Big Foot Open brings state's top archers to Jackson
Black Knight Bowbenders hosting competition
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

ERIC SUCAR staff Mike Schultz of Little Egg Harbor takes aim on July 5 while practicing for this weekend's Big Foot Open in Jackson.

The bows may have the best of modern technology (sights, stabilizers, etc.) and the targets may be 3-D, however, for two days, the Black Knight Bowbenders will be turning back the clock with their 13th annual Big Foot Open.

The event, which will be held at the club's range on Anderson Road in Jackson on Saturday and Sunday, will resemble the days of yore when archery was king and the target competitions were one way of determining who was the best in the land.

The Big Foot Open will crown its version of the best with the Top Gun competition among its many activities. The Top Gun 3-D shootoff will be held on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. This will pit dot archers against 3-D archers. The challenge for dot shooters is to guess the yardage on unmarked 3-D targets, while the test for the 3-D shooters is hitting the dot on a field target.

There will only be eight shooters in the Top Gun, determined from competition held Saturday morning.

Other highlights are the Last Man Standing (11:30 a.m.) and Big Foot Skins Game (2 p.m.) both on Sunday.

The public is welcome to come and watch many of the state's best archers in action as they test their skills in a variety contests. There is no admittance fee and the Big Foot Open is for anyone who owns a bow.

The Last Man Standing is for traditional shooters using finger shooter with recurve or Longbows. Archers will shoot two arrows at five targets at unmarked distances. After each round of shooting, the field will be cut in half until three remain. They will divide the prize money 50-30-20 after the final target.

The skins game is an exhibition money shoot. The format is three arrows per target shot at nine field faces for a total of 27 arrows. Top score on each target will win the purse for that target. If there's a tie, the money for that target carries over to the next target.

The Big Foot competition itself consists of 14 field targets, 14 hunter targets and 30 MacKenzie/Reinhart 3-D targets (unknown distances). On Saturday morning, the dot and 3-D shooters will participate in their normal competition (14 field and 14 hunter targets for the dot archers and the 30 targets for the 3-D shooters). At 2 p.m., the shooters will turn in their score cards with the top four dot and top 3-D scorers qualifying for the Top Gun competition.

Archers can shoot only 3-D or only dots, or both if they choose, and they can compete just for fun and not turn in a card. Both the dot and 3-D ranges will be open Saturday and Sunday. Registration each day is from 7-10 a.m.

In addition to the actual archery competition, the Big Foot will offer an archery/sporting goods swap meet.

For additional information on the Big Foot, go to www.blackknightbowbenders.com or call (732) 833-1100.