Archery Business Jan-Feb 2012
BETTER BOWHUNTING CONTESTS SMARTER THAN A CHEATER Although bowhunting contests usually prove popular with archery retailers they have the potential to hurt or cripple a stores reputation and credibility if the owner allows cheaters to prosper Here are 10 tips to prevent cheating Dont make any one prize too big The more valuable the prize the more some people will be tempted to cheat Whats too big Any prize worth more than a top end compound bow To ensure deer dont gain weight before the weigh in inspect the pelvic canal and verify that all entrails including the esophagus are removed Its dif cult to conceal heavy weights inside gutted deer but those are two of the most likely hiding places If weight helps determines the top prize for deer turkeys or sh do not operate more than one weigh in site Require everyone to enter their prize at the same site on the same scale 30 archeryBUSINESS January February 2012 For shing contests inspect each boat before its launched to ensure no sh are already aboard Carefully inspect all sh for unusual discoloration and misshaped stomachs A sh thats been frozen and thawed will never look as natural as the days catch Fishing contests that determine rst place based on total sh invite more cheating Limit each team to a stringer of their heaviest ve or 10 sh To ensure contestants dont swap entry tickets require that they ll out their tickets completely upon purchase During registration verify each ticket by checking the owners hunting license and drivers license and thwart cheaters Cut off ticket sales once the season begins Print important contest rules on the entry ticket including store hours and registration times For deer scores determined by antler measurements require the entire animal be brought to the registration site so its wound can be inspected Make it known that youll contact a conservation warden for any violation of your states sh and wildlife laws ter our store hours They can just leave a message on the shop phone to verify they got something We also give them a cell phone number they can call so we can meet them if they cant get over here during our regular store hours Marvin said Streiff Sporting Goods weighs in deer only during store hours which are 11 a m to 4 p m on Sundays and 9 a m to 6 p m the rest of the week We learned to print our store hours on our tickets Marvin said We set time constraints so our staff doesnt have to be here all night and into early morning That makes it easier on our people and doesnt require extra staffi ng During the heat of rifl e season we might weigh 30 deer a day Before when people knew we had a guy here after hours we had a lot of deer to weigh after sunset By limiting weigh ins to regular store hours theres always someone here to jump in and make it work Fishing contests tend to operate more like fi shing tournaments operating on weekends with daily starting times and weigh in times Even so they can be taxing because many bowfi shing contests are allnight affairs For instance Paducah Shooters Supply begins most of its contests at 7 p m with the weigh in 12 hours later at 7 a m Clanahan said they will likely change those hours in 2012 Well probably run them from 7 p m till 1 or 2 a m this year because Im tired of staying out there all night he said with a laugh When your weigh in is at 7 a m youre basically up the rest of the morning handling the cleanup That makes for a very long day Processing And Scoring To ensure registrations and weigh ins run smoothly and effi ciently archery dealers should also use simple reliable equipment and stick with a simple consistent easily understood scoring system These considerations become increasingly important as participation increases Marvin said Streiff Sporting Goods judges every deer by weight alone and strives to process each buck or doe in fi ve minutes Hunters show us their ticket back up their truck with the deer and we hook our electric winch to the hind legs and lift 1 4 8 2 5 9 3 6 10 7
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