I believe that it’s every hunter’s obligation to help young people get involved in the sports of archery and hunting.  This is a gift to the next generation of hunters – sharing the tradition of hunting and our conservation heritage.   Eleven years a go, Jim, my husband, and I began our mission of sharing our knowledge with young people so they too could appreciate and enjoy the outdoors, archery and hunting. We have had the privilege of teaching archery to hundreds of children from around the world. Every now and then we are blessed to have a young person come to us who has a real desire to become a true archer and bowhunter.

In December 2005, James Burress (who has worked with Jim at Borg-Warner Turbo Systems for 22 years) came to talk to Jim. He told Jim that his daughter Samantha wanted a bow for Christmas.  She is a senior this year and wanted to be part of the Pisgah High School Sportsman Club so she could compete on the Hunter Education Competition Team.  The Hunter Education Competition is a program sponsored by the North Carolina Wildlife Commission to promote shooting sports and hunting.  Several states offer this program which is open to middle and high school students.

Jim and I have been on the Mathews Solocam National Staff since 1999 and have been on the Pro Staff with them for the past two years.  We got in touch with Mike Ziebell at Mathews and told him about Sam, as she is also known. We ordered Sam a Mathews Mustang 26” draw with 40 pounds of draw weight.  We did this so we could back the poundage off to 30 pounds to get her started and then increase the poundage as she got stronger and so she would be able to hunt with it as well.  The legal bow weight for hunting in North Carolina is 35 pounds. 

With the Christmas rush, archery show season getting ready to get under way, and backed up orders, we were not able to get the bow until the end of January 2006.  When the bow arrived, Jim set it up with a Trophy Ridge Matrix sight (3-pin), a Bodoodle Pro 500 arrow rest, a Limbsaver S-coil stabilizer, Limbsaver mini limb savers, Carbon Express CXL 150 arrows with green Carbon Express fletching and a Tru-Ball Copperhead release.

Sam had never shot a bow before but always thought it was “really cool.”  The first night she came to the shop to learn how to shoot her new Mustang we thought she would rub the paint off of it so to speak - she loved it!  It was February 1, 2006 and she would have to qualify for the team on February 3, 2006 – yes, in two days. Sam took to her bow like a duck takes to water; she is a natural.  It didn’t take too many shots and we had her 10-yard pin set.  We worked with her on form mainly and set her other two pins.  She would have to shoot five arrows each at 10 yards, 15 yards, 20 yards and 25 yards and score well to make the team. 

We told her she would have to really practice over the next two days and remember to keep her form and her anchor points, and with the talent she had shown us, we knew she would make it. We got a call Friday afternoon from Sam - she had qualified for the team and they would have several weeks to practice before the competition. The regional Hunter Education Competition would be held in Polk County , North Carolina on March 18, 2006 which gave us more time to work with her.

Every week she got better and was practicing everyday. They held practice two days a week after school with the other team members and they could also see Sam’s rapid improvement.   Pisgah High School would take two teams to the competition.  They would qualify again before the competition to put their highest scoring shooters on the A team, which would consist of four shooters and an alternate, and then the same for the B team. 

Sam again qualified and missed the A team by two points.  Her improvements over the weeks leading up to the competition were astonishing and during several practices she shot perfect rounds. 

March 18, 2006 came quickly and Sam, along with her team mates, was eager to get to the competition and compete against the other schools that were represented.   They arrived at 8:00 a.m. and Pisgah would have to wait until 4:00 p.m. to take their turn at the archery targets. At the end of the day the Pisgah High School ’s A team came in second place, only four points behind the champion team, North Henderson High School .  Pisgah’s B team came in third overall. It was a great day for Pisgah High School , and Sam was the third highest shooter for her school.  Not bad for a young lady who had only been shooting for six weeks.  Jim and I are very proud of her, not to mention her parents and the other team members. Pisgah High School will be competing at the state competition on April 22, 2006 .  Sam, unfortunately, will not be competing in that competition; only the A team got to advance. The state competition will be held in Ellerbe , North Carolina and Sam will be on the sidelines cheering for her school and her teammates. 

Sam has proven that with hard work and determination you can achieve any goal you set for yourself.  Her shooting is improving rapidly. It’s a shame it’s her senior year and she won’t get the opportunity to attend next year's competition. She will be in the woods this Fall with her bow, hunting whitetail deer with her father and friends.  She is also planning at trying her skills on the 3-D range. One thing is for sure, no matter where her Mathews Mustang takes her; she will be up for the challenge.

Jim also wishes she had one more year in school - what a little archery monster we would have!  Sam’s gift was not necessarily the bow she received for Christmas or all the bells and whistles that Santa Claus brought to go on her Mustang. The gift was from her to us and she is not aware that she was the giver of this gift. There is a fire burning deep inside of Sam - of competition and completion of the goals she had set for herself in such a short time.  She is so unselfish, willing to help others get involved in archery, and to help those who ask her for assistance now. She just stands there with her big eyes and warm gentle smile and soaks in all the knowledge that is offered to her.  She found a place in Jim’s heart, reminding him of a boy he once knew years a go with that same fire for archery. Someone took the time to get him started off on the right foot, going in the right direction, with two very inexpensive gifts: time and knowledge. Thanks Sam for rekindling an old salt's flame. 

Equipment:

• Mathews Solocam Mustang Bow
• Trophy Ridge Matrix 3 pin Sight
• Tru-Ball Cooperhead Release
• Carbon Express Arrows and Fletching
• Limbsaver Products