Hamburg Game Association

Last year I was bitten by the archery bug. I don’t know what triggered it but, suddenly memories of my childhood came flooding back and I wanted to get back into shooting a bow. I did a little shopping around and settled on a Mission Craze from Woody’s Sporting Goods.

After making my purchase, I headed over to the only gun club I’m a member of which had archery targets setup, Topton Fish & Game. I got my bow setup, to an extent, and headed out into the woods to hunt for the first time. The results were terrible, I didn’t even see a deer while out in the woods but I had a great time. Sitting in a tree, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature, was one of the most relaxing things I’ve done in some time.

As the year went on and the late archery season approached, my home life changed and things became very stressful and hectic. I haven’t been in the woods since and my bow has been collecting dust. I keep telling myself that I need to get out and start shooting again but I just haven’t been able to make that happen. I’m either shooting competitive pistol (USPSA and IDPA) or I’m taking care of my now three year old daughter while my wife goes to work/school.

I’ve been thinking about archery a lot as of late and a recent Facebook post pushed me over the edge. I fellow pistol shooter made mention of New Holland hosting its very first 3D Archery Shoot. To show her support, she attended the shoot, even though she didn’t own a bow, and was bitten by the archery bug herself.

In addition, another pistol shooter not only attended the New Holland shoot, he also talked about a recent Wapiti Archers Shoot (the club where I spent a lot of time at with my grandfather). Between the two of them talking about shooting, my urge to get the bow out grew stronger than ever.

While I would love to start shooting at Wapiti again, it is simply too far of a drive. Instead, I decided to look around on 3D Shoots to see what other options I had in the area. To my surprise, there were a variety of clubs close to home (I wish there were even half as many options for USPSA and IDPA).

I selected about a half-dozen nearby clubs and started doing a little research. Unfortunately, video cameras aren’t nearly as popular in archery as they are when it comes to guns. Even so, I was able to dig up some video for Hamburg Game Association. The videos are a little dated, having been posted in 2012, but it gave me a lot of insight as to how the club puts on its shoots.

The videos are entitled The Zena Show and feature a then 13 Year Old Female Shooter (her mother makes a few appearances as well). I couldn’t help but smile as I watched. Zena was having fun and was good. Watching these videos made me realize that I want my daughter to have the same experiences with archery that my grandfather shared with me as a child. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away a few years ago and I have some very big shoes to fill.

It looks like Hamburg Game Association may only run Outdoor 3D so many months out of the year and August may be the last month. I’d like to get some more information and perhaps give the club a try. I’m very rusty and still need to dial in my 40 Yard Pin so I think some practice is in order before I go, otherwise I may come home several arrows lighter than when I arrived.

The Zena Show – Episode 1

The Zena Show – Episode 2

The Zena Show – Episode 3

The Zena Show – Episode 4

Aside from the video making me want to get out my bow, it also has me very interested in doing some video recording. My Contour HD POV Camera is going to be tricky due to head position in archery but I’ve got three handheld cameras that could be mounted in trees. Using those cameras while shooting could make for some interesting video.