Competitive archery shoot prepares hunters for upcoming deer season

Sept. 11, 2019

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

MAYFLOWER — The Arkansas Bowhunters Association will host its annual Fall State Championship and Bowhunter Bonanza at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Camp Robinson Special Use Area in Mayflower Sept. 21-22. Anyone who is interested in 3D archery and joining a group of avid archers is welcome to attend.

According to Carrie Crawford, the association’s central Arkansas field governor and master instructor for the International Bowhunting Education Program, only ABA members may shoot, but membership is only $15 per year and can be handled either online at www.arkansasbowhunters.org or archers may join at the registration table the day of the event.

“We will have 16 divisions for people to sign up for and compete,” Crawford said. “Each division has a $15 entry fee and people can enter multiple divisions if they meet the criteria.”

Participants can register and shoot any time from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday, or they may register from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m. and shoot beginning at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Archers will shoot as groups.

Divisions range from traditional longbow and recurve archers to target shooters with competition-class compounds sporting scopes and mechanical releases. Special youth competitions include three age ranges (up to 8 years old, ages 9-12, and ages 13-15). All youths 12 and under have no entry fee to participate. Another division is geared specifically for the AGFC’s Arkansas National Archery in the Schools Program and only allows the Genesis bows and arrows used in that competition. Archers in all shoots will aim at a variety of 3D targets simulating big game animals.

“Shooting 3D archery tournaments is a passion of mine,” Crawford said. “They help me stay in shape for making the best shot and hitting my target exactly where I need to during archery season whether I’m hunting deer, bear, turkey or even elk. Everyone that participates in these tournaments is like family to me. There’s always competition among the shooters in each division but, in the end, we can sit around and tell our hunting stories like best friends.”

Visit www.arkansasbowhunters.org or call Crawford at 501-733-9126 for more information on the shoot and other archery events the ABA coordinate.