Stowe Archives - Walt in PA

There is nothing like seeing your child's face light up at the simple mention of going to an archery club. I'm very fortunate that my three year old daughter has such an interest in one of my hobbies. I've decided to nurture this interest and allow it to grow. As a result, my daughter and I have been spending as much time as possible together at Hamburg Game Association. When the 3D Archery Season came to a close, Hamburg Game Association closed out their archery program for the remainder of the year. This left me in the position to seek out a new club for my daughter and I to visit. I came up with a criteria that each club had to meet if I was going to consider joining. While this area of Pennsylvania is fantastic for archery, my choices were limited when it came to finding a club that met my criteria. I narrowed it down to two clubs. The first was Stowe Archers and the second was Limerick Bowmen. Neither club was exactly close to home but they both had everything that I was looking for. Before making a decision, I wanted to get out and shoot at each club. I set out to Stowe Archers over the weekend to shoot their last outdoor 3D Archery Shoot of the year. The club was putting on a UBP Benefit Shoot featuring 30 3D Targets for $12.00. I made arrangements to meet up with Troy, Ingrid, and Zena, from Hamburg Game Association, so that we could shoot the course together. When I arrived at the club, I headed inside the clubhouse for registration. The indoor range was bigger than I anticipated and the walls were lined with photos and trophies won by members that call the club home. Once registered, I headed around back to the practice range to warm up. Like the indoor range, I was surprised and impressed by how substantial it was. There were a variety or target butts at various yardages, all of which held well-kept targets. After a couple dozen shots, we headed over to the first of thirty foam targets. I stood at my designated stake, which was furthest away due to my opting for the rangefinder class, and I was intimidated. By the looks of it, I was going to have a day of long shots ahead of me. We began working our way through the course and my legs ached (I was very sore from squats at the gym) due to the rugged terrain. We made our way downhill, then back up again, weaving around the property. Trails were a bit rough but I loved it. Trudging through the woods had a very authentic feel to it. About halfway through the course, the trails smoothed out and walking was easy. I don't know how much acreage Stowe Archers has at their disposal but, the club is massive. I hear there is even more ground that the club uses as a hunting preserve, of sorts. We began shooting around 9:30am and finished up around 12:30pm. I would have loved to know how many miles / steps I covered but unfortunately, my pedometer was acting up and didn't track a single step. By the time we got back to the clubhouse, I was convinced that this was the club I wanted to join (I didn't even need to visit the second club). The Field Courses looked good, from what I saw of them during our walk through the woods. I turned in my membership application and am eager to get back to the club to try my hand at their Field Courses. During the winter Stowe Archers is holding several indoor leagues. The day / time of these shoots isn't ideal but I'm going to see what I can do about making some of them. Indoor 3D seems interesting but I'm actually more interested in shooting spots (which is odd considering up until this point I had virtually no interest in spots). It was also nice to get out and shoot with Troy, Ingrid, and Zena. I got a couple of pointers throughout the shoot which I plan to use going forward to better my shooting.