Drizzt
Member
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
June 29, 2003 Sunday, FINAL
SECTION: ORANGE; Pg. K1
LENGTH: 964 words
HEADLINE: HUNTERS ACQUIRE BOW-AND-ARROW SKILLS
BYLINE: Joseph Hayes, Sentinel Correspondent
BODY:
GOLDENROD -- Jim Von Deck and his son Garrett are closer than many father-son duos. The two men from Palm Bay spend time together learning new skills and sharing a love of nature.
Von Deck, 45, his full gray beard covering the neckline of his shirt, talks about the class he is attending with his son.
"Kids that don't go to these classes are the ones who cause most of the problems nowadays," he says.
Garrett, at 17 already twice as broad and taller than his father, nodded his head. "It's something I can do with my dad, and something I want to do with my kids."
Von Deck and son are part of a growing number of bowhunters, men and women who shoot game with arrows, an almost primitive discipline in these technologically advanced times. The session they and almost a dozen other sportsmen were attending was an advanced bowhunting class, sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Lining the walls of a long, thin archery target range, the participants learned about safety, the ethics of the practice and basic skills and techniques.
Ron Lucas, a volunteer hunter-education instructor, has taught advanced bowhunting classes since the inception of the program in 1975, when he was recruited during a world archery championship. Lucas, in his early 50s, still ranks in the top 10 Olympic-class archers in the country.
"The classes help prepare people to humanely harvest animals," he said.
"We keep them from having to learn lessons the hard way, of missing opportunities in the wild, and possibly hurting themselves and others.
"I haven't heard of any students having an accident in the wild who have had this course . . .and it is very possible to be wounded by someone else's arrow out there."
Florida doesn't require advanced licensing, but Lucas says these advanced classes are mandatory in 15 states in order to bowhunt for deer.
Florida statutes say that anyone born after June 1, 1975, must take an approved hunter-education course to be able to purchase a license, which goes for bowhunters as well as users of rifles. The allure of archery is an extended season -- firearms seasons usually run seven to 10 days, while bow seasons can be as long as 115 days -- and an opportunity for new challenges.
"They get tired of hunting with firearms," he says.
"It's the challenge of a different discipline. Bowhunting is a discipline, not a sport, of mano a mano . . . well, man versus beast," he laughed, "and a chance to enjoy nature."
But make no mistake, this session is for hunters.
"We're out there for success," instructor Frankie Bright tells the assembly.
"We're not there to watch the wildlife. I love deer meat," he says, adjusting his orange hunter's cap.
Bright has been a hunter for 21 years, and he has been volunteering for the Fish and Wildlife Commission since 1983.
"Stop and think," he says in a down-home drawl, "Stop and think." The big man points to a table loaded with animal skulls, each still bearing its horns or antlers. "Every one of those skulls was found in the woods. Those are the animals that inexperienced, untrained hunters hit badly and then couldn't find. And that's inhumane.
"These aren't hunters; they're weekend warriors."
Bright says the phrase with an audible sneer. "They wound a deer and then they leave it."
Bright shows the skulls to the 13 participants in one weekend session. Young and old, the men are dressed in jeans and camouflage pants, their bow cases stacked in the corner.
Lucas and Bright show the class targets in the shape of animals and drawings of potential hunting situations, and what to avoid. Unlike hunting with a rifle, where effective ranges can exceed 400 yards, the bow hunter has to be 20 to 30 yards from his target to get the anticipated result.
"A deer is a big beast," Bright says,"but you're looking at a target the size of a football that you have to hit with a stick from 100 feet away."
Archers use bows to hunt everything from fish to buffalo, from bear in Idaho to wildebeest in South Africa, as they have done for millennia.
Striking an almost antithetical note, modern technology has encroached on the ancient art. Hearing amplification systems make even the slightest twig crack sound like a shout. Sights with fiber-optic crosshairs let hunters take aim in the dark, carbon shafted arrows are lighter and less apt to break, and aluminum bows with cams, wheels and multiple lines speed those arrows to the target faster and with less effort than ever.
While the little wooden bows many children played with are still being sold for about $30, a high-tech bow from a manufacturer such as AIM or Hoyt can start at $100, while esoteric bows from PSE Archery reach upwards of $900.
Custom-built arrows can cost $80 per dozen, and a hand-made bow from Blacktail Bows in Oregon (to pick one craftsman) sells for about $1,400.
Lucas holds up a drawing of a deer behind some slim trees. He asks, "Is this a good shot?"
Some of the men nod, happy with the target.
Bright holds up a trifold of white cards and opens it up.
"Quick, what does this say?"
One man yells out, "A bird in the hand . . . and something else."
"Nope," Bright fires back, and holds up the sign again.
"A bird in the the hand," he reads. "If you can't read 'the the' from five feet away, how do you know there's nothing between you and that deer?"
Jim Von Deck appreciates the advice.
"We're going hunting in Connecticut in the fall," he says. "A rifle isn't a challenge anymore. And we can go up in October instead of November. I hate cold weather."
"But you learn discipline, a respect for people, and for wildlife," he says,regardless of what Frankie Bright proclaimed.
"Sometimes we just go out in the woods and sit and watch the animals."
