Stránka:roll 1910.djvu/137

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA 121 There are several ways of holding an arrow, but only one good one. Most boys know the ordinary finger and thumb pinch, or grip. This is all very well for a toy bow, but a hunter's bow cannot be drawn that way. No one has strength enough in his fingers for it. The true archer's grip of the arrow is shown in the cut. The thumb and little finger have nothing to do with it. ^ 1s«iATC^<Mi As in golf and all such things, there is a right " form." You attend to your end of the arrow's flight and the other will take care of itself. Stand perfectly straight. Plant your feet with the centres of the two heels in line with the target (cut page 119). Grasp the bow in the middle with the left hand and place the arrow on the string at the left side of the bow. Hold the bow plumb, and draw as fibove till the notch of the arrow is right under your eye and the head of the arrow back to the bow. The right elbow must be in the same line with the arrow. Let go the arrow by straight- ening the fingers a little, turning the hand outward at the bottom and drawing it back one inch. Always do this in exactly the same way and your shooting will be even. Your left hand should not move a hair's breadth until the arrow strikes the target. To begin shooting put the target very near, within 15 or 20 yards, but the proper shooting distance when the archer is in good practice is 40 yards for a 4-foot target and 30 yards for a 3-foot target. A good shot, shooting 12 arrows at this, should score 50. When the archer has done it three times in succession — that is, scored 150 in 36 shots — it counts an honor. For high honor he should score 225 with 36 successive shots. Long distance, or far shooting, is another test. To send an arrow 150 yards counts honor; 200 yards counts high honor. The Indians generally used their bows at short range, so that it was easy to hit the mark. Rapid firing was important. In their archery competitions, therefore, the prize was given to the one who could have the most arrows in the air at once. Their record, according to Catlin, was 8. We reckon honor when we can have 5 in the air, and high honor for 7.