Recently, I was told there was some good listening to be found online that would probably give me a better idea why unknown 3D is supposedly being taken over by known 3D at a national level. I was definitely entertained when I listened to the piece that was forwarded to me by one of my fellow archers.
In case anyone isn't familiar with the piece I'm referring to, it was Paige Pearce giving her commentary on a Bowjunky podcast about things going on in ASA, including the creation of a couple of new classes this year, one of which she has dominated to this point. She explained to the listeners that approximately 75% of all shooters in the ASA are shooting known yardage. I'm sure that was probably an eye-popping statistic for many of the listeners.
As the podcast neared an end, she came up with some great ideas for the people who still participate in the unknown yardage classes. One of the things she suggested was for the pros to promote their game and try to draw more people into the classes. She said it is their job to build the classes and encourage people to follow in their footsteps.
With the pile of numbers given to the listeners over the course of an hour, it could have been overwhelming for many people. However, having had to sit through all sorts of mathematics and statistics classes in college, which was over 30 years ago, I learned one very important fact about numbers: any person can make any set of numbers make them say what they want them to say.
With that being said, although this isn't a podcast, I have my own set of numbers that should easily dispel the myth that unknown yardage is a thing of the past. Diving into the depths of the current climate, I must give a few history lessons and discuss a few other things along the way. The first thing I'd like to discuss is that there are two major 3D organizations in the country for people to compete in.
The IBO and the ASA
The Archery Shooters Association (ASA) and the International Bowhunting Organization (IBO) both offer national tournaments to 3D archers. The IBO events are notorious for having Northern shooters at them, while the ASA is known as a Southern organization. The ASA is the organization that was being discussed on the podcast, as the vast majority of the classes are known, and supposedly it's because people simply don't want to shoot unknown yardage.
Let's go back in time to when 3D shooting became prevalent in the United States and the IBO was born in 1984. A dedicated group of bowhunters shared the desire to ensure that bowhunting and the ideals of wildlife conservation would survive, expand and flourish to be shared, enjoyed and passed on to future generations.
Soon after the IBO formed, it launched the Triple Crown of Bowhunting, which consisted of three national tournaments hosted in separate states. Then, in 1989, the IBO established a series of sanctioned tournaments worldwide in which participants could qualify to compete in the annual finale, the IBO World Championship.
As part of the Triple Crown and World Championship events, competitors regularly participate in the IBO Bowhunter Defense Fund Range, and the fees collected from those who shoot these recreational ranges are earmarked for the IBO Bowhunter Defense Fund. To date, this fund is approaching $1 million to help ensure a strong and lasting future for bowhunting, and more than $250,000 of that money has gone directly to the Sportsmen's Alliance (https://sportsmensalliance.org)
The IBO hit the ground running, as there was no other competition that could compare. The max yardage was approximately 60 yards, and 120 grain screw-in points were required in your arrows. The events expanded and the attendance grew for this new game that so closely resembled hunting. Before long, there were as many as 4,500 shooters registering for the IBO World Championship, and the boom was on. Where could this sport go? The 3D targets were new to consumers, and almost anyone shooting a bow had a chance to win one of these events because everyone was new to the game.
Although the IBO is a nonprofit organization, it was quickly noted that money could be made by hosting these national events. Then, the ASA was born. This organization's home base was in the South and it began catering to Southern shooters. Before long, this risk/reward type of shooting attracted a lot of attention, and a non-endemic sponsor offered big money for the Open Pro Shooter of the Year title. The lower 12 was introduced, and people took a liking to the game. It was different than the IBO, and the max distance was closer, with pros shooting a max distance of 45 yards. This new series gained traction and kept building to where it is today.
Eventually, the ASA offered known yardage classes, and the shoots seemed to draw more shooters. In the meantime, it seemed, according to many, that the IBO began losing numbers at their events. However, perception and reality are often looked at through clouded lenses.
