Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 6, 1993 TAG: 9310070411
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It would be a tough shot for archer Craig Cox, who was well above the animal on a high creek bank. The deer was partially hidden by two saplings, the kind that can fling an arrow off its mark. Cox would have to thread his shot through the obstructions to connect on his target.
Wait a minute! Bowhunting season doesn't open until Oct. 2, right?
That's correct. Cox was shooting a lifelike deer target on a 3-D archery course, a practice that growing numbers of sportsmen say is the next best thing to bowhunting. And it is open to year-round action.
For many years, bowhunters either stalked live targets during the bow season or they shot paper targets during the off season. Some found paper targets boring. Now there is three-dimensional archery, a marriage of hunting and target shooting that uses full-size, realistic targets of game animals set in natural habitats at unmarked distances.
``It is the best hunting practice you can get - bar none,'' said Charles Paitsel, while shooting the Two Flags range in Craig County. ``Three-D is making a much better bowhunter. I have seen people come up here and their scores keep going up. At the end of the year you hear them telling stories, and they aren't about the big one that got away anymore.''
Two Flags opened a year ago at the old Craig County ball park along Virginia 311, about 12 miles north of Interstate 81. Operated by veteran archers Charles Graybill and Bob Exley, the target range is sanctioned by the International Bowhunters Association. It has gone over better than Graybill and Exley expected; in fact, they are in the process of buying the tract that they've leased the past 12 months. Last week, they opened a pro shop.
``We have between 125 and 150 shooters every Sunday,'' said Graybill, who expects a jump in interest this month as archers hone their skills for the bow season.
``It is good hunting practice, but I do it for the competition,'' said Terry Miller, after shooting a 134 out of a possible 140 on the Sherwood Archers' 3-D range near Hanging Rock.
Miller, from Stewartsville, took up 3-D archery four years ago, and now shoots three or four times each week at Two Flags, Sherwood and the Big Otter 3-D Archery Club in Bedford County. He also hunts with a bow, but if he had to give something up there is no hesitancy on what it would be.
``I would rather shoot 3-D than hunt anytime.''
By stimulating interest in shooting targets under realistic hunting conditions, the sport has done for archery what sporting clays has done for wing shooting. It quickly has become the major attraction of members and guests at Sherwood Archers. The club was founded in 1948 and offers some of the best facilities in the state on its 89 acres, including three target field ranges and an indoor range. But now when the crowds gather they often come for 3-D.
``The last two or three years, 3-D has taken off like a rocket,'' said Steve Smith, the club's vice president. Three-D shoots normally are scheduled each Tuesday and Sunday.
Sherwood will host the Virginia State Open 3-D Championship Saturday and Sunday, an event Smith said could reach the 300-shooter cut-off.
``The main problem, we don't have any place to park more than that,'' he said.
The match will give local sportsmen, like Miller and Paitsel, an opportunity to compete against top 3-D shooters from the Southeast. The list is expected to include Randy Chappell of Cana, who has gained national fame in the sport. Smith said he wouldn't be surprised to see one or two perfect scores.
While 3-D competition is swelling, many of its fans don't care about that aspect of the sport. They come for bow-season practice. What they find is a sport that is so addictive they turn into year-round shooters.
``This is the biggest confidence builder for hunting you can do,'' said Kenny Atkinson, who has taken more than 60 deer with his bow during 25 years of bowhunting. Atkinson and Ike Craft operate the 3-D shoots for Sherwood.
Three-D ranges are set up differently for each match. The lifelike foam targets, usually of deer, bear and turkey, are placed at unknown ranges, which is a major switch from most archery matches where distances are marked. That makes range estimation a key part of 3-D, just as it is in hunting.
``You can be an excellent shooter, but if you can't judge yardage you won't be any good at 3-D,'' said Miller.
The sport has helped spawn a new generation of speedy bows designed to fling arrows with a flat trajectory to help overcome misjudgments of yardage. The Hoyt Fast Flight Super Slam that Miller shoots will launch an arrow at 275 feet per second, and that's not as fast as some, he said.
by CNB