During the Pope and Young Club's 31st Biennial Convention held in Omaha, Nebraska, the Club's Stewardship award was presented to the Kansas Bowhunters Association. This prestigious award is given to a bowhunter or bowhunting organization that has conveyed a positive, good-citizen image to the hunting and non-hunting public.

The National Archery in the Schools Program Announced the 2019 Recipients for the On Target for Life Awards and Recognition Program. The OTFLA program is intended to recognize and celebrate the many instances where in-school archery, and the people involved with it, are positively impacting the lives of over two million NASP® student archers each year.

Mission Crossbow shooters claimed all six podiums at the ASA Pro/AM in Augusta, Georgia and IBO Triple Crown in Pipestem, West Virginia this past weekend.

For the first time in history, two major competitive archery tournaments, the ASA Pro/Am and IBO Triple Crown, were held on the same weekend. This overlap forced Team Mathews to split up in order to compete at the coinciding tournaments. Despite being spread thin, Team Mathews claimed 15 of 21 podium spots in an action-packed weekend.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) acquired 620 acres of critical public access and prime wildlife habitat, including elk habitat, along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front within the boundary of the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. RMEF then conveyed the property to the USFS.

Houston Safari Club Foundation (HSCF) is pleased to announce its entertainment lineup for their Annual Worldwide Hunting Expo and Convention, to be held January 24-26, 2020 at the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.

Houston Safari Club Foundation (HSCF) is pleased to announce its entertainment lineup for their Annual Worldwide Hunting Expo and Convention, to be held January 24-26, 2020 at the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.

Your dad means the world to you. Help him enjoy his time in the stand while keeping him safe and your mind at ease with Primal Treestands' Emergency Descender and Primal Treestands' ladder stands featuring the Grip Jaw and Backbone Stabilizer Truss Systems.

Highlights from Swanson Russell’s annual meeting in April point to continued business growth as well as a milestone in high employee satisfaction and culture.

FeraDyne® Outdoors, manufacturer of 19 industry-leading archery brands is seeking applicants for the position of Human Resources Director. This senior-level position will partner with company leaders at all levels and from all functions to develop and implement strategies in alignment with FeraDyne’s goals and culture.

In the latest episode of “The Fire,” streaming now on Mossy Oak GO, Mossy Oak’s Rusty McDaniels and Jeff Shelby head to Wyoming to pursue each of their Grand Slams as turkey hunters. A May snow shower at Devils Tower offered scenery and some intense turkey hunting action these two hunters won’t soon forget.

The recently released short film titled “Rain Deer – A Sitka Blacktail Story” by Randy Newberg and Tyler Johnerson – in partn­ership with the Boone and Crockett Club, Leupold & Stevens, and SITKA Gear – is a must-see according to B&C.

Mossy Oak GO, the camouflage brand’s all-new 100% FREE television and mobile digital streaming platform, has shared the latest and greatest Can-Am S3 Powersports “Visions of Victory” episode for your viewing pleasure. Along with the complete episodes from two previous seasons, MOGO shared live today Season 4: Episode 6 "Cajun Muddy Gras at Muddy Bottoms.”

DSC is eager to support Big Billy Kinder Outdoors talk radio as its title sponsor when it graduates to SiriusXM next month.

Scholastic 3-D Archery has named David Kirkwood of Sparks, Nevada as the new Nevada State Coordinator. David will oversee all aspects of the S3DA program in Nevada including tournaments, trainings and the division of the state into regions.

German Precision Optics (GPO), USA today announced the appointment of Carol Higgins to the position of Operations Manager. In this capacity, Higgins will be responsible for overseeing the entire organizational process of incoming product orders, managing all company shipping and inventory, project oversight, technical training and development, client account management, and implementing operational policies and procedures.

Scholastic 3-D Archery has named Bob Gattorna of Connecticut as the S3DA Northeastern National Outreach Coordinator which will significantly increase participation within the program in the Northeastern states by emphasizing communication from the national to local level.
 

The Realtree Spas Treestand spa in Realtree Xtra camo gives you room to soak and relax after a long day outdoors. Let the stress of the day fade away while 25 jets and a cascading waterfall ease tension.

ALPS OutdoorZ is expanding its waterfowl dog product line with the introduction of the new Timber Dog Stand. With this new stand, ALPS OutdoorZ now has dog stand solutions for both marsh and flooded timber hunting environments.

