Just a couple of weeks ago I was taking my mother to the airport because her mother (my grandmother, a.k.a. Gon-Gon) passed away at the age of 92. (She was flying home to be with her family and attend the funeral.) As we were driving to the airport we began talking about Gon-Gon, family and catching up while we had a little time to chat. When we got to the airport and got her checked in, the lady at the counter said she didn’t feel real confident about there being a seat for her since her flight was booked at the last minute. I immediately saw the concern on Mom’s face, but the lady said to go ahead and get through security and wait at the gate and she might get on that flight or the next one. I felt so helpless as my mom went through security to the unknown. I knew she was worried about whether she was going to get out and what to do next. Probably a lot of the same feelings our Moms had for us as we went to school for the first time.

Just to tell you a little about Mom, she was born and raised in England and didn’t move to America until she was in her 20’s. She is and has been such a great mom to me and my sister. And for that I am very thankful.

As I was driving home, all I could think of was Mom and how I wished I was there to help her through this. I also was thinking of a lot of the good things Mom has done for me… and basically how much I love her.

This one story came to mind and I have to laugh when I think of it. Back when I was younger and still lived at home in my early 20’s (and relatively early in my 3D archery career), nearly every Saturday and Sunday morning from January til August I would get up and go compete somewhere in archery competitions. And every morning as I would leave I would tell Mom bye and ask for her to wish me luck. She would say back to me in her sweet, English accent, “Good luck and keep your eye on the sparrow.”

Well, this went on for more than a year and every weekend she would spill that line, and it must have been working cause I had been doing pretty well in the tournaments. Then I had a run of bad tournaments and I guess became numb to Mom’s well wishes. But she still told me every weekend, continuing her support. Then one morning I came down stairs droopy, depressed, but preparing to leave and I yelled through the house, “Bye Mom.” Her English accent yelled back to me “Keep your eye on the eagle,” and that caught me off guard, so I went to her and asked, “Mom, I thought it was “Keep your eye on the sparrow?” Mom said, “It is, but you just can’t seem to hit that DANG SPARROW!” We laughed and to this day it still puts a smile on my face. And it’s a story I love to tell.

Turns out she got on her flight and made it to England just fine. She is coming home soon and I can’t wait to give her a hug. I love my MOM.

Hangin’ Tough,
T-Bone

P.S. And don’t forget to comment on the great mom stories you have. Tell me how your mom has supported you through your trials in life…and don’t pretend you're too old or too cool to comment. You’re not!

I'm sure everyone brought their bow out of the case this weekend and did a little sweating at the range. It was only 96 degrees here in Georgia, so it was nice to get out and shoot in the crisp air. (So, perhaps there is some sarcasm in that last sentence.) I do hope you have been shooting some, and, as promised, here a some final pointers to get you in the right frame of mind:

• Remember, archery is like golf, you have to suppress your nervous energy. You just want to use enough strength to hold the bow back, and hold the bow up. Relax, let the shot happen. Don’t force it.


• When practicing, don’t overdo it. Try to shoot just 5 to 20 times at most, but pour your FULL concentration on those shots. “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.”


• Practice in all types of positions, even tree stands (remember to bend at the waist) and full hunting clothing. We are building confidence so when the time comes in the woods you can say, “I have done this before.”


• No one can hold their pin perfectly still. When aiming, get the pin close to the spot and just focus hard on the spot and let the pin move in the foreground. If you tense up trying to stop the pin, it will move faster and the shot will deteriorate quickly. Just make a good shot. And let the pin wiggle.


• When sighting your bow in remember it may take a few days to get it precise. By the time you shoot all the different yardages, fatigue sets in and point of impact changes. Rough those in on one day and then fine tune them in the days beyond.


• When adjusting your sight remember to chase the arrow, meaning move your pin in the direction the arrow hit away from the bull's-eye. If you are hitting high then move it high. If you are hitting left move the pin left. And so on. Do this until you are dialed in and smacking the center of the bull's-eye.

Yours in archery,
T-Bone

This is a list of things that will help you be more consistent. You can refer back to it from time to time when your form is weak and your shots aren't exactly stacking in there. For a more advanced shooter, this list could and can be much more detailed, but for the masses we want to keep it conducive to SOLID, consistent form.

