THUNDER BAY — Roughly 23 archers competed for top spots in the 2025 Archery Ontario 3D provincial championships held for the first time at Gammondale Farm this weekend.
Coming from the local Thunder Bay contingent to as far as Niagara-on-the-Lake, archers competed over two days for the highest combined score in a multi-terrain outdoor setting.
The championships were hosted by the Lakehead Archers after the Northwest zone successfully bid to become the host site for the annual event.
“We’re super proud and honoured to be able to host the event. We’re super excited to be able to host it here at Gammondale Farm,” said Shane Baker, Archery Ontario’s Northwest zone director and Lakehead Archers’ junior development chair.
“The Gammonds have been wonderful hosts for us. Lakehead Archers has put a lot of man hours… into setting this up between our administrative stuff (and) the course layout… We’re happy to see and we’re proud of the comments that are coming out from the shooters as well.”
The archers really liked the course so far, said Baker, they’ve had a lot of positive comments about it.
“It’s a beautiful area. You got your variety, your flat terrain and you’ve got your mountainous terrain as well,” said Baker.
He said it was really amazing for the Gammonds to give them an opportunity to shoot in this variety of terrain.
“The course layout… goes up into Candy Mountain. There are 17 particular targets and shooting lanes that go up through there, 17 brings you back down to the back fields over here and then there’s an extra 20 targets that’ll bring you back into the front field,” said Baker.
Starting in reverse order at target 19, archers made their way up the mountain to avoid the afternoon heat, shooting 40 targets during the day and a total of 80 targets over the weekend.
These foam 3D Rinehart and Delta McKenzie targets offered a wide variety of different looks true to the dimensions of real animals for archers to shoot, including a road deer, a Kodiak grizzly bear, a moose, honey badgers, a gazelle and a fallow deer.
“A lot of them have a replaceable centre, so you’re actually shooting at rings in there and they’ll start at 11, 10, 8 and then the rest of the body is mostly 5 points,” said Baker.
Misses, antler shots and hoof shots are zero points, he added.
The course also had dinosaurs, such as a velociraptor.
“(It) gives them a true opportunity to shoot something that they may never get another chance to shoot. It’s a great sport,” said Baker.
Real Bouchard, an experienced archer with the Lakehead Archers from Pays Plat First Nation, is trained in shooting 50-metre field targets and 20-yard indoor targets. He said his group was glad to shoot on Sunday at Gammondale Farm.
“It’s a new site for us and very challenging. A lot of targets,” said Bouchard, who also manages the Pays Plat Traditional Archers.
“3D targets are one of many forms of shooting that we do. This is certainly one I enjoy,” he said.
While a section in the hills was gruelling, posing stress and challenges for Bouchard’s knees, the change of the terrain, he explained, was exciting for him.
“Yesterday, if you were out here, it was scorching hot and the field was just relentless… By the time we got to the tree line. We were ready for the shade and it was a godsend. It was very comfortable in there,” said Bouchard.
“The only thing we worried about was the (walking) up and down hills and the flies.”
Lochlyn Good, a four-year competitive archer from Sault Saint Marie, also has experience in 3D archery and was shooting for the "grand champion." She said archers have to participate in five different provincial competitions, with a different discipline each and this is the 3D one that counts towards it.
“I personally don’t see it much as of a competition because I’m just making new friends (and) seeing old friends. It’s just a good experience (and) having a good time,” said Good, who shoots with the Algoma Rod and Gun Club and Arrows in Motion.
Good said she was proud of her progress in the competition.
“I really hope everyone else is very satisfied with how they’re doing as well because, at the end of the day, it is a competition about having fun, trying something new and just overall just doing what you love,” said Good.