June 29, 2003 Sunday, FINAL
SECTION: ORANGE; Pg. K1
LENGTH: 964 words
HEADLINE: HUNTERS ACQUIRE BOW-AND-ARROW SKILLS
BYLINE: Joseph Hayes, Sentinel Correspondent
BODY:
GOLDENROD -- Jim Von Deck and his son Garrett are closer than many father-son duos. The two men from Palm Bay spend time together learning new skills and sharing a love of nature.
Von Deck, 45, his full gray beard covering the neckline of his shirt, talks about the class he is attending with his son.
"Kids that don't go to these classes are the ones who cause most of the problems nowadays," he says.
Garrett, at 17 already twice as broad and taller than his father, nodded his head. "It's something I can do with my dad, and something I want to do with my kids."
Von Deck and son are part of a growing number of bowhunters, men and women who shoot game with arrows, an almost primitive discipline in these technologically advanced times. The session they and almost a dozen other sportsmen were attending was an advanced bowhunting class, sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Lining the walls of a long, thin archery target range, the participants learned about safety, the ethics of the practice and basic skills and techniques.
Ron Lucas, a volunteer hunter-education instructor, has taught advanced bowhunting classes since the inception of the program in 1975, when he was recruited during a world archery championship. Lucas, in his early 50s, still ranks in the top 10 Olympic-class archers in the country.
"The classes help prepare people to humanely harvest animals," he said.
"We keep them from having to learn lessons the hard way, of missing opportunities in the wild, and possibly hurting themselves and others.
"I haven't heard of any students having an accident in the wild who have had this course . . .and it is very possible to be wounded by someone else's arrow out there."
Florida doesn't require advanced licensing, but Lucas says these advanced classes are mandatory in 15 states in order to bowhunt for deer.
Florida statutes say that anyone born after June 1, 1975, must take an approved hunter-education course to be able to purchase a license, which goes for bowhunters as well as users of rifles. The allure of archery is an extended season -- firearms seasons usually run seven to 10 days, while bow seasons can be as long as 115 days -- and an opportunity for new challenges.
"They get tired of hunting with firearms," he says.
"It's the challenge of a different discipline. Bowhunting is a discipline, not a sport, of mano a mano . . . well, man versus beast," he laughed, "and a chance to enjoy nature."
But make no mistake, this session is for hunters.
"We're out there for success," instructor Frankie Bright tells the assembly.
"We're not there to watch the wildlife. I love deer meat," he says, adjusting his orange hunter's cap.
Bright has been a hunter for 21 years, and he has been volunteering for the Fish and Wildlife Commission since 1983.
"Stop and think," he says in a down-home drawl, "Stop and think." The big man points to a table loaded with animal skulls, each still bearing its horns or antlers. "Every one of those skulls was found in the woods. Those are the animals that inexperienced, untrained hunters hit badly and then couldn't find. And that's inhumane.
"These aren't hunters; they're weekend warriors."
Bright says the phrase with an audible sneer. "They wound a deer and then they leave it."
Bright shows the skulls to the 13 participants in one weekend session. Young and old, the men are dressed in jeans and camouflage pants, their bow cases stacked in the corner.
Lucas and Bright show the class targets in the shape of animals and drawings of potential hunting situations, and what to avoid. Unlike hunting with a rifle, where effective ranges can exceed 400 yards, the bow hunter has to be 20 to 30 yards from his target to get the anticipated result.
"A deer is a big beast," Bright says,"but you're looking at a target the size of a football that you have to hit with a stick from 100 feet away."
Archers use bows to hunt everything from fish to buffalo, from bear in Idaho to wildebeest in South Africa, as they have done for millennia.
Striking an almost antithetical note, modern technology has encroached on the ancient art. Hearing amplification systems make even the slightest twig crack sound like a shout. Sights with fiber-optic crosshairs let hunters take aim in the dark, carbon shafted arrows are lighter and less apt to break, and aluminum bows with cams, wheels and multiple lines speed those arrows to the target faster and with less effort than ever.
While the little wooden bows many children played with are still being sold for about $30, a high-tech bow from a manufacturer such as AIM or Hoyt can start at $100, while esoteric bows from PSE Archery reach upwards of $900.
Custom-built arrows can cost $80 per dozen, and a hand-made bow from Blacktail Bows in Oregon (to pick one craftsman) sells for about $1,400.
Lucas holds up a drawing of a deer behind some slim trees. He asks, "Is this a good shot?"
Some of the men nod, happy with the target.
Bright holds up a trifold of white cards and opens it up.
"Quick, what does this say?"
One man yells out, "A bird in the hand . . . and something else."
"Nope," Bright fires back, and holds up the sign again.
"A bird in the the hand," he reads. "If you can't read 'the the' from five feet away, how do you know there's nothing between you and that deer?"
Jim Von Deck appreciates the advice.
"We're going hunting in Connecticut in the fall," he says. "A rifle isn't a challenge anymore. And we can go up in October instead of November. I hate cold weather."
"But you learn discipline, a respect for people, and for wildlife," he says,regardless of what Frankie Bright proclaimed.
"Sometimes we just go out in the woods and sit and watch the animals."
