Hello BMB'ers!

Wow! April is just about here: a few little rain showers aside, cool spring days are a great opportunity to come out to the range, get your sight marks dialed in and your gear and shooting tuned up for outdoor season. Here are your updates for this upcoming month... no foolin'!:

• Our 2025 Wednesday Night 3D League is in full swing, with two events in the books and ten more to go. Archers seem to be taking full advantage of the new Senior age division, and our expanded set of equipment classes is encouraging more single-string shooters to come out. For more information on how to join in on the foam-hunting fun, check out our 3D League web page.
  • With ten events left to go, here's a little reminder to anyone interested in competing for 3D League awards that a minimum of ten results in the same division are required to earn an award at the end of the season.
• Jerseys! We've ordered an initial batch of jerseys to verify the design. If all goes well, after this initial run we'll open up orders to all BMB members, so stay tuned for details and keep your eyes open for some of us sporting new threads!
• The April range maintenance Work Party is scheduled for this Saturday, April 5; the weather outlook is favorable.
  • As usual, some target bales are due for maintenance.
  • With all the rain and spring a' springing, green stuff is sprouting up everywhere and our hardworking landscaping volunteers could use some help to keep it in check.
  • Work starts around 8 AM (though if you need to sleep in a bit, we won't turn you away); come find us in clubhouse/picnic area by the main parking. Please bring work/gardening gloves if you have them. Both members and non-members are welcome; we appreciate any help!
  • To thank our volunteers, we'll be serving lunch and refreshments when work activities wrap up.
  • All parts of the range will be closed to shooting, and will reopen no earlier than 2 PM.
  • Looking to log volunteer hours? Sign up via the Santa Clara County volunteering site.
• The April Club Shoot takes the following weekend on Sunday, April 13. The format is an NFAA 900 round: 5 ends of 6 arrows at 3 distances (60, 50, 40 yards for adults; closer for youth, cub shooters and traditional-style bows). (If you're new to these, check out the video from our friends at Pasadena Roving Archers.) Club shoots are a great way to get introduced to tournament-format archery, in a friendly low-stakes environment. The event is free for current BMB members, $10 for guests. If you're considering attending, we'd appreciate it if you pre-register for the shoot to help us plan target assignments and other logistics.
• The Club Shoot will be a great opportunity to practice for the 2025 Bay Area Senior Games, which BMB will be hosting on Sunday, April 20. Registration for that event is still open, so sign up if you're eligible and would like to compete!
• Registration is also still open for the California State Outdoor Championships coming up on June 27-29 at the Kirigin Cellars vineyard in Gilroy. If you're interested in competing, you can register at USA Archery's website.

Before we wrap up, a little safety quiz: What's the most dangerous critter at BMB? It's not the rattlesnakes, coyotes, killer ground squirrels, horny tarantulas, or black widow spiders that all make their home at our archery range. The answer: ticks, or rather, the diseases they can transmit. Now that warmer, wetter weather has returned, so have they. Please exercise "tick safety" at the range: avoid wandering into tall brush or grass if you can, prefer long pants over shorts, apply tick repellent spray if you have it, and be sure to check yourself (and your furry four-legged friends, if you brought them) for unwelcome hangers-on after every visit.

Stay safe out there, everyone, and here's to some awesome springtime archery!

See you at the range!

- The BMB Directors