ORANCO BOWMEN ARCHERY CLUB |
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Club President
Nothing to report.
Joe Dotterer
(951) 897-5685
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Club Vice President
Nothing to report.
Pete Whitworth
(909) 223-5822
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Club Secretary
Hello Oranco Bowmen Members and Prospective Members!
Last month I attended the California Bowmen Hunters and State Archery Association (CBH/SAA) annual meeting in Visalia, CA. If you have never been to a meeting, I strongly encourage you to attend next years’ meeting, which will be held in SoCal (likely Ontario area) on February 24-26, 2023.
Friday’s legislative session was highly engaging and informative with Chriss Bowles and Joe Wylie facilitating discussion and questions followed by key state legislative and Fish and Game Commission (FGC) updates from our lobbyist Bill Gaines. Sportsmen and sportswomen are facing a TON of issues right now – hunting tag cost/point refunds for areas closed due to wildfire, Humane Society of the US (HSUS) trying to ban bear hunting through the FGC, and
As the new CBH Legislative Coordinator, I’m happy to help you get involved and speak up for archery, hunt and conservation in California. Oranco members Steve Smith, Jose Lara, and Brad Belvedere are also on the CBH Legislative Team and are great contacts if you have questions. Stay tuned for more legislative details in the CBH Newsletter.
Saturday and Sunday’s general meeting provided additional opportunity to connect with archery veterans and newcomers that share our passion for the sport. We discussed a wide range of issues including how to address gender identity in competitions, refining definitions for competitive shooting styles, the cost of the paper CBH Newsletter, and shoot fees for guests/non-CBH members in State tournaments (they’re going up significantly).
Saturday evening’s Hall of Fame and Big Game Banquet was a lot of fun. We celebrated several accomplished archers and hunters and those who have given tirelessly to advance our sport. There were an abundance of raffles, silent auctions, and live bidding, which provided additional excitement to the evening.
CBH/SAA and NFAA provide so much benefit to the sport of archery across the state and nation. After attending the annual meeting, I have a whole new appreciation for why Oranco requires this additional membership as part of our membership requirements.
Amanda Duchardt
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Treasurer
Nothing to report.
Louie Lopez
(714) 538-7202
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Range Captain
Nothing to report.
Chriss Bowles
(951) 757-4571
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Hunt Chairman
Nothing to Report.
Bill Leal
(909) 706-1149 - Cell
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Range Secretary
Hey, Oranco Bowmen
Mar. 5th Champ Shoot was a huge success with a large number of Oranco archers in attendance. The addition of breakfast burritos and nacho cheese chips were a big hit with the membership. They will also be served at the Bowhunter 3-D Championship along with grilled smoked kielbasa on fresh baguette sliders.
This Sat, Apr. 2nd, we'll be shooting the Bowhunter 3-D Championship. This is a member and PM only shoot, no guest. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards for both shoots will be presented at the Annual Oranco Awards Banquet Sat. night, June 4th at Oranco Bowmen archery range.
The bow Bowhunter 3-D Championship is a new venue for Oranco Bowman archers only, and just started last year. If you haven't shot it yet, ask any member who has and they'll tell you what a fun shoot this is! This is the closest thing you can experience to real hunting with ethical shots and and maybe one long shot just for fun! Members $10, PMs $15
Don't forget to bring your appetite, breakfast and lunch is free-for-all tournament archers. Look forward to seeing you all at this shoot!
Please check the flyer below for more info. on Bowhunter 3D Championship.
Mark Houston
(760) 605-1155
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Tournament Chairman
Nothing to report.
Chris Stout
(909) 730-0045
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Membership Chairmen
Hello Club Members,
Currently we have 460 members including 63 prospective members working hard to complete their membership requirements.
Membership renewals are coming up soon. In the next few weeks, we will be counting up your work party credits and applying them to your invoices so they are ready to send out on May 1st. You have until June 1st to pay your dues before the $30 late fee kicks in.
This is a great time to make sure your information is up to date in the club roster. If you have moved in the last 12 months or changed your email address recently please let us know so we can make sure your new membership card and gate code are not delayed. Please don’t forget about the association requirement. If you renewed your CBH or NFAA membership recently, take a minute to send a copy to ob.membership@outlook.com so we can update our records and insure your new membership card and gate code get to you on time.
Membership has it’s benefits…24/7 access to the range, practice butts from 10 – 80 yards in 5 yard increments, two full 28 target courses with varying terrains, a dedicated broadhead sand pit, member only shoots and more. That said, Membership also has it’s obligations…The range doesn’t take care of itself and we depend on our membership to help keep the range clean and safe, change out targets when they get shot up and mow the grass to help keep the fire risk to a minimum. It is a lot of work and we are all grateful for those who volunteer their time to maintain the property, not because they get work party credits but because they love the club and feel a sense of community and ownership there. Most of these club members far exceed the 6 or 8 work parties needed to maintain their membership and I would like to thank them for all their hard work and dedication. We literally couldn’t do it without you. All that said, we still have some challenges. I don’t get to shoot as much as I would like to but still, every time I do make it to the range for a field round I almost always come across one or two targets that are all shot up. Usually the same ones over and over which means we still have a problem with target camping. Target camping is when one or more of our members decides they don’t want to shoot at the practice butts and chooses instead to go out to one of the targets on the roving ranges and shoot more than 4 arrows before moving on to the next target…A lot more than 4 arrows. To be completely honest, it makes my blood boil every time I see it. Not that I hit the spot that often or anything but if I did, it would be nice to be able to score it but that isn’t what gets me mad, it is that one of our members thinks so little about the club that they are willing trash a perfectly good target just because they don’t want to shoot at the practice butts. No way around it…that’s vandalism!
