Archery Group Aims to Keep Ancient Sport Alive

They meander through shady groves and desert terrain in Big Tujunga Canyon, stalk stationary targets and shoot at them with bows and arrows.

These modern-day warriors are members of the Verdugo Hills Archers, a 46-year-old club based in Sunland-Tujunga that is keeping alive the ancient sport of archery and passing it on to the next generation.

“I like to pull the arrow back, watch it in flight and see it hit the spot,” said Jerry Hart, the club’s historian and chairman of the board of directors. “There’s just something about it that catches you.”

Every weekend, the archers take target practice in a wooded area near Mt. Gleason Avenue and Big Tujunga Canyon Road. The shooting range is laid out much like a golf course, with 28 targets set at distances ranging from 3 yards to 80 yards, Hart said.

The circular course winds through a heavily wooded area with oaks, deer and bobcats as well as High Desert terrain with yucca plants and an occasional rattlesnake, he said.

Verdugo Hills Archers, which leases from and maintains the course for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, has shot there for 33 years, Hart said. The club moved after shooting on ranges north of the present site in Big Tujunga Canyon, as well as Roger Jessup Recreation Center in Pacoima and Hansen Dam Park in Lake View Terrace.

The archery club was co-founded in 1953 by Howard Hill, an archery stunt double for Errol Flynn in the 1938 film, “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” and archers Ted Ekin and Dick Garver Sr.

Today, the family-oriented club has 45 members who range in age from 7 to 65, Hart said. Archery enthusiasts are drawn to the sport because they like being outdoors and competing in tournaments.

Hart began slinging arrows in 1957 when he happened upon a range while hiking with friends in Griffith Park.

“We came up this hilltop and looked over, and there were all these bales with paper animal targets on them,” he said. “I sat there watching and thought, ‘I’ve got to try this.’ ”

The club hosts major invitational tournaments in March and November each year that draw archers from across Southern California, Hart said. Club members also serve as volunteer instructors for city Recreation and Parks Department archery programs.

For more information call, Hart at (818) 767-5844 or club President Ron Jobbes at (818) 353-9487.