Age-old sport of archery is growing in popularity

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 | 8:55 a.m.

Archery has changed dramatically since prehistoric man crafted his first arrow, strung his first bow and killed a mastadon 17,000 years ago.

Today's bowman can spend anywhere from $600 to more than $1,500 on a sophisticated "compound" bow that only slightly resembles those used by hunters and soldiers until the 1600s, when guns were invented.

Archery -- whether it be field archery, target shooting or hunting -- is dominated by adult males, but it is gaining in popularity among women and children.

Dan Bozarth, 62, owner of Pacific Archery Sales in Las Vegas, said actress Geena Davis is one reason why more women are taking up archery these days.

Davis, 43, became fascinated with the sport after seeing it during the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. She became a competitive shooter and almost earned a spot on this year's Olympic archery team, but lost during semifinal trials last May -- finishing 29th out of 300 women.

Davis told reporters archery helps her challenge herself to see how good she can become, which is the same reason most people get involved in the sport, Bozarth said.

"Geena Davis, I think, has helped increase awareness a great deal," he observed.

Bill Kellick, spokesman for the 6,000-member National Archery Association in Washington D.C., agrees.

"We've seen a steady rise (in the number of women archers) since the '96 Olympics," Kellick said. "(Davis) has been in the limelight for the past year, which has increased the awareness of the sport and has made it appealing to 40-ish women. We got letters from women who say (Davis) was a great inspiration."

The Archery Manufacturers and Merchants Organization (AMO), which promotes the sport, says in 1997 (the most recent figures) there were 9.3 million archers in the United States -- 6.2 million of them were target shooters and 3.1 million were licensed hunters.

According to information provided by AMO, between 1989 and 1993 there was a 129 percent increase in the number of women archers, possibly spurred by the 1988 and 1992 Olympic games.

Bozarth said he expects to see another surge in interest after the Olympic games next month in Australia.

"Anytime there's publicity about archery, we get more people interested," he said.

About 23 percent of competitive target shooters are women, according to AMO, but fewer than 5 percent hunt game with bows.

It is impossible to determine exactly how many archery fans reside in Southern Nevada, but Bozarth said he has more than 1,000 names of archers in his computer. Of that number, 80 percent are hunters and the rest are competitive shooters.

Of those in his database, he said 50-60 percent are active in archery and the remaining 40 percent buy a bow to use only for hunting and put it away the rest of the year.

Archery is not as popular in Las Vegas as it is in other regions, Bozarth noted, because there are so many distractions.

"Las Vegas is an unusual town. There is always something going on 24 hours a day," he said. "In a smaller community, it might be different."

Joel Henneper, a Las Vegas general contractor, switched from hunting with a rifle to bowhunting two years ago.

"It's much more challenging," he said. "And it's a good way to network for my business."

He said he has made a number of business contacts through archery.

Bozarth, who has been shooting in competitions since he was 15, also hunts.

"I enjoy my bow hunting, but not for the actual kill of the animal," he said. "It gets me out into the outdoors. I see things you wouldn't normally see -- like a fawn nursing on a doe."

But not everyone shares the hunters' enthusiasm for the sport.

Members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) routinely protest the killing of animals by hunters of any sort.

Not only is it cruel recreation, they say, but it is rarely necessary for human survival, which would be the only justification for killing an animal.

However, the sport still has appeal for hobbyists of all ages.

Young fans

The average age of archers, according to the AMO, is just under 36. Bozarth is working to make the sport appealing to young people as well as adults.

Every Monday and Friday evening he hosts a Junior Olympics program at the indoor target range inside his shop in southwest Las Vegas. About 15 children, ranging in age from 6 to 18 years, usually attend the training session (which is sanctioned by the National Archery Association).

"It's a good program for the kids. They come down around 6 (p.m.) and for $8 shoot at targets and receive instructions," Bozarth said. "We have the equipment here they can use, but a lot of them have their own."

Tuesday evenings at the shop are reserved for a women's league; Wednesdays for a bowhunting league; and Thursdays for a target league.

There are at least three archery ranges in the area -- one operated by a private archery club, one operated by the county for the public and the one at Bozarth's store.

On Wednesday evenings Bozarth conducts a "3-D" shoot at the Clark County Parks and Recreation Department's archery range, east of Sam Boyd Stadium.

Bozarth places three dimensional targets, such as boars, deer and elk, at different locations in a brushy area of the range. The targets are at distances up to 60 yards.

From about 5 p.m. until nightfall groups of archers walk the course shooting at the targets. Between 25 and 40 people take part in the event (which will end in this year in late October, when daylight-savings time ends and it gets darker earlier).

The event "helps bow hunters (practice) with various distances over unknown terrain," Bozarth said.

Henneper compared it to a miniature golf course, only using bows and arrows.

Tools of the sport

Advances in archery during the past 30 years have catapulted the sport from one that remained relatively unchanged for centuries into the high-tech world of the 21st century.

Archers began adapting their equipment, using space-age materials and engineering know-how, to build more accurate and more powerful weapons that weigh less than their wooden counterparts -- making archery more attractive to women.

There are four basic types of bows: crossbows, longbows (made famous by Robin Hood and his band of merry men), recurve bows and compound bows.

Crossbows have limited appeal. Longbows are popular among purists, who feel using modern technology is cheating. Recurve bows, whose two ends bend away from the shooter, are popular in foreign countries.

"We sell recurve bows, but most people today use compound bows," Bozarth said. "In foreign countries the recurve is more popular because they don't have as much hunting."

The compound bow has a system of pulleys (or cams) that makes it easier to draw the string back. Stabilizers absorb the shock when arrows are released. Fiber-optic sights make it easier to hit the target.

Most bows and arrows are made of a variety of lightweight metals, such as carbon, manganese and aluminum, which makes lugging the equipment around easier.

"It has evolved quite a bit since the '70s," said Bozarth, who owns the only full-service archery store in town.

Even the arrowheads have changed. Popular among hunters is the the new broadhead, which has three or four blades in it that open on impact.

And many enthusiasts now use mechanical releases, a sort of trigger for a bow. Instead of using their fingers to pull the string back, they grasp the string with the hand-held release and squeeze it to shoot the arrow.

One of the latest developments is a "harmonic dampener," a small, round metal device inserted into the bow's riser (the midsection of the bow) to absorb vibration.

Computers, which seem to dominate every facet of today's world, have not been ignored by those in the archery business. They are used to help "tune" the bow.

"You tune it so your arrows will fly perfect," Bozarth said.

After a person is able to routinely shoot perfect shots at a distance of 20 yards, Bozarth puts the measurements from the test shots into the computer, which analyzes the figures and tells what adjustments to make to the bow for accuracy up to 80 yards.

"The computer eliminates human error in tuning," he said.

Although advanced technology has taken much of the guesswork out of the sport, archery still boils down to a personal challenge for a man -- or a woman.

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