Toronto has a free public archery range and very few people know about it. It is "hidden" (so to speak) inside E. T. Seton Park, east of the East York neighbourhood of Leaside and directly south of the Ontario Science Centre.
The closest intersection is Don Mills Road and Gateway Boulevard.
The people who know about the archery range are people mostly from Toronto's vibrant archery community, but they don't exactly advertise its existence.
Nor does the city, which maintains the park and the archery range. Instead they are rather quiet about its existence.
Behold, a beautiful archery range on a foggy morning with dew on the ground and the sun rising in the sky.
Using the archery range is FREE*.
* You need to bring your own archery equipment or hire an archery instructor who provides equipment.
The Toronto Archery Range is open 365 days per year, 24 hours per day.
The biggest rule? FOLLOW THE SAFETY RULES/BYLAWS that are posted near the entrances. They are for your safety and for the safety of others, and they are enforced by law. Anyone committing Reckless Endangerment with a Firearm is subject to a $4,000 fine and possible prison time.
You can meet lots of different archers at the Toronto Archery Range. Everyone from beginners to bowhunters to people who compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics.
The range officially opened in 1968. Now that it is 2020 it marks 52 years that the Toronto Archery Range has been open to the public.
#1. For those that don't know, the "Archer's Paradox" refers to how arrows flex in flight and yet stay true on target. Flexible spine arrows flex more, and thicker spine arrows flex less. The flexibility of the arrow also effects accuracy.
#2. The video below is dumbed down quite a bit.
#3. Not all the information in the video is accurate.
Myth - The arrow does not "bend around the bow". The guy in the video isn't very bright, but he is trying hard to explain how it works - even though he is getting his facts wrong.
Fact - The arrow first of all flexes because of the pressure on it coming from the bowstring, and it also gains vibrations in the arrow as it rubs against the bow or arrowrest. The rubbing however doesn't really contribute to the flex of the arrow, merely to its accuracy - or lack thereof. The primary thing causing flex is the pressure on the rear of the arrow from the bowstring upon release. That pressure is then transferred down the length of the arrow during the forward motion, causing it to flex in the process.
If the arrow was too weak the amount of pressure could actually make it snap midshot. If the arrow is too strong / not flexible enough, it will lose some of its accuracy. The arrow needs to be able to flex in order to shoot straighter. An arrow with a spine that is too stiff or too weak will be less accurate. To optimize accuracy archers typically look for arrows that have spine with flexibility which matches the poundage of their bow. The amount of spine they need also depends on their draw length too. Fortunately there are charts on this topic, which show archers what spine of arrow they need.
Every time I see a DudePerfect archery video I am disgusted and shake my head. Here is why.
#1. The trick shots they perform in the video are not actually that hard.
#2. Some of the trick shots are performed at very short distances with a compound bow.
#3. Some of the trick shots are not even a trick shot. eg. Shooting seven balloons in a row. That is not a trick shot. It is not even remotely impressive.
#4. Shooting a rope holding a basketball above a basket is not hard. Especially when you can make the attempt many times and only show the one time you succeeded. Any reasonably good archer with a compound bow should be able to perform that within the first 10 attempts.
#5. Even their archery form is bad. It isn't horribly bad, but they make lots of mistakes that cause inaccuracy. This tells me they probably spent 30 minutes or more trying to perfect a single shot due to bad form.
#6. Timing a hit on a giant ball isn't hard - I would be impressed if the target was the size of a bottle cap. Plus the distance he was shooting was very short - and he did it with a compound bow. Make the target smaller, make the distance further, and get rid of the compound bow. (At that distance a beginner who has never done archery before could successfully do that shot with a compound bow, that is how idiot-proof that "trick shot" is.)
#7. Apple off the Dummy's head? Pff. Look how short that distance is. It is less than 15 yards. That is point blank distance - and again with the idiot-proof compound bow.
#8. The basketball-arrow... lame. Not even a trick shot. That is simply a matter of aiming and multiple attempts.
#9. Candle flame at 10 yards? Point blank again, and the idiot-proof compound bow.
#10. Bag of coins dangling from a tree - again, point blank.
#11. The throwing disc flying target? Short range, two people making the attempt - doubles the odds at least one of them hits. They don't show all the times both idiots missed completely, but we can assume that they missed many times.
#12. Arrow bending? Extremely short range, just a matter of aim. Not even a trick shot. It would be much more impressive if it was longer distance and the target on the far side was moving - which meant the archer's aim had to be much better and they had to time it properly.
#13. Underwater bowling pin? It isn't even moving. Shooting a moving fish would be harder - you know, bowfishing.
#14. Slow moving toy plane in the air? Slow... and short range.
#15. Idiot in a bear costume hitting a basketball at short range with a blunt arrow. Little kids could do that shot.
#16. Moving Egg - finally a tiny moving target! But look at how short the range is. It is less than 5 yards away and he is using a compound bow. To make this harder it should be - two moving targets that have to both be timed, longer distance, and a more difficult bow (eg. a horsebow would be interesting).
#17. 2 foot wide ring, thrown in front of the target - All you do is aim at the target (which is very short range) and then time the release. (Note that he points on the target was horrible, would have been more impressive if it was also a bullseye.
#18. Clay shooting - finally something difficult. No complaints there. It was actually a decent height.
#19. Do we really need to listen to them singing on helium?
#20. Remember the balloons shot I complained about at the top? They did it short range with a compound bow. A complete beginner could do that shot.
#21. Shooting from the sunroof of a moving truck - at a non-moving target, short distance, with an idiot proof compound bow. Not even that hard to do.
#22. 500 yards with a compound bow at a balloon? I have seen this shot done before - at longer distances. While it would have taken him multiple attempts, it is not really an impressive shot. Even someone with just a little experience shooting a compound bow could do that shot within the first half hour of attempting it.
#23. The music is horribly macho nonsense. Very annoying and meant to distract the viewer from the fact that these "trick shots" are not even that hard.
Conclusions? DudePerfect archery videos are nothing special. They are just repackaging "trick shots" that are actually so easy a relative beginner could do them.
16. Effective Weight Loss (isn't this the same as 14???)
17. It's Fun
18. Skills
19. Self Development
20. Challenge
21. Safest Sport (isn't this the same as 11 really?)
It does kind of feel like they stretched it to 21 by doubling up on certain benefits regarding weight loss and safety.
And they didn't even mention the following:
A. Learn Bowhunting Skills
B. Learn How to Bowfish
C. Hang Out with Survivalists - Zombie Survivalists, preppers, that sort of thing.
D. Sausage Fest - It is true that archery is a mostly a male sport. That part is changing as more women try archery, but it will probably continue to be a very male dominated sport for the immediate future.
E. Kewlness Factor - Because archery is in vogue right now. Cool people do archery because they are confident and keep practicing until they succeed. Losers who suck at shooting and give up easily do not do archery.