Engineered to match the profile and balance of the latest bow designs, the new APEX GEAR REACTOR™ XL quiver provides a sturdy and well-balance arrow containment system for backcountry bowhunters.

Bear & Son Cutlery, manufacturer of premium made-in-the-USA knives, continues to offer American-made pocket knives at an affordable price with the newest Executive Stainless-Steel Knife, Model 112. This 4-inch liner-lock model has minimized snagging points and features a narrow design for comfortable carry and super-smooth action.

German Precision Optics (GPO), USA has announced the introduction of a pair of new 56mm-diameter models in its Passion binocular line, an 8x56 and a 10x56. Both binoculars provide exceptional clarity and maximum light transmission, thanks to the proprietary GPObright™ lens coating, a specialized, high-transmission 56 mm objective lens system and an abbe-Koenig internal prism system.

USA Archery is pleased to welcome Conquest Archery to our partner family. As USA Archery's newest Official Sponsor, Conquest Archery's support is focused on the USAT and Developmental teams. 

GSM Outdoors is happy to announce a partnership renewal agreement with Heartland Bowhunter. Heartland Bowhunter is one of the highest-quality productions in the outdoor programming space, with content ideally aligned with the GSM Outdoors family of brands and their company philosophies.

Holly Helton of Barbourville, Ky has been promoted to Accounting & Membership Services for Scholastic 3-D Archery.

The Brigade: Race to the Hudson presented by Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s set the tone for April’s Outdoor Channel rating success, increasing +108% in average audience impressions from one year ago during the same time period (8 p.m.) with Men 25-54.

Outdoor lifestyle celebrity and host Michael Waddell hits the woods with some of his favorite hunting buddies including: Tom McMillan, Fred Eichler, Nick Mundt, Kip Campbell and more, on Waddell Favorites Watchlist only available on MyOutdoorTV.Com

Bear Archery is proud to announce Greg Ashley, Bear Archery Customer Account Specialist by day and assistant archery coach by night, has led the Castle High School Archery team to win the NASP National Championship for the second year in a row.

Student archers, along with coaches, friends, and family, traveled to the highly anticipated and renowned Western National Tournament, located at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, for their chance to earn top honors and advance to the Open Championship this summer.

Team Easton shooters accomplished another total sweep of every individual medal at the second leg of the World Archery World Cup, this time in Shanghai, China. Sweeping every podium position in both compound and recurve, Easton shooters also set new world records with the invincible Easton X10.

For the first time in history, two major competitive archery tournaments, the ASA Pro/Am and IBO Triple Crown, were held on the same weekend. This overlap forced Team Mathews to split up in order to compete at the coinciding tournaments.

Louisville, Kentucky was flooded with planes, trains and automobiles last week, May 9-11, as more than forty-five thousand student archers, coaches, family and friends, and other spectators gathered at the Louisville Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center for the 2019 National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP®) Eastern National Tournament. This year’s turnout set another new record for the world- renowned archery program with just shy of fifteen thousand archers (14,946) in attendance, from last year’s 14,139.

Based on the results of the 2019 NASP® National Tournament and using rosters of all 19,788 registered Academic Archers, NASP® announces it second All-American Academic Teams in Elementary, Middle School, and High School Divisions for 2019.

Mission Crossbow shooters claimed all six podiums at the ASA Pro/AM in Augusta, Georgia and IBO Triple Crown in Pipestem, West Virginia this past weekend.

If you’ve attended a Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) event, workshop or adventure in the past 24 years, it was more than likely developed by BOW’s Director, Peggy Farrell. Peggy is a proud Wisconsinite who I deeply admire not only for all the cool outdoorsy things she has accomplished over the years, but also for continuing to give it her all in encouraging more ladies to get outside and enjoy both individual activities and group adventures. I’m certain Peggy has more stories to share with us than we have time for…but I’m going to do my best to draw out the highlights so you, too, can get excited about either helping this organization reach more individuals or attend an event yourself.

Q1: Peggy, share with us how you began in BOW and how has it changed from those early years to what it is today. What has been the biggest change or impact on BOW over the years?

I first discovered the BOW program as an undergraduate student at UW-Stevens Point. BOW founder Christine Thomas offered me a scholarship to attend a late summer BOW workshop at Treehaven Field Station in 1995. My task was to write an article describing my experiences at the workshop for Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine.