Two Organizations, Two Choices
Having two organizations headed in seemingly different directions is what causes many misconceptions when it comes to known and unknown yardage and what people truly want. If I hadn't been a member of both organizations for more than 20 years, I think I probably could have been easily swayed into believing some of the things that were said during the podcast. However, being a member of both and being a member of one of them for longer than the guest on the podcast has been alive, I have seen changes that have positively and negatively affected both organizations.
Along the way, ASA took a chance at introducing known-yardage classes to see if it could help with their attendance. After all, more shooters create more money. Any business that doesn't try to capitalize on a chance to make more money probably won't stay in business for the long haul. If a person creates a logo and puts it on hats and the hats sell out, they would realize they could make more money by putting the logo on shirts and hats and have two products to produce income. Although the ASA saw an opportunity like that and decided to offer known and unknown, nothing could be further from the truth that the numbers don't lie and the "archers" want known yardage. Since the ASA offered known classes for their series of shoots before any other major 3D organization, it took on a life of its own and attracted many known shooters due to a variety of reasons, some of which are entertaining (an unspoken) at best. After these classes showed up on the entry forms, the ASA's attendance increased.
Although I don't recall the exact numbers, I believe it was said that the number of known shooters at the first ASA this year was in the neighborhood of 1,200 - 1,400 and the number of unknown was somewhere around 475. As the conversation progressed, we were told that numbers don't lie. Whether you like it or not, the numbers are there for everyone to look at. The organization was giving back to its customers and listening when the customers called for action.
After the podcast, the normal threads started online on different forums about how much the ASA cares about its customers and the IBO has no interest in listening to what their shooters want because the shooters want known distance. Is this good for archery? Do podcasts like this actually promote archery? That is a question only you can answer for yourself. Personally, I think it divides archers. Shooter numbers at IBO national events (all unknown yardage) have been on the rise this year, and are up 17% from last year. With the number of shooters increasing at that rate, it has made me wonder what is behind the reason for the increase. Is it that we are beyond the COVID scare? Has social media brought out more people to these events? Have more people taken up hunting and want to try their hand at the closest thing they can get to the real thing? Could it be something totally different? With the increase in attendance, I'm certain it's not because "all" of the "customers" want to shoot known yardage. Heck, I've even seen a whole heck of a lot of ASA belt buckles showing up at IBO shoots, and those buckles were always a rarity in the North. Are people coming back because they simply like a game that isn't based on pure accuracy? Do they like the game because two wrongs can make a right an you and your buddy can both get 10s when you're 4 yards different on your guesses? Then, you can argue all the way home about who was right? What is the reason people are slowly streaming back to the unknown game in one of the major organizations? The numbers are there... the attendance has increased by 17% in the last year, although you might've been led to believe there are very few archers out there who want to shoot unknown yardage.
The larger question to ask might be that of identifying if members are "customers," or are they simply buying membership because they know the organization is fighting for their rights as bowhunters? We all know that bowhunting makes the archery world go round. The vast majority of sales revolve around bowhunters, not target or 3D archers. Although it cannot be proven, I'm fairly certain companies would still sell a whole lot of bows if there were no professional archers. Of all the shops I've been involved in, very few of the customers even know a professional's name.
This brings me back to the mission statement of the IBO. The IBO partners with likeminded organizations to meet their mission for bowhunting rights and create a pathway for kids and families to become part of the outdoor lifestyle. Most people who are involved in the arguments that often put the ASA and IBO against each other don't realize that the archers who attend national IBO tournaments are an extremely small part of the total membership. Membership currently extends to Chile, Italy, Australia, Canada, South Africa, among a few others, and the rule book for tournaments is currently written in four languages. The tournaments are run to give archers another series of national events to test their skills, and it has often been said by many of the best 3D shooters of all time that winning or podiuming at a national level IBO is one of the greatest accomplishments a 3D archer can ever achieve. These tournaments test every skill a 3D shooter has in their toolbox.