1. Keep feet shoulder width apart and inline with the target. Securely nock an arrow and connect release aid.


2. Set bow hand in a comfortable spot on the grip. Low wrist is best, with equal force from top to bottom of the palm.


3. Draw the bow, pushing and pulling and incorporating your whole upper body. Contract your back and expand your chest.


4. Find your anchor by firmly positioning your hand on a consistent place on the side of your face. i.e. jaw line, knuckle at your ear lobe.


5. Lightly touch the string to the corner of your mouth and tip of your nose. (I recommend a kisser button for hunting setups.)


6. Try to keep both eyes open (unless you have dominant eye issues). Look through the center of your peep, lining up your sight housing with the diameter of your peep.


7. Get your pin very close to the target.


8. Keep your drawing arm inline with the arrow when you are at full draw, and have a slight down-and-out bend in your bow arm.


9. Relax your bow hand, knuckles on a 45 degree angle, with equal tension from the top to the bottom of your palm. Imagine the bow is pushing up the bone of your bow arm.


10. Remember to stand up straight and not slouch or lean back.


11. Put your finger on the trigger and just feel the trigger.


12. Start squeezing the trigger EASY, and remember to keep tension in your back as if you were smashing a ball between your shoulder blades. (You do not want to collapse on a shot). Pull and squeeze as you aim.


13. As you are squeezing and executing the shot, remember to aim HARD. Pick a spot on the target and focus hard, knowing that is where the arrow will hit. Stare at the spot and let the pin be a little fuzzy in the foreground. Continue to squeeze.


14. When the shot breaks it should be a surprise. Let it happen. Keep staring at the spot you aimed at. Stay in the shot, this is follow-through. Do not try and watch the arrow fly.

I'll post some more tips and advice on Monday, but be sure to share other tips by posting a comment.

Yours in archery,
T-Bone.

P.S. Great job on the help with the best archer. Looks like ol' Fred is the man.

OK boys and girls, I need your help with something. I want to know who you think is the greatest archer of all time. That's right, who gets the hardware for being able to fling an arrow the best. Let's keep it narrowed to just the hunters for kicks. And I definitely am not taking anything away from those archers who don't wear camo, but there is a reason for this question.

This is a preview to a story that will be appearing on Realtree.com soon, so stay tuned for that.

We'll be back with more serious bow talk after these messages...

Keep 'em steady,
T-Bone

Perfect practice makes perfect. We talked earlier about getting the bows out and cleaned and tuned up for the upcoming season. Well, now it is time to put them to use. With today’s bow designs being so innovative and so forgiving, it has become much easier in recent years to get dialed in with archery equipment. But the need to keep performing like a finely-tuned machine is still there (form and muscle memory). So many guys will wait ‘til two weeks before season and then begin shooting 2 to 3 hours several times a week. Kind of cram practicing before the season. What usually happens when the body is not use to that type of training regiment is it goes through changes during a practice session. It begins cool and your arrows seem to group well, then the groups move when you become warmed up and then begin to spray and become more inconsistent as fatigue sets in. Besides breaking down your muscles, you absolutely kill your confidence with inconsistency.

So the proper way to practice, in my opinion, is to pace yourself. When you are hunting, you have to shoot cold. That deer is not going to allow you a few practice shots. LOL!!

Once you have your bow sighted in, try to limit your practice sessions to 20 arrows…that’s all. Pour your heart and concentration into those shots. Walk through each shot, and the whole shooting sequence and visualize that arrow hitting that tiny spot you have picked out. Anyone can just fling arrows down range, so stay focused. Before long you’ll be on autopilot (a deer killing machine). Heck, you can even try as time goes on just shooting only a couple of arrows at a 3D target and pretending that those shots are for ol’ Sad Daddy this fall.

But above all, have fun with it enjoy your practice time. It’s okay to shoot a lot on those days when you and the boys are just plinking and challenging each other all day—that’s what it is all about.

So remember, practice doesn’t make perfect…perfect practice makes perfect.

