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It was a great weekend for a shoot, a 3D archery shoot.
While there were cool temperatures and gusty winds, in the thick forests surrounding the Williams Lake Sports Association lodge, archers said conditions were excellent for archery.
Lee Jackman, the president of Cariboo Archers, remarked on how well filming went as he finished class on Sunday on what was a long-awaited return to the fun in-person event.
In previous years, a spring shoot has challenged archers with everything from rain to snow to thick mosquitoes, and this event thankfully had none. With targets mostly in sheltered areas of the forest, the windy conditions didn’t seem to be a problem for the archers either.
With two courses winding through the woods surrounding the clubhouse area, there were 3D targets that included a range of challenging shots.
Targets could be made more difficult by their placement near rocks, resulting in broken arrows if an archer misses, reduced visibility through heavy tree cover, the small size of a target, and even a custom target unique to the Cariboo Archers.
SpongeBob Squarepants is a high value target created by former President Ron Rissanen. The majority of the target is metal, with a small foam target mouth for brave archers to aim for. While archers less daring with their arrows (which can cost up to $300 a dozen) can opt for an easier target by aiming for the bear target next to SpongeBob SquarePants.
However, those who dare to shoot Bob can earn twice as many points for attempting to destroy an arrow, giving them a leg up on the competition.
About 60 archers came to compete, including Miranda Sparkes, “one of the best longbow shooters in the world”, according to Al Campsall, one of the organizers of the event.
Campsall and Sparkes met while touring Italy and France together for the national team.
Sparkes was using a metal detector to try to locate a missing arrow after a missed target, but still enjoyed the event.
“It was beautiful. I love coming here, it’s a beautiful course,” said Sparkes, who lives in Logan Lake.
She said archery gave her the chance to travel and explore British Columbia
“I probably never would have come to Williams Lake or other random little towns like Cherryville,” Sparkes explained.
She’s not the only one spending time in Williams Lake for archery, some out-of-town archers have even set up camp on Williams Lake Sportsman’s Association property on Bond. Lake Road for tournaments.
Campsall said this shoot had a lower than normal turnout and group events could attract well over 100 pre-Covid archers, and many competitors from out of town would stay for the weekend, either in town, or at a campsite nearby.
Many factors may have impacted the numbers as people slowly adjust to returning to in-person events, including gas prices and a shooting at Chase the same weekend drawing many archers from around the world. southern interior.
But there were archers from 100 Mile House and Prince George among those the Tribune caught on the course. This included the Schafer family of Prince George.
Jon and Kristy Schafer were accompanied by their two young children Annabelle, five, and Finley, three, as well as Kristy’s father, Glen Johnson.
With the course taking two to three hours, Jon Schafer had a seat on his backpack that Finley could use between the targets to help him.
Annabelle, however, was able to fend for herself. Both youngsters have their own bows, although they only shot them on Saturday and took part in the Sunday hike.
Annabelle, who has a compound bow, said she loves everything about the sport and her mother Kristy said the family have been coming to Williams Lake to compete for years, so it was good to be back.
Cariboo Archers have not hosted a tournament since 2019.
The Cariboo Archers finished as follows: Men’s Longbow – 1st Fred Streleoff, 2nd Ernie Schmid, Men’s Recurve – 2nd Kevin Trott, Masters 60 Recurve – 2nd James Benson, 3rd Al Campsall, Masters 60 Staircase – 2nd Dave Cooper, Men’s Bowling Fixed – 3rd John Walker, 1st Lee Jackman, Men’s Unlimited – 1st Dan Cooper, Recurve Ladies 1st Melanie McComber, 2nd Alexis McComber, Under 15 Women’s Unlimited – 1st Lili Fraser, Under 10 Men’s Fixed Pins – 1st Emilio Hillbert, Under 13 Compound Women – 1st Camila Hillbert, Under 13 Compound Men – 1st Kayden Trott, Under 10 Compound Men – 1st Hunter Cooper. There was also an Extreme category for compound and traditional archers on Saturday, with very technically difficult shooting. The results for the Cariboo archers in this category were as follows: Compound – 2nd John Walker, 3rd Adam Lyons and Traditional – 2nd Ernie Schmid, 3rd Fred Streleoff.
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