Honour to the old bow-string,
Honour to the bugle horn,
Honour to the woods unshorn,
Honour to the Lincoln Green
Honour to the archers keen.

These lines appeared on the title page of the programme for the VIIIth International Archery Tournament held in London in 1938. Recently I used them as inspiration for my teammates for 3-D league who consisted of my brother, nephew and a new friend from the local archery shop. However, I changed the spelling of the last word to Kuehn (as it is properly pronounced-per my ancestors.). This saying is very close to the words of Frank Forester in his 1849 book entitled: “The Deer Stalkers.” It is basically a toast to all hunters.

Well, “team Kuehn” did pretty well during 3-D leagues this year. We won our league and it’s the only first place trophy I have acquired- in any athletic event, and I have competed in many sports. It was the second “first place” trophy for another teammate who went 25 years without one, a year before the other guys were born. Also was a nice addition to my nephew’s collection of a few dozen trophies from his days shooting as a child and young teenager. Our team consisted of a 50 and 45 year old and two guys in their early to mid-twenties. The equipment consisted of an old Bear Code, Mathews Conquest 3, Hoyt-Reflex Caribou II and a brand new BoTech with a mix of carbon and aluminum arrows. We shot a mix of release and fingers.

As I think of the recent activity with the range grants, NASP program, State MSAA indoor championships and the push get more archers in the field by the DNR, I recall my early days as an archer. It started when I was very young. We made our own bows back then or got an old used fiberglass bow at a garage sale. The arrows were also homemade or bought with our candy money at the local hardware store. We practiced at the range and in our yards shooting boxes full of rags (Thanks to the Zwickey judo point). Sometimes with unexpected results. Such as the time my older sister shot her arrow through the stack of storm windows or when my brother hit the bottom of Dad’s boat while in storage and put a hole in it. My brother bounced another one off of his expensive muscle car’s paint job. Probably better to have kids shoot at a range designed for such a purpose. We did that too and few family members shot competitively and received some trophies. We also built some recurve bows in shop class, and even a compound from a Bear kit, but times have changed, or have they?

Drive through your semi-urban neighborhoods and count how many 3-D, foam block or other targets you see outside in the yard. Whether safe, legal or not, people want a place to shoot. While a number of ranges have closed outdoors, there still are a number of good places to shoot inside. Minnesota has some really nice club facilities that are a nice break when the indoor ranges at the local archery shop or the big retailers get crowded. When you can’t shoot they even have archery tournaments on ESPN occasionally. If you watch the competition it’s not just the youngest archers who do well. I think I even saw a considerable “deer gut” on one of the leading shooters. My point is that the modern equipment being what it is, allows just about anyone of any size and athletic ability to shoot reasonably well, at least well enough to have a good time and enjoy the sport. Plenty of used stuff out there too if you can’t afford the new top of the line equipment. You local archery shop may even sell some or have a bulletin board for their customers. I have also seen many bows at pawn shops, garage sales and even in the clearance rack of large department stores. If you want the traditional stuff and have the strength and skill to shoot that well, make you r own arrows, etc. the opportunity exists too. I wouldn’t suggest shooting the really old stuff as it may have significant value or actually be dangerous to shoot. Look for cracks and obvious signs of damage and if present, don’t shoot it.

You can tinker with different types of bows and have plenty of fun with it. After 40 years or so, I know I do. We are lucky that archery has survived under a changing social environment; hopefully I will be able to participate as long as I want to. If my kids pick up the sport I hope to be watching them am perhaps some grandchildren after that. They show a lot of interest right now and that makes this archer very happy.