New world champion archer enjoys competitions, helping other shooters to improve
A Pennsylvania archer is the new world champion senior pro shooter.
Tony Tazza, 56, of Boswell, Somerset County, received the International Bowhunting Organization World Championship, Triple Crown Award and shooter of the year honors Aug. 13 during the organization’s final shoot of the year at Seven Springs Mountain Resort.
“I feel very blessed to be able to pull this accomplishment off,” he said. “It’s very rewarding that all my hard works paid off like that.”
The tournament involved shooting with compound bows at 3-D animal foam targets on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. “I led wire to wire,” in the pro division for archers older than 50, Tazza said.
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He’s been fortunate to stand on the podium of many tournaments during his career.
This is the sixth year in a row he has earned shooter of the year honors. He has won the IBO world championship four additional times. He also swept the awards in 2018.
The Somerset County native holds seven National IBO Triple Crown wins. Two of the wins were in the semi pro division and five in the senior pro division. He also earned Archery Shooters Association National overall shooter of the year awards in 2016 and 2018.
This past weekend’s event was held on the ski slopes of Seven Springs and the variety of animal targets were in places out to 50 yards away.
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“The courses are super challenging,” Tazza said about the different grades distance-judging requirements.
How he got started in archery
Tazza has been shooting competitively for 27 years and owns The Archery Zone sport shop in Johnstown.
“I started hunting with a bow when I was about 15, but I wasn’t good at it,” he said. He decided to participate in 3-D shoots of foam animals to improve his accuracy for hunting season.
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In 1995, he competed in his first national IBO tournaments. "I haven’t missed one since 1996,” he said about the events that are held each year in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
He became a pro in 2000. “I only did it as a profession for maybe two or three years,” he said.
“I just have a really competitive nature. I like to compete, no matter what it is, I’m competitive at it. I just want to win,” he said about his lengthy run in the tournaments.
He said he wasn’t really good in most sports in high school. However, when he tried archery, he realized it was for him. “I took it and ran,” he said. “It’s one of those things that once I figured out I was good at it, I tried to keep getting better.”
His efforts have paid off as his skills have improved over time. “It doesn’t normally work that way, but it has been. I’ve had some really good years, but probably the last two years have been some of my best.”
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Tazza credits practicing more efficiently and working on his distance recognition. Competition archers are not made aware how far out the targets are placed.
He studies targets at known distances and then references that mental image to what he sees in the competitions. Foam animal targets are spread out as far as 50 yards.
At age 56 he ponders the future, but he has two more years in his archery contract with Hoyt. “We’ll probably make a decision when that runs out if I’m going to carry on, or hang it up, or go to a limited schedule.”
He also enjoys time in the woods archery hunting. Whitetail is his favorite game animal, but he’s also hunted for elk with his bow in western states and black bear.
He shot a bear weighing about 250 pounds on Oct. 28 in Somerset County with his Hoyt compound bow.
“He was just meandering around and walked under my tree stand,” he said about the surprise encounter. He also shot a bear with a bow in Canada in the 1990s.
Helping fellow archers
Five years ago, Tazza purchased The Archery Zone sport shop, where he and his staff