The 2002 Texas State Field Championship
Photos: page 1 (210 seconds) page 2(195 seconds) page 3 (206 seconds)
List of registrants (not all attended)
TSAA STATE FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS 2002
by Rick Stonebraker
Without a doubt, this was a most exciting state field championship. For those
who survived the mosquito barrage from 2001, it was evident that a mosquito
could not land on anyone due to the swirling winds on the front half of the
course. Nor could they survive the heat near the bottom of some of the sand
dunes. Although there was a lack of hilly terrain, the organizers did not lack
creativity and ingenuity to create an 'interesting' field championship. A huge
thanks goes up to the Blaschke's for allowing us to use their property. For all
those who missed it, the site is an exotic deer ranch with all kinds of animals
roaming around. On Sunday, shooting on target#8 was delayed due to a small heard
of Bison milling around the shooting position. After the beasts moved on,
shooting continued. The kids commented that is was very exciting!
Several kids and adults took photos of a camel that rested in one of the
enclosures. I mentioned beforehand that not a single snake was seen in the five
days that it took to prepare the course and on Sunday alone, we saw four grass
snakes, three garter snakes, and two banded snakes. Nothing poisonous, just
something to grasp your attention.
With several targets sitting on the tops of hills dubbed "sky shots" and dense
underbrush as backstops on others, it was absolutely incredible that not a
single arrow was lost.
A record 39 shooters enjoyed the day and many plan to return. The previous total
for a TSAA state field championship was 27 so that is a marked improvement and
we have many of the kids to thank. Some shot field for the first time and seemed
to enjoy it so we are thankful that the youth (the future) of the TSAA was there
to make our event successful.
An unofficial, unmarked round was shot in the morning for the adventurous
archers and then lunch was catered by a local B-B-Q that fed quite a few hungry
archers before the official state championship started in the afternoon. The
air-conditioned bunkhouse, R/V, and office trailer was a welcome respite from
the heat.
Stay tuned for further items on this event as archers will have their own
exciting stories to tell.
If there are any questions to the validity of the
results, please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you very much. Rick
Stonebraker
Sage Adams adds: I really enjoyed the skill level of this tournament and all the
new experiences I had. I especially liked # 1 target when I released my first
shot and the wind blew me half way down the hilltop. I also enjoyed # 13 with
the feeling of Pocahontas shooting into the big blue sky....thank you to all the
hard working people who allowed me to have this experience at such a young age!
Kathy Adams adds: WOW !!! What a shoot! y'all did a great job on this
tournament! Now that is what archery is all about! The ability to shoot on flat
ground at great distances is good... but the ability to shoot at an up or down
45 degree angle is outstanding!!!! I commend all of the archer's that shot this
field tournament and challenge all other archer's to try their skills at this
tournament next year!
We saw a snake taking a swim on target # 11. The puppy, Mingo, found a shed horn
from an axis buck but after chewing on it for 2days, we left there for the
owners to pick up. Mingo had a great time riding in his pouch bag the whole
2days. Sage and Trevor got to 4-wheeler with the owners daughter and took lots
of pictures of black and red bucks, buffalo, elk, axis deer, falon, eland, and a
camel, so they had a great safari adventure that was not expected but very much
appreciated!!
Tom Barker adds: I want to thank everyone for the tremendous courtesy and
patience that all the adults showed towards the 12 young people that I brought
to the TSAA State Field tournament. I also want to thank the kids for being
respectful of the adults. It was a win win situation for all. I want to thank
everyone that helped design, set-up, host, etc. The most memorable tournament
that I have played at.
The thing that stands out the most for me is that this is really the only
tournament where the kids and adults can really interact. At the indoor and
outdoor FITA's we are very formal. At the 3D tournaments the kids can get
impatient and you mostly end up shooting with the same folks all the time. The
NFAA field tournaments that I have shot in the adults went one way and the kids
the other. The mixing of skill, styles, members, guests and ages while it may
have slowed things up a little, made for a most pleasant social environment and
made everyone feel part of the family of archers. I know I can speak for all the
JOAD kids and their parents when I say thanks for letting us play.
