Become the Arrow

This book, subtitled “The Art of Modern Barebow Shooting”, is Byron Ferguson’s work summarizing his views on shooting modern barebow equipment. What he lays out in the book really constitute a philosphy for how a person should learn, practice, and hunt with their traditional archery equipment. Before Byron wrote this book he was already a well-known trick-shooter and bowhunter, performing at gatherings around the country and around the world. The years of experience he has gained shooting the bow are summarized in this convenient, easy-to-read book.

The author begins chapter 1 by explaining what “Become the Arrow” is. He describes it as “a philosophy, a belief, a projection of self and self-confidence, a tremendous amount of concentration” which results in a deeper enjoyment of shooting and (hopefully) increased success. At this point, it is already apparent that the book differs from most instructional archery books. He goes on to differ even further by asserting that to discover true success, an archer should not strive to make the bow an extension of themself, they should not strive to make the target an extension of themself – the key is to become one with the arrow and make IT a part of yourself. Doing so helps put your focus on the flight of the arrow, and on the downrange destination of that arrow. The confidence of that mental concentration means assurance of success before the arrow is even released.

“That’s all well and good”, you may be saying, “but it takes more than just concentration for us to learn to shoot properly.” That leads to the contents of chapter two – what you find here is a brief description of the pieces that make up a barebow shot (stance, breathing, arm position, anchor, release, etc). Each section is covered briefly, but with enough detail that new archers can pick up the necessities, and experienced archers can find a point or two to work on regardless of how many times they may read it. Once form has been covered, Mr. Ferguson gives a discussion on how to practice shooting effectively (both mentally and physically).

Since all the good form in the world cannot compensate for a poorly-tuned bow, tuning and setup are also covered. Starting with brace height adjustment, he moves on to discuss bareshafting, nocking point, and troubleshooting of problems you encounter on the way.

The remainder of the book covers a variety of topics, with discussion on bowhunting, bowbuilding, and answers to frequently asked questions.

My initial reaction to this book was that it is considerably shorter than many other archery books on the market today. Although there are advantages to having longer books with more detail, this one’s size gives it several distinct advantages. The first is that it is not a time-consuming read – a few hours or a long evening will get you through most of the book. The second advantage is that it is easy to go back for a refresher course. If you flip to the chapter on form and pick a topic, two minutes of reading will give you a specific piece of your form to work on for the day.

Perhaps what works best about this book is that Byron Ferguson’s “Become the Arrow” philosphy is not a locked, this-way-only type of system. Since the primary focus is on the mental aspect of shooting, there is room for adaptation to suit your current shooting style.

Overall, Become the Arrow does a good job laying the groundwork for a solid shooting philosophy. Whether you are new to archery or have been doing it for years, it has something for everyone. Its length lets you finish it in a weekend, but gives you pointers that you can work on for months or years.

Become the Arrow

Author: Byron Ferguson

ISBN: 091330509X

Date: Sep, 1994

Pages: 110

Chapters:
1. What is “Become the Arrow”?
2. The “Become the Arrow” Shooting System
3. Practice / Shooting Form
4. Tuning for Barebow
5. Bowhunting
6. Most-Commonly Asked Questions
7. Building A Longbow
8. Children’s Hospital Benefit