Area Archers Meet Right on Target in Balboa Park

They came together from north and south and points inland. Some had the latest in compound bows with hunting sights and trigger release mechanisms. Others eschewed such high-tech gadgetry, preferring to stick with the basic Robin Hood model.

Whatever their differences in age, equipment and technique, the 40 or so weekend archers who came to Balboa Park’s Palm Canyon archery range for the Southern Border Shoot on Sunday morning were united by a love of the sport and an enjoyment of each other’s company.

“It’s a big family,” said Harry Ross, outgoing president of the San Diego Archers. “Usually, one archer knows another archer. There’s not a lot of competition--just come out and have fun.”

Ross, 60, took up the sport 38 years ago and has been involved with organized archery in San Diego County for 35 years. His group, one of five bow-and-arrow clubs in the county, meets at Balboa Park on the third Sunday of each month. Other clubs, such as the National City Turtles and the Bear State Bowhunters, shoot at other sites on other Sundays.

But on the fifth Sunday of a month, an occurrence that only happens four times in a typical year, members of all five clubs meet for the Southern Border Shoot. Sunday’s competition was the last of the year, so archers’ scores were added to their totals from the shoots held in March, June and August to determine the county’s champions in the various categories.

Archers compete in categories such as bowhunter, freestyle and traditional, the last classification for those who use bows without sights. These categories are subdivided into three skill levels, so even novice archers can win trophies. But even when bragging rights were on the line Sunday, the shoot still resembled a picnic more than a playoff.

“The real hot shots, they get a little rivalry going, but they’re real tolerant--I’ve never seen an obnoxious archer,” said Walt Blackburn, range captain at Palm Canyon. Blackburn, 58, first picked up a bow and arrow 23 years ago and considers archery “the greatest sport on earth.”

That perception is shared even by neophytes like Robert Coates, who took up the sport just seven months ago.

“It’s exactly like golf,” Coates said. “You like it for the same reasons--being outdoors, the exercise, the people. It keeps you from being a couch potato on Sundays.”

Coates said he bought his first bow for $100. Other archers said a “top of the line” model can run as high as $350.

Although most of those present Sunday were members of the over-30 set, there were a few younger people, including Albert Hernandez, 16. The Mar Vista High School student began shooting six years ago and is now hoping to make the 1988 Olympic team after placing first at the world archery championships last year in the youth freestyle division.

Ross said the sport is becoming increasingly popular with young people due in part to the introduction of archery into Olympic competition in 1984 and the depiction of bowhunting in the film “Rambo.”

“I try to work with young people and bring them into the sport,” Ross said. “It helps perpetuate the sport. You couldn’t have these old guys out here without having young guys first.”