WMS Students Compete In Archery

On February 16th, WMS 8th grade Lifetime Activities students participated in an archery competition. The Competition was held at the Salt Palace.  This was a new experience for many/most of the students. A combination of excitement, curiosity, and a little (maybe a lot for some) nervousness was felt by all. As one student mentioned, "We had to shoot in front of a lot of people.  It was scary at first. When I started to shoot, I wasn't really scared anymore. I actually think I did quite well."

Archery is the art, sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows. The word comes from the Latin word, arcus.  Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity.

The students enjoyed the trip, and the experience. Overall, the class competed and represented WMS very well. There were some novices, and some very good archers at the competition. It was a great opportunity for our students to experience archery competition, and to have some fun!

Submitted By,

Natalie Whipple

Some Archery Slang

Ax or Axe: Just like a guitar player’s guitar, an axe is just another way to refer to an archer’s specific bow (as well as their individual set up)

Blackberry: When an arrow hits the black area of an archery target

Blueberry: When your arrow hits within the blue scoring area of an archery target

Bowyer: A bowyer in an Old (or “Olde”) English term for a bow maker - it’s still in use today, although most people who aren’t archers probably wouldn’t know what one is

Bracing: A fancy way of describing someone attaching a bowstring to their bow.

Burn a Hole in the Yellow: Keep your bow sight centered onto the innermost yellow target scoring ring until you shoot your arrow

Cherry: Another way of saying that your arrow hit the red area of an archery target

Chunk: A really bad shot

Grip and Rip: A style of instinctive archery (“grip it and rip it”), is when an archer just draws the bow and shoots – without traditionally aiming or thinking to much about it

Hog: A term in hunting that refers to a large or trophy-size deer

Jar Licker: When an arrow lands in a way that it only slightly touches the line of a higher point value scoring ring (this means that the shot gets the higher scoring value).

Kiss-Out: A kiss-out is when you shoot an arrow and it hits an arrow that you already shot (still embedded in the target), and that causes your arrow to land in a lower scoring area of the target

Molly Whopped: When a hunter makes the best possible shot on their target, they’ll often say that they molly whopped it

Pin Wheel: When you release an arrow and it lands in the exact center of a target’s scoring ring

Punch: When an archer quickly taps the trigger of an archery release aid, rather than slowly squeezing the trigger

Rig: Just like axe above, another way to refer to an archers bow and personal bow set up

Robin Hood: A Robin Hood is when your arrow hits another arrow so perfectly that it splits the arrow that was already shot into the target

Slammer: Just like hog above, slammer is another term in hunting that refers to a large or trophy size deer

Sticks: Another term for arrows

Toad: Yet another term that refers to a large or trophy size deer

Tomato: A tomato is an arrow that hits in the red area of an archery target

Too Much Pinky: When you draw back your bow, and your arrow releases sooner than you intended, it’s referred to as shooting with too much pinky

Tweener: When an arrow hits between two scoring rings in target archery