Entry # 2 Archery is a Lifestyle

Intro to Archery

Archery is a sport/hobby that has existed for centuries. Prehistoric humans used this as a method of hunting for survival in the vast wildernesses in the world. It was an upgrade from using spears to hunt animals. It provided range for the hunters so that way they didn't have to be real up close and personal to their prey, which consisted of large deer and other large mammals. While it wasn't was effective as the guns used today, it provided a turning point to the lifestyle of hunting, allowing hunters to hunt with distance between them and their targets. Even today archery is still used for the same purpose, but with some changes.

Here is a prime example of prehistoric bow hunting.

Archery Today

Archery has taken to a different meaning to current lifestyles. Instead of just being used for hunting strictly, now it is used as a type of competitive sport. Men and women across the world now train to become the best archers across the globe. I myself used to compete to become one of the best, but sadly I had to stop for certain personal reasons. These men and women take archery as a life of competing instead of survival. Thousands of archers compete across the world in different types of competitions. Some of these include Fita Field, Olympic, 3D Target, and Indoor Archery. Each of these consists of different targets in which have scoring rings, which can be similar to darts, that give out a certain amount of points. These tournaments can also reward archers with titles and even money depending on the type of tournament it is. Archery competitions are popular today and are continuing to grow due to people's interest in it. Who would want to try and become the next Robin Hood?

 This is the type of target you would see at a 3D Target Tournament. They are to resemble animals and have scoring rings where the animals vital organs would be. Hunters also use these targets as practice for the hunting season.

Indoor Target Archery consists of these targets. Each ring has its own score and an arrow shot within a ring gets that score. For instance, if an archer shoots three arrows in the dead center of the target, they earn the score of 30. This is because the middle ring is worth 10 points for each arrow in it.

Here I am competing at an archery tournament. It was a 3D Archery tournament in Arizona.

Bow Hunting Today

Archery is still used today to hunt. With the advancement of technology, bows and arrows have become stronger and more powerful for hunting. Bows of old were made from long planks of wood and arrows were made from sticks and rocks. Now they are made of carbon fiber and metals of all sorts. Compound bows are the strongest type of bows out today. They can have the pull weight of 90-100 pounds. Now that is quite an amount of weight. Most hunters used 60-70 pounds of draw weight for most big game, like elk and bears. Arrows are also made to kill, with the broadheads on the end being made to penetrate an animals hide. Broadheads are basically a small spearhead, but can do the same amount of damage. There are numerous hunters across the world that use these industrialized bows and arrows. Others use the traditional bows and arrows. All in the same sense, bow hunting is still used by numerous people today.

Here is a prime look at a modern day hunter. 

This is a type of compound bow made today from an archery company called Hoyt. It has all the attachments and characteristics of a hunting bow.

Archery for Everyone

This sport is for men and women of all ages. You can be 10 years old to 80 years old and compete in archery tournaments or hunt even. I highly encourage others to participate in this sport or at least give it a shot. If it has stayed around for centuries, why not try it out? It is a great activity to partake in and enjoy. Hopefully the knowledge and background information on archery helps you decide to take part in this unique sport.

Entry #1 Opinion on Blogs

Blogs? What are they?

Throughout my life I have always heard of blogs but never knew what they truly were until recently. They seen to be great in some ways but not so much in others. I always thought blogs were just for people who wanted to update information on their current life information for their family and friends. Now I see that they are much more than that.

Influences from Blogs

After reading a variety of blogs, I can truly understand their multiple purposes, unlike when I was unaware of their existence and purpose. For instance, the Official Google Blog showed me the informational purposes of blogs, as seen here. It provides current news and events that have occurred in an organized fashion. Not to mention it also has a search bar to help narrow down what type of blog you wish to read. Unfortunately, the search bar is the only tool on the website that narrows down the search. No tabs or anything else are used. The design of the blog can also use some tuning. It seems too bland even for an informational blog. Overall, the Official Google Blog is a great informational blog, but could use some tuning to make it effective. Blogs like this help inform me of news, but there are others that do better work.

