Archers of the Oak Lair

I took part in my first 3-D archery target shoot today, and I'm here to report that it was all that I was hoping it would be. The event was one of many put on by the Eau Claire Archers and it was clear that they had their ducks (or any wildlife for that matter) in a row.

Not exactly sure what to expect, I showed up with a couple fellow 3-D virgins (sorry Scott and Ralph) ready to shoot some crap. And what a variety of crap there was. Our hunt began on a winding trail that led us to our first unsuspecting target...a caribou I think. There he stood, totally oblivious to the deadly predators nearby. What a beauty. Foam horns, nice big foam body...stunning. I should also mention that this all plays a lot like golf. You approach your target, estimate yardage (measure yardage with a range finder in our case) and let one fly. There's an obstacle of some kind at each stage like elevation or a pesky tree branch that must be accounted for too, further separating it from the controlled setting of an indoor range. So anyway, back to this juicy, majestic specimen that stood before us waiting to be harvested. I wheel up to the tee box, nock my $6 arrow, and release my first shot into the animal's leg giving me 5 out of a possible 12 points. Not the end of the world I thought, I mean the thing's almost 40 yards away, I didn't completely miss and destroy my arrow...did I? As it turned out, I must've hit the stake that anchored the foam beast to the ground because when I pulled out my arrow it looked like this.

Trying to leave all that behind me, I was less than optimistic about my chances with the next 39 targets and 5 remaining arrows. I knew there would be a certain level of donation for participating in something like this, but an arrow per shot seemed a bit ridonkulous. But after a few good arrows I started to become more confident in the notion of actually finishing the round with the equipment I brought. It bears mentioning though, that any time you have 3 dudes shooting at the same spot over and over again, and Jupiter aligns with Mars, there is a chance for the elusive "Robin Hood". Pretty cool...especially if it's not your arrow.


One of the most pleasantly surprising things about the shoot was number and variety of target types. We were confronted by a smattering of animals ranging from mammal to reptile. It was clear that this was no attempt to emulate any kind of real hunting scenario, unless you consider wandering through a zoo deliberately and indiscriminately shooting one animal after the next regardless of species to be a real hunting scenario. Each scene individually though, did offer a shot that was a fair representation of what one might naturally find in the woods...or in Jurassic Park.

Yeah, that's a stegasaurus.

We did see this guy out there along with a variety of other Reinhart targets. I especially appreciate the bipedal nature of this one. Always wanted to shoot a biped.

The only thing I was left wanting by the end was a scary clown target. Any kind of evil clown will do, but a perfect fit would've been either a Killer Clown from Outer Space or the clown that Pee Wee chained his bike to in front of Mario's magic shop. Aside from that, I had a blast flingin' arrows and look forward to my next lawn ornament safari.