My eyes locked on the metallic blue of the bow, which hung from a spindle of the coat tree. I navigated the tables of baby clothes, shoes, dishes, puzzles and other items seemingly standard for yard sales. A leather quiver of arrows dangled from a strap next to the bow.

"Ten dollars," a man hastened to say as I took the bow by the grip. I held the bow out, sighting at imaginary game over my left fist. I'd never shot at anything, using a bow or a gun, but somehow I envisioned an elk, towering over the tricycle and skateboards in one corner of the yard.

"With the arrows and quiver, all for ten dollars," he added, mistaking my silence for hesitation. On my way home I stopped at a farm for straw bales, which I double-stacked against the shed in my back yard.

I measured out twenty yards by marching a high-knee 32 steps - three years as a flag twirler in my high school band, eight steps for every five yards ingrained in muscle memory. It made me feel my plans were futile. I was a 27-year-old woman from suburbia and sidewalks who had never hunted, never known anyone who hunted, who for some reason wanted to be an archery hunter.

And then of course, I couldn't draw the bow back.

Lesson number one: Your most important piece of equipment for archery hunting is obviously the bow. Go to a pro shop and buy one that fits you. It will be hard to draw a bow, since you're using a new set of muscles. The draw weight - how many pounds of pressure it takes to draw the bow - can be adjusted. Start with the highest weight that allows you to draw the bow using proper form, so you can practice correctly. Resist the urge to make big jumps in poundage. With today's technology, a new bow set at 50 pounds has as much speed and power as a ten-year-old bow set at 70 pounds.

I hadn't known that bow draw weight could be adjusted, but a neighbor turned down the poundage on my bow. Soon, I was addicted, finding myself putting water on to boil, say, and slipping outside to shoot a couple arrows. When I could put six arrows in a pie plate at twenty yards, I figured I was ready to hunt.

I worked as a reporter for a newspaper then, and when the regular outdoor writer hurt his back and couldn't go on a hunt, I got to go. Probably my first hunting experience shouldn't have been boars, but I was excited for the chance to bring home the bacon.

The seven men who were also hunting from the lodge were kind enough to withhold comment when I arrived at the practice range and opened the protective blanket I'd wrapped around my bow. I had spray-painted it in various shades of green, using ferns and leaves to make a pattern. I'd been proud of it, until I saw their bows.

Since I didn't have any camouflage clothes, I'd packed the closest thing in my wardrobe, a pair of black snow pants and a brown jacket. The next morning, one of the men volunteered to hunt with me - I think they were all a little worried. I shot a black boar shortly after daybreak. That man has been a friend for more than twenty years, and he's the one who took me to a pro shop.

Lesson number two: You'll meet other archers at a pro shop, and the great majority of them will enjoy helping you. Find a local archery club that holds 3-D shoots, which are typically courses using 3-D lifelike animal targets, set at different distances. Shooting 3-D will help you get better at judging distances, and the clubs will usually have tree stands. You will be more successful as an archery hunter if you hunt from a tree, and you must practice shooting from one. Draw the bow the way you always do, and then bend at the waist to get the sight pin on the target.

Lesson number three: I'm tall, nearly six feet, and made do with men's camouflage clothes in the small size for a long time. Now, there are a couple companies manufacturing camouflage clothes designed and sized for women. Buy quality clothes that fit and you will use them for years.

I shot my first deer, a Pennsylvania doe, from a kid's tree hut. I was lying down, reading Lonesome Dove, when a couple of deer entered the area, feeding on acorns. I had to put down the book, sneak to my feet, grab the bow and shoot. All the deer ran away at the shot. I'd read that you should wait at least a half hour before looking for a deer, and found out just how long a half hour can be. When I found the dead deer, I felt elated until a rational thought entered - what do you do if you get one?

You're ready. You can shoot your bow accurately. You've got the right clothes. How do you find game animals? What other gear do you need? What do you do if you get one?

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