Detroit Archers Club Offers New Program for Women

of West Bloomfield has opened its doors to a state-run program designed to introduce women to the outdoor life through sports.

Sue Tabor, state coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' "Becoming an Outdoors Woman" (BOW) program, said the state was inspired by a University of Wisconsin study on why there aren't more women taking part in outdoor sports. The answer was simple.

"The No. 1 reason given was that they didn't have a place to go to learn," Tabor said. "We work with clubs like Detroit Archers and volunteer organizations to give women a place to learn about how to shoot, how to backpack and camp and kayak and all the other outdoor sports."

She said the Detroit Archers property in West Bloomfield is a perfect area for those kinds of programs. Most of the servable population in Michigan is in the southern part of the state, she said, adding that when women can take classes in archery near their homes, it removes the financial disincentive (travel costs, lodging) that might keep them away.

The Detroit Archers, founded by Michigan hunting legends Fred Bear, Saxton Pope and Art Young, has been in West Bloomfield since 1971. President Ron McLaughlin, a 30-year member of the club, said women have long comprised a third of the Michigan institution's membership. Part of the reason for this is that the club is a family organization, he said.

"All of our memberships are family memberships," he said. "We've got a lot of kids, and we've got a number of husband-and-wife groups who come in to shoot."

He said the Detroit Archers is the first club of its kind in the state to offer full membership to women, which came about in the late '80s. The wife of a member of the club's governing board had been the group's acting secretary for three years on account of a bylaw in the membership rules, McLaughlin said.

"She was doing the job and not having the actual title. We finally said, 'This is stupid,' and got rid of the bylaw," he said.

The rule said that while membership included an entire family, that membership represented a only single voting ballot. Now each membership comes with two voting ballots for adults older than 17.

The Detroit Archers' family approach appeals to the crafters of the state BOW program.

"When women come to take fishing or kayaking classes, they share with their kids," Tabor said. "You get the snowball effect."

An added benefit for the state is that when more people are hunting, fishing and using state land for outdoor sports, they're purchasing licenses and paying user fees, which help to pay for conservation programs.

For registration forms and information on this and other BOW events, visit www.michigan.gov/bow, email dnr-outdoors-woman@michigan.gov or call 517-241-2225.

Who are the Detroit Archers?

Detroit Archers of West Bloomfield started out in 1924 when a handful of archery enthusiasts who shot together in Rouge Park decided to form a club to nurture their passion. They drafted bylaws in 1928 in their first location in what is now the Woodward Building at Grand Boulevard and Woodward.

In 1935, a member of the club, Jack Skanes, persuaded legislators in Lansing to create an archery deer season. But the Legislature forbade the practice until someone could prove that an arrow could punch through a 3/16-inch-thick boiler plate. Skanes used an old English-style arrowhead and made the shot as the lawmakers watched.

As time went on, the club attracted luminaries such as Fritz Hess and Fred Bear in the early '40s. In 1943, Detroit Archers member Euretha Shoemaker became the first woman on record in Michigan to take a deer with a bow.

The Detroit Archery Club Inc. was formed in 1950. After shares in the venture were sold to members at $100 per membership, the proceeds from the sale were used to purchase 21 acres of land off of Drake Road in West Bloomfield. The owner of the property, Marie Uller, sold the land with the proviso that it would be used only for a club and not for a commercial operation.

By 1963, the burgeoning female membership prompted the club to upgrade its facilities, including the addition of indoor plumbing. Today, the club has a clubhouse/indoor archery range with a full kitchen, TV/cable service and central heating.

While the club has a Drake Road address, it is technically located on Fred Bear Drive. The official township street sign has been stolen so many times, it became unfeasible to replace it.

In 1997, the club had created a partnership with the to offer a three-day shoot as part of the center's summer youth camp program.