The Black Knight Bowbenders’ 16th annual Big Foot Open is one of the very few times that archers in all disciplines can gather under one big tent.
Randy Green of Chesterfield (above) is a picture of concentration as he takes aim at one of the targets on the Black Knight Bowbenders’ range on Perrineville Road in Jackson. The Black Knight Bowbenders will host the Big Foot Open on July 10-11. Below, John Van Sickle (l) and Green ready their bows for practice. More photos at gmnews.com. From those who prefer the basics — the Robin Hood days of the bow and arrow — to those who like the technology of today’s compound bows complete with sights, stabilizers and finger releases, everyone will take aim at the same targets.
According to the Black Knights’ Gene Grodzki, that is what makes the Big Foot Open so unique and popular. The club expects up to 250 archers to compete in the Big Foot Open on July 10-11 at its 41-acre range on Perrineville Road in Jackson.
Perrineville Road is off Route 537 near the outlet shopping center and Interstate 195.
The archery club has a 56-target field range featuring 3-D (hunting) and dot targets.
According to Bordentown’s Vince Mancini, who competes regularly at the Big Foot Open, the Black Knight Bowbenders’ range is second to none.
“It is undoubtedly the best field archery facility in New Jersey,” he said. “The shoot [Big Foot Open] appeals to all archers. It has something for everyone.”
Archers of all skill levels participate in what Mancini called “a nice weekend.”
But make no mistake, the competitive archers are not coming to the Jackson range for fun.
“It means a lot to go there and be competitive,” said Mancini, one of the top archers in New Jersey who has enjoyed previous success at the Big Foot Open.
There are special competitions that make the Big Foot Open enjoyable for the archers and for spectators. The big honor is Top Gun.
The Top Gun competition will be held July 10 at 2:30 p.m., and this event pits the top four dot scorers (field targets) against the top four 3-D shooters (hunting targets) in a competition to determine who is the 2010 top archer, or top gun.
In the Top Gun competition, each archer will shoot at three field targets and three unmarked 3-D targets. No target will be farther than 50 yards. The combined scores from the field target and the 3-D shoots are added up, and the highest scorer is the Top Gun.
On July 11 the Skins Game and Last Man Standing will be the featured events.
Action will start at 11:30 a.m. with Last Man Standing, which is a shoot-off for traditional shooters. It is open to finger-shooting recurve and longbow shooters. No sights or mechanical devices are allowed.
Twenty-four archers will take part in the competition. After the first round of two arrows each at five targets, the lowest 12 scorers are eliminated. The 12 archers still standing will shoot again at different targets from distances chosen at random. The six lowest scores will be eliminated. The remaining six competitors will shoot again until there are three archers remaining. The top three shooters are the ones who will split the prize money, with the winner taking more than 50 percent.
The Skins Game is an exhibition shoot between the top eight scorers from the dot competition. Each shooter will get three arrows per target. The top scorer at each target receives the purse for that target. If there is a tie, the purse carries over to the next target. Archers will shoot at eight targets, 24 arrows in all.
The Skins Game will get under way at 2 p.m. July 11.
“If you get into the Skins Game, you’re a winner,” said Grodzki. “Being involved is a big deal.”
Mancini, who has been involved in archery since 1981, said the sport is getting more popular.
“It’s definitely growing, it’s on the rebound. A lot of new people are coming in,” Mancini said, noting that archery is a sport in which a person’s age does not matter.
Traditional archery is making a big comeback, according to Grodzki. Archers are going back to basics with the older-style bows that are minus the new-age technology.
“Fifty years ago it [traditional] was the only way to shoot,” said Grodzki, who added that some traditional archers go so far as to use wooden arrows with feathers, like in the days of Robin Hood.
Traditional archers will get to have their day at this weekend’s Big Foot Open in Jackson. For more information about the Big Foot Open, call the club phone at 732- 833-1100 or Gene Grodzki at 732-462- 2278, or log on to the Internet website at www.blackknightbowbenders.com.