Clear Creek Bowmen on the mark for Carson City community

Precision means to be exact, on point.

Bows and arrows, though made for this, are only as accurate as the person drawing them back.

Few others in Northern Nevada know this as well as the Clear Creek Bowmen (CCB), a local club that not only helps to preserve the sport of archery, but has also become a key member of the Carson City community.

What began more than 40 years ago as a club for local archers has turned into a registered 501(c)7 non-profit that strives to benefit the local area.

At times, the Bowmen function more like a civic club than a recreational organization, hosting benefit shoots that raise funds for charities in the Northern Nevada region.

Among the organized competitions are the May Cancer Shoot and Holiday with a Hero Shoot in December. There's also the October Turkey Shoot and Hell or High Water in March.

Proceeds from the club's competitive Tuesday night shoots, held between April and August, also go to support the community.

The CCB has partnered with the Consolidated Municipality of Carson City and the City of Reno to provide archery instruction as part of local public youth recreational programs.

The club also teaches archery to area Boy and Girl Scouts.

"Some children do not like or are unable to do a physical sport," CCB Secretary Carol Davis said. "Archery gives them the opportunity to compete against others or themselves."

Just last month the Centennial Park Archery Range, located east of Eagle Valley Golf Course, had work completed on the practice range platform that made the site wheelchair accessible, Davis said, thanks to a grant through the Carson City Parks and Recreation Department.

The improvements now allow archers of all ability levels to participate and compete in archery, regardless of their handicaps.

"Archers in wheelchairs or walkers have a sidewalk to make shooting a bow easier from the practice range," Davis said.

Archery is as much a group activity as it is an individual sport, she said, making it ideal for families to participate in together.

"The sport of archery is appealing to families because it gives them the opportunity to do something together," she said.

CCB offers archers a safe and expansive shooting area to sharpen their existing skills or to learn the sport from the beginning.

Situated on 35 acres off Centennial Drive right below the hill to Mound House, Centennial Park Archery Range features a pratice range with targets as close as seven yards and as far away as 80 yards.

There is also a field course featuring three dimensional targets and challenging topography that tests the skills of even the most experienced archers and bow hunters.

Davis said archery requires concentration and focus, valuable skills for children and adults alike. CCB can help individuals develop and hone these skills, she said.

"The purpose of CCB club is to promote, expand and teach the safety and the sport of field archery to all ages," she said. "We also have several CCB members that are trained Level 1 Archery Instructors that will help archers on the safety and instruction of the proper way the shoot a bow."

The CCB originally had its range located near Clear Creek off U.S. Highway 50 West, Davis said, but that property went into a land trust in 1999 and the organization was offered the parcel where its present range is situated.

Currently, the CCB boasts about 200 members, a few of whom volunteer to help maintain the archery range.

A weekly shoot is held every Tuesday evening from 5 to 8 p.m. beginning in April and lasting through August, Davis said.

Participation is free for youth 17 and under, she said, including use of on-site archery equipment.

The entry fee for adults to shoot at the 3-D Animal Targets on the field course is $5. The practice range is free to shoot.

Centennial Archery Range is a city park, Davis said, and is always open. But there is no water available, so archers need to bring their own.

Archers don't have to be members of the CCB to shoot at the range, but membership is encouraged to help pay for the costs of maintaining the range, Davis said.

Those costs include insurance, costs of repairing targets and maintenance of the range.

Membership for one person or a family is $25 per year.

Visit the CCB online here for more information.