A good blog that has both an interesting background with great information is called the American Blog. It has multiple tabs to narrow your search down to what you wish to see and has a search bar as well. To me, the more tabs to different topics, the better you can find things to read and understand. It even organizes it to where you must click on the entries to read it fully instead of all the information on the blog entry being laid out on one page, which can be located here. This blog is a great example of which blogs I truly love to read. They keep me informed and catch my attention, unlike some other blogs.

One particular type of blog I believe needs to be improved on the most is the personal blogs. I just can't stand the idea of posting something that can be viewed by everyone only make sense to certain individuals. I mean its great that people are keeping their families and friends up to date with their work, but I would wish for them to only be seen by them, not the entire community that wouldn't understand certain things. An example of this is seen in the blog site named Vivi's Random Ramblings. The blogger seems to post many personal entries on her blog that make me lose interest. Not to mention the vocabulary used. Words like "hubby" just make me feel weird considering I don't like that type of vocabulary. I can handle a few nicknames, but others seem to personal. This blog also has random topics, thus coming from its name. It can be talking about family one moment, then vacation days the next. If I actually knew the person it may not seem that bad, but since I don't, its makes things uncertain. This blog site is nice for her friends and family, but not so to a random person searching on the internet. Don't get me wrong, personal blogs are nice, if you are acquainted with the person.

Blogs to Me

Based of of these blogs, I can conclude that blogs are seen differently in my perspective than that of others. While I don't necessarily like personal blogs, others love them to death. I like to look at informational blogs to gather information, but others ignore them for their unexciting theme. In general, I like the idea of blogs. They are a great way to communicate and send out ideas across the web, whether it be personal or for business. They are great for families, friends, businessmen and women, and all other sorts of people who just want to give information out.

Entry #1 Getting to Know James

Who I Am

Hello, my name is James Rutherford. I'm 18 years old and a freshman at Glendale Community College and I'm going to share some information about myself.

I wish this taken in a more, professional matter. But its me either way.
Where I'm From

I'm from Robinsdale, Minnesota. It's pretty much a suburb off of Minneapolis. I lived there for a little part of my childhood then moved to Glendale, Arizona when I started elementary school. I miss Minnesota for its winters, but Arizona's winters are also nice.

Personal Interests

I like the outdoors and almost all the animals that live in them. I hate skunks though, too many of them in Minnesota and had bad experiences with them. I like to travel across the United States and see the sights there are to see, like Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park. I also like to study animals and their behaviors on my spare time. I'm hoping to make it a career once I'm finished with college.

Hobbies

Some hobbies I'm interested in are hiking, hunting, and fishing. I also used to compete in archery a couple years back. I was pretty good at it as well. I competed in state championships and even ranked in a world archery tournament. Those were the good years. Click here to see the results of an archery tournament that happened a few years ago. I hope to return to archery in the near future. I also used to play competitive football for Apollo High School. Played there for three years, then I graduated from high school. I miss football as well. I don't think I will play football competitively in the future unless i either lose an amount of weight or grow taller. I don't think there is a football team that would want a 5 foot 11 inch tall lineman that weighs 220. I don't mind not playing though, the memories will stick with me for ages. Here are some pictures of me doing past hobbies.

 This is when I played Junior Varsity football for my sophomore year of high school. I would go to war with any other football team with these guys. They are my second family.

 My senior year football team. My second family at its finest. I'm number 66 at the top row on the right.

This a photo taken of me when I competed in a state championship here in Arizona.

Personal Goals

My goals in life are to get my dream career job as a wildlife manager in the Game and Fish Department. I have always wanted to be this ever since I was a young boy. Another goal of mine is to get in better shape. I have been slacking lately on the exercise and I need to get back into the flow of exercising again. Other than that I hope to life a long and prosperous life with a happy and calm attitude no matter what happens.

Uniqueness

Something unique about me is my way of learning and socializing. I learn by hearing and I don't really talk as much as others. For instance I don't usually start conversations, but instead further enhance the ones started. In class I don't speak out much but show great listening skills. Another thing unique about me is my archery skills. I have superb archery skills which at a time were so great that I would challenge my own archery coach, and even win sometimes. I could hit a starburst on a string when my coach was teaching me a lesson about aiming small to miss small. That was awhile back but I still think I have the archery skills in me.

Closure 

That's all there is to know about me. Hopefully you enjoyed this entry and the entries to come.