It is that time of year again. Where manufacturers try to entice us into buying new gear for our archery addictions. Mathews, Hoyt, PSE and Bowtech along with Martin Archery among others.

Quieter faster and smoother are the words best used to described what the archery companies use to tell us what we want to hear.

One of the newer bows creating buzz this year is from Hoyt and called the Alphamax. This bow comes in two configurations. A shorter 32 inch axle to axle version and a 35 inch axle to axle version. There are some noticable and major riser improvements. These bows are lighter and stiffer with the newer manufacturing techniques used on them.

Thinner in some areas, thicker in others. More trussing and more of an I-beam look to the riser which allows the riser to be stronger and lighter at the same time. The limb pockets are significantly longer and should be more stable and stronger. This should also keep the limbs from shifting which helps a bow to be more accurate.

So I ventured down to a local pro shop to photograph these new bows and post them here for you to see. As usual there are more new bows out there and if you like post a comment on what ones you are interested in and maybe a description to share with us.

Cheap Arrows

Cheap as in less expensive, or just poorly made? There is a difference between an arrow that is on sale and something that is just cheaply made, obviously. Most folks can't afford 100.00 a dozen, so the market for arrows tolerates less expensive arrows.

Most of the time these arrows are just not quite as tight on the manufacturing tolerances. Straightness, weight matching and so on. What are you using the arrows for? Competition, hunting? that usually makes a difference for how most people buy arrows.

Hunters are generally of the mind that for hunting accuracy you don't need the most expensive arrows on the market. At 20 yards or less trying to hit a 4 inch spot isn't that hard to do with less expensive arrows. Hence the reasoning behind that theory.

Now let's stretch that out to 60 yards and you are trying to hit a 2 inch circle , suddenly things become much more critical. yes weight differences and straightness tolerances can and do show up more at longer distances.

There are lots of good middle of the road arrows that will satisfy most archers and back yard plunkers with out breaking the bank. So figure out what your goals are and then you can decide what you want as far as arrows go.

There certainly are some great arrows for just a little over a hundred bucks a dozen too. Easton ACC's for example. Arguably one of the best arrows made for consistency and tight tolerances for sure. These arrows won't break the bank, but they are also not the cheapest arrows out there either. Good luck in your decision and try to be responsible in your shooting.

String Stretch

Hot summer weather will make inferior strings stretch and move.

It is very important to install a set of non stretch strings on your bow. Hot days like we are about to start seeing will make strings stretch and move. Sometimes a great deal. This can affect your accuracy.

When your cables stretch your cam or cams will rotate and or become out of sync. Your nock point can change. Your draw length can change. All of this affects your accuracy. I learned several years ago to get a good set of custom cables and strings and fore go all the headaches of fighting string stretch.

There are several good custom string makers out there, just choose one and get your bow tuning to stay where you tuned it. Ahhh...that is better already huh. I don't like the idea of being in a tournament and all of a sudden my bow starts shooting lower or to the left for no apparent reason. Then you get home and start looking and lo and behold string stretch has reared it's ugly head.

Worse yet, you have not shot your bow in a month or so and time to go hunting rolls around, and making a bad shot on a trophy animal is very upsetting to say the least, because your strings have stretched from the heat in your garage where you stored your bow. Arrrggggg....

Try to get ahead of the game and save the frustrations with a great set of custom strings, and you can even bling your bow a little with custom colors, along with setting your bow apart from the crowd or even making the camo bow easier to find with say some orange or yellow on your strings so when you set your bow down it is easier to find.

Anyway, custom strings are worth every penny you will pay for them. So don't be lazy start now while there is plenty of time to get everything ordered, installed, and tuned before hunting season rolls around.

Longer days mean more time for practicing.

Well, that is the better intentions we all probably have. Practice and more practice.
That is what seems to separate many of the better shooters from those of us that don't practice except for right before deer season.

I have talked with many shooters about practice routines. This is a very detailed subject, but I won't go into every little detail about everything. What are the best ways to practice? How often? How much?

