Plenty of arrows are flying around the Williams Lake Sportsmen’s Association clubhouse these days as the Cariboo Archers are putting the finishing touches on the indoor archery season.
A group of Cariboo Archers — Jessie Mobbs, Dan Mobbs, Fred Streleoff and Al Campsall — recently returned home from the Canadian Indoor 3D Archery Championships in Lethbridge.
All four athletes reached the podium at the championships, held April 18-20, putting themselves in position to earn a spot on Team Canada for the 2015 World Championships.
Jessie, in her first ever Canadian championship, finished with a silver medal in the ladies longbow category.
Streleoff, meanwhile, started the tournament leading by quite a large margin, and continued that pace throughout the competition to win his third Canadian Championship in the men’s recurve division.
After winning the compound bow category at the 2004 Canadian Outdoor 3D Championships hosted in Prince George Dan, Jessie’s dad, switched to recurve to give Streleoff a run for his money, picking up the silver medal.
Campsall also led from start to finish in the men’s compound class at the championships to claim his 11th Canadian title.
All four Cariboo Archers are vying for a spot on Team Canada for the 2015 worlds.
Earlier in the month several other local archers shot their ways to top finishes at the Kamloops Outdoor 3D Shoot.
Cameron Brockel, in the youth compound class, finished second. Lee Jackman, in the men’s open division, fired a fifth-place result.
Streleoff, (first), Dan (second), Ernie Schmid (third) and Campsall (sixth) — trying his hand in an unfamiliar division — all placed.
In the men’s compound division Johnny Walker shot to third, while Jessie, in the women’s longbow class, finished first.
Coming up the Cariboo Archers will be piercing the start of the Williams Lake outdoor archery season as the Cariboo Archers Outdoor 3D Fun Shoot takes place May 3-4 at the Williams Lake Sportsmen’s Association clubhouse on Bond Lake Road.
All archers, regardless of ability levels, are invited to attend.
All legal archery gear is welcome, including cross-bows (no broadheads — only field points). Handing your scores in is optional.
The event takes place across both an ‘A’ and a ‘a’ course, which wind their way through the forest at the Williams Lake Sportsmen’s Association on Bond Lake Road.
Saturday afternoon fun shoots will include spinning turkeys, a water jug emptying contest, a running pig target and long bomb (distance shooting).
Free camping is available, along with access to indoor washrooms, concession, door prizes, raffle draws and a whole lot of fun for the entire family.
The shoot starts between 8 and 10 a.m. Saturday. All shooters will start at 8 a.m. Sunday. Shooters are allowed to shoot one or both days.
The Cariboo Archers said outdoor 3D shooting is the best way to practice for hunting, or to just have fun shooting all of the foam-target animals.
