The 23rd 3-D archery shoot held by the Assiniboine River Archery Club on August 6 and 7 marked yet another exciting and entertaining event, bringing in 175 archers from across Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta.
The event, which has been held since 1992, was organized by volunteers on a portion of land owned by Dale and Chad Swetlishnoff. The late John Swetlishnoff had granted the land, located about 10 miles southeast of Canora, to the Assiniboine River Archery Club, and since then, the tradition has been to hold the 3-D shoot there.
The 3-D shoot features two courses through forest, sand dunes, bush, grasslands, and so on, and the courses are changed up every year. The courses are meant to represent scenarios a hunter would face while shooting, and so the life-like animal replicas, provided by Cabela’s, are designed mainly to reflect real animals. Targets this year included moose, elk, bears, armadillos, black panthers, buffalo, lions, leopards, and dinosaurs. The last addition was on the ‘exotic’ course, which included some animals a hunter would encounter in rarer situations.
The weather over the weekend was bright and sunny, though the event takes place even during rain. The shoot brought in its usual following thanks to the hard work of volunteers from the Assiniboine River Archery Club. At least half of the participants were from out of Canora, travelling from across Saskatchewan. Kevin Ludba, the club’s president, said that this year had fewer participants from Alberta, though that is likely because of the economy.
The archery club is a non-profit organization that not only promotes the sport of archery, but allows members to “have fun, build self esteem and achieve personal goals,” according to the organization’s Facebook page. In the spirit of its mission statement, the club offers two awards, the Travis Sleeva Memorial Award and the Colleen Tiechko Memorial Award, to young members who represent a love of archery, dedication, good sportsmanship, and a passion for volunteering.
The awards are presented each year, with the Sleeva Memorial Award being presented in March and the Tiechko Memorial Award being presented at the 3-D shoot. This year, both award recipients were presented at the shoot. Brooklyn Reine was the recipient of the Colleen Tiechko Memorial Award, and Taye Shukin was the winner of the Travis Sleeva Memorial Award.
The 3-D shoot is a large event, featuring silent auctions, a concession that serves breakfast, hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks and chips; a beer garden, and entertainment. Representatives of Preeceville Archery Products were at the site all weekend to provide and repair equipment.
On Saturday, the main festivities included a steak supper, wings, and a live performance by Grant Duchak and the Boys. Over 100 people stayed for the supper and concert, and everyone immensely enjoyed themselves, Ludba said. On Sunday, the shooting ended in the afternoon so awards could be presented.
The 3-D shoot offers awards for both courses, and shooters can enter a wide variety of categories, which give everyone from seasoned pros to beginning archers opportunities to win. The award recipients were judged based on individual and aggregate scores.
Winning the Bow Hunter Release – male category was Zachary Messner. He had scores of 267 on Saturday and 299 on Sunday, for a grand total of 566 points. Following close behind in second place was Dusty Peterson, who scored 289 on Saturday and 272 on Sunday with a grand total of 561 points. Colt Peterson placed third with scores of 201 on Saturday and 259 on Sunday, for a total of 460 points.
Tara Leis was the only participant in the Bow Hunter Release – female category. She earned 254 points on Saturday and 286 points on Sunday for a grand total of 540 points.
Clinton Leis won the Bow Hunter Open – male category with a grand total of 755 points. His totals on Saturday and Sunday were 372 and 383. Cory Leis placed second with his score of 382 points on Saturday and 362 points on Sunday for a grand total of 744. Keith Antonichuk placed third with totals of 359 on Saturday and 358 on Sunday for a grand total of 717.
Shelley Leis won the Bow Hunter Open – female category with a grand total of 458 points. Her Saturday total was 214 points and her Sunday total was 244 points.
Elias Barteski placed first in the Junior Compound – male category with a Saturday total of 197 points. He did not shoot on Sunday.
Orest Belesky won the Master Compound 60 – male category with totals of 323 on Saturday and 319 on Sunday for a grand total of 642 points. Ross Wilkinson placed second, when he earned 294 points on Saturday and 285 on Sunday for a grand total of 589 points. Demetry Procyk placed third. Shooting only on Sunday, his total was 386 points.
Jesse Antonichuk won the Cadet Compound – male category with totals of 349 on Saturday and 344 on Sunday for a grand total of 693 points. Hayden Cutler placed second with totals of 290 on Saturday and 291 on Sunday for a grand total of 581 points. Dawson Sawchuk placed third. He scored 286 on Saturday and 282 on Sunday, which made his grand total 568 points.
Brooklyn Tratch won the Cadet Compound – female category with totals of 240 on Saturday and 255 on Sunday for a grand total of 495. She also won the same category last shoot.
