I had a few free hours yesterday and decided to spend them with my Impact Crossbow. I built a burlap sack filled with nylin cloth and it serves as my target. I spray painted a few four inc circles on the burlap and I've been good to go fo rabout a week now. Not being able to lift at the gym has given me lots of time to tinker and annoy my family in general.
SO yesterday I was home form work and no one was around so I decided to fore a few bolts. My outdoor rage is about thirty yards. I set up my bag target which is 24" wide, 36" tall and about 24" thick in front of four excelsior bales. I was outside for about a half an hour taking twenty yard and thrity yard shots when two police officers arrived and began questioning me.
One of my neigbors had called the police claiming that I was firing a rifle in my back yard. The cops, of course, responded assuming the worst. I showed them the crossbow and took a few shots so they could see the item at work. I explained that my target is set up so that even if I miss wildly the arrows will go into a dense thicket of woods or get buried in teh hay bales.
Things were rough going until I handed my Impact over to the nearest officer and invited him to take a shot. I turned on the scope, cocked the bow and loaded on of my carbon shafts. I told him to simply put the top red dot on any one of the five painted circles. Then release the safety and fire when ready. TEH officer took me up on it and drilled an arrow into teh lower circle at twenty yards. TEH secodn officer asked if he could shoot and I obliged. THey took turns and ewach shot teh crossbow three times. They inspected the target and the setup and realized I wasn't some maniac and my mini range was totally safe.
Both officers expressed an interest in crossbows and I invited them back anytime to shoot. THey were genuinelty interested but I assume I'd never hear form them again. Well... silly me. My wife just called me and informed me that Officer Miller called and wants to know if he can swing by this Saturday with his son and do some shooting with my crossbow. I just got off the phone with him and he and his son will be my guests at my rod and gun club this Saturday (Better range, longer shots).
This, IMO, is the best way to recruit people into our ranks. Take the time to befriend and educate. Instead of getting upset and defensive, I simply explained what I was doing and invited them to participate. Score one for our side
. I've made a friend and hopefully can convince him to purchase a crossbow of his own. If not he's always more than welcome to shoot mine.
SO yesterday I was home form work and no one was around so I decided to fore a few bolts. My outdoor rage is about thirty yards. I set up my bag target which is 24" wide, 36" tall and about 24" thick in front of four excelsior bales. I was outside for about a half an hour taking twenty yard and thrity yard shots when two police officers arrived and began questioning me.
One of my neigbors had called the police claiming that I was firing a rifle in my back yard. The cops, of course, responded assuming the worst. I showed them the crossbow and took a few shots so they could see the item at work. I explained that my target is set up so that even if I miss wildly the arrows will go into a dense thicket of woods or get buried in teh hay bales.
Things were rough going until I handed my Impact over to the nearest officer and invited him to take a shot. I turned on the scope, cocked the bow and loaded on of my carbon shafts. I told him to simply put the top red dot on any one of the five painted circles. Then release the safety and fire when ready. TEH officer took me up on it and drilled an arrow into teh lower circle at twenty yards. TEH secodn officer asked if he could shoot and I obliged. THey took turns and ewach shot teh crossbow three times. They inspected the target and the setup and realized I wasn't some maniac and my mini range was totally safe.
Both officers expressed an interest in crossbows and I invited them back anytime to shoot. THey were genuinelty interested but I assume I'd never hear form them again. Well... silly me. My wife just called me and informed me that Officer Miller called and wants to know if he can swing by this Saturday with his son and do some shooting with my crossbow. I just got off the phone with him and he and his son will be my guests at my rod and gun club this Saturday (Better range, longer shots).
This, IMO, is the best way to recruit people into our ranks. Take the time to befriend and educate. Instead of getting upset and defensive, I simply explained what I was doing and invited them to participate. Score one for our side
. I've made a friend and hopefully can convince him to purchase a crossbow of his own. If not he's always more than welcome to shoot mine.
