The Thunder Creek Archery Club standouts were recently confirmed as national team competitors after putting together top-three finishes at the Canadian championships Aug. 2-4 in Prince Albert.
“We’re on our own home ground, so they’re targets that we’re used to shooting,” said Moore, who with Leduc will be making their second appearance at worlds. “It’s a little different than going around and seeing the targets the first time and having to experience a whole world championship for the first time. Now we have a better idea of what it’s going to be like.”
Moore is coming off a third-place finish in the men’s barebow at nationals, where he shot 652 through the four rounds of targets including a high of 180 in his third round of shots.
Leduc finished second in women’s barebow with a 490 total and high of 142 in her final round.
The barebow discipline is essential as described – bows are single-string recurve affairs with no aiming or balance accruements attached, making them a modern equivalent of a traditional bow-and-arrow set-up compared to the multiple strings, pulleys, cams, sites and balance devices seen on compound bows.
“It’s all hand-eye co-ordination… you have to be able to look at the target and know the distance to the target,” Leduc explained of the difference shooting a barebow. “Then you have to be able to calculate the distance and get down on the string where you have to be to shoot that distance and make the arrow go exactly to the point where your eye is on the target, without the aid of sites or magnifiers and any other equipment.”
That focus on shot precision is one of the aspects that has barebow becoming one of the fastest-growing 3D disciplines in the world.
“You have to be right in the zone and thinking about the shot process, you can’t be thinking about ‘oh what I’m going to score’, you have to trust the process and be as precise as possible,” Moore added.
A total of 28 countries and over 300 athletes will be competing in Lac La Biche, with qualifying rounds beginning Monday, Sept. 2 and running through Wednesday, Sept. 4 before elimination matches begin that Thursday. The championship finals are Saturday, Sept. 7.
The event will mark the second trip to worlds for both competitors following an appearance in Robion, France in 2017. There Moore finished 35th in the instinctive division – an even stricter class that requires further stripped-down single-piece recurve bows compared to barebow. Leduc landed 26th overall in the longbow class, which goes further still in a traditional direction and doesn’t allow recurve bows.
This time around, the goal is a top 22 finish through qualification to reach the elimination rounds, with the duo hoping that being closer to home than France this time around will make a difference.
“When we went to Europe, there’s jet-lag and getting accustomed to food and things like that,” Leduc said.
“And this time around, Team Canada has their own practice range, where if we wanted to practice in France we’d have 200 to 300 archers at a time,” added Moore. “So you’re trying to work on something and trying to get on to the shooting line. You could do it, but it was tough.
"This time there will be 24 Canadians and that’s going to make a big difference in practice and preparation time.”
In order to offset costs of representing Canada and Moose Jaw at a world championship, the Thunder Creek Archery Club is holding a steak night at the Crushed Can Sports Bar and Night Club on Thursday, Aug. 22. The event will run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will feature an eight-ounce steak dinner. Tickets are $20 each.