Felicity Mydonick placed second with a total of 227 on Saturday and a total of 208 on Sunday for a grand total of 435. In third place was Jade Kiraly, with totals of 182 on Saturday and 176 on Sunday for a grand total of 358.
Lonny Gray won the Hunter – male category with totals of 351 on Saturday and 368 on Sunday. His grand total was 719 points. Dean Bocking placed second with totals of 334 on Saturday and 335 on Sunday for a grand total of 669 points. Mike Owchar placed third with totals of 303 on Saturday and 345 on Sunday for a grand total of 648 points. Both Bocking and Owchar placed in the Hunter – male category the previous year.
In the Hunter – female category, Andrea Wiens won with totals of 321 on Saturday and and 341 on Sunday for a grand total of 662 points. Sandra Baron placed second with totals of 242 on Saturday and 311 on Sunday for a grand total of 553 points. Haley Tratch placed third with totals of 221 on Saturday and 256 on Sunday for a grand total of 477 points.
George Kiraly won the Hunter Fingers category with totals of 278 on Saturday and 262 on Sunday for a grand total of 540 points. Kiraly also won the category the prior year. Garth Erbach placed second with a total of 231 points. He did not shoot on Saturday. Doug Brook placed third with a Sunday total of 214 points. He did not participate Saturday.
Alden Baron won the Cub Compound – male category with totals of 358 on Saturday and 374 on Sunday for a grand total of 732 points. Maxwell Mydonick placed second with totals of 286 on Saturday and 316 on Sunday for a grand total of 602 points. Brendan Babichuk placed third with totals of 264 on Saturday and 256 on Sunday for a grand total of 520 points.
Larissa Makowsky won the Cub Compound – female category with totals of 336 points on Saturday and 324 points on Sunday for a grand total of 660 points. She was also the winner last year. Emily Owchar placed second with totals of 279 on Saturday and 276 on Sunday for a grand total of 555 points. Ashley Stusek, who also placed last year, placed third with totals of 235 on Saturday and 249 on Sunday for a grand total of 484 points.
Vincent Bailey, the winner of last year’s Recurve Unaided – male category, placed first once again with totals of 199 on Saturday and 234 on Sunday for a grand total of 433 points. Darcy Rewakowsky placed second with totals of 109 on Saturday and 148 on Sunday for a grand total of 257 points. Robert Rohr placed third with his Saturday score of 89 on Course B. He did not shoot on Sunday.
Roberta Rohr placed first of the two people in the Recurve Unaided – female category. She shot only on Course B on Saturday when she recorded a score of 75 points. Sherise Fountain, who placed second, shot both courses on Saturday for a total of 56 points.
Wyatt Mastrachuk won the Pre-Cub Compound – male category with totals of 294 on Saturday and 280 on Sunday for a grand total of 574 points. Hudson Bailey placed second with totals of 256 on Saturday and 245 on Sunday for a grand total of 501 points. Michael Owchar placed third with totals of 232 on Saturday and 248 on Sunday for a grand total of 480 points.
Annabelle Jain won the Pre-Cub Compound – female category with totals of 185 points on Saturday and 259 points on Sunday for a grand total of 444 points. Brooklyn Reine placed second with totals of 146 on Saturday and 218 on Sunday for a grand total of 364 points. Placing third was Bella Mykytyshyn with totals of 179 on Saturday and 165 on Sunday for a grand total of 344 points.
Matthew Makowsky, who placed second in the Peewee – male category last shoot, won first place this year with totals of 358 on Saturday and 357 on Sunday for a grand total of 715 points. Andrew Owchar placed second with totals of 348 on Saturday and 339 on Sunday for a grand total of 687 points. Jordan Makowsky placed third with totals of 314 points on Saturday and 320 points on Sunday for a grand total of 634.
Cairwyn Bailey, who placed third in the Peewee – female category last year, won first place for this shoot with totals of 245 points on Saturday and 252 on Sunday with a grand total of 497. Brenna Reine placed second with totals of 234 on Saturday and 258 on Sunday with a grand total of 482. Makayla Heshka placed third with totals of 221 on Saturday and 245 on Sunday with a grand total of 466 points.
Shandra David was the only shooter in the Pre-Cub Traditional – female category. She shot both courses on Saturday for a total of 86 points.
Brooke Classen was the only archer in the Traditional – female category, and shot both courses on Saturday for a total of 140 points.
Ross Tressel won the Traditional Longbow – male category, and gained a total of 178 points on Sunday. He did not shoot on Saturday.
The Assiniboine River Archery Club consists of 40 members, who volunteered to help set up the event along with 25 parents. Ludba said it takes a lot of effort to put on something at this scale. He would like to thank all the volunteers and sponsors who continue to make the event a huge success.