I was shooting with Kayla Debord, Andrea Garner and Trevor Siedel on Saturday.
On target 3, the great left handed hill shot, but tough on the right handers,
Kayla gets ready to shoot and lets down. She looks at me and in a soft tone, she
says, "Mr. Barker, there is a snake in front of the target." Sure enough there
was a quite large rat snake moving from right to left. The young ladies finished
their shooting and no one wanted to score, but instead wanted to know where the
snake went. We couldn't find it. We couldn't tell you what the hills and trees
and stuff were like from target 3 to target 4, but we can sure as heck tell you
what the ground looked like.
Personally, what stands out the most is that this is the only tournament where
the kids and adults can really interact. It was a blast. Can we come next year?
Kristine Ehrich adds: Just wanted to say "thanks" for putting on a great
tournament. It was a great layout and a lot of fun. It wasn't too difficult and
wasn't too easy - just a real fun course.
Dale Garner adds: THANK YOU for a great field tournament 5-11&5-12 your hard
work along with all involved was greatly appreciated. Andrea really enjoyed this
event.
Jeff Chambers adds: Thanks again for a most excellent tournament. The magnitude
of the time, effort and plain hard work necessary to pull this off is so obvious
that it seems a little ridiculous even to mention it. Nevertheless, I am
mentioning it and want to recognize it and say how much it is appreciated.
Although I shot like a one-armed blind man, I thoroughly enjoyed the event, and
the layout of the range, the thoughtful crafting of target sites and the fine
functionality of the mechanics and organization all contributed to bringing this
about. The course aesthetics were reminiscent of the old Buffalo range where I
grew up in the 60's, and I had one helluva time. Thanks, man!
Gary Raffaelli adds: I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation for all
the hard work it took to make the State Field such a success. The course y'all
planned and implemented was extremely enjoyable and we would do it again in a
minute.
Kathy Eissinger adds: I want to thank everyone involved in setting up the
tourney this weekend - thanks for all your hard work in setting it up. It was a
great shoot and was obvious that a lot of effort went into the setup and layout.
Thanks for helping to make it happen. Kristin, Tyler and Clayton and I were
shooting together on Sunday. We walked around the corner from target 7 and
started toward target 8 and noticed there were 4 bison standing at the adult
stake for target 8. They were facing away from us and at first didn't notice us.
When they did, they turned around to face us and it looked like we might have to
fight them for the use of the stake. They saw the two little boys with bows
though (Clayton and Tyler) and decided it would be better to run away. The kids
were excited about getting to see the bison. Clayton who is 9 I think was saying
all day that target 24 was his favorite target. I could see why when we got
there. It was the birdie target on the side hill. He shot three great shots and
then took a picture of the results. It was his best target all day so I guess he
knew what he was talking about.
Dale Garner adds: This was the first field tournament I have ever attended. I
thought the location and setup were great. I was very impressed at the way the
adults and young people participated together; it was nice to see archers of all
ages show great respect for each other. This event was truly a big success.
Andrea Garner adds: I don't really have a story
to tell but when I was at target 4 and it was my turn to shoot, even though we
were warned to watch out for certain plants, as I climbed up the hill to shoot -
I reached down and grabbed a bull nettle plant - (Blonde Moment) - with the hand
that I use to hold my bow with. It itched really bad. Needless to say - my score
was not very good at this target. About my weekend - I would like to say that I
really enjoyed it. I liked how the kids and adults shot together, it really was
fun watching people who are older than me even if they shot different than me
shoot and see how they did. The place was really great. I hope that we will get
to shoot there again next year.
Scott Williams adds: As Tom Barker pointed out, we target archers usually end up
shooting with other archers in our own divisions. This was my first tournament
where I got to shoot with the kids. On Saturday, I had the chance to shoot with
2 young archers: Whitney Ellis and Coral McMinn. These kids were a blast! It
makes you remember that you started shooting because it was fun. Coral and I had
a little friendly competition going on, she ended up beating me by 8 points.
That's the most fun losing that I've had in a while!
I have direct experience with how much work it takes to set-up one of these
shoots. But, I'd be happy to do it again to have the opportunity to shoot with
the kids!
