Just some pictures I never posted from summer

Just to get something going in here, here are some pics from the summer.

Cool pictures!

Was that an organized event? The one with the picture of the Certs?

Yeah Jim. We do tournaments from March or April through September. I am now a tournament director for our club too.

This year we are really excited for the "Directors Series" we are doing. The new IDNR Director is going to be shooting a few tournaments with us. Very good publicity for our sport, and it is great to have someone running things that will keep us in mind.

Illinois is also keeping state records for Bowfishing starting this year. Before, there were three different clubs in the state keeping different records.

Also, our state championship on the Illinois River with the jumping asians is shaping up to be the nation's largest Bowfishing Tournament. Last year we had close to 40 boats. This year we are expecting more since it is part of a national series.

Definitely is going to be an exciting year for us here in Illinois. Hopefully we continue to do well in the tournaments, but I just love being out there doing what we do.

The outdoors shows we participate in are always fun too. We get the kids shooting at nerf footballs tied off to weights. Its a good time.

ShadowWalker said:

The outdoors shows we participate in are always fun too. We get the kids shooting at nerf footballs tied off to weights. Its a good time.

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Awesome way to get the kids involve too. Always nice to see kids involved. Afterall, they ARE the future of our sports, whatever they may be.

:twisted: You guys can make a trip to NJ to get rid of all the carp around here. There are just so many everywhere.

We have enough carp here to last a lifetime. I don't know if you have read anything about the silvers they are trying to keep out of the big lakes or not, but we are right at the heart of all that mess. Our state championship took thousands of fish out of the Illinois river and that didn't even put a dent in them. There are literally millions of them and there is nothing anyone can do about them at this point. If you ever wondered what its like to trap shoot with a bow and arrow, go on the Illinois and get the silvers jumping. But fair warning, you may need to wear a helmet.

Thanks for posting and keeping us informed.

Jim, I am working on a video camera mount to put on the console, as well as having my friend go with us to shoot video. I'll be sure to post them here when our season gets going. The silvers are truly amazing, yet very upsetting at the same time. I thought the youtube video's I watched gave me a good idea of what its like, but when we went up an experienced it first hand, it was almost awe inspiring to see what exactly is going on. You cannot comprehend the numbers of these fish, and the damage they do to both the water and to boaters through a video alone.

I forgot to mention we placed second in the tournament above, and we placed 4th in the state championship Big 30.

Do you guys really shoot them asians in the air? Man that whole asian carp in the river thing is insane. Would be an experience of a lifetime to shoot down that river in a boat.

We sure do. And you will never forget it. I took one in the ribs during the tournament :LOL2:

Road trip! :mrgreen:

Come on out. I could round up enough guys to get you on the water 8)

ShadowWalker said:

We sure do. And you will never forget it. I took one in the ribs during the tournament :LOL2:

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A fish, or a arrow,Something about a boat,flying arrows and flying fish scares me...

Bugpac said:

ShadowWalker said:

We sure do. And you will never forget it. I took one in the ribs during the tournament :LOL2:

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A fish, or a arrow,Something about a boat,flying arrows and flying fish scares me...

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I second that, sounds like an insurance claim or a trip to the ER. :LOL2:

Take out the arrows and im down for the boat and the flying fish... Its just the flying arrows that scare me... Kudos to the brave that do it tho.. =D>

I took a fish to the ribs. Generally when we are shooting there is a person on either side of the boat. We don't shoot over or in front of each other. And when we are actually shooting, we are on the trolling motor with it as slow as we can go while making progress in the current.

The only exception are the jumping silvers. They respond to a certain RPM range from the outboard. The speed itself is dependent on the motor size, boat size and weight, etc. In fact, the people in some of the youtube videos shooting silvers are moving quite fast compared to what most people do. The sweet spot for the boat we were on during the tournament, for example, was right around 6 MPH. If I took my boat out there it would most likely be different because I have a smaller motor and boat than what we were on.

Its really the fish jumping that are the danger. They have hard heads and can weigh 30+ pounds. If you hit another person with an arrow you were doing something terribly wrong, and need to stay home in the first place.

ShadowWalker said:

Its really the fish jumping that are the danger.

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I watched a show a while back a woman took one to the face and got a broken jaw.

:shock:

I have never bow fished, but this looks like a real blast.