Bow-and-arrow challenge: A competition with pop

Not long ago, hitting a balloon at 100 yards with an arrow was thought to be undoable. Not impossible. But — generally — undoable. Consistently, an archer just couldn't count on pinpointing a target that far away.

Times have changed. Today, visitors to Game Fair, which opens Friday in Ramsey for its annual six-day, two-weekend run, can witness archery proficiency rarely displayed.

Now in its fifth year, the Game Fair 100-yard Archery Challenge is expected to attract more than 75 bow-and-arrow aficionados vying for a chunk of $1,000 in prize money.

The object is to pop a balloon with an arrow at 100 yards.

"I don't know if I'll have much time to practice this year,'' said Eric Nathe, 37, of Elk River, a finalist in the competition two years ago.

Nathe owns a target bow as well as a hunting bow. He'll use the latter when he draws back in the Game Fair contest.

"I'm a vegetable farmer, so in the summer I don't get a lot of time to shoot my bows,'' Nathe said. "But I shoot a variety of competitions in winter, typically shooting between 40 and 80 arrows in each. And every year I go to Las Vegas to shoot the World Archery Festival. So I shoot a fair bit.''

"People in the crowd would come up afterward and say they would like to try to break a balloon at 100 yards with their bow, and from there the event became a competition,'' Baumgartner said.

Already a host of archery attractions were, and are, being held at Game Fair, including a kids shoot (all equipment provided), a 3-D warm-up range and a 25-target woods walk.

Additionally, the Minnesota Bow Hunters Association again this year will tantalize archers and would-be archers with an aerial disc shoot, in which a recurve bow and flu-flu arrows are used (theoretically) to hit flying targets.

Modern equipment, particularly the further refinement of compound bows, is one reason today's archers can draw down accurately on faraway targets.

Unlike straight bows, or recurve bows, a compound bow uses cables and pulleys to bend a bow's limbs, allowing them to store, and expel, more energy than is possible with traditional-style bows. Advances in arrow design and materials also account for truer, and faster, bow shots than any in history.

"The diameter of today's arrows is a lot smaller than the diameter of arrows built only a few years ago,'' Baumgartner said. "Also, because they're made of carbon, they're straighter than aluminum arrows or wooden arrows were.''

Arrow fletchings also have improved. Traditionally made of feathers and fairly large, now most fletchings are constructed of plastic and are minimally sized, reducing the effects of wind on arrows in flight.

More archers are purchasing the improved gear, and their shooting has improved as a result.

"The first year we offered the 100-yard challenge at Game Fair we had 41 participants and 22 qualifiers,'' Baumgartner said.

(A qualifier is an archer who hits a balloon at 100 yards during tryouts held daily at Game Fair.)

By comparison, last year's competition had 62 participants and 43 qualifiers.

"And we dropped only a half-dozen archers in the first round of the finals,'' Baumgartner said.

A misconception about modern archery, said Frank Welsch, 48, of Shafer, concerns the amount of "draw weight'' required to shoot arrows accurately at long distances.

"I've hunted in many states and also internationally, and I compete in a number of archery tournaments,'' said Welsch, who also has been a 100-yard challenge finalist. "But I draw back only 60 pounds. Fifteen or 20 years ago, you needed a 70-pound bow to get enough kinetic energy to harvest game. With the evolution of archery equipment, that's no longer necessary.''

Long-distance shooting, Welsch said, will help archers improve proficiency with their bows.

The 100-Yard Archery Challenge finals will be on Game Fair's last day, Aug. 21.

Fair hours are 9-6 Friday and Saturday and 9-5 Sunday, continuing Friday-Sunday, Aug. 19-21. Daily archery challenge shooting hours and other Game Fair information, including admission prices, are available online at gamefair.com.

Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com