This is our second installment of “A Parent’s Guide To…” a series of blog posts to give you insight into the activities we have at camp – their backgrounds, how we teach them, and if applicable, the ranks campers can achieve!
Background
With our camp’s founder, Cap Endres, being an incredible archer who almost qualified for the Olympics and being someone who taught himself to shoot left-handed when he injured his right arm, it’s no surprise that our archery program continues to be a staple to this day!

The archery range is perfectly flat and covered with gorgeous green grass, sitting next to the incredibly beautiful Cass Lake – it is such a serene place for campers to hone their skills. The range can allow for archers to shoot up to 70 meters in distance! With a newly renovated (last year) archery bunker containing top-quality bows, arrows, and supporting equipment, it really is no surprise that campers love spending time down there during activity periods and during open evenings.
The esker houses our field archery course, where camper can hike through the woods and shoot at fake animal targets nestled in some hard to reach areas! It requires compound bows (instead of our usual recurve bows) and provides a unique challenge for campers looking to progress their archery skills.
Teaching
Campers arrive at the archery range and sit on the benches. A counselor will be inside the archery bunker, getting things ready for the upcoming period. He will call in people a few at a time to get their bows, arrows, and finger/arm guards if necessary. Afterwards, campers head back outside to set their bows and arrows at a quiver of their choice, and then sit back on the benches. Once all campers are ready and seated, the counselor will begin saying the range commands! Once “be by yours bows”, “ready on the range”, and “the range is open” have all been spoken, this signals that it’s safe for campers to being shooting towards their target!

While shooting, counselors will be teaching fundamentals to campers: patience and proper form. During an archery period, campers need to keep their heart rates low to succeed – the range is a calm environment! Proper safety procedures are taught and enforced heavily (following range commands, listening to the counselors, not crossing the firing line while others are shooting, and saying ‘ceasefire’ when necessary). Consistency is key! That’s why proper form is taught and dialed in constantly by our archery staff: standing up straight without moving, drawing back the bowstring to your anchor point (as shown in the image above), and following through after releasing your arrow! The better your form, the better your shooting!
Ranks
Ranks are based on a camper’s total score over five total ‘ends’ of shooting (during each end, six arrows are shot). On an archery target, a single arrow will be score from 1-10 based on how close it is to the bullseye (as shown below: the outer ring of white equals one point, the inner ring of white equals two points, etc. all the way to the smallest circle of yellow equaling ten points. A maximum of 60 points can be achieved per end. Therefore, the highest possible score a camper can achieve when trying to achieve a rank would be a perfect 300).

As a camper passes ranks, the distance (in meters) they shoot at will increase! After achieving Jr. Archer, campers can try field archery provided it’s open. At Bowman, camper’s can cross the fabled ‘red line’ in the bunker – it’s a tough one to pass! Here’s our current ranking system:
Yeoman: 115 points @ 15 meters (average of 23 per end)
Jr. Bowman: 115 points @ 20 meters (average of 23 per end)
Jr. Archer: 150 points @ 25 meters (average of 30 per end)
Bowman: 190 points @ 30 meters (average of 38 per end)
Archer: 200 points @ 40 meters (average of 40 per end)
Master Archer: 200 points @ 50 meters (average of 40 per end)
Expert Archer: 200 points @ 60 meters (average of 40 per end)
Olympian: 200 points @ 70 meters (average of 40 per end)
-Will Norris