The Future
Oftentimes the bigger picture is missed when people begin believing they have to defend themselves. Animosity can be born out of this and many opinions can be brought forward that are nothing more than opinions. Sometimes people believe so firmly that they are correct in their thoughts, they tend to miss the bigger picture. I've always been a hunter first and foremost, although many others who shoot competitive archery don't hunt. However, with that being said, I would think all archers would take a second look at becoming a member of the organization that supports and fights for our rights as bowhunters. If I had a huge following in the archery world, I would probably encourage all of my followers to become members.
Throughout the podcast, I also heard a few things mentioned about the fact there are very few shooters in the feeder classes that eventually bring shooters into the pro classes. I'd like to examine that from an entirely different viewpoint that was most likely never considered. The past two years show that our kids are our future, and the NASP event held in Louisville, Ky., this year had 1,300 of the total number of kids at the
NASP Nationals register for the Indoor Genesis World Championship, which is all unknown yardage. When the dust settled, 175 of those kids qualified for the IBO World Championship, and the other 1,125 had the desire to compete in an event in which no yardages were known. The kids -- nor parents -- complained that there weren't any known classes.
This coming year will the the 40th anniversary of the IBO, and the main concern the IBO has always faced is whether or not it is meeting its mission. If it's not meeting its mission, things need to change. It takes a lot for a nonprofit organization to last for 40 years. Unfortunately, many of the people reading this don't know how many things go on behind the scenes. I feel fortunate to have these events to attend. In all reality, the events don't need to take place at all. Has it every come to anyone's attention how privileged we are as tournament archers to have such a small group of individuals volunteering their time and efforts for us to go have fun at these events and promote the organization? In the last five years, I know I have personally been responsible for approximately 40 new memberships. Although that doesn't seem like much, imagine what could happen if we all made an effort to sign up one person. Furthermore, imagine if the people who claim they are doing everything to grow archery slipped a check in the mail to become members of the organization that fights for our rights as bowhunters.
In all honesty, I'm not sure why I wrote this. I guess my love for archery brought it out in me. What organizations choose to do is based on many different things, but when people who have huge followings in the sport of archery begin talking, many people listen and do not know much about the history or current climate among other areas in the sport. When someone who has made piles of money from an organization that does not have any known yardage classes spews disdain about that part of the sport, it doesn't do much good for any of us. We need to stick together and try not to validate our arguments to benefit ourselves. If people say things we don't like, we need to take a deep breath and move forward. If some people feel they take more crap from others than other professional archers take on a regular basis, there is probably a reason for that. I'm sure there are people out there who don't like Dan McCarthy, but I've never seen on-line where people feel the need to argue with him. Why does this happen? It's because Dan carries himself in a way that doesn't draw that negativity. He's an incredibly humble person, and most people will follow humble people who see themselves the same as their lessers when they speak. Sometimes we are blind to how we look or sound to people. Something my father taught me when I was much younger, and he made it so I could clearly understand it with one saying. He said, "No matter where you go or what you achieve, always remember that nobody is better than anyone else. Make sure you avoid the people who portray themselves in a way that says 'it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.'" That will always bring contempt for many people. Remaining humble is one of the most important things one can do when they become successful.
I'm sure most people probably didn't get this far, as reading things these days doesn't usually keep people's attention that long. However, if you did make it this far, I encourage all of you to support known and unknown yardage and respect each organization for what they choose to do going forward. They both give us great games to play, and I have a choice as to what game I want to spend my time on. If all unknown classes disappear in ASA, I will still have the IBO to participate in, and there's nothing saying I won't compete in known in ASA. I'm fairly certain I'd finish in the same place in both classes. There's a simple fact that some people at the lower levels and some on the upper tiers might not recognize: You will never win or podium in a national level unknown 3D event if you can't shoot your bow really well. Go out there and have fun, and choose whichever class brings you the most happiness. Promote what you like and take criticism and compliments in the same manner.
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