A Week of Archery
By: Kyle Maki, IWF Sporting Partnerships and Policy Manager
It’s not very often that I get to shoot and prepare for hunting season while also working, but this past week I got the chance to add a little fun into my work schedule. It started with a need from the Idaho State Bowhunters for help with their annual Jamboree near Stanley. With that on the books, I began looking at other opportunities to connect with folks along my drive there and the Idaho Traditional Bowhunters were having their Meadows Valley Traditional Rendezvous the same weekend! A text quickly confirmed that they would be there as I drove through Wednesday and they would love an extra hand with setting up targets on that day.
I arrived at their shoot location near New Meadows midday on Wednesday just as targets were getting pulled out of the trailer, and we began hauling them around the property to get them staged for the final set up which happened the next day. While I only got to spend about half a day helping before I needed to leave, it was great to connect with some folks with ITB and sweat alongside them while chatting about hunting. I can’t say that I am any closer to spending a fall running around with a traditional bow instead of my tried and true compound, it definitely made me want to pick one up if for no other reason than to spend some time with these great people while flinging some arrows at foam!
Next, I made my way over to Thatcher Creek just a little west of Stanley to help the Idaho State Bowhunters with their Jamboree. Just like the day before, as soon as I got there I jumped into the mix and spent the rest of the day helping to finish set up their courses with a few other great volunteers. Aside from a dust devil popping up next to us in a burn about 100 yards away and throwing a 15’ tree about 30 yards in the air, the day was pretty uneventful, and after we were done, I had to go find some water to fish in and clean off the layers of caked on sweat and dust.
I spent much of the rest of the weekend helping man the ISB booth checking people in, selling merchandise, and talking about IWF to the many sportsmen and women who happened to be out with their families shooting the course before we took down the targets on Sunday afternoon. Now don’t feel too bad for me because I did get to sneak away each day to shoot the course during the slower times and even was able to compete in their elk bugling contest Saturday evening before their awards!
It’s times like these that I get reminded why I do this work. First off, it's just fun. I mean who doesn’t want to spend time with a bunch of hardcore hunters who get after it and are able to fill their freezers every year with game meat. It’s not often that you get a group of this kind together and it is something I will be looking forward to doing again next year. But more than that, it was seeing families and friends spending time together while honing their skills for their pursuit of choice this fall. Seeing the joy on a kid's face as they were getting ready to shoot the course, to the words of approval after a well-placed shot, and the occasional laughter and comments made when you hear an arrow go bouncing through the trees after a missed shot were the things that I enjoyed the most.
Our sporting community here in Idaho is great, but we need more reasons like this to get us all together. It’s easy to get into the groove and silo ourselves just around the people we generally spend time outdoors with. Getting outside of our immediate bubble and talking with new people about new experiences in new places is part of what we need to do to grow our sporting community and advocate to protect Idaho’s outdoor heritage we all love and care about.
