Rewind a couple weeks back - My younger brothers home from the middle east finally , he wants to get into bowhunting. So having just got my admiral i put a new winners choice string on my tomkat and told him he could shoot it for a year or so , to see how he likes things. Hes been all gong-ho all week , weve shot everyday atleast once. Its been a blast. So today he calls and wants to know if im up to it, was catchin up on my honey-do list and fartin around with the kids so i declined. Fast forward 30 minutes he calls me and sounds shook up. I ask whats wrong he says he decided to head over to the shop and put a few downrange. While grabin his arrows off the bench he got one of mine in the mix!!!! :huh: Not sure the length of his but mine are around 29 if i recall. He said he drew back realized it was wrong (when it fell off the back of the rest), went to let off and TOUCHED IT OFF!!! :huh: :huh: :huh: How he didnt realize this until that moment is beyond me , but regardless it happened , the arrow blew up ( i beleive it hit the risor/grip somewhere ? and shot a nice " splintery" piece of carbon arrow through the web of his hand - CLEAN THROUGH. Luckily thats all that happened (that i know of) ill be there in the morning to see as paul harvey puts it "the rest of the story". I suspect he had no idea any of this was going on until he pulled the trigger and subsequently told me this story to save a bit of dignity ! Could have been much much worse ! So lets hear it fellas - possiblities of what could possibly have been tore up on this thing that a normal joe like myself may not think to check ? Go figure 16 months in Bahgdad , and he comes home and about offs himself !!! :smash:
Dave..glad to hear he's o.k. (except for the new hole in his paw.....)..could have been much worse as you stated...after he's checked out, definatly check out the bow, from the lims, rest, cams, ect...if the arrow was still nocked, it shouldn't have done too much damage except for where it mat have contacted the bow...and i would also check the sting and cables for any broken strands that may have happend...nice to hear you have a shooting partner, thats great!! Jeff
yeah - "lucky" he was - hes texted me a couple times already to tell me how sorry he was. No big thing i figure, the only thing ive stressed all week while shooting with him was "index" your finger behind the trigger until on target. He broke rule number 1 and the hunting gods slapped his hands " or shot it " he's been carrying an M-4 and drivin around in an up-armored humvee with some of the most state of the art weapons systems in the world for a year and a half , and now this happens. Now that i know hes alright i dont even care abouth the bow the irony is ridiculous ! im suprised you cant hear me laughing wherever you are right now . ! Cant wait to get a hold of the boys back at FT. Polk and tell em all the juicy details ! lol.. nah better not .... he needs a LITTLE bit of dignity left !
I am glad your brother returned and is healthy...I bet him getting into bowhunting will be a great experience for the both of you guys. GOOD luck.
yup, glad to hear he's okay. Be sure to get that hand checked out. Those carbon slivers can wreak havoc in a hand. Good luck to the both of you.
I've oftened wondered how long it will be before I do this to myself. I'm glad to hear he's ok, from the bow and the tour.
Well if you guys wondered what an arrow looks like when it impacts something before it leaves the string - here ya go ! I'll get some pics of his hand tomorrow when i see him
So obviously I am alright with a HUGE dent in pride and dignity.First thanks goes out to all of you who wanted to show appretiation for service done. Secondly thanks goes to everyone that is about to teach me a whole lot about a sport that I know nothing about! And of course advice is definitly wanted (unless it is to tell me NOT to use my brother's shorter arrows, or the whole "rule of thumb" about don't put your finger down till your ready to eat) As far as this "little" incident, I am sure this is just like the first time your wreck your bike...it HAS detered my bow shooting ambition for a couple days but I won't give up because of this. I DO know how lucky I am and at the same time feel like an idiot for forgetting rule #1.
