Targeting archers

By Story and photos by Erin Nicholes - 09/06/2008

Brothers Ed and Mike Sullivan take aim at targets at the Pintlar Bowman Archery Club's shooting range in west Anaconda one recent afternoon.

ANACONDA — Ed Sullivan steadied his arrow, drew back the string on his bow and took aim.

Faster than a blink, he fired his arrow firmly into the center of a target at the archery range in west Anaconda one recent, blue-sky afternoon.

"I like to come out here three, four times a week," said Sullivan, a longtime archer and member of the Pintlar Bowman Archery Club.

Sullivan is one of three local men who recently resurrected the club, which originally started in the 1950s or '60s but has been defunct several years. They are hoping the organization will generate interest in archery, help provide resources for archers and cut down on vandalism at the shooting range.

"We need something like this because there are quite a few archers around here," said Tom Pozega, a club founder. "And even if you don't hunt, this is a great sport. It's a great time of year to be out." Anaconda's archery history is longstanding.

Original members of the Pintlar Bowman Archery Club practiced their sport with long bows in target ranges set up in local schools.

"We've been shooting for a lot of years," Ed Sullivan said, adding the Memorial Gym used to have an archery range. "A lot of young people shot there." But archers got booted from schools when insurance became an issue, and the club established walk-through ranges at Cable Creek and in the Twin Lakes area. For years, they also used a range closer to home in Washoe Park, adjacent to the Legion baseball field.

When that range was destroyed in the 1990s, the club fizzled.

Pozega, Sullivan and his brother Mike Sullivan lobbied Anaconda-Deer Lodge County to let them establish the west-end range, which is along Cable Road just west of Washoe Park. They signed a lease for the property and set up targets from 15 to 60 yards, using hand-me-down butts — the backstops to which targets are attached — from a Butte archery club and donated labor.

"We left it open to the public with hopes of forming a club," Pozega said. "We thought maybe we'd see what the interest was. The public just went over there and destroyed it." Specifically, archers have destroyed butts by using broadhead tips rather than blunt practice tips. Broadheads are sharp, and are used for hunting.

"We had signs up that said ‘no broadheads' and people disregarded them," he said.

In addition, vandals have destroyed signs and have damaged parking areas with four-wheelers.

In an effort to generate money to replace the butts — which can cost about $110 apiece — and control future vandalism, the three men revived the club.

"You have to have some kind of money to replace targets," Mike Sullivan said.

The club, now about four months old, has about 20 adult and junior members who must live by certain rules, including no broadheads except in designated targets.

While the club cannot ban non-members from using the range because it is on public land, everyone is encouraged to become a member to contribute to replacement of butts and maintenance of the range, Pozega said.

"It's going to cost to shoot no matter what you do," he said. "You're going to have to have something where people want to pay." A club is also beneficial because it can help engage young archers in the sport.

"We'd like to get some young people involved because we're getting older," Mike Sullivan said.

And a range maintained by a self- sufficient club opens other doors for the community, Pozega said.

"You would have a place for hunter education," he said. "It's an opportunity for schools to have archery classes, for people to have tournaments, and a little bit of economic boost." At a recent county commission meeting, officials seemed to agree the archery club and range are beneficial, and agreed to help cut down on vandalism at the current range, while considering new sites for a long-term range with more security, further distance from roads and greater shooting opportunities.

The county has agreed to use $200 of parks and recreation funds to buy broadhead targets for the range, and post rules.

"The long-term plan is to evaluate other sites," Chief Executive Rebecca Guay said.

Others proposed land immediately west of the current site across Warm Springs Creek, suggesting the county investigate grant sources for the development of a range there, possibly using Natural Resource Damage Program funds.

"There's a lot of opportunities," Commissioner Mark Sweeney said. "We need to look at the NRD sources to develop an archery range." Club members said they prefer the current site, but would welcome help from the county in relocating.

"We'd just like to have a good club, a good organization," Ed Sullivan said.

Reporter Erin Nicholes may be reached at erin.nicholes@lee.net.

If you're interested ...

The Pintlar Bowman Archery Club is taking new members. A single membership is $40 a year and family rates are offered as well. Membership fees are used to purchase new butts and for other maintenance of the range. For more information, call Ed at 563-3180, Mike at 563-3180 or Tom at 563-8047.