Target Shooting with Archery Experience Mexico

It was a sunny day, with a refreshing cool breeze, and I was at Archery Experience Mexico in Higuera Blanca, just a short 10-minute drive from Sayulita, with a group of friends. I hadn’t shot a bow and arrow since I was a child, so I was excited to get started as Chris Ostrowski, the owner, went over the parts of the recurve bow and arrows. As we strapped on our arm guards and headed outdoors to the target area, one friend commented how she found the arm guards “sexy,” as another friend strapped his guard on and kissed his bicep in agreement.

As we sat on chairs situated under a tent, protected from the sun, Chris went over the safety rules, how to correctly shoot a bow and arrow, how to aim, how to properly remove arrows from the targets, how to safely carry the arrows, and patiently answered all of our questions.

Chris made it easy to remember the four steps of shooting by teaching us what he calls the four F’s. (1. Feet – point feet towards the fence, 2. Feather – there are three feathers on the arrows and the color that is different from the others should click on the string and point towards the face, 3. Fingers - one finger should be placed above the arrow and two should be placed below the arrow on the bowstring, 4. Face – Holding onto the bowstring, bring your fingers back to your face to the corner of your mouth.)

I stepped up to the shooting line (10 meters from the targets) positioned my feet, and grabbed the first of my six arrows for the round. After hearing the click of the arrow onto the bowstring, I extended my left arm, positioned my fingers, and pulled the bowstring back towards the corner of my mouth, and then let it go in the direction of the round foam target. I watched as the arrow missed the target and hit the gravel instead.

"If you compete in the hunger games, you're sure going to be hungry," came the inspirational words of my friend. However, by the third arrow, I had one in the center of the target, which was perhaps simply luck. I missed a few more arrows, and Chris suggested I take off my large sunglasses, as they were preventing me from getting the bowstring close enough to my face. He was right and my aim improved.

While regular target shooting is fun, Chris has a way of taking the fun to the next level with games that aid in skill development. He had us do a few rounds where our intent was to hit the segmented numbers on the target in order, and other rounds he put balloons on the target and told us our goal was to avoid the balloons. (Of course a few people not so “accidentally” popped a balloon.) We also played a game where we could only hit certain rings of color on the target, and depending on what color we hit, we would gain or lose arrows.

I thoroughly enjoyed the few hours I spent doing archery at Archery Experience Mexico with Chris. His calm, collected, and fun loving personality, combined with his priority to safety, makes him ideal to teach archery to everyone from children to adults.

He also now offers the new and growing sport of Archery Tag®  What is Archery Tag®? Archery Tag® is an exciting new sport which combines the intensity and excitement of dodgeball, the action of paintball while using the skill-set of archery. Using soft foam-tipped arrows that leave no bruising or marks, it is fun and safe for players of all ages. Archery Experience Mexico has fully dedicated a portion of it's archery center to provide a game field suitable to play this new game. It’s the perfect "Hunger Games" activity for corporate retreats, team building, large groups, parties or just a way to get friends together.  Now that I have had my traditional archery experience, I just can’t wait to get back out to Archery Experience Mexico and use my new skills and compete in Archery Tag®!

Chris is offering a discounted Archery Tag rate for the month of January and has special programming and rates available to locals as well.  If you’d like to book a traditional archery experience or would like to bring a group to play Archery Tag®, contact Chris at Archery Experience Mexico.