Great Archery Shoot, Even Greater Cause!

This is the most recent newsletter sent out by the Upper Snake River Bowmen, I thought I would pass it on to help spread the word about a great shoot for a great cause!

Upper Snake River Bowmen

Annual Patriot Shoot

June 27-28, 2015

Proceeds go to Randy Palmer Family Benefit

2 Ranges 3D ANIMALS

REGISTRATION BEGINS 8 AM

Veterans/Active military shoot free

COSTS: NEW MEMBERS FREE

MEMBERS $10 NON MEMBERS $15

FAMILY $25 FAMILY $35

YOUTH $8 YOUTH $12

EXTRA ROUNDS ARE HALF PRICE

MEMBERSHIP FEES: Family $45 Single $30

PULLED PORK LUNCH AVAILABLE

Camping

Workday set for Friday June 26 10:00 to completion

President Report

I want to first start off by thanking everyone who attended the Hog shoot. Thank you to those who helped set up and those who helped clean up. It was a nice change to have barbecued pulled pork sandwiches for lunch as well. With the Patriot Shoot just around the corner, I want to let you all know how things will run. This is by far one of my favorite shoots. It’s still a new location and I have heard from a lot of you that are excited to get back up there. The shoot will take place on the Ashton Hill, off of the Anderson Mill Road. The dates are the 27th and 28th. Bring your campers; there are several locations to set up on your own or with a large group of friends.

This is our Patriot Shoot so all Veterans and active military shoot free! They will also be placed in a special drawing for Veterans only. This is just a small way of saying THANK YOU to those who have made so many sacrifices for our freedoms.

Remember that this shoot is also tied to our Randy Palmer Benefit. All proceeds from this shoot will go to the Palmer family. With that being said, the first evening of the shoot (Saturday 27th), at 6:00, we will have the Dinner/Benefit in Ashton. It will be held at the Ashton Stake Center’s outdoor pavilion. We have a combination of drawings, silent and live auctions. Some of the prizes include two large gun safes, with a combined value of over $4,200, guided fishing trips, a Cabelas outfitter tent, Utah Jazz tickets, four half pigs cut and wrapped, an AR-15, several bows, GoPro’s and MUCH, MUCH MORE! Please bring the whole family, invite your friends, enjoy the chicken dinner ($10), have several chances to win prizes and support an amazing cause in the meantime. Remember to check the website for maps to the shoot. For questions or information on how you can help donate to this event, please call me at 705-0708. See you all there!

Ladd

Vice President Report

I would like to say thank you to all that came out to the Hog Shoot! We had a good turn out and fun times there at the range. I would also like to give a big hand to our Board members and all the hard work that has gone into this year so far. I have an opportunity to work with a great group of people who truly care about the future of the sport and club.

I hope that everyone will join us for the Patriot Shoot. This year’s shoot will be held June 27-28 on the Anderson Mill Rd. on top of Ashton Hill. This year all the shoot proceeds will go to the Palmer family. Please don’t forget the benefit dinner that is being held in Ashton Saturday night.

I am pleased to see that there are a few people using the range. Remember that the range is a big asset to you as you ready yourself and your shooting skills for the upcoming hunting season. NO broadheads allowed on the range! The range is also a good place to teach the younger generation about the sport that we love so much. Please take a minute and explore the range if you have not yet had a chance to make it up there. Remember to shut and lock the gate when you leave the range to help cut down on the vandalism.

Mike

Secretary Report

Hello again fellow archers. I would like to thank everybody that was able to attend the Hog Shoot this year at the range. Many of us have been to the range before but, this was my first time shooting with a large group at the range. I have to say: It was a blast! We set up all the usual favorite targets AND even had some of the new targets the club just purchased, including (my personal favorite) the Cobra! With the way the course was set up, shooters had the chance to start on either the upper or the lower range first, and eat lunch first, last, or in between. However, my favorite part was to hear some of the memories and history of the range. The pulled pork sandwiches were a nice change. Our numbers were a little lower at this shoot; with about 100 shooters. The total income from the shoot was: $1,807 and total expenses $1,205 amounting to a profit of $602. See you at the Patriot Shoot!

Karie

Counting Coup (coo)

In early Indian civilizations, the highest honor a warrior could receive was earned by “counting coup” on his opponent. It was an exhibition of extreme bravery. This most prestigious act included touching an enemy with the hand, bow, or with a coup stick then escaping unharmed, while leaving the enemy alive. “Counting coup”, then, was the epitome of a type of warfare that pitted the skill and daring of one man against another. You may remember the trials of Jeremiah Johnson continually being challenged by the Indians attempting to kill him or better yet count coup on him. Counting coup ranked much higher than killing the opponent.

Years ago our club decided to allow the act of counting coup in our Bowhunting Awards program. A fair number of our members don’t know this opportunity exists so we are mentioning it here in the newsletter. Members can receive point credit for animals that are touched vital with an arrow, thus leaving them alive for another day. For example, how many snakes or porcupines does a person need to kill. When you count coup, you obviously could have killed it, but elected not to. An animal can only die once, so only one person can count coup on it. Your partner must find his own specimen. Counting coup not only provides opportunity to use your hunting skills without harvest, it also looks better to the non-hunting public.

