Archers reach target audience

JEFFREY P. MAYOR; Staff writer

Gig Harbor man sets up range at Sportsman's Club to expose youth to bow and arrow Thom Halligan ran his hand up and down the sleeve of his jacket.

“I’m just tingling,” he said with a wide smile. “This is what it’s all about.”

Halligan was thrilled at the progress made by a group of students from Charles Wright Academy who were shooting on the archery range Halligan built at the Gig Harbor Sportsman’s Club.

At first, the students had trouble keeping the arrow on the bow before shooting. When they fired at a target 10 yards away, many arrows sailed above, beneath and way beyond.

But by the end of the afternoon, thanks to tips from Halligan and other instructors, the kids were “oohing” and “aahing” as each shot got closer to and eventually popped a pair of balloons tied to a stake 80 yards away.

“My only regret is I didn’t do this 20 or 25 years sooner,” Halligan said of getting the range off the ground.

He admits his intentions were selfish when he first approached the club nearly a year ago. Halligan was making his own longbows and needed a place to try his handiwork. He was faced with a 20-plus-mile drive to ranges in Puyallup, Thurston County or Belfair. He knew others in the area had to be looking for a place to shoot, even beyond the club’s 1,150 members.

So last spring he went before the club’s board of directors. “I didn’t even get through five minutes of my presentation,” he said of that first effort.

But he took the comments and questions to heart and came back with an improved plan.

With $2,500 from the club and a $500 grant from the National Rifle Association for equipment, the range was up and running in September.

The archery range occupies two of the club’s least-used trap-shooting fields. Halligan and fellow archers can set up targets for longbows, recurve and compound bows.

The range is proving to be popular, and has even attracted some new members to the club. But the chance to introduce archery to children has been the greatest reward for Halligan.

“This is a labor of love,” he said while retrieving arrows after a round of shooting.

On this day, Halligan and fellow instructors Ron Hockett and Bruce Hogan were working with middle school-age students.

After some safety reminders, the trio split up to work with groups of six, each using a 14-pound pull fiberglass longbow.

“There isn’t one person who has shot a bow who has not made a mistake,” Halligan said when he sensed frustration building in one group of students.

“Archery is like algebra. At first, it doesn’t make a lick of sense, but then it will click.”

At one end of the shooting line, Halligan offered a reassuring pat on the shoulder and constant words of encouragement to Natalie Yancey, a 13-year-old from Fox Island.

Yancey shook her head in frustration as her first shots barely flew 30 yards. But she listened to Halligan’s suggestions after each shot and improved her technique and form.

“A new record,” Halligan would exclaim as each arrow flew farther.

“You did a great job,” Halligan said as he exchanged a high-five with Yancey after she was done shooting.

Whether he was helping with the basics or fine-tuning the technique of someone more experienced, Halligan’s approach was always the same. With a smile and a kind word, he had the student shooting farther and straighter.

“You don’t have to be the biggest, the strongest, the tallest, the fastest to be good,” Halligan explained to one group. “All it takes is practice and a little understanding.”

Yancey said she was impressed with his instruction. “When I came out, I was nervous. I thought (archery) was a boy thing because we’re shooting things. But hitting that target felt good. I wasn’t too excited about coming, but I’m glad I did.”

Morgan Potter, an 11-year-old from Lakewood, was giving archery a try for the first time as well.

When the group was shooting at the target 10 yards away, her arrows flew everywhere but into the target. With some coaching from Halligan, the arrows were soon going where they should.

“Oh, I thought that one was going to get it,” Halligan told Potter as an arrow grazed the balloon dangling over the bull’s eye. “Morgan, you’ve got this figured out.”

Hockett smiled while talking about the progress made by Karl Bulley, a 12-year-old from Puyallup. Bulley raised his arms in exultation when he was the first to pop one of the balloons on the 10-yard target.

“When he first started, he couldn’t pull the arrow back,” Hockett said. “Twenty minutes later and he’s popping a balloon.”

So quick was the improvement, Hockett had to stop one group at the distant balloons because the students were sending arrows flying into the brush and blackberries 90 yards away.

Halligan couldn’t help but smile as he worked his way up and down each line of students throughout the day. “I was a rank amateur archer, and still am. But I have these kids coming in now,” he said.

“One Saturday, I had a 9-year-old boy who had never shot a bow before. He didn’t know anything about shooting a bow except that he wanted to,” Halligan said.

“When he left the grounds, he was walking three feet off the ground because he learned to shoot past that target .

“This has been an incredible adventure for me.”

Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640

jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com

blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure

Other outdoor archery ranges

Capital City Bowmen

Archery range: Capitol City Rifle and Pistol Club

Where: 14318 Littlerock Road S.W., Littlerock

Info: www.crispie.com/ccb, or Ray Crisp at 360-357-8238; www.ccrpclub.org

The Capital City Bowmen has its range at the Capitol City Rifle and Pistol Club. Facilities include a 100-yard range, sand pits for broadhead shooting, a 28-target field course and a 3-D animal area for hunting practice.

Cedar River Bowmen

Where: Off Enumclaw-Franklin Road, about one mile from state Route 169, between Enumclaw and Black Diamond

Contact: John Hill at 360-886-0834 or HillTopArch@aol.com, www.CedarRiverBowmen.net.

The members-only range has four permanent, year-round walk-through courses with at least 14 targets each. Two of these are animal courses and two are field courses. The range also has a flat range for targets from 15 to 100 yards and broadhead pits with targets from 20 to 50 yards. Informal lessons are available to members.

Gig Harbor Sportsman’s Club

Where: 9721 Burnham Drive N.W., Gig Harbor

Info: Thom Halligan at thomon34th@comcast.net; www.sportsmans-club.org

The range is open to members and nonmembers. One flat range has targets from 10 to 80 yards out, while the other has broadhead targets from 15 to 50 yards out. Individual and groups lessons can be arranged through Halligan.

Skookum Archers

Where: 11209 Shaw Road E., Puyallup

Info: Andy Ludwig at 253-770-4177 or aaludwig@comcast.net; www.skookumarchers.com.

The range features 45 targets on two walk-through courses, as well a flat range for shooting from 20 to 101 yards and a broadhead pit. The group has three options for lessons, including a drop-in course on Thursdays and a one-on-one course taught by Great Northwest Archery that is on the grounds.

Tacoma Sportsmen’s Club

Where: 16409 Canyon Road E., Puyallup

Info: Dave Buzzelli at 253-537-6151 or customcrestarrow@comcast.net; www.tacomassportsmensclub.com

Has a flat range with stations for shooting from 10 to 100 yards, as well as a broadhead pit and two walk-through courses with a total of 60 targets. Club offers informal instruction for members.

Jeffrey P. Mayor, staff writer