This year’s IBO WINTERNATIONALS was an eye opening experience for me. I am not a seasoned 3-D shooter but I’ve been to a few. Since I joined the ABA board of directors last October, we have been working on the WINTERNATIONALS and I know the board was working on it long before I came into the picture. The amount of legwork that goes into planning a shoot of this scale is amazing. I’ll spare you the horror stories of organizing everybody and tell you about the shoot itself.

Most of the board met at Ben Avery Shooting Range on Thursday around 4:00 P.M. and worked until well after dark. I couldn’t make it that night but was there at the scheduled time of 7:00 A.M. the next morning. When I arrived I found that most of the board had been there since 5:00 A.M. They hadn’t changed the start time; they just knew from past experience the amount of work needed to be done and were there early to make sure that it was completed.

Clubs started arriving shortly after I did and began to setup the courses that they were assigned to maintain for the next two days. Affiliate clubs of the ABA get paid to man a course at the two events the ABA puts on each year. They may also buy targets for their club at a good price. Any club interested in this should contact the ABA before the next bowhunter happening. If your club is not already an affiliate club you should also check into this. The cost is cheap and the rewards are priceless.

After the courses were flagged and the targets were set up, it was time to put up banners and make sure everything was ready for the next day. The people in the office already had their hands full taking registrations for people who hadn’t entered early. My job was to chronograph the bows of the competitors to make sure they weren't over the 280-fps speed limit or that the arrows were not under the five grains per pound rule. Competitors could choose which procedure would be used to check their bow, but not both. One myth I’d heard about the pro archers was proved untrue to me over the weekend. I had heard that they were premadonnas who whined at every chance and looked down on the average archer. This was the furthest thing from the truth. These men and women understood the rules and went by them to the letter. While I was checking their equipment they never argued and not once was my authority questioned. They proved to be gentlemen and ladies in every sense of the word. They were also some of the friendliest and I enjoyed visiting with each one of them.

Each day I arrived at 7:00 A.M. and was there until around 6:00 P.M. each evening. I was so busy and enjoyed the atmosphere so much that the days flew by and on Sunday I found myself wishing the tournament wouldn’t end so soon. At the end of the last day it was time to take up all the targets and return them for an auction which is held each year. Some targets are like new and some aren’t, but for most of us they still have a lot of shots left in them. One thing I would like to clarify to the laymen archer is that these targets are not donated to the ABA for this shoot. They are basically on loan from McKenzie and they receive 100% of the money raised at the auction. This is how we as archers repay McKenzie for their support. They are counting on recouping some of their loses, they are not willing or should have to loose this kind of money on a shoot. We as archery enthusiast need to know this, so when you bid on a target you know where the money is going and that you are showing your appreciation to McKenzie Targets.

After the auction it was time take the equipment and the targets that weren’t sold to a storage unit in Tempe that belongs to the ABA. Most board members still had a long drive and lots of work in front of them and had to be at work early on Monday morning. I know I had a hard time rolling out of bed, but the feeling of accomplishment I had sure helped.

I would like to thank everyone who attended the tournament. I would also be interested in finding out what you thought about it. If you have any comments please write into the archery discussion board and let us know.

John Samsill