Archery
Archery
Monroe-Chester Sportsmens’ club is a member of Tri-County Archers Association. Since 2006, the archery committee has been co-chaired by Anthony Meluso and Paul Papitto.
Archery is considered an introductory level subset to the shooting sports. Long before BB guns, this is where youth are first exposed to how much fun
and enjoyment the challenging sport of archery can offer.
The Archery and Youth Day committees’ purpose is to expose youth to the outdoors through education and instruction in a safe environment. Each Youth Day and 3D event is supported by volunteers and instructors who are dedicated to the advancement of archery as a means to build confidence in young people from five years of age and older.
We host two youth day events, four 3D archery shoots and the NYS senior games for those over 55 years of age. Financially, the Archery Committee functions are at best a break even proposition. It is a policy not to charge kids under 12 for food at our events. The Monroe Chester Sportsmen’s Club provides funding through membership fees for capital improvements and for supplies.
Range
The Archery Range features an 80 yard range with stations set every 10 yards. The main range includes field logic block targets. At times, some of the older 3D targets are set out for the members and guests to use, practice and enjoy. A cow elk and a bison are currently set out at 45 and 50 yards.
The Archery Range also includes a 700 square foot storage building constructed in 2012 by Belknap Construction, at cost, for the Archery Committee to store its targets, tools and mowers.
Equipment
Many of the bows we have acquired are new Mathews Genesis bows much like the National Archery in Schools Program use. The bows are available for use at any time to club members and guests. Because we are a for profit organization, we must rely on partnerships with archery pro shops to discount the equipment so that we can continue to promote the sport.
Recently, B&B Archery, located in Middletown, NY has stepped up and provided eight bows at their cost either to the club, or to the Boy Scouts of America at Camp Tri-mount. www.bnbarchery.com. Davis Sporting Shops, located in Sloatsburg and Goshen, NY www.davissport.com has also been instrumental in
acquiring targets and inserts for the club at discounted prices for several years. This is my way of acknowledging their generosity and dedication.
3D Shoots
The original 3D course was laid out and cleared by Reese May and others in 1988 and traverses the 120 acre property. To the extent practicable, we try to choreograph the shoots, placing the big horn sheep, deer, bear and velociraptors at locations, you would normally expect to see them in the wild. The club has many Rhinehart and Mackenzie and Delta targets for a variety of stations. 3D shoots are open to the general public.
The course starts next to the range, traverses the property and returns to the point of beginning. The course includes 30 targets at 28 stations and is self-guided with score kept by the honor system. Participation trophies are awarded to youth under 12 that complete the entire course.
Committee work has included design and construction of course, building and range improvements, assistance in Deer Quality Management , Basic Hunter and Bow-Hunter Education and support of the two annual youth day events held the first Saturday in May and third Sunday in October.
The work of the Archery Committee includes trail clearing, signs and marking beginning in March. Throughout the year the committee is responsible for mowing and clearing woodland trails, setting out the targets and retrieving them after each 3D shoot. There are ample opportunities to complete the mandatory work requirement within the archery discipline.
We look forward to new members becoming familiar with the course and the property through sharing of the work load. By convention, all the 3D shoots are on Sundays. The set up occurs on Saturday at 8:00 AM and ends around noon. Registration for the shoots is Sunday morning at 7:00 AM. Registration ends at 12:00 noon and the course closes at 3:00 PM. The targets are collected from just after noon until 3:00 and placed back into storage.
Tri County Archers
Tri County Archers consists of five sportsmen’s clubs located in Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties, New York. The schedule and directions to each participating club may be found at our website also. Each club conducts an average of four 3-D archery shoots between March and September. The Tri County Archers Association has responsibility for promoting and advertising the various 3D shoots. This is accomplished through web, Facebook, word of mouth and newspaper advertising in the sports section. Funds for advertising are raised from the annual Fathers Day 40 target fundraiser shoot held in mid to late June. In the past, the registration fee has included a T-shirt and coupons for sporting goods for participants.
As a reminder, every person using the facility, must sign in. Members are responsible for the actions of their guests. Broadheads are never allowed on the range,as we use this same range for Youth Day and want to avoid injuries from errant broadheads lodged in the grass. Cross bows are not allowed at this range due to proximity to other club functions. For cross bows, targets are available at the newly constructed range next to the main club house. Contact Jim Burnell to make inquiries into the requisite procedures and safety precautions.
- Bethlehem Rod & Gun Club
- Monroe Chester Sportsmen Club
- Black Rock Fish & Game Club
- Otisville Sportsmen’s Association
- Walden Sportsmen’s Club
