The Bighorn Archery Club (BAC) can't wait to bring out its new Laporte target thrower at the Traditional 3D Archery Shoot on July 16-17.
The device offers a new form of challenge for archers used to shooting stationary targets by firing targets into the air at varying degrees.
The Laporte Phoenix 65T25 target thrower is a device very similar to that of a clay pigeon thrower. It holds up to 60 dense foam discs and fires them out with precise accuracy. Archers take shots at the flying discs with flu-flu arrows that slow down after a short distance for safety measures.
BAC event organizer denise swift has been very pleased with the thrower since the club purchased it in October 2015.
“We didn't even know we wanted it at first. Then we saw a bunch of archery enthusiasts on YouTube and we knew we had to get our hands on one.”
Not only is it a more efficient tool but a much safer one.
“We used to have a guy stand to the side and throw up these discs,” says denise.
“These guys were obviously a little daring but they would get tired after throwing these discs for a few hours and the targets became harder to hit.”
The device is the only one of its kind in the Cariboo and was quite the hit at the Bighorn Outdoor 3D Archery Shoot on June 4-5.
“It was amazing. I couldn't believe how well it shot [the discs]. At the push of a button, it fires in the same direction every time.”
The thrower proved to be quite the challenge for even the most experienced archer as the highest score was three out of 10 targets hit.
swift is looking forward to featuring the thrower as a novelty shoot challenge at the Traditional 3D Archery Shoot event.
“We might get some money pot games together for the ones who can hit the discs. It's definitely a difficult challenge.”
The device will be at the Traditional 3D Archery Shoot on July 16-17 at the 99 Mile Snowmobile Club.