Archery: Field range work in April; volunteers needed
/Updated April 4, 2016
Last year we tramped through the woods down at Old Stoney Creek Rd. and pretty much got the blueprint for a 14-target field range planned and a path laid-out on the WPOA property. Signage is now being created. Rules and details for operation, classes and events will soon be set.
In April we are determined to get a loop trail cleared and many of the target lanes built and equipped with targets and backstops. We need volunteers throughout the month of April. We need to clear the paths and lanes of fallen leaves and debris, then hang targets and backstops so as to start enjoying this sport at Wintergreen. (Beginners will be most welcomed; sign up for archery email newsletters on this page.)
What is field archery?
Outdoor field archers shoot on a walking course – sometimes called a “roving course” – that’s usually wooded. Target distances will vary along the WSC path, sometime about 50 yards, often much less. Targets will be placed among the trees and are usually three-dimensional (rather than a flat bullseye). Targets also vary in their distance from the surface. The new WSC half-mile loop course will offer about a dozen clearly marked stands from which to shoot. Finding a secure foothold at each stand will be more of a challenge than at WSC's archery range at Rodes Farm.
Care was taken in the design as not to interfere with any hiking trails. None of the targets are in the range of any of the hiking trails in the area. (The WSC archery course starts several hundred yards east of Lower Shamoken trail.) Some signage is already in place to designate the archery field and more will be posted.
Please email jerryrendich@aol.com to learn more about the next scheduled work day, or sign up for the archery emails.
Volunteers should bring work gloves along with their rakes push leaves in the forest, shovels to move rocks from the path and brush cutters. (To clear the trail, a gasoline-powered leaf blower would be very welcomed, as would a chainsaw or two.)
Directions to the archery range: A few hundred yards south of the Excel Gas Station on route 151 turn onto Old Stoney Creek Rd. (Route 751). Follow Old Stoney Creek Rd. for 2¼ miles through a rural residential area. Where the road ends in a “Y”, bear right onto a dirt road and look 100 yards ahead where you will see a yellow metal gate which WSC will leave unlocked when a scheduled archery event is taking place. (Other times visitors must park and walk; note WPOA signage regarding trout fishing here.) Continue ½ mile on the road and park at the large steel building (the water pump house) next to a power station. Behind the pump house cross Stoney Creek on the metal foot bridge . The path to the archery range will be directly in front of you (look for steps, orange marker flags and signage.) Email archery@wtgsportingclub.org for more information.
In early spring the field Archery course will be easier to establish. The WSC's goal is to clear the path to make it very easy to walk. (Pictured: Karl Hess (red shirt) talking with Jerry RenDich in late March 2016 as Mike capps surveys what needs to be done to get started.)