I was a total introvert at the time, but being among a group of 100+ people who came from all walks of life, who were there to enjoy nature, put me at ease. Everyone was so nice. I had a fabulous time learning how to shoot a shotgun (I missed every target!), field dress a deer, and run a chainsaw.

Looking back on that, I think one of the biggest impacts BOW has on participants is that it gives them confidence and even raises their self-esteem. BOW helped me grow from a timid girl whose hands would shake during public speaking, to a person who comfortably coordinates and hosts more than a dozen events per year.

Q2: Since this is the Archery Wire, most of our readers are archery stores or folks involved in the industry. Share with us about your archery and bowhunting classes – how many ladies do you put through a class every year (best estimate). In your experience, are they excited enough to want to buy a bow after taking a class? Or somehow get more involved?

Archery/Bowhunting has always been one of the most popular offerings at BOW workshops. We generally have full classes with 16 participants each and a waiting list beyond that. We could easily find an audience to participate in more than the 2 archery classes per year that we currently offer. If we find the right partners through clubs or other people in the industry, we’d love to get some archery clinics on the calendar.

Some of the participants in our Archery/Bowhunting classes are interested in only the archery component, but leave the class happy to have had the bowhunting component as well. Even those who don’t think they are interested in hunting appreciate the knowledge gained from the hunting safety and ethics portion of the class.

Many women get immediately hooked on target shooting. They always have a lot of questions about equipment and what to buy. In at least one instance, one woman stopped off at the nearest sporting goods store on her way home and got herself set up with a brand new bow, arrows, and a couple targets. A few of our participants have gotten proficient and confident enough with archery that they have come back to BOW to help as shooting coaches on the range.

Q3: What is the most common theme/response you hear from women before a BOW event on why they can’t attend? What excuses do they give? How do you see BOW helping them overcome those excuses? And then conversely, what is the most common response after an event?

I think a lot of women are hesitant to attend because they feel a little intimidated with some of the activities were offer. For some, stepping outside their comfort zone and spending a weekend doing things like handling firearms or fishing through a hole in the ice is a major barrier. Even more so if they don’t have a friend or relative who will attend with them. Self-doubt is a barrier – they might think they “can’t do it” or they are “afraid of looking stupid” when trying.

BOW tries to remove those barriers by promoting our classes as designed specifically for adult women beginners of all ages and fitness levels. Our participants are 18-80+ and no experience is necessary. Instructors are carefully selected and provided orientation materials and training to understand the BOW philosophy of providing a safe, hands-on learning experience, taught with patience and respect.

To promote BOW, I give presentations for clubs, meetings, and banquets a few times a year. I frequently hear women in attendance say things like, “Oh, I heard about this and always wanted to do it!” When I ask them, “Why haven’t you?” they usually talk about lack of time or money. We have a scholarship program that helps women attend a workshop who couldn’t otherwise afford to. So we can remove the money barrier.

Lack of time is often a self-perceived thing rather than an actuality (I know, I do it myself, think I don’t have time, but if I wanted I could make the time). But life is busy, especially if a women is raising a young family. That’s probably why most (but not all) of our participants are in the 40-something and older age range. When the kids aren’t little anymore, it’s more feasible to take a weekend just for yourself, something that’s hard for many women to do without feeling guilty.

Q4: Where do you see BOW in the next 3-5 years? 10 years?

I’m really excited to be expanding BOW offerings to include Learn to Hunt for Food and Learn to Fish for Dinner courses. We’re working on this in partnership with the WI DNR and other conservation organizations including Pheasants Forever and the National Wild Turkey Federation. We’ve developed some “best management” practices that we’re building on, and I could see these courses, as well as our hunter mentor training programs, expanding to other states just as the original BOW program spread from the 1st workshop in Wisconsin to workshops all across North America.

I would be very proud if in 10 years BOW continued to be an strong player in the outdoor education community. With a growing interest in sustainable food and knowing where it comes from, we have a big new audience out there among millennials and conservation-minded women who we can welcome to the outdoor community by teaching them to hunt, fish, and grow their own food. I look forward to creating new opportunities for them to do so!

Thank you so much Peggy for all you do. My bestie, Cassie, and I are already signed up for the BOW Isle Royale Kayak/Camping trip this July.

And you better believe I am going to share all my stories in the wire, dear readers. So get ready for it.

-Michelle Scheuermann, editor, Archery Wire