Flathead archer vies for world title

Range, angle, body control, focus, aim, shot: on target.

Those are ingredients for competitive archery, and Flathead Valley resident Zane Smith recently combined them to become one of the top archers in the country.

He will be one of nine U.S. archers - and the only Montanan - to compete at the World Field Archery Championships in Wales this September.

"This is the highest I can go," said Smith, who competes in the bare-bow division, using a 47-pound recurve bow without sights.

In the Olympic Bow division, competitors use stabilizers and sights and can advance to the Olympic games. Some compound-bow archers compete professionally.

But Smith, a 38-year-old stairway contractor, appreciates a challenge: The bare bow is considered the most difficult discipline in competitive archery.

"It's fun, but honestly it is the most difficult thing I've tried to do," Smith said. "Control - that's what archery is about. It's a controlled explosion."

Smith says he never has played golf, but the similarities between golf and field archery are clear.

"I think golf is the nearest sport to what we're doing" with archery, he said.

Field archery involves a course of 24 targets of different sizes throughout rolling, wooded terrain. Archers have to shoot uphill and downhill at widely varying angles, often from uneven locations that require different stances.

"It's never a nice level spot," Smith said.

Field archers have to estimate distances and target angles, and the shot requires extreme body control and mental focus.

The sport involves the same type of drive and competitiveness necessary in all other sports, he said, but "you have to take all that drive and contain it and focus it."

Field archers have three shots at each target. If there's a bad shot, Smith said, "you have to quickly make it up with the other two arrows."

Most courses take about six hours to complete.

In bare-bow competition, archers shoot from distances ranging from 10 to 50 meters. Shooting without sights, Smith uses a complex string sighting method that requires him to "walk" his grip to different locations on the bow string, depending on target angles and distances.

If his grip is off one millimeter on a target 50 meters away, his distance calculation can be off by a meter. And that can result in being off-target by several inches.

Each detail in a shot may seem insignificant on its own, he said, but "all the details combined matter."

Smith took up archery more than 24 years ago mainly for hunting. It's a pursuit he still enjoys, but Smith says it requires different equipment and a different approach.

He took an interest in competitive archery just a few years ago, and in 2005 he found himself at a competition with some of the biggest names in the sport.

"I literally said to myself, 'What am I doing here? I don't deserve to be here,'" Smith said, recalling the intimidation as he stepped up to shoot.

Smith said he completely missed his three shots at the first target, an outcome that was entirely unacceptable to him. On the next target, he pulled himself together and bull's-eyed all three shots.

Since then, Smith said, he has benefited from simply being around top archers, often getting valuable coaching and advice.

At the National Field Archery Championships early this month, Smith finished second out of 12 bare-bow archers. He was bested only by Mark Applegate, ranked sixth in the world and the leader of the gold-medal U.S. team at the last world championships.

Competing with someone such as Applegate, Smith said, is like a golfer having the chance to play next to Tiger Woods.

Smith intends to pass some of his know-how along to young archers. This fall, after the world championships, Smith said he hopes to hold clinics at local archery ranges.

"Really, my goal is to promote archery," said Smith, who has made archery a family sport with his wife, Becky, and three children: Alysha, Kiersten and Wyatt.

To prepare for the upcoming world championships, Smith said he shoots for about two hours every morning on a course he has set up on his property near Kila.

Smith is seeking sponsors or donations to help cover expenses in traveling to Wales. He can be contacted by calling 755-0901 or by e-mail at: zane@montanasky.us

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com