Article in todays Tuscaloosa News|3D Archery Talk|Forum|Bow Hunters of Alabama

Corrections- I am not the TCB president, Terry Templeton is…and 12, 10 & 8 rings count 10.

Get Ready for Bow Season shoot is Sept. 7

Larry McAfee of the Tuscaloosa County Bowhunters club takes aim at a target at the archery park at Faucett Brothers Activity Center in Northport, site of the Get Ready for Bow Season shoot Sept. 7.
Robert DeWitt | The Tuscaloosa News
By Robert DeWitt
Outdoors Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Friday, August 30, 2013 at 8:09 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, August 30, 2013 at 8:09 p.m.

It’s an archery shoot with no trophies and no prize money.

“We want to get across that this isn’t a competition,” said Larry McAfee, president of the Tuscaloosa County Bowhunters. “It’s a get-ready-for-bow-season shoot. You can keep score if you want, but you don’t have to.”

Its name is literally the Get Ready for Bow Season shoot, sponsored by the Tuscaloosa County Bowhunters, and McAfee hopes the hundreds of bow hunters who never take part in offseason competitions will come and try it out. It will be at 8 a.m. Sept. 7 at the archery part next to Faucett Brothers Activity Center in Northport.

The first round costs $10, while subsequent rounds are $5. Archers can shoot as many rounds as they can squeeze into the day. With each round, shooters get a ticket for door prizes.

The shoot will consist of 20 three-dimensional targets set up at realistic distances. Any equipment that’s legal for hunting, with the exception of broadheads, can be used at the shoot.

“We want to emphasize shots that are ethical,” McAfee said. “The scoring rings are usually 12, 10 or 8 points. If you hit anywhere in the ring, it’s an 8. To emphasize that we don’t want wounding shots, if you hit outside the ring, it’s a minus-5-points penalty.”

Too many bow hunters head off into the woods with little preparation, McAfee said.

Both they and their equipment need tuning up before they take a shot at a deer.
“We want to make sure their equipment is right, that they’re shooting an arrow right, that it’s tuned up and ready to go,” McAfee said. “We have guys that have been shooting all year and know how to tune a bow.”

Champion archers Skipper Booth and Lynn Morrison, both members of Tuscaloosa County Bowhunters, will be on hand at a table set up by Woods and Water to give shooting tips and to help bow hunters with their equipment.

“Woods and Water has been a good partner with us,” McAfee said. “They’ve helped us with the National Archery in Schools Program. They really supported archery and bow hunting in Tuscaloosa. Anytime I’ve ever asked them for anything, they’ve always given it.”

While prizes won’t be awarded for competition, everyone who shoots will be eligible for a prize drawing. Woods and Water donated the grand prize, a Mathews Heli-m bow, valued at more than $600.

Gander Mountain will also have a table at the shoot and will give away prizes suchas T-shirts and caps. One-Shot Archery will have a table and donated custom strings and cables as prizes. Campus Collections is giving away T-shirts.

The shoot will also emphasize hunter safety. Shooters must wear a safety harness, just as they would in a tree stand, when they shoot from a station with an elevated stand.

“We’re emphasizing safety in the woods,” McAfee said. “We want people to come back after the hunt.”

McAfee said it’s a good way for people to get introduced to 3D archery competition.
“My main reason for doing this is that we have more than 70 3D shoots through Bowhunters of Alabama every year,” McAfee said. “But the turnout is about the same people every time. There are over 60,000 bow hunters in Alabama, and at least half of them have never taken part in a 3D shoot. We’re trying to attract more people to shoot year round. Now we’ve got the archery park so go down and use it.”

Archery is a growing sport in West Alabama. The Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority will offer an after-school archery program beginning Sept. 15. Interested parents should contact PARA at 205-562-3220.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will be offering an Explore Bow Hunting program to help get kids involved with bow hunting. Those who would like to become certified as an instructor can take a class at Faucett Brothers Activity Center at 5 p.m. Sept. 19.

March 28-30, the Archery Shooters Association, a national organization that supports 3D tournament archery will hold one of its national shoots, the Hoyt Pro-Am, at Sokol Park. The competition will attract hundreds of shooters from across the country.