Bowhunting
is not about how far,
it is about how close!

American Whitetail Target Gear Review: The Bowhunter

Like many of you, shooting by bow is not just a seasonal activity... I target shoot all year long, including during hunting season. Target shooting (practicing in general) is one key to being a successful bow hunter, and that's why I feel it's important to have a target that helps you become better. The target I will tell you about today is The Bowhunter which I purchased from American Whitetail Inc. You can check out all of their products online at ArcheryTargets.com

The Bowhunter is one of their "CompCube," or compression cube, targets. What makes these targets different from any other is that the CompCube series combines a foam shell with a ballistic inner "Compression Core" that actually repairs itself as it is shot from different directions.

Design - I will admit, the idea of the "Self repairing" target was a concept I didn't really understand or grasp when I heard about it. I watched a few videos of their targets on their website and learned a little more about it, which helped me understand what was really going on inside. I have shot this target now for three months and there is still no sign of wear. The pictures have not faded from sitting out in the sun. I know it is a little premature to start talking about this target not showing signs of wear, but when you consider the fact that this company has a 3 Year Guarantee against pass-throughs, I am thinking it will be quite a while before I start seeing my arrows penetrating the target any further than what they do now.  This is a very big plus for me because I spend most of my time shooting in my back yard which is surrounded by our nice vinyl fence. I can only imagine how happy my wife would be if an arrow passed through my target and into her fence... I have the confidence of setting my target right next to the fence and don't have to worry about the arrow sticking through the other side.

Another factor I like about this target's design is that it has removable target faces that are held on by small brad nails.  I won't lie, at first I was a little cautious about this and didn't think it was constructed very well, but after shooting it for a few months, I've realized that this does not effect any of the functionality or durability of the target.  I do like the idea of changing out the target face/picture once the original one starts to show signs of wear.  I have had no problem with the target face coming off or the brad nails coming out.  The nails are just on the top and bottom of the target to hold on the target face so you don't have to worry about your arrow hitting a nail while shooting... (unless you miss what you are aiming at and hit the very top or bottom of your target--but then you have other things to worry about).

Looks - After talking about the design of the target faces, I want to talk specifically about the graphics of this target! One major reason I like this target is because of the graphics that I get to shoot at.  Taking it right off their website, "The Tough Target faces are printed on exceptionally durable reinforced poly material with extreme High Definition Graphics."  In my opinion, this target is the closes thing to shooting a 3D target as you can get without spending the price for a 3D target.  This is a huge plus for me because I get bored shooting at a block with dots every single day and its hard to picture myself shooting at a deer when I keep shooting at a square target.  At the same time I don't have the money to purchase a nice 3D target, nor do I have the space to store one.  The American Whitetail targets solve these problems for me by providing a simple target with amazing graphics that gives me the realistic feel I want for half of the price.  The target faces come in multiple options such as Elk, Deer (mule deer and whitetail), Turkey, Black bear, Grizzly, Caribou, Antelope, Wolf, Mountain Lion, and more.  Not to mention, there are multiple options for most of these categories as well! 

EASY arrow pull - The last thing I will mention before I wrap things up is the easy arrow pull of this target.  I have shot lots of different targets including Morrel, Block, Rhinehart, and others which are all good targets.  One thing I don't like about some of the other targets I've shot at is that it is difficult to remove the arrow from the target.  The Bowhunter, as well as all of the other targets from American Whitetail, claim to be a very easy arrow pull target.  I wanted to test this from the very first time I pulled the target out of the box, so I recorded my very first shot at this target with my phone and here is that video.

I even had my 2 year old daughter and my 3 year old nephew help me out and pull my arrows out of the target for me while practicing one night!  There aren't many targets that have a 3 year guarantee against pass throughs that can also have a two year old girl pull out the arrow from my PSE Revenge with a 70 lb draw weight...

I've shot this target consistently for about 3 months now, and it performs the same as it did the first time I shot it.  The Bowhunter measures in at 20"x20"x20" which is a good size for me.  The target sells for $79.95 on their website, which includes free shipping, that is quite a good price considering the guarantee against pass-throughs.  The target states that it is rated to stop arrows from compound bows as well crossbows which shoot a lot faster than your standard bow and arrows.  I took a few shots with my Barrnet Razor and The Bowhunter stopped the crossbow arrows consistently no matter how many times I shot it.  I attempted to shoot my new crossbow at my dad's older block target, and with how short the arrows were, I was burying the arrows past the fletchings. :/

I know one of the hardest parts to review on a target is the longevity and durability of the target over time.  With that said, I can only speak of what I've experienced so far. Even then, I would venture to say that this target has performed better at stopping my arrows, creating exciting realistic images to shoot at, and by far the easiest arrow pull I've ever experienced from any similar target.  The Bowhunter is not American Whitetail's top end target.  American Whitetail designs targets built with the same self-repairing center which can also be interchangeable with a broad-head center insert or the field point center.  This would allow you to have not only the four face target for field points but as well as a fifth option for shooting boad-heads... I encourage you all to look into American Whitetail Targets if you are in the market for a new (or just another) target.  With all of their different target options I feel confident that you'll find what you need.  I recommend this target to any archer at any level as a great backyard target!