Yours in archery.
T-Bone

P.S.—Don’t forget to post a comment on some of your favorite shooting routines. Let’s see who has the most unusual one.

Well, it’s that time of year when turkey season is done and either we have just got back from vacation or we are just fixing to go on vacation. Other than a few honeydos and cutting the grass, most of us are counting the days till deer season comes in.

Now I got to ask, how many of you put your bow in the case the last day of the season and it has not seen daylight since that day? Yep, that’s what I thought. We see it all the time at the shop, and now is usually when folks start getting their bows out and getting ready. Now is the time to get the bow out and see just how rusty it is from where it was wet several times!

HaHaHa!!! I got a funny story for you… this time last year I had a guy come in and asked for his bow to be checked out and requested a few upgrades before the summer. I said sure lets get your bow out and see what we got. As he was pulling his bow out, I glanced at the bow, looking for rusty bolts, dust, cobwebs and wore out strings. I have to admit his bow looked in good shape as he was handing it my way. As I took the bow from him he said he thought the string was a little wore out and wanted some new ones. But as I held the bow and rotated it, water began to run out from the limb pocket. The string and sling were soaked. I have seen wet bows come out of cases, but never one where it was wet and there was no rust anywhere! “Was this bow wet when you put it up for the season?” I asked. “No Trav, it was so dusty and cobwebby that I was too embarrassed to let you see it that way. So I stopped by the car wash on the way here and sprayed it down with the pressure washer!” I have never laughed so hard. But it did answer the question as to why it was not rusty!

But seriously, this is the time of year to get the upgrades and repairs done to your bow. It will give you more time to practice with a tuned bow in good shape; plus your pro shop owner will not be swamped right now and he can get you fixed up quick without having to wait for equipment to come in. The biggest thing is you will be gaining confidence in your equipment and in your shooting ability because you started early.

Let us hear about your equipment mishaps and blunders. We all love to laugh at ourselves, and each other.

Shoot Straight,
Travis “T-Bone” Turner

While getting ready to go the next morning, we would be baying boars with dogs (no catch dogs just chasing an baying), Waddell began to explain to me why he wasn't worried about getting cut up by a big ol' boar. "T-bone, I'm not nervous cause I don't have to out run the boar... I just have to out run you." And I thought me and Waddell was buds.

Pete was up first and we got on a good boar after about 30 minutes. The only trouble was that the dogs ran him into a brush top and mannnnn everyone was on pins an needles at this point. The adrenaline was high as some of us crawled on the tops, but the exciting part really didn't come until the hog ran under us! Whew!!! We continued into a creek bottom and Pete made a great shot on the boar... he only went about 10 yards.

I was up next and it only took the dogs a redneck second to find another boar. He was bayed about 400 yards from us in a ditch. Johnny, our guide, told me I was going to have to get close to him to make the shot in the ditch. That didn't really make me feel too comfortable, but I didn't want to act like a little sissy and all.

As I am slipping up to take a shot, I look everywhere trying to find a tree that I can jump in, cause them dang hogs will charge your little rear after you shoot 'em. The boar eventually gives me a slight quartering away shot I take it and then we all scatter like quail.

We got two down! Redemption for Ken.

It's now Waddell's turn and the dogs do their job again and bay up a big, blonde hog. This hog ran us all over those mountains. We finally got on it in an open hilltop and Waddell made a great shot. Turns out that pig was a huge longhaired sow.

We began making the long walk back to the truck and the dogs got on another boar. Burley was up now and it didn't take long for him to fling a broadhead through the pig. By now we are getting a lot more confident and at ease at what's going on.

We broke for lunch and went and visited Ken in the hospital. We told him we were putting the hurt on the hog population. Poor Ken looked rough but was on the mend.

When we got back we got two more that afternoon, Pete took one and Ashley Malone got one. So that's six hogs in a day. Not a bad day at all, not to mention a whole lot of bacon to fry up.

It was a good time and a different way of hunting hogs. Heck, Waddell was having so much fun that he stayed an extra day and took two more of them rascals!

I will keep ya'll updated on Ken and the DVD.

Yours in pork chops,
T-Bone