Cheers all. I guess we don’t have any real goals although the Wabtool league thing was quite fun.
And yes I think the enthusiasm has waned from my boy (actually 11 but 12 soonish) after years of giving it a very good go. He was very patient at the very non child friendly target club but we just don’t shoot much with the good but distant field club.
We were lined up for a load of field tournaments but obviously they didn’t happen.
The shoulder thing is annoying; I’m generally pretty strong from years of intense activity. 25 pull ups, 100 push ups, can swim a mile at a good pace, surf for hours without issues but the pull of a bow seems to be the one thing that gives me trouble; it’s on and off though and I did hurt it recently (throwing my daughter over little waves in the sea) so it’s maybe just niggling from that. It has been problematic with archery before though.
It probably wouldn’t be worth selling up; I suspect we’d be lucky to get even a third of what it cost us and maybe a little break might help.
I just like aiming for things and shooting them. I think a rifle would give more reward and less shoulder issues; but I could easily be wrong.
I got like this a few years ago with
recurve - couldn’t quite get Bowman, then severe TP then injury & was ready to sell up.
Thankfully one member turned up with an old low power
longbow for me to try and it reignited my love of the sport once more.
Your son is at an age when, if you are not at a nurturing club, the desire to continue in any sport or hobby will evaporate and if you too are struggling then this will multiply his feelings.
As someone who has shot a lot of guns since childhood I would always recommend getting one HOWEVER this comes with a load of caveats:
your son can shoot aged 12 but only strictly supervised and on private land by someone over 21
your son can shoot unsupervised from 14
he cannot own an airgun aged 12 but can use one
he cannot transport the airgun until he is 18 (recent change) between authorised venues
You are a very competitive individual, this comes out clearly in your posts and I can understand that as I share the same traits. I believe that if you go down the airgunning route you will want to compete and do well in that too and that plinking away at paper targets or knockdowns in your garden won’t be enough of a test for you.
With this in mind you should know that if you think archery can empty a wallet then it’s nothing compared to what competitive air rifle shooting can do.
You can pick up a £250 spring powered air rifle combo and you will hit a target at garden ranges most of the time but if you venture into Field Target or Hunter Field Target then a top end setup to compare to a
Mybo or
Hoyt is something like a Precharged pnuematic Air Arms FTP900 (£1900) with a rangefinding scope (£800+) plus associated refill system (£250). 10m target shooting can ramp up the equipment list and costs substantially.
Take a break, consider a change of bowstyle, pick up and air rifle for a bit of fun but don’t give up yet.
Karl