McALESTER, Okla. -- They're back!

More than 400 archers from across Oklahoma and surrounding states have returned to the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant here, Aug. 6-7, following a one-year hiatus for the annual Backwoods Bowhunters-organized, Southern Plains Traditional Archery Championship.

The annual shoot was moved to the Backwoods Bowhunters' range in Yukon, Oklahoma, last year while Army officials put together a plan that would meet newly-imposed Defense Department security requirements.

Chuck Witte, who has organized the shoot for the Backwoods Bowhunters the past 15 years, said he learned in March 2016 from Ryan Toby, chief of the Land Management Office at the plant, that the welcome mat was again out for the archers.

"We had a meeting, and as a club, our general consensus was if the Army was going to let us have it there, we have to go back," Witte said. "For all these people, Ryan, the commander for offering that opportunity to us again, we felt like it was in the best interest of the shoot to do that."

Archers began holding the championship at the ammo plant in 1988 when it was organized by the Oklahoma Longbowmen based in Tuttle, Oklahoma. The event was turned over to the Backwoods Bowhunters in 2001 and has been held at the ammo plant every year since 1988, except for 2002 and 2015.

Witte said that aside from the good campgrounds and range, the ammo plant is the most logical location for the shoot because it permits the archers who were drawn by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation for the upcoming controlled deer hunt on the Army base to get information.

"They can talk to other people, they have a map [of the hunting area] here that they can look at so it helps them a lot when its hunting time so they have the knowledge of where they want to go because they already know the area," Witte said.


During the championship, archers engaged 25 realistic 3-D buck, elk, bear, coyote, turkey, wild boar, antelope, bison, caribou, mountain lion and panther targets in a natural hunting environment.

The top five scores from each of the eight men's, women's and youth categories participate in a shootout until a winner is determined. The champions walk away with a belt buckle and bragging rights.

"It's anybody's game," said Laurie Jarman, the 2016 Oklahoma State Longbow Women's Champion and a Stratford Sportsman's Club member.

"You may shoot the high score, but you may not win the tournament. That is what makes it fun."

Jarman participates in shoots with her husband, 2016 Texas State Longbow Champion, Danny Jarman. While she enjoys the competition and diversion from her regular routine, she said its people that keep bringing her back.

"You can't meet a better group of people than archery people," she said. "We're a close-knit family and we all take care of each other… It's just all friendships. Everybody roots for everybody, so it's all good."

While the archers enjoy the camaraderie, Ben Aguirre from the Stratford Sportsman's Association, said the MCAAP shoot was a significant topic of discussion at the Texas State Longbow Championship he participated in at Fort Worth this past June.

"It made a big impact when it wasn't here," he said about the one-year hiatus.

Army officials at the plant were also glad to see the shoot return.

"We were happy to once again provide the venue for the archery championship," said Toby. "It was great to see families and friends spending a day or two competing in the tournament and enjoying MCAAP's natural resources. We look forward to continuing this great relationship."

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MCAAP is one of 16 installations of the Joint Munitions Command and one of 23 organic industrial base facilities under the U.S. Army Materiel Command.