Fayette County archery range growing in popularity

WEST UNION - The Echo Valley Archers' realistic indoor range is attracting shooters from all over Eastern Iowa and nearby states.

The range, inside an exhibition hall at the Fayette County Fairgrounds, 'is absolutely the best archery setup I've seen,” said Blake Gamm, youth coordinator for the non-profit organization.

While Gamm instructed about 20 youngsters participating in the local Take a Kid Outdoors (TAKO) program, Echo Valley Archers President Travis Wymer talked Saturday about the range's appeal and its growing popularity.

Co-founded by West Union residents Wymer and Scott Thompson in 2009, the organization had 10 dues-paying members its first year, and the range hosted just 320 shooters for the entire three-month season, Wymer said.

Now the group has 90 members, and 'we had 460 shooters go through here” during a tournament the first week of February, he said.

It takes about six volunteers, with assistance from electronic devices, to coordinate the safe, orderly and timely discharge of more than 18,000 arrows in a large tournament, Wymer said.

Wymer said local business donations defrayed most of the initial $14,000 cost of the 40 three-dimensional animal targets.

The range's spaciousness and its outdoors ambience set it apart, he said.

Its targets are distributed in natural settings in a space that allows 40-yard shots.

'The decorations - that's what people love about it,” Wymer said.

The decorations, which change every year, take more than 30 volunteers about three weeks to set up.

This year's theme, which Wymer describes as 'rural junkyard,” features a rusted 1948 Ford pickup as a centerpiece.

Last year's tableau included a standing cornfield created by carefully situating cornstalks over metal rods driven into the exhibition hall's dirt floor.

All the decorations have to be removed by the first week of March to make way for cattle sales in the building.

The range's three-month season coincides with the year's slowest months for outdoor activities, which adds to its appeal.

The group's 90 members have 24/7 access to the range. 'If you say it's open at 7 p.m. Monday, a lot of people have other commitments,” Wymer said. A combination lock on the door lets them shoot when it's convenient for them, he said.

Though most members reside in or near West Union, more than 95 percent of tournament competitors come from outside the city's 52175 ZIP code, Wymer said.

'We keep entry fees low, and the prizes are correspondingly low. The emphasis is on fun,” he said.

While most shooters pay a nominal fee to help the organization meet expenses, the range provides free shooting for youth groups such as TAKO, 4-H and Boy Scouts. Gamm said.

TAKO founder Dick Jensen lauds the range as an excellent venue for involving kids in outdoor activities.

'Many kids today have been hijacked by electronic technology. We are trying to help them find an emotional and spiritual connection with the land that will inspire them to preserve it,” he said.