Those seem to be the most asked questions that I hear. Several better shooters recommended shooting daily. Even if you can only manage five shots, do it.
Don't just fling the arrows though. Practice with purpose. Like it is the final arrow of the biggest tournament ever.

Blank bailing and just practicing your release is a great way to train. Hey wait, I just said train... like an athlete! We should train. We should exercise for cardio, and we should eat right. Healthier bodies make stronger muscles, and clearer minds which in turn makes us better archers.

I remember reading about some pro archers that shoot 200 or so times daily! That takes a lot of mental focus to make perfect shots that many times. I know most of us do not have that kind of time, so again try to follow the old adage, perfect practice makes perfect. Making utterly perfect releases, or making sure your form is top notch are so important. Even just learning to aim better and longer can be practiced.

Nevertheless, just get out and enjoy releasing some arrows with your friends, at home or at the local archery store or at your local archery club.

Pro Archers

There are some fantastic archers out there that bare the nomenclature of pro.
I was lucky enough to go to Paris, TX this past month and witness the pro shootdown. That was an awesome sight to behold.

These people were hitting a spot about the size of a quarter at probably close to 50 yards. In the wind, with sun glare, in front of several hundred people. Talk about pressure. Amazingly enough they performed well under this presure.

Practice? Nerves of steel? Both I would think. I am amazed at the shooting ability of these folks. Take Dave Cousins winning The World Archery festival in Las Vegas.
His paycheck in contigincies and winnings was well over $40,000! That would be enough to make most of us choke.

Interrestingly enough, they make shot after shot. Perfect practice seems to be a better way to practice for what you are wanting to attain. Are they really that much better than the average joe? Yes, but they also work much harder at shooting archery than the average joe.

Anyway hard work definitely pays off. So congratulations to the guys that put the time in to acheive their goals. That should be a lesson to us average joe archers, in that we should strive hard to achieve our goals too. Knowing that hard work will pay off if given the chance.

Accuracy in archery.

Let's replace accuracy with stable. I think stable is a better word. Look at the two words. Accuracy is the result of something. Stability is the inherent nature of what we seek in archery. Consistent is another great word to use instead of accuracy.

I love the idea of my equipment being consistently stable even better. So let's analyze some of these traits. Start with strings. If you have a lousy set that is always stretching and changing, it seems to me to be impossible to attain consistency or stability.

Cam timing changes, nock points change, anchor points change all causing inconsistencies. The road to stability should start with great strings and cables that do not twist, stretch or rotate never reacting the same from shot to shot.

The next part of the puzzle should be arrows. We should shoot the arrows that have the most consistent reaction from shot to shot. Yes, even if they are expensive.
What do the pros shoot? The cheapest arrows they can find? Nope. They tend to shoot the straightest and best flying arrows they can get.

This blog entry could go on for a good long while about this subject, but let's keep it simple for now. If you want your bow to better than take some of these tidbits and try them for yourself and see if they don't help you a bit in being consistently better in archery.

The Future of Archery.

What is to become of the future of archery? It has been around for a long time.
Can it survive the future? Can it survive animal rights groups? If we as archers make an effort to grow our sport I believe archery can survive.

Let us start with our own children. Kids learn by example primarily, so as stewards of our kids future endeavors if we include them in the sport more than likely they will grow up to love archery as much as we do.

We can enroll our kids in JOAD, or a 4H type of event and even try to get archery in schools through the NASP program which is a remarkable tool. Kids stay more attentive in school, attendance has went up and student behavior overall is just better. Seems like a good thing to me.

Ok, say you don't have kids. You can volunteer at local levels wit local clubs and events or even join a national organization like ASA. No matter what their is something that just about anyone can do to further the sport of archery.

I would love to encourage you to take an active roll in our sport, and get involved with kids or neighbors and take them to an archery event. Give them your old equipment to get them started. I have met so many good people through archery, that I am very proud to be involved in this great sport. Now get out and go fling some arrows.