Archery enthusiasts gathered at the St. Paul Ag Corral over the weekend to take aim for the St. Paul Archery Club’s 18th annual 3-D shoot-out.
Mark MacKinnon, president of the club, said that about $1,500 to $2,000 was raised over two days, with 77 shooters participating on Saturday and another 51 participants showing up on Sunday.
“The turn-out was pretty good on both days,” said Mark MacKinnon, adding that the bad weather which hit St. Paul on Saturday evening was a factor in a drop-off in numbers for Sunday’s competition.
MacKinnon explained that this year, the club decided to hold the shoot-out over two days, unlike in previous years when it was only held on Saturday.
“We thought that it was a lot of work setting up and taking it down on a day, so we thought we have it for two and maybe make a little more money for the club,” he said. That goal was met, with funds exceeding the $1,000 raised at last year’s event. This year, the club will spend the money on buying new targets for members to use.
“There was some great competition here,” said Rick Cull, from Lower Mann Lake, which was praise indeed from someone who took 13th place in the Masters 50 class during the 3-D Nationals at Lethbridge two weeks before.
The fact that some of the participants had taken part in nationals was evidence that “really good shooters” came out to St. Paul’s shoot-out this year, said Cull.
MacKinnon and his son, Caleb, 11, also participated in nationals, with MacKinnon taking eighth place in the Hunter Class, and Caleb coming in seventh in the pre-cub class.
MacKinnon feels that archery is a safer sport in which to take part, in comparison to contact sports like basketball, football or hockey, if all the safety rules are followed.
The club will be holding two outdoor shoots, one in the first weekend of June and another in the third weekend of August, said MacKinnon.
