I belong to The Appalachian Bowmen, a NJ archery club that has hosted 3-D shoots for 25 years. We now host two, a traditional only shoot in April and an open shoot in August. These shoots are well attended largely because we were one of the first to hold them and secondly because we offer a lot of shooting.

We too are experienceing a decline in the number of shooters that come through our ranges. Back when we were the only shoot in the NY, NJ, PA area, we had about 1700 shooters. Over the years we have gone down in terms of numbers to 1000+-. (Remember, we are a two day shoot.) We have attributed it to the number of shoots available. People simply do not have to clear their calendars for our shoots as they can go to another one on just about any given wekend. That being said, we still have near a thousand shooters at our August shoot each year. (less for the traditional only.) Here is what we are trying and have been trying to raise attendance:

We advertise nationally in archery magazines. We have a mailing list to send post cards to those who attended in the past, we belong to and support both sportsmans organizations, archery organizations, private organizations and charities,and we canvas the area with flyers and such. None has made a significant difference in our numbers. We host these shoots as fund raisers for the club but at the same time, we try to be civic minded in what we do. The other benefit is our promotion of hunting and archery. We feel that our club does a lot of good and receives positive PR for all hunters and shooters.

Our shoots have 60 3-D targets on three ranges, 20+- vendors selling their whares, novelty shoots, a running deer contest, and more. Our ranges are legnthy and cover a lot of area. Each 20 target range winds through woods and fields, mostly woods, and shots are realistic hunting scenarios, yet some test your skill with a bow. I'm not sure about this years cost for the shooter but we have a 1 day charge, a two day charge, and a lesser fee for children. Our traditional only shoot has camping available.

This year we are trying to make the traditional shoot a 3 day shoot. This is an effort to have more multiple day shooters in attendance as well as placate a trend in our club - more members of retired with much free time. I hope at least one of them is reading this!

I'm not sure where Averill Park NY is but if you would like to attend our shoots, or speak to a club member, you can contact our club and receive information. (We have shooters from MA, PA, NY, NJ, CT, and even VA and MD.)

Email the club at [email protected].

Greg