Need a little help in MN.

[Thicket Hunter]

Knowing the folks on this board I am sure I will get some help. My brother lives in Plymouth MN. Just outside Minneapolis. He is showing an interest in traditional shooting and has never shot a bow before. I need to know if there is a proshop or club in his area he can go to that will introduce him to the sport and let him shoot and help him in bow selection in case he decides he like it. The intent is to get him hunting with it. He does deer and bird hunt some but it is with firearms. Knowing how much i have found i love it I wanted to share it with him but his hard doing so from Texas. If i can get him into it I hope to go hunting with him up there.

Mark

[ChuckC]

There are a couple clubs in the area and south of the cities is The Footed Shaft, in Rochester MN.  It is a bit of a drive, but Lamont is a great guy.  He has a bunch of used bows there and most of the gear that you need.  It is a small shop in terms of size, but does he have the stuff packed in there !  AND...Lamont is a great guy to give advice etc.

I don't recall the club names, but one of them is just outside the cities and they host a really big shoot every year around Fathers Day,

ChuckC

[AkDan]

definatly have him go see Lamont!!!

I would also tell him to go and shoot at the coon rapids shoots, or the ones just east of still water in WI, chilkoot bowhunters is what my plaque says.   Not sure if they are still around or not.  

I have an uncle whose gotten into primitive stuff (figures he'd do it after I moved out of MN).  He's in White Bear Lake, not all that far north of plymouth.   If he wants a contact I can give him, thte info.

Have another pair of buddies (brothers), one in Forest Lake, the other is just west of lil canada, forgot the towns name, ugg!

[Bucksnort101]

I live in Brooklyn Park just north of Plymouth. Have your Bro contact me and I can show hime where the local ranges are.
If he is a lefty he can surely shoot some of my bows to get a feel for it.
Cabelas in Rogers,MN carries some Tradbows as does Bwana Archery in Little Canada,MN. If he wants to take a trip to The Footed Shaft have him give me a yell and we could carpool down so he can look at some used bows and other equipement.
Big traditional shoot Chuck is referring to is at the Rapids Archery Club in Coon Rapids, MN. on Fathers Day weekend.
There is also a new archey shop in Osseo, Archery Specialists, no Trad stuff, but have shooting lanes for a fee.

[Brian Stewart]

Already a lot of good advice. I just want to say that I've bought lots of stuff from Lamont at the Footed shaft and he has been a great resource for me getting started in this sport.  Very knowledgeable, and lots of very reasonably priced gear.  I've bought and/or traded all my bows through him (5).

Bwana Archery in Little Canada is a good shop, too.    They have some trad bows, and if you are in to carbon or aluminum arrows, they have everything at reasonable prices.  My cousin, who teaches archery (a lot of traditional stuff) to kids, deals with Bwana a lot and they are quite helpful to him.  They have shooting lanes, too.

I live in Red Wing, which is about an hour south of cities.  We have no trad shops, but we do have shooting lanes that are often deserted on weekends.  I've been able to learn to shoot here with very little "interference" from compound shooters.  One of the compound guys who works there is starting to show some serious interest in recurves, too.

I have a pretty busy schedule, but if anyone ever wants to come down and shoot, we may be able to work out a time.  

The Coon Rapids shoot is AWESOME!  Last year was the first time I went, and it was a blast.  3 great 3-d courses and lots of neat stuff to see.  Will be spending more time there this year.

Good luck to your brother, this is a great sport.

Brian

[AkDan]

I bought my first recurve at Bwana, John Sr and Sharon were still running the shop back then.   I believe John Jr is running the shop now.

We used to shoot the regular coon rapids shoots, held monthly, not the big annual shoot, never could make things happen to get there.

[Thicket Hunter]

Guys,
 Thanks for all the info. i have passed it on to my brother.

Mark

[Gordy]

As soon as we get some mild weather, your brother could meet myself and Bucksnort up at Elm Creek range for a trial run at the bales and a walk-about through their course.

It's going to be -20/-30 windchills this weekend so it may be a month or two until we're heading out there on a semi-regular basis.  Have your brother email or PM myself or Greg.  We'd love to help get him going ....wouldn't we Greg ?  

Unfortunately they recently closed the archery range in Plymouth. That was a great spot for a long lunch hour of practice.   :(

Greg Sovde at G&M can get him hooked up with a Cm Falcon for a reasonable price (almost half as much as a Cabelas Bear/Martin).... I don't really have anything for him, but he can try my 51 pound Hunter 2.  Coon Rapids big shoot is fathers day weekend. Tell him to start saving up now.      
I'm not a coon rapids member but I'm sure one of their traditionalists could help get him started at their indoor range too. MJH, comes to mind...maybe ping him...or he may drop in on this thread any second.

[flinginem]

I live in so.mpls and Its about 10 miles from Plymouth,I shoot about every other night at about 10-20 yards [20 is in the middle of the street]no problem with the cops,[Its illegal to shoot a bow in city limits]A couple friends come by and we have a few beers and shoot.your bro is welcome to join the robinhood club as we call it,theres a range it lakeville and at lake calhoun but you cant drink beer there,as for equipment i have a 45# that I borrowed to a guy that never shoots it,he'd just need some 1916 arrows and hed be ready to get started,my email is [email protected] feel free to drop me a line

[RIVERWOLF]

Cabelas sells some stick bows , and they should have a small range ,and test arrows ! Good luck on your quest !  >>>---------->RIVERWOLF

[Holm-Made]

If he's willing to drive up to Brainerd (2 hours) to my hobby bow making shop I'll send him home with a bow and arrows to shoot.  I even have a couple extra bag targets.  The only cost would be gas.  Chad

[Bucksnort101]

Tim is right. Have him give me a yell and we can get together. Only have lefty bows though. Forgot about G&M Archery as well.

p.s. I;m not waiting another month to go to Elm Creek and shoot! But I sure as heck ain't going out this weekend in -30 to -40 degree windchill either. My aching bones can't handle thecold like they used to.  
Like I said, have your brother give me a yell, I can loan him some books and videos if he wants to read up. I'd still make the trip to The Footed Shaft just to look around and then to the nearby Pope & Young Museum. Pretty neat stuff in there.

[AkDan]

Looks like I'll be back home for a few weeks this spring.

I'm sure my schedule is going to be busy with fishing trips and hopefuly some turkey hunting in MO or Tx possibly.  But it'd be great to hook up with some of yaz.

I might be driving right by ya Chad, I'll keep ya posted.  Gonna try and hit upper red for eye opener before I have to make the mad dash back up here for charter season.

[mjh]

Thicket Hunter have your brother check out the web site  www.rapidsarchery.org.   We have an indoor traditional league on Sunday's from 5:30 to about 8 PM. The league runs Jan through March. He would be more than welcome to visit check out the traditional shooting, ask for help etc.  If he has a bow great.  If not pm me and I could help arrage to have a bow there for him to shoot.  Most likely and old indian archery bow 40# at 28 with a matched set of arrows.  It's an ok bow that I keep around for folks and friends who might like to try shooting.  If he gets the bug, bows for sale are sometimes posted on the club bulletin board, otherwise Footed Shaft is your best bet for a bow, or wait until June for the big traditional shoot.

[Gordy]

Well Greg ... I do have a heater in the garage.  The range may be short, but the windchill is almost nill.  

[Bucksnort101]

Oh, Tim. I know you are just too busy trying to make some really important decisions;)
AkDan, give a holler if you are near the Twin Cities when you are down. We can hit the range or maybe a local 3D shoot somewhere.