MONTICELLO - A 30-point buck was not around, but the Marshall Bluff Bowhunters club provided 28 sets of three-dimensional animal targets, including an alligator and a buffalo, at its 3-D Shoot this past weekend.
The tournament was part of the club's 51st anniversary celebration. Over 120 people took part.
The club grounds, nestled in rolling hills east of Monticello, is situated on about nine acres of forest, prairie and bluffs, creating a variety of realistic hunting experiences, and features a National Field Archery Association (NFAA) course.
"This is Monticello's best kept secret," said club board member Paul Rieder, Monticello.
The 3-D course took about three to four hours to complete, with cubs, youth, traditional and advanced skill levels. One 65-yard shot was set atop a Cambrian sandstone bluff.
This year, just for fun, Mark Degener, Rockford, brought in his computer-controlled, random pop-up set, featuring a wild boar, a white-tail deer, an antelope, two raccoons, and a collared Peccary (Javelina), the only wild, native, pig-like animal found in the United States.
Two young men from Monticello scored in the mid-200 point range, out of a possible 336 points. Andy Pusel, 18, and Brandon Holz, 17, are three-year veterans of bowhunting. Both said their fathers got them interested in the sport.
"That's a good score," Kevin Steele, Monroe, told them.
"It's better than my first one," Pusel said about his 241 score. It was only the second time this summer Pusel had been out.
In a raised platform simulating a tree stand shot, Rieder helped Pusel and Holz with their aim at a running deer shot. The target is a gravity-pulled deer on a cable, which is wound up and released from the stand. The secret is to keep moving your bow, he told them.
"This is the only sport where you're competing against someone and they'll help you out," he said.
Pusel took a good 10-point shot in the heart, while Holz ended up with just a five-point body shot.
"I flinched," Holz said.
Bullseyes on each target determine the hunters score. A Super-bullseye is worth 12 points; a heart shot scores 10 points; lung is eight points and a body shot, five points. Missing a target could mean the loss of an arrow.
There are only two good shots in bow hunting, Rieder said - a shot that kills or one that misses. A lung shot takes 8-10 seconds to kill a deer, he explained, but they can still run 10 yards per second in that time.
Mark Degener was with co-workers, 22-year-olds Brian and Kevin Jackson, both from Loves Park, Ill., and Henry Vara, Sharon.
Vara was enticed into the group and has been bowhunting for only four weeks. Marshall Bluffs has become his favorite 3-D course, because, "it's the only one with a moving target," he said.
He gave up a golf outing for his fourth trip to the Monticello bowhunting course.
"It's fun," he said about his new-found sport. "And we go everywhere - Burlington; Argyle; Dixon, Ill."
"3-D hunters are like nomads," Degener said.
Degener has been bowhunting for 36 years, Brian Jackson for one year, and his brother, Kevin for two years, but the men are about equal in skill levels.
"Bowhunting has a fast rise to a certain level," Degener said.
Degener has had three "Robin Hood" in his life - shooting an arrow that hits dead center and splits another arrow.
"About one every 10 years, whether I like it or not," Degener said. "I'm about due for another one.
"At any time, it could happen to any one of them," he said pointing to the others in his group.
Kevin Jackson has come as close as to put a hole in his fletching, the feathering at the end of the arrow.
To stay competitive, the group makes the loser buy the beer after the shoot. On Saturday, Kevin lost his group competition.
Vera came out with the highest score of the group, but he took a chance on the 29th bonus set - the Iron Deer, which gave him 15 extra points. The Iron Deer is painted on a sheet of metal, with a hole cut in it for the soft target. If a hunter misses the target, the arrow is ruined by the iron surrounding it.
"Winning is in my blood, ... but I used my worst arrow," he said with a smile.
Bowhunting builds up a healthy appetite; so, the food at bowhunting competitions is an incentive to attend, too.
Rieder admitted he sometimes looks for competitions based on the breakfasts served. But for Degener, Vara and the Jacksons, it is lunch they appreciate.
