ASA Rewind | 2024 Easton/Hoyt Pro/Am

You don't necessarily have to go that far for all your ranges and stuff like that. It just gives me a chance to get out of the shop and travel across country and shoot my bow at some fun targets. It's hard to imagine what more the folks at the Louisiana National Guard could have done to welcome ASA archers to Camp Minden for the 2024 Eastin Hoyt Pro-Am. Fresh ranges, new roads, a new creek bridge, fresh millings on the access trails. This is the third year the ASA has been to Camp Minden and every year the Minden hosts do more and more to make their venue better for world-class 3D archery competition. I can see the core line. Archers in the six professional divisions competed on brand new ranges no one had ever seen before and that seemed to lead to a roller coaster in qualifications. Morgan Reeves in Women's Known Pro was the only pro archer to lead a division both days in the field at Minden. In four of the other five divisions, the day one leaders didn't even qualify for the Pro Pressure Point shootdowns. With that kind of fluctuation, you just knew the shootdowns at the Bossier City Civic Center would be exciting. Senior pros started the finals with just three points separating first from fifth place. Richard Owens put up a big score Saturday to climb out of the middle of the pack and lead the way in the shootdown. Looking for his second win in a row, Owens got off to a rocky start shooting a five on his first target. Meanwhile, the number two seed Kevin Cook started with a 10, which seemed to give him the confidence he needed to shoot a flawless round, staying out of the eight ring and catching one 12 en route to his first ASA win since the Classic in 2020. This weekend was a tough weekend judging and dark tunnels and then we switched to a different range, a totally different terrain and today I kind of started off good but then I started, I don't know, I shot three eights and five targets and I had to regroup and definitely a challenge. I mean that last target, it's tough seeing that one but it's different so I'm just happy to be where I'm at right now, it's just, it's unbelievable. And our number one qualifier, Anthony Smith. In the senior known pro finals, Anthony Smith held an eight point lead over his closest rival at the start of the shoot down. Smith was in just one other shoot down before this one. His first appearance came in the senior known pro shoot down at Minden last year where he finished fourth. Eager to get his first pro class win, Smith played a safe, steady game in the finals while the competitors behind him tried to close the gap but just couldn't manage it. Holding a six point lead ahead of the sixth and final arrow, Smith watched his competitors try to catch him but in the end, all he had to do was hit the target to take the victory, which he did with ease. I've been nervous the whole time but kind of nervous all the way around and I've been looking for this since last year, huh? Coming in third place last year and I was looking to make a comeback this year. Morgan Reeves was an archer on a mission at Camp Minden. After finishing second only because of bonus rings at Fort Moore last month, the 18 year old Reeves led the way at Minden wire to wire. And our number one qualifier, Morgan Reeves. If anyone thought she was going to falter in the finals, she shut that book by hitting three 12s in a row to start the shoot down. Dialed in. This 17 year old has got it going on. A 10 and a 12 follow, giving Reeves a commanding seven point lead ahead of the sixth and final arrow. Got to go eight ring or better. All she needed was an eight to win and she put a perfect arrow in the center of the ten ring to take her first ever ASA pro class win. I couldn't have asked for it to play out any better, honestly. So how does this win rank in the victories you've had in your career, your short career? Probably top, honestly. So how are you feeling about it right now? Pretty stoked. Not really sure what to feel yet. Well you did it. Congratulations. You won it and you did it with outstanding shooting. Congratulations. Thank you. Since the known pro class came into existence in 2017, no one has ever won three in a row in the same season. The talent and competition in that class is extremely high. Kyle Douglas went into the shoot down in Minden with two wins at two ASA tournaments this year, an eight point lead and with his sights set on the three-peat. And our number one qualifier, Kyle Douglas. Douglas shot a perfect round with three 12s and two 10s and it proved too much for his competitors to chase down. Kyle went up for 12 and piped it. Only Dane Johnson was within 10 points of Douglas for the sixth arrow and he was an insurmountable eight points back. Conceding the victory, Johnson and Douglas each lobbied the ASA's Mike Tyrell for the privilege of shooting the Russian boar in the eye so they could each give targets to two lucky kids in the audience. They did that and Douglas completed the first ever three-peat in the known pro class. Yeah, that was a cool one. I talked Mike into letting me give away a target to a kid, well I guess whether I hit the eye or not, but kind of a fun little novelty there. It was just a good weekend. You know, I shot my bow pretty well all weekend and you're always trying to win it on the course. You don't have to work as hard in here. So coming here, you know, knowing I didn't have to gun super hard at 14s, I could hit them if I needed them to. But yeah, just kind of did my job, hit a few 12s and came right where I needed to be. Civic Center in Bowers City, Louisiana and we're ready to go. Got a bunch of umbrellas out for reasons I'm unsure of, but I guess this is lighting. It is lighting. It has to do with actually the screen that's offset to the right. In the women's pro class, spectators in the Civic Center and viewers at home had front row seats to the unforgiving nature of the unknown distance game. But she called upper, so she's going to get a 10 there. Kaylee Pettifer is no stranger to the ASA podium, but she hasn't stood on the top block since Metropolis 2022. Good strong shot. After a stellar round Saturday at Minden, Pettifer went into the shoot down with a slim two-point lead over the always dangerous Sharon Wallace. There's a good upper 12 too. Pettifer shot a clean round in the finals, never leaving the 10 ring and banking one 12. Because the way Pettifer's been shooting, you have to kind of say, okay, even at this distance center mass, 10 is probably... Yeah, she's probably going to be able to get a 10. Upper 12. A 10 by Wallace on the last target meant Pettifer just had to match that shot to take her first win in two years. So Kaylee needs a 10 here. Instead, it appeared her yardage guess was a bit strong. Sharon Wallace, you're winning. And her arrow hit straight over the 10 ring for an eight, giving Wallace her second win in a row. You can see these girls and you love them to death and you always want to see everyone shoot really well. It was very hard not to cry to see that happen when you're also happy to win, but when you see a good friend shoot great all weekend and then something like that. I've had that happen to me before and it's just gut wrenching. But I really am a loss for words right now. I really am. Only two bonus range difference between our number one coming off the qualifying range and our number fives. The Open Pro Shootdown is always the last of the night and is often the most thrilling. A hacker going for hacker. It looks like he got it. As the saying goes, save the best for last. CBE 14 for hacker. Dan McCarthy and Levi Morgan have built their status as legends in the ASA Shootdowns. Always with a very strong shot is Levi Morgan. They rarely are off and regularly do the impossible. And so it seemed the story was written when Defending Shooter of the Year McCarthy went into the shootdown with a six point lead over Chris Hacker and a seven point lead over Morgan. Levi went for it and I think he's got it. But Levi did what Levi does when he's forced to mash the gas to have any chance of challenging the leader. Shooting 10, 14, 14, 12, 10. Inside out 12. McCarthy just couldn't keep pace. Yeah, Dan's got an eight there. And all Levi needed to do with his six arrow was hit a 10 to take the improbable win. Easy, easy, 11, squeezy. Just super thankful, man. I was just out there thinking a second ago how blessed I am just to play this game. And outside of this game, so blessed. Beautiful wife, beautiful family, my kids, just my faith. And I just started thinking this is just a game and I'm so blessed to come out here with the best in the world and even get to compete. And some days it goes your way, some days it doesn't. Today I went mine, but again, just thankful to be here competing. With good weather all weekend at Minden, most archers had completed their two rounds by Sunday morning, so the crowd on the ranges was thin. They closed out the Easton Hoyt Pro-Am for yet another year, and now we all look ahead to the True Ball Pro-Am in London, Kentucky in just about a month's time. We'll see you there.