The Bighorn Archery Club is targeting a comeback in 2021 after a slow year due to COVID-19.
Club president Allen Pickering said archery this year has been almost non-existent since March when they were lucky enough to hold their Annual 3-D Indoor Shoot. Not long after COVID-19 restrictions hit on large gatherings of people, he said.
“It basically cancelled all of our activities for the balance of the year, that’s the short of it,” Pickering said.
While they do have an outdoor 3-D shooting range that got used a few times over the summer, Pickering said attendance was limited and COVID-19 protocols were in place. Typically, in addition to their March event, they have two outdoor shoots in the summer that were cancelled this year.
Club membership usually ranges from 65 to 85 but it’s currently down to around 30 people, which Pickering attributes to the pandemic. Most people aren’t doing much right now, he said, and memberships are probably an expense most people are putting off.
Although the club is still allowing a maximum of six members to shoot on its indoor course for the fall, Pickering said once the temperature drops below minus -7C, they’ll be closing their indoor course, which has no heating system.
Come 2021, they will “take a reading of the circumstances” and decide how best to proceed, Pickering said. He noted all archery clubs in B.C. are in the same predicament.
“I hope we continue to see support from our club members and in guarded optimism that this COVID thing comes somewhat under control. I’m not sure what we’ll do in regards to our typical outdoor 3-D shoots,” he said. “We’ll be having our executive meeting in January and I’m hoping we’ll be able to come up with a calendar of events but who knows what the future brings?”
He encourages club members to stick with them and maintain their membership as they’ll be hosting archery events as soon as they can. If anyone has specific requests or needs more information, Pickering invites them to send him an email at aspickering@xplornet.com.
