Watch: One-Armed 8-Year-Old Girl Shoots a Bow Better than Many

People amaze me. And it’s refreshing when I find someone who amazes me for a good reason! So when I stumbled across this young lady named Andi Nail, I had reason to smile.

Andi is a little girl who was born with one and a half arms, but that doesn’t stop her from loading and shooting a compound bow all by herself. And her Facebook cover photo shows her playing softball, too.

This is the first video of her that I saw. After she nocks the arrow, sets her mouth-operated release, draws, and fires, hitting the target perfectly, she looks back at the camera and shrugs, like “No big deal.”

I had to laugh out loud, just for joy.

(I apologize to anyone who can’t see the videos embedded below. I’ve been told that Facebook videos don’t show up for some readers. Sorry about that!)

These days, she has her own Facebook page and some newer videos.

In this one, a fellow archer (I’m guessing her brother) helps her out, and then she shoots a balloon.

And here she is shooting clay pigeons with her bow.

What a champ! Thank you, Andi, for setting such a great example of positivity. In a world where so many people lie around feeling sorry for themselves, you are a shining example of the value of hard work and self-reliance.

I have no doubt that you will go far.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.