Safety is always our biggest concern because one wrong arrow and we may be looking for a new home. Most of our rules are about safety for a reason. That’s why we work so hard to provide the bail toppers and large backstops to catch the arrows that miss the target. A lot of work and experience goes into making sure the range is as safe as possible. We have rules in place for the same reason and those rules apply regardless of how many members are on the range. In other words, just because you are the only one on the range, that doesn't mean the rules go away and you can do anything you want because you don’t think anyone is watching. This has always been a problem but lately it seems like the board of directors has been getting more and more reports of members misusing the range, vandalizing the targets and property and taking unsafe shots. I don’t want to speculate on their motives and to be completely honest…I don’t really care why, but I do know it needs to end immediately.
There are 11 club members on the board of directors and we accept responsibility for everything that happens on the property but like you, we all have work, family and home lives so as much as we would like to, we can’t be there every minute of the day. As club members, you have a responsibility to do what you can to help us maintain order, deter vandalism, insure safety and report rule and safety violations to the board of directors. Every club or organization has a few bad apples but are you willing to allow those bad apples to determine the fate of our club? I hope not. We all have to work together to provide a clean, safe and enjoyable archery experience or all our hard work will go to waste.
Thank you,
David Bacon
(909) 217-4441
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League Chairman
Hi everyone,
Hope you are all doing well and are getting out the door and shooting your bows? As most of you know we just finished our first flint league that I know of. Yes for some of you old timers you have great stories of the past and I’m sure they were as good as our flint league we just finished. That being said I’m sure we will be doing this again sometime this year. Final scores will be added to our website if you are interested in where you finished or just want to see how everyone did please look it over.
Up next will be our 3-D league. It will be a spring league or a summer league not sure yet but will send out an email soon with a start date. Our league will be open to members and P/M’s that are in good standing. Please let me know if there is anything you guys would like to see added or changed and we will review it.
As for other news, as the new O.B.F.A President we will be buying 5-tickets to help support the 60th Anniversary State Big Game Broad Head shoot. That will be held this coming May 28th and 29th 2022 for those of you that know of the this State shoot the Big Game committee put out a 25, 00.00 dollar raffle to support this event 1st prize is 10, 00.00 dollars and O.B.F.A historically has always purchased tickets to help out. So we will continue with this tradition and do our part to give back to archery. I will also be selling raffle tickets out at our range so if you see me waving green tickets out there buy one buy two or split one with a club member or friend.
Update on Joe Dotterer, our Oranco club President he is improving and may make it out to our Big Game shoot on 4/24/22 so thank you all for your prayers and please keep him in your daily prayers.
As always thank you for supporting our club
Al Wiscovitch
(909) 322-3869
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Two Year Board Member
By: Bill Waltz - Two Year Board Member
Nothing to report.
Bill Waltz
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Oranco Bowmen Archery Range
Occupying about 45 acres, Oranco Bowmen Archery Club is a NFAA certified 5-star range. This is the highest certification given by NFAA. We are the only range in Southern California with practice butts from 10-80 yards in 5-yard increments. If you need a place to "dial in" your bow, this is it!
Oranco also has two NFAA roving courses: Our Valley Course is a level 28-target course, consisting of 14 animal and 14 hunter paper targets. For those who desire a bit more of a physical challenge, our Mountain Course is a hilly 28-target course offering 14 Field targets and another set of 14 animal paper targets. The Layout changes occasionally.
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Oranco Bowmen Archery Club - Range Map |
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Oranco is not responsible for lost or stolen belongings.
Please remember to lock your vehicles when you are not present and always take your equipment home with you. We have received reports about stolen equipment, and want everyone to understand that you alone are responsible for your belongings. We advise you to put your identification information on your belongings and try not to leave anything unattended.
Remember: We are open to the public on Sundays and during shoots. During these events it is much more difficult to track who is on range property, especially if people do not sign in at the office.
Be safe and responsible everyone.
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Announcements
Range Beautification Party: We would greatly appreciate your help and support to the upcoming Work Parties. Keep an eye out for the email blast. All Club Members and their families are invited. Per Joe Dotterer, Club President there will be an “ALL YOU CAN EAT LUNCH” served for ALL of our Volunteers who come out and help.
Your assistance ensures that the Oranco Bowmen Archery Club remains the best in Southern California. There is a reason why people travel from all over California to shoot at our Archery Club. Get involved and help us out.
Cook Shack Workers Needed: Positions are still available for volunteers to help out during the upcoming shoots. Tony Tobinis back and will be taking over Cook Shack Assignments effective immediately. Terry Lopez will no longer be accepting calls for Cook Shack volunteers.
Please contact Tony Tobin in order to reserve your spot at: Cell# (626) 354-2268. Due to poor cell service in his area please contact him via TEXT message to assure he can receive your information. First Come, First Served.
Target Camping: This is NOT Allowed...Period. Your Membership will be terminated for doing this! The Practice Butts are for sighting in, improving your archery skills, and honing your accuracy. The Roving Range is just that, Roving. Shoot 4 arrows, Score them, then move on to the next target.
You have been warned. Don't do it. It is not worth it.
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The Exciting Challenge of Ground Hunting
You can open up a lot of possibilities by climbing down from your elevated perch to pursue game on their level.
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Much of the Bowhunting World Envies U.S. Hunting
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in eastern Europe got me thinking of several bowhunts I took a few years ago with European archery-shop dealers who regularly visit the United States to pursue our elk and whitetails.
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Mission Statement:
My Goal as Newsletter Editor is to help Members stay informed with the Operations and Activities that are going on in and around the Oranco Bowmen Archery Club. Your suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Check out our Club Website: Oranco Bowmen Archery Club Website
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