neutral height and the index finger brought to the corner of the mouth.  The goal is to have the arrow as close to the dominant eye center.

The arrow is released by having it slip from the fingers.  When done properly, the elbow drops back as tension is released and the fingers are still gently curved.

Aiming is a function of distance.  From 4 yards, we were instructed to aim for the bottom of the target, which worked out remarkably well.  Consistency was preached over aiming.

As we were winding down the lesson, we were instructed on how to score with the center being 5 and subsequent rings being 4, 3, 2 and 1.  While we were at 4 yards, the range has a 20 yard length and archers compete at 50 yards.

The first scored round, I got a 23, the second scored round, I got a 19.

Closing instructions were to try both eyes open and pulling the strings back from the center of my back.

The hour lesson was a lot of fun and I would like to drop in for archery on a regular basis.  It is to use our instructors words "Zen" like and the shop has league nights and other events.

Equipment can be rented for $10 and archery lane usage is $8.  Getting outfitted with a equipment equivalent to what we used would cost around $250.

UPDATE:  After our first lesson 7/10/2022 it took me a couple of weeks to get back.  I returned on 7/23/2022 and got it mostly right, except for nocking the arrow above instead of below the arrow rest.  I used bow O20 again and it worked fine.  I shot for half the session from 5 yards and then moved back to 10 yards.  I ended up purchasing my own arm guard and finger protector.

Hamskea - Reversible Sleeve Arm Guard - Size Medium - $23.99

30-06 Cowhide Shooting Glive - Size Large - $14.99

Range fees are $8 for drop in and $10 for rental equipment.  They do offer a 5% military discount on equipment which saved a couple of bucks.  I look forward to dropping in again, but will wait a while before buying a bow or getting fitted for arrows.  The max draw on the bow I was using is 20 pounds and the technician suggested that I may be better suited for 25 pounds.  Purchasing arrows is dependent on the bow that I select.