"You shoot best when you're hungry," Kevin Jackson said.
The tournament was part of the club's 51st anniversary celebration. Over 120 people took part.
The club grounds, nestled in rolling hills east of Monticello, is situated on about nine acres of forest, prairie and bluffs, creating a variety of realistic hunting experiences, and features a National Field Archery Association (NFAA) course.
"This is Monticello's best kept secret," said club board member Paul Rieder, Monticello.
The 3-D course took about three to four hours to complete, with cubs, youth, traditional and advanced skill levels. One 65-yard shot was set atop a Cambrian sandstone bluff.
This year, just for fun, Mark Degener, Rockford, brought in his computer-controlled, random pop-up set, featuring a wild boar, a white-tail deer, an antelope, two raccoons, and a collared Peccary (Javelina), the only wild, native, pig-like animal found in the United States.
Two young men from Monticello scored in the mid-200 point range, out of a possible 336 points. Andy Pusel, 18, and Brandon Holz, 17, are three-year veterans of bowhunting. Both said their fathers got them interested in the sport.
"That's a good score," Kevin Steele, Monroe, told them.
"It's better than my first one," Pusel said about his 241 score. It was only the second time this summer Pusel had been out.
In a raised platform simulating a tree stand shot, Rieder helped Pusel and Holz with their aim at a running deer shot. The target is a gravity-pulled deer on a cable, which is wound up and released from the stand. The secret is to keep moving your bow, he told them.
"This is the only sport where you're competing against someone and they'll help you out," he said.
Pusel took a good 10-point shot in the heart, while Holz ended up with just a five-point body shot.
"I flinched," Holz said.
Bullseyes on each target determine the hunters score. A Super-bullseye is worth 12 points; a heart shot scores 10 points; lung is eight points and a body shot, five points. Missing a target could mean the loss of an arrow.
There are only two good shots in bow hunting, Rieder said - a shot that kills or one that misses. A lung shot takes 8-10 seconds to kill a deer, he explained, but they can still run 10 yards per second in that time.
Mark Degener was with co-workers, 22-year-olds Brian and Kevin Jackson, both from Loves Park, Ill., and Henry Vara, Sharon.
Vara was enticed into the group and has been bowhunting for only four weeks. Marshall Bluffs has become his favorite 3-D course, because, "it's the only one with a moving target," he said.
He gave up a golf outing for his fourth trip to the Monticello bowhunting course.
"It's fun," he said about his new-found sport. "And we go everywhere - Burlington; Argyle; Dixon, Ill."
"3-D hunters are like nomads," Degener said.
Degener has been bowhunting for 36 years, Brian Jackson for one year, and his brother, Kevin for two years, but the men are about equal in skill levels.
"Bowhunting has a fast rise to a certain level," Degener said.
Degener has had three "Robin Hood" in his life - shooting an arrow that hits dead center and splits another arrow.
"About one every 10 years, whether I like it or not," Degener said. "I'm about due for another one.
"At any time, it could happen to any one of them," he said pointing to the others in his group.
Kevin Jackson has come as close as to put a hole in his fletching, the feathering at the end of the arrow.
To stay competitive, the group makes the loser buy the beer after the shoot. On Saturday, Kevin lost his group competition.
Vera came out with the highest score of the group, but he took a chance on the 29th bonus set - the Iron Deer, which gave him 15 extra points. The Iron Deer is painted on a sheet of metal, with a hole cut in it for the soft target. If a hunter misses the target, the arrow is ruined by the iron surrounding it.
"Winning is in my blood, ... but I used my worst arrow," he said with a smile.
Bowhunting builds up a healthy appetite; so, the food at bowhunting competitions is an incentive to attend, too.
Rieder admitted he sometimes looks for competitions based on the breakfasts served. But for Degener, Vara and the Jacksons, it is lunch they appreciate.
"You shoot best when you're hungry," Kevin Jackson said.