Archery Tournament

During 3d archery shoot held at the Lake Charles Archery Club a fellow I have not met before approached Shannon (No Primer), Ian (Number One), and I. His name is Brandon Collins, the owner of an internet outdoor outfitter business located in Leesville. He wanted to inform us he is a sponsor of a state wide tournament being held in Opelousas and invite us to compete. Telling us a thirty dollar entry fee was all that was required to compete against the best archers in the state. We could win the bragging rights and a gold, silver or bronze belt buckle, if we placed first, second or third. You could tell he is a good salesman by the way he worked our vanity and sold us on the idea of actually taking time out of our hectic summer schedule to drive an hour and twenty minutes last to join the competition designed by and founded by a group of guys from Oklahoma claiming to be serious bowhunters.



Now folks, please don't think we were so naive to think any one of us could actually place in the tournament full of professionals No sir, after visiting the fancy website of the previously unknown organization hosting the event, we figured we'd attend, compete, take our lumps like men are supposed to and learn hard lessons from the best. Besides, we figured no one would know us in Opelousas anyhow and therefore, could suffer our embarrassment in the relative safety of anonymity.



We arrived, saw Brandon, signed up and paid our thirty dollars to the cause. I looked around and saw countless serious-minded archers with bows of every make and model tuning up and getting ready. By the look in their eyes, we could tell we were in trouble, kittens amongst tigers. The three of us huddled and becamed determined to do our best.



After a detailed rules briefing by the officials, the course with forty stations (twenty stations shot twice) was opened to competion. We were seperated and placed in different groups containing five competitors and started flinging arrows. We shot while sitting down, standing up, leaning sideways, body facing forward-twisting around to shoot behind at far and close targets. What kind of targets? Well, let's see, there were big bears and little bears, hogs, deer, turkey, exotics and even an alligator.



When the shoot was over and the dust settled, all of the competitors were informed it would take a couple of days to tally the results and for us to check their website for the results. Before leaving the festive atmosphere, we strolled over to the display table to admire the pretty shining belt buckles and were told by the guard the winners of the treaures would soon recieve them in the mail, as if. We wiped the sweat off our brows and went home.



A few days later, word quickly spread Ian Booth (NUMBER ONE) placed first! I (now named ""Deadeye," by Ian) placed second! and No Primer Shannon Clarke placed fourth! Bottom line, Ian and I had won the gold and silver buckles. AND EARNED THE RIGHTS TO ATTEND THE NATIONAL SHOOT HELD IN ADA, OKLAHOMA! The three of us came so close to having a clean sweep for Southwest Louisiana our heads were spinning in the clouds. How's that for bragging rights.



We (mostly me) waited impatiently for the buckles to arrive in the mail. They never came. After contacting Brandon, Ian learned they would be on display at the national shoot in August and we could pick them up there, if we attended to compete. If not (and we didn't), we were told once again the buckles would be mailed to our homes, after the shoot. I told everyone I knew I would soon have a gaudy silver buckle to show them.



Again, feeling trapped in a bad movie, I found myself impatiently waiting on the mailman. I almost accomplished driving Nancy and the boys crazy by asking on a daily basis if the buckle had arrived. Days slowly turned into months and still no buckle. Finally Shannon told me he heard through the archery grapevine that the hosting organization had led us on a wild goose chase and disappeared with our thirty dollars and the buckles!



I visited their website (http://www.the3d.org/) to confirm the rumor and found it discontinued. I had to accept the rumor as truth. The shysters really had disappeared into the nether world! I hope they get lost and stay there. But hey, scout's honor, we were champions for a time and it was a lot of fun. And thank God, Ian and I didn't waste our time and money to take a trip to Oklahoma, we weren't that vain. But on the other hand now that I think about it, I'm fairly certain Ian and I would have returned to Louisiana, as champions of boxing.