Guest Pass: Bwana Archery In Little Canada
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Cupid's arrows will be flying this weekend for Valentine's Day, but after a year off, the little cherub might need some practice before the big day.
So, this week's Guest Pass is to a place that's been teaching archery for 40 years: Bwana Archery in Little Canada.
Junior Larsen has been around archery since his parents opened a shop in East St. Paul in 1975.
"It was the downstairs of an American Legion," Larsen said. "And it was a bowling alley with the lanes and gutters and everything at one time."
In the last four decades their location has seen a nice upgrade, complete with dozens of little sky-lights.
"It's not everybody follows the proper etiquette, and the proper rules, and so forth," Larsen said while looking at arrow holes in his ceiling. "You should never be aiming at the ceiling, and we try to stress that."
Despite the holes, Junior says with quick lesson anyone can do pick up the sport. And after getting fit with a high-tech compound bow, WCCO's Matt Brickman put that theory to the test.
His first shot: a bullseye.
"Well, it's the equipment, it's the lesson, it has nothing to do with you," Larsen joked.
Apparently with the advances in bow technology, it's harder to miss the target than to hit it.
To prove it, Junior told Matt to try again with what he said was essentially a stick with a string.
"I usually tell people you're going to stink for about 10,000 shots with a recurve bow," said Larsen. "And then you'll be OK."
We didn't quite have time for 10,000 attempts, but on the eighth try, bull's-eye.
"It can be a very basic sport or it can be through the roof," Larsen said. "It's whatever path you want to take. That's what is fun about it."
If you want to try your hand at archery, Bwana has open shooting hours. It's $5 to shoot as long as you like if you have your own equipment or just $10 to shoot with theirs. You can find more info at their website.
