opening of archery deer season, while I stood there snapping photos, kicking dirt, and in general pouting, complaining and feeling left out ; my friend Scott Huschle of DownRiver Outdoors said “ G – have you talked to Karen Butler from Shoot Like a Girl? I bet she could help. “ WHAAAAT???? There are women in the archery world that could help me figure this out? How did I not know this? Had I been living on some other planet? Huschle generously gave me all of Ms. Butler’s contact information and I raced home to fire off an email. Suffice it to say that may have rank among one of the most important e mails I have ever sent in my life. Ms. Butler was quick to reply with many great ideas as well as much compassion and understanding. Something I had not experienced from the many archery resources I previously explored. As luck would have it, Butler would be in my area soon, at the huge annual Hunting and Fishing Days event held in our area. I couldn’t wait to meet her in person, try some bows that
she suggested and see what we could come up with. I found a woman archer to talk to about the situation, not just a woman archer but one of the best and one who has made it her mission to introduce and support women in archery. That hot September Saturday that Karen Butler spent a great deal of time and effort working with me gave me a renewed hope that I could indeed return archery. She also helped me to realize that while I could return archery I might not be able to return to what it was before, but where there was a will there was a way, a bow, and an archery activity. My biggest issues came with trying to use a compound. It simply didn’t work for me. No matter how hard I tried to rebuild the strength, to retrain the muscles, pulling it to break over cam and then holding it just wasn’t in the cards. But between Ms. Butler and my friend Christine Appleberg , of Illinois Bowfishers, I learned that I could indeed use a recurve, I could use a long bow, and holy smokes, I could fling arrows like madwoman using one of the Genesis 0% let off bows.