San Francisco Archers taught me how to shoot a bow & arrow

Me and my coworker Ann. (I'm on the left, shooting left handed.)

On Tuesday, my coworkers and I went on a Katniss-inspired trip to San Francisco Archers. It was basically an outdoor wonderland of archery. We learned the basics of shooting a bow and arrow, then walked around a backwoods course of 20 sets of targets. Pretty fun -- brought back memories of the few times I shot arrows at Girl Scout camp. Our instructor was kind and knew how to keep us feeling good about our work while also offering pointers. (We never shot more than about 20 yards away from our targets!)

I'd wholeheartedly recommend the site to anyone in the Bay Area. For $10, you can rent equipment and shoot for as long as you like. Every 1st and 3rd Sunday, they have an outreach program, free shooting for anyone who shows up!

Fair warning though: a couple of times, I managed to whap the bowstring against my arm in the process of shooting the arrow. Turns out my arm did not like that at all. Here's the crazy colors it's turned over the last few days:

I attribute this to my own ineptitude, though, and not the SF Archers. (They have leather sleeves you can wear to keep stuff like this from happening -- or you could just learn a better stance than I used!)

Is anyone reading this an archer? Have you shot a bow and arrow? If so, where?