Simone Petrosky adds: I liked everything, but they should try to remember about
left-hand people. Like when we had to shoot from the top of the hill, I think it
was Target #4, that when a big gust of wind comes, I could easily get knocked of
the hill side [Like I almost did]. Mr. Rick told me to put rocks in my pocket to
prevent the above. That was funny, because I picked up lots of rocks and had a
pocket full of rocks, 8 rocks. I thought that they were pretty so I picked them
up. We did see some axis deer and some cow elk run when I shot the second day.
We also saw a bunch of wild grapes.
Debbie Halvorson adds: What a great tournament, even though i wasn't shooting!!
Extremely well organized & beautiful facilities. My only regret is that we never
seemed to make it to Target #25.....
Kathy Heinsohn adds: We all enjoyed the weekend, including my son, who became
the proud owner of a scorpion, a "red velvet ant" and some sort of locust.
Nicholas and Mark Stricklin adds: We had an
excellent time. Not only did we find the course fun and challenging we also
caught some interesting insects to share with our entomology group. We really
look forward to going again. Nick enjoyed the fellowship of his friends,
shooting from the side of a cliff, and catching some very interesting insects.
We caught 2 cuckoo wasps, 2 dung beetles and a large cottonwood borer. Thanks
Holly Heinsohn adds: I thought that among all the shoots that I have been to,
this State Field was one of the best. It was very different and challenging. I
had a lot of fun and look forward to shooting there again.
Ty Heinsohn adds: That place was cool. There were grasshoppers everywhere -
green ones and sand grasshoppers. I caught a bark locust and a red velvet ant
and a praying mantis and I gave Justin (Holcomb) one of my beetles. That
scorpion that dad caught for me is cool. I'm going to keep him. I liked feeding
that lazy camel, and I saw some deer and a llama. We all threw rocks at the
water snake to scare him away. I want to go back there again.
Rick Stonebraker adds: In field archery, wind is usually not present. Target #2
was the only target on the whole range that was flat but it was out in the open.
The wind was gusting so much that Mike Hojnacki pointed out that some ants
scurrying along the sandy road actually got tumbled backwards from time to time.
Tournament Director's comments: Yes, it was a
lot of hard work and most TD's can testify to that but when you take a moment
and sit back to watch these kids shooting field for the first time, seeing their
smiling faces, hearing their comments on "how come they put a target up on the
hill" or "holy cow, I have to shoot way down there" or the target on #24 when a
kid says "someone was drunk when they put that up!" That makes all the hard, hot
and dusty work all worthwhile. It makes the effort seem effortless. Many of
these kids experience field shooting for the very first time and enjoyed the
mingling with the adults and likewise. We adults when we shoot together tend to
get into a pattern but with young kids around, they remind us where we came from
and that we can go back to that youth from time to time, all we have to do is be
around them. I turned 52 shortly after this tournament but I had as much fun as
they did - it just takes me a couple extra days to recoup but I am smiling the
whole time! Rick Stonebraker, TSAA President
In Thanks: This event would not have been possible without Scott Williams
and John Blaschke. Thanks to John and his father Nolan for allowing us to use
their property. Scott, John and myself spent four full days working on the
field. This field course had to be done from scratch. Weeks ahead of time was
spent gluing 208 field faces to double-cardboard. Tom Barker and Mike Hojnacki
each spent most of a day helping with set-up as well. The Petosky's supplied ice
for the water barrels. Believe it or not, the entire 24-target field was
dismantled in about 3 hours thanks to lots of people and I can't remember who
all was out there but it was greatly appreciated. Come to think of it, thanks
aren't needed or necessary because it is "your" organization and without you,
things like this doesn't happen. Just a few of the people involved both before
and after: Jeff Chambers, Kathy Eissinger, Greg Petrosky, Neely Johnson, Donnie
Hessong, Samantha Hessong, Catherine Blaschke, Candice Blaschke, Dale Garner,
Gary Raffaelli, Mark Lesak and Todd Janota. I know I will forget someone so
e-mail me as a reminder. I estimated over 200 person-hours went into this event.
RWS