A unique shooting gallery - made up of overgrown mosquitos, dinosaurs, and even the occasional skunk - adorned the St. Paul Ag Corral over the weekend, with eager archers attempting to pierce their arrows through the centre of each one.
A unique shooting gallery - made up of overgrown mosquitos, dinosaurs, and even the occasional skunk - adorned the St. Paul Ag Corral over the weekend, with eager archers attempting to pierce their arrows through the centre of each one.
Over 60 animal-shaped targets stretched across eight stations on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 during the St. Paul Archery Society's annual 3D Archery Shoot. It was certainly a sight to behold, with archers squinting over their weapons, sighting the rings that had been drawn on vital parts of the lifelike objects, aiming, and then letting the arrows fly.
According to club president Mark Mackinnon, people come from all over the province to attend the event, which has been running in town for over 20 years. He was expecting about 100 contestants to compete in the two-day shoot.
A diverse group of archers were moving through the stations during the weekend's first round on Saturday morning, with young archers shooting the closer targets, and experienced sharpshooters aiming for the long distances. For Mackinnon, it's the former group that they are mostly hoping to attract to their club.
“That has kind of been our focus as a club for the last couple years, to cater to the young kids,&” he said. “That's the future of the sport. If you get them involved right away, most of them stick with it.&”
Board member Tamie Gratton agreed with Mackinnon's statement, adding that the 3D shoot adds an extra level of excitement for the younger shooters.
“The kids, they enjoy it,&” she said. “When we have our weekly practice, it's just at the targets. The kids like shooting at the mosquitos and the frogs.&”
The sport comes with an interesting dynamic, as it offers up controlled, scored shoots like the one going on in St. Paul over the weekend, with other practical and obvious implications in the wild. When it comes to this duality, Gratton feels that there is no one aspect that is appealing to the kids.
“I think it's a little bit of both,&” she said. “There are some families who are big into hunting. Those kids want to bag their moose when they get older.&”
Gratton also went on to add that the St. Paul competition often gets a large draw because of “the level of competition. We have a lot of strong archers&”.
Two of those archers, Dave and Brenda Robinson, were pleased with their first round of shooting on Saturday morning.
Dave, who was participating in this particular shoot for his third time, gave some insight into what it's like to shoot the bow.
“These weapons can be very, very accurate,&” he said. “For some people, out of a score of 240, they will get about 220 or 230. They are hitting a little target anywhere from a half-inch diameter to an inch-and-a-half diameter.&”
Often, pastimes such as this are passed down from one generation to the next, but sometimes it works the other way around.
“It's just fun to get out,&” Brenda said. “The only reason I picked up a bow was because the grandkids are into it.&”
Safety was a big part of the proceedings during the shoot, and for good reason.
“(These arrows) are going 300-plus feet per second. They'll do some damage,&” Mackinnon said.
And as far as any secrets of success in the sport, Brenda was able to offer up at least one bit of advice.
“Practice makes perfect,&” she said with a laugh.
Archery Results
*denotes member of St. Paul Archery Club
Saturday's Results
Men's Open
1st Mike Bates
2nd Mark Mackinnon*
3rd Todd Cemalini
Men's Hunter
1st Jordan Stefaniuk
2nd Dana White
3rd Darcy Lester
Traditional
1st Corey Skinner
2nd Jean-Mark Cazabon
3rd Caroline Laue
Women
1st Lori Keller
2nd Erin McGladdery
3rd Jennifer Lefebvre
Youth (14-17)
1st Tallin Cemulini
2nd Kain Tizzard
3rd Brock friedel
Cubs (11-13)
1st Dylan Jean*
2nd Ried Fehr
3rd Kailin Mailer
Teddies (10 and under)
1st Kolby Dwaitkowski
2nd Naja VanBrabant*
3rd Krayghan Gratton*
Sunday's Results
Men's Compound Open
1st Eric Morin
2nd Kris Skelly
3rd Al Keeler
Men's Hunter
1st Dana White
2nd Cal Wakelin
3rd Aaron Hansen
Traditional
1st Jean-Marc Cazabon
2nd Kevin Baldwin
3rd James Tracey
Women
1st Lori Keeler
2nd Jennifer Lefebvre
3rd Sherry Wakelin
Youth (14-17)
1st Kohl MiOuat
2nd Brock Friedel
3rd Wyatt Nickerson
Cubs (11-13)
1st Dylan Jean*
2nd Kale Kwiatkowski
3rd Brent Biladeau
Teddies (10 and under)
1st Kierra Vosseur
2nd Kolby Kwiatkowski
3rd Krayghan Gratton*
