SAN ANTONIO — It’s one of the most nerve-racking things a hunter can experience, having a mature buck try to sneak in on you and he’s way too close before you see him.
Fortunately, you’re completely camouflaged, in a blind or far enough up a tree that the buck doesn’t know you’re there. Slowly you raise your bow, you’re shaking but silently manage to pull back the string and let go!
That is the addictive draw to archery. The nice thing is, when hunting season ends, you don’t have to stop shooting. Three-D archery tournament season is about to begin! “It’s my decompression from work,” says Raul Reyes, one of the founding members of Fletcha Brothers Archery Club.
Like many of us, hunting with a rifle became too easy for Reyes. He wanted to make it more exciting so, not knowing anything about shooting a bow he went to his local Bass Pro Shop, bought a bow and arrows and started shooting.
“I go in my backyard and shoot 50-60 arrows several times a week and on the weekends,” says Reyes. He’s become so good at it, Reyes shot in the state competition and ended up 18th out of a class of 60 shooters. Now he and his friends host 3-D tournaments where fellow stick & string enthusiasts shoot at life-size foam animal targets anywhere from 20 to 70 yards away.
Having bow hunted for 25 years, I wanted to go out with someone who was that good and get a few pointers. I had not pulled back my bow in years, and it showed. After getting a few tips and flinging a dozen arrows, or more things began to come back a little better. It made me want to go buy a new bow and get back in the field…which is what I plan to do
If you’d like to check out “Fletcha Brothers Archery Club” you can visit their Facebook page or their Youtube channel, just click on this link.