BULL’S EYE

Local woman hits her target at Senior Olympics

Curiosity led the archer to take her shot at winning the gold medal.

Austintown resident Kathy Bowman, 61, who began competitive archery on a dare, earned the gold medal and set a new record in qualifying at this year’s Senior Olympics in Palo Alto, Calif.

Although she shot a couple of times in Girl Scouts as a young girl, she didn’t start shooting on a regular basis until she was about 23.

While employed at General Motors, Bowman often heard a group of guys talking about shooting. Out of curiosity, she began asking questions. On a bet that she couldn’t do it, she agreed to go along.

“I didn’t get anything, but I didn’t lose any arrows,” she said.

Being a single mother with three children, Bowman didn’t have the extra money to spend on a sight, so she learned without and taught her sons the same way.

Bowman began competing in 3-D shoots right after the dare. “There are about 28-30 targets,” she said, explaining that there are life-sized heavy-duty Styrofoam targets modeled after lions, crocodiles, elephants, bears and other animals.

“I don’t know why I’d want to hunt crocodiles,” she said, laughing.

Each target is marked for different points, depending where the arrow hits, and are also set at different yardages.

“Most gun clubs have 3-D shoots every other week,” she said. “In the summer you can always find one some place.”

Bowman explained that last year was her first year to shoot 40, 50 and 60 yards. Six arrows are shot consecutively. They are then scored and pulled from the targets, just like they do in the Olympics.

“It was difficult for me because I had never shot those yardages,” she said.

Getting ready to compete

Bowman had missed the qualifying games in 2008 due to her grandson’s college graduation and she had yet to raise the money for equipment.

“I went to the Trumbull County Federation of Sportsmen, who sponsored me for the money for supplies such as a bow, arrows, bow case and travel expenses,” said Bowman.

“They do a lot of good work. … They finance scholarships and do a lot of work with kids.”

Bowman practiced every day from May through September for the Illinois Senior Olympics, where she qualified for the national competition in Palo Alto, Calif., at Stanford University Aug. 1-15.

She is now gearing up for the games in South Carolina to be in 2011.

Bowman has been a member of the Western Reserve Fish and Game Association for the past five years.

“It was one of the only clubs that accepted women,” she said. “Now, hunting is losing men and more women are taking up hunting and shooting sports.”

Also a hunter, Bowman said that now we see more deer and wild turkey because of the hunters. She explained that a portion of the money from hunting licenses and shells goes toward replenishing the wildlife.

“The biggest threat is loss of habitat,” she said.

Bowman, who used to hunt with her sons, often hunts alone now that they’re not living at home.

“You really shouldn’t hunt alone when you’re older, said Bowman. “I really watch where I hunt because I can’t run as fast.”

Bowman went on her first elk hunt in Dubois, Wyo. Because it was in the wilderness, by state law, nonresidents of the state have to go with a guide. Her first elk was a 6x6 bull. She regularly hunts white-tail deer in Virginia and Ohio and travels to Wyoming for antelope and mule deer.

Other interests

Wearing a pink T-shirt which states, “Shoot like a girl,” Bowman said, “I’m shooting for breast-cancer awareness. … I’m taking aim on that.”

Bowman is also a big supporter of the National Archery in the Schools Program for grades 5-12.

“Every school should apply for this,” she said.

“There is grant money available for equipment and training.”

“This gets them into something that pulls them outside and away from the computer. It gives them an outlet for interaction with parents and peers.”

For more information on the program, contact your local game warden.