Montana Woods N Water May 2016 Print Edition | Page 7

ARCHERY TALK

31st Annual Lone Pine 3D Shoot by Raf Viniard
My Saturdays and Sundays have been filled running from one event to another. I used to
shoot 3D years ago and it kept me in practice during the off season of hunting. When I heard
about this shoot I had to go and investigate. The day had a threat of rain so getting out and
bear hunting was not looking good plus I had plenty of time in the afternoon if the weather
cleared up. I grabbed my better half, Pam and off we went. Of course I did throw in my
bear hunting stuff in the Jeep, you know just in case the weather broke in the evening.
The event was held at the Lone Pine State Park up in Kalispell, MT. A sprinkle here and
there on the windshield on the way reminded me I might need my rain gear that I left in my
truck back in Plains.
As soon as we drove into the park, cars were parked everywhere. The Flathead Valley
Archer’s had it well organized so parking was a breeze. There were folks there of all ages,
male and female. With bows slung over shoulders they were headed up the mountain to
meet the shooting challenges that faced them.
Our primary contact for the event was Sarah Yerkes the President of the Flathead Valley
Archers but she was out on the course helping participants. So we chatted with Nicole
Salois who was signing in participants . The smell of burgers cooking on the grill was hard to
break away from but there was only one thing left to do and that was to head out up the
mountain and do some interviews.
Our first 3D target we
visited was a wolf. There
we found Sterling Boone
of Kalispell with his Dad
Wes. When interviewing participants and especially kids you just never
know what will come out of their mouths. This boy was fired up...you
would have thought he had been doing interviews for years. Sterling
quickly told me, “I am six years old and have been doing this for a year.”
He pulled that bow back and let it fly and on his first shot nailed the wolf
in the lungs. Dad had his hands full that day.
Jesse Vanderzwaag (pictured right) of
Kalispell, MT watched and patiently
listened as Sterling went into great
detail about his days adventures.
Sterling was a tough act to follow but Jesse settled the
pin and released with a solid heart hit.
On up the trail we
headed where we ran
into Shelly May
(pictured left) of Kila,
MT getting ready to
try her luck on a pink