In April of 2012, I contacted Kim Underwood of Austin Parks and Recreation and asked if they’d consider building an outdoor archery range for the citizens, as nearly every town in the area has one. Austin has long been home to many outdoorsmen, and a range here would get heavy use and be a boon to the city. The next thing I knew, discussion on a range for Austin was all over the news. By late June, I was informed the city had no interest in building a range, as archery was too dangerous. I sent the city council copies of a study citing archery as the safest sport in America. The document, entitled “Epidemiology of Recreational Archery Injuries: Implications for Archery Ranges and Injury Prevention” was the result of a 10-year study by George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services. The study concluded, “Contrary to the prevailing perception that archery is inherently dangerous, the evidence shows that recreational archery is a very safe sport – safer than popular field sports where people risk collisions or falls, such as soccer, basketball or baseball.” In spite of the evidence on archery safety, Ms. Underwood stated to me the Park and Rec Board felt a range would be unsafe and the issue was dead.

Fast forward to August of 2015. With the increasing popularity of archery, an archery club forming in the schools and the success of a simple range in Adams, I feel the time is ripe to get a range in Austin. We need it. I emailed the idea to a city councilman, and he does not believe there is support for an outdoor range among council members. In 2012, several members of the council privately opined that the park board opposes the idea because they don’t see anything in it for them. They also feel citizens should foot the bill for a range. Well, all we need for a range is a place to put up a wall of straw or hay bales. No earthen berm is necessary, just a place for bales and a sign stating rules. A range does not even have to be mowed by park personnel. There is a trend, started in southern California, of making ranges as natural as possible. The cost can be extremely low and flood plain land is available. I have a beautiful place to shoot that costs me $30 a year to maintain. Very few Austin shooters have that luxury. Some people shoot in their yards, an illegal practice. I’d like to see them get a place to shoot. This is my final attempt to get them one. If you are interested, please contact your city council member or City Hall and let them know you support an archery range. If they don’t hear from you, you ‘ll have to drive to Adams for a place to shoot.

Joe Frisk,

Austin