Dana Massing: Archery class hits target

I'm no Katniss Everdeen but I did pop two balloons.

And I hit the bull's-eye, almost in the exact middle, once.

My introduction to archery wasn't inspired by the bow-toting main character in "The Hunger Games" books and movies, although I did read all three novels in a single weekend and have seen the first two movies.

As much as I obviously enjoyed the books, I didn't rush out to buy a bow.

But apparently other people have.

Instructors at the archery class, which I took with friends Nancy and Susan on Aug. 24 at Erie Bluffs State Park, said there's been a lot more interest in the sport thanks to recent books and movies like "The Hunger Games."

Long before they came out, I wanted to give archery a try for real. I say "for real" because when I was a kid I had a little plastic bow with a string and three arrows with suctions cups on the ends.

I guess that was so big sisters wouldn't puncture little brothers with pointy arrows, but it didn't stop me from trying to see if suction cups would stick to skin.

Although my brothers weren't with me at the archery class, they wouldn't have been in any danger. The instructors, who included state park staff and local archers, stressed safety and took measures to make sure no one got hurt and everyone had fun and learned something.

They explained how the bows worked and showed about 15 of us, children and adults, how to use them. They provided all the equipment and even had bows for left-handed people like me.

The one-time class lasted two hours and cost $10. I understood why there was a charge when one of the instructors explained that the arrows cost about $6 each and you tend to lose a few each time you go shooting.

Everyone in the class got to shoot more than a dozen arrows, first at bull's-eye targets and then at balloons taped to the targets.

Nancy was the first to break a balloon, and Susan did some popping as well.

The three of us had a great time on a sunny day at a beautiful park and we'd definitely do it again, even if we'll never be good enough to compete in an arena with Katniss.
