[supernova]

4-H shooting sports

I got involved in archery when my daughter joined the 4-H shooting sports program. Yes it's geared toward the youth, but parents attend the practice session and are exposed to the many different opportunities in archery outside of 4-H.

 

[MOPARLVR4406]

It's not...
just word of mouth amongst friends
at the auto shop I work in I put some NFAA magazines and a LAS catalog in the waiting area and surprisingly get lots of questions
of course I wear a SureLoc hat too !!

 

[psargeant]

Here in NC, the shops do most of the promoting for 3-d...us die hard field guys use primarily a combination of our own enthusiasm and AT...It is slowly coming, our state field shoot has grown each of the last several years, but it is admittedly still a pretty small crew...

 

[pragmatic_lee]

It really isn't in our area either when it comes to the general public.

However, AT has proven to be an excellent way to get the existing shooters out to a shoot. And that really isn't by simply announcing the shoot and inviting folks. It takes a whole of "smack talk" and putting some "crispies" on the line. :wink: Wander over to the Field forum sometime and read through some of the threads there announcing various events and you'll see what I mean. :tongue:

 

[pragmatic_lee]

Here in NC, the shops do most of the promoting for 3-d...us die hard field guys use primarily a combination of our own enthusiasm and AT...It is slowly coming, our state field shoot has grown each of the last several years, but it is admittedly still a pretty small crew...

Dang Sarge - we must be running in the same gutter this morning. :wink:

 

[psargeant]

Dang Sarge - we must be running in the same gutter this morning. :wink:

I reckon' (said in my most southern drawl...)

 

[jbsoonerfan]

As a middle school teacher I am trying to get the Oklahoma Archery in the Schools program here. We have an after school program called SAFE, and I am trying to make archery part of the cirruculum.

 

[DeerslayinSOB]

I don't see anything in the Chicagoland area promoting archery. Heck if Daley had his way he would make owning a bow illegal because it is a weapon. Our only saving grace here is the Boy Scouts and that is a small part. I do see a lot of kids coming into the shop now with their parents though and most of them are there to get a bow. Then once the parents see how much fun it could be to just shoot, some of them end up getting a bow too.

I think that most people here (Chicagoland) see archery as hunting only and they don't realize there is so much more than hunting when it comes to archery.

 

[supernova]

I don't see anything in the Chicagoland area promoting archery. Heck if Daley had his way he would make owning a bow illegal because it is a weapon. Our only saving grace here is the Boy Scouts and that is a small part. I do see a lot of kids coming into the shop now with their parents though and most of them are there to get a bow. Then once the parents see how much fun it could be to just shoot, some of them end up getting a bow too.

I think that most people here (Chicagoland) see archery as hunting only and they don't realize there is so much more than hunting when it comes to archery.

You must not have looked very hard:tongue:
http://archerychicago.com/chicagolandjoad.html

I found Chicago JOAD stuff while looking for JOAD in Wisconsin

 

[atomic archer]

Not at all. Infact, there's only a few (and I mean a handful) of people who belong to the archery side of our sportsman's range. Since we've joined, people from the gun side will walk across the road to our side and ask us questions. They've never had anyone to ask about it until we arrived. So, I guess, really we're the only advertisement for it. Our club's ownership of the land on the archery side of the range is up in the air right now.....so pretty soon, we may not even have a place to shoot. And the range actually began exclusively for archery in the Manhattan Era......now it's just a bunch of gun shooters.

 

[MN_Chick]

Bow hunting is pretty big up here. I would say about half of the guys I know bow hunt, only a few women though. My neighbor, however, took his 12 yr old daughter with them last year and she got the biggest deer in the group.

As far as just shooting-
1. My kids' school (as do a few other schools) teaches archery in phy ed.
2. The city where my club is located held a Saturday event for families, promoting all the things there are to do in town- they invited us to participate. We got to set up a booth, and we had some genesis bows for the kids to try out.
3. I know both Boy and Girlscouts will take the kids to shoot.
4. The local ranges put on kids day-camps in the summer. It is often advertised with community rec. Those who have a range inside a state or city park can advertise on the park webpage.

There is a HUGE push to get kids involved in archery- with the understanding that they will be the ones to keep it going. In my summer 3D league, kids shoot for free. They also hold a Kicking Bear camp in the summer. That is a 2 day camping event, directed more towards inner city kids, but all are welcome. (There is no cost for the families.) They get to try all sorts of outdoor activities that many of them never would
otherwise-- and it gives adults a chance to mentor a child.

I guess, to sum it up- we promote it by pushing it as a family activity.