Straight to the Point
EAST BUTLER — Once you pull that bow for the first time, you're hooked.
At least that's the opinion of many competitive archers at the Butler City Hunting and Fishing Club, including Dawn Patsy, 23, one of the few female competitors there.
As a teen, Dawn first considered competitive archery. She was watching her boyfriend, Brad, at a competition and realized quickly what she should do.
"After watching one round, I realized this is not a spectator sport," she said. "Indoors, it's just not fun to watch.
"Then he put the bow in my hand and that was it," she said.
For Brad, 29, now Dawn's husband, the interest started at a younger age. He's not sure what that age was, however, because "I just always wanted a bow," he said.
Like most archers, Brad came from a family with a hunting tradition. He got his first suction cup bow as a youngster and later got a real bow. He started competing before he turned 12.
Brad took a hiatus in his teens but got back into competing when he turned 18.
The couple, residents of Cowansville, Armstrong County, has collected honors from the archery community. The latest include the National Triple Crown for Brad and State Aggregate Title, or first place in the state, for Dawn.
Dawn admits she has come a long way from that first pull of the bow. It wasn't always an easy journey.
"I was a little too adamant at first, saying 'That can't be hard,'" she said. "Boy, was I wrong. But then the following year, I competed at states."
The couple has since been up and down the East Coast and other locations in the country competing at both state and national tournaments. Brad has competed in 14 states since 1997.
At a major tournament in Las Vegas in February, prizes include top dollar amounts of $40,000. Sponsors help the couple pay some expenses related to the trip.
Competition varies because there are several organizations sponsoring the tournaments, according to the couple.
"It's like race cars, archery has different categories," he said.
They include compound, which is where Dawn and Brad compete, where the bow can be fully equipped with whatever sight, stabilizers or other items that the competitor wants. There are also traditional and bow hunter setups, in which the bow is less elaborate, according to Brad.
Besides these competitions, archers can belong to a league at the Butler City Hunting and Fishing Club or participate in special shoots at other clubs or practice at home.
For the Patsys, practicing at home is good, too. They have targets in their garage and outside around their house, and they usually practice four or five times a week.
Staying home for target practice isn't what makes the sport fun, however. Gathering at the Ken Weitzel Range at the club brings its own sense of fellowship on Monday and Friday evenings.
"We have a close knit group," at the club, according to Brad. Archers range in age from 15 to 74. Other couples participate in the league, including a total of six women, along with their children."It helps pass the winter away and it's a good family oriented sport," said Beth Hildebrand of Cabot.She got involved after watching her husband and two boys compete locally. She started by using her son's old bows until she got her own.Her husband, Dan, didn't take up archery until he was an adult. It all started for him when he watched his brother- in-law shoot a bow."He let me shoot once, and I was hooked," Dan said.Since then, Beth and their two sons, Aaron, 24, and Cory, 22, also have become archers. Both sons have been state champions."It's kept us close as a family," added Dan."You meet a lot of nice people," said Jerry Schnur of East Butler. "It just gets in your blood."Schnur said he remembers cutting grass to buy his first bow 45 years ago. It cost $15. Now he owns a shop called Jerry's Archery in East Butler and sells bows that cost from $50 to $2,000 or more.Asked about costs, most archers at the club call them reasonable for such a sport.Though the individual bows may seem like pricey pieces of equipment, they usually last a long time. In addition, not every archer will use all the extras, such as expensive sights or stabilizers.Some used bows are available as well."When you compare it with guns and shooting, at least you keep arrows," Brad said.Roy Ellenberger has bought bows for himself, his 16-year-old daughter and two sons, ages 15 and 12. His bow cost $1,200, while his daughter's cost $250 and each of his sons' cost $100."But they do outgrow them," he said of his children's bows.The length of the arrow also changes when the children grow, he said.The bows are light and arrows pretty short for 2-year-olds, for example. Dawn plans to buy her niece, 2, a bow for her birthday.And at the next youth shoot at the club, she knows the little girl will enjoy herself, she said.
<B>COSTS:</B> Used bows can be relatively inexpensive, while sophisticated new models can cost thousands of dollars.Extras, including items like sights and stabilizers, can add to the cost. Arrow prices vary depending upon their composition.<B>RULES:</B> The closest arrow to the center of the target earns the most points. Competitions range in distance, sometimes placing the target 99 yards from the archer.<B>WEB SITES:</B> archerytalk.com, psaa.org, ibo.org, asa.org.<B>FAMOUS COMPETITORS:</B> Randy Ulmer, a member of the Bowhunters Hall of Fame.
