Archery Club to host annual 3-D Indoor Tournament
By Tina Foreman
Farmer Staff Writer
The Watford City Civic Center is home to many sporting events throughout the year, but none as unique as the one being held there this coming weekend.
The McKenzie County Archery Club (MCAC) will host its annual Indoor 3-D Archery Tournament this Saturday and Sunday.
Participants are treated to a dream hunting experience as they look out at a field of animals, including some found in North Dakota like elk, deer, antelope, skunk, coyotes and turkeys, and some which are a bit more exotic like the pink panther and dinosaur. The field is much more than just targets. Each target is set up in a real-life situation, with trees, rocks, water and other outdoor elements, making the Civic Center look and feel like a realistic outdoor adventure.
“The tournament is a club effort. We start getting things ready on Tuesday and finish setting up the targets late Friday night,” says Dale Foreman, MCAC member. “The club also works throughout the weekend running the tournament from registration to concessions. It takes a lot of work to put on the tournament, but it’s also a lot of fun.”
The tournament consists of 25 animal targets, with each participant shooting one arrow per target. Shooting at a still target may seem easy, but it’s not as easy as it sounds because the targets are set up to reflect real-life hunting situations. Trees, shrubs and brush have been cut and gathered by club members to make the shoot more challenging and realistic. Archers have to judge the distance of their target as well as maneuver around trees and other obstacles that may be in their way. At some targets they are expected to sit on a stump, stand on an inner tube to reflect hunting from a boat and even sit in a hunting blind made out of tree limbs.
Archers from all over North Dakota come to participate in the tournament. Although not all indoor archery shooters are hunters, having a real-life hunting experience during the winter when there aren’t any open bow hunting seasons in North Dakota makes indoor archery a very popular sport among bow hunters.
“We nearly ran out of scorecards last year with over 150 shooters,” says Wayne Foreman, MCAC member. “It was a really successful tournament and we are hoping for the same this year.”
The shoot is open to participants of all ages and shooting levels. Archers are split into categories according to age and shooting style. Some style differences include shooters who use a traditional or recurve bow, which is an old-fashioned style bow, and those who use the new style compound bows.
Younger groups, the Mites and Cubs, which go up to the age of 12 shoot two arrows at 10 different targets out to around 20 yards. But in the 25 target round, shooters can expect shots of more than 40 yards.
The MCAC tournament will be held at the Watford City Civic Center on Feb. 27 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Feb. 28 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information, contact Mike Filkowski at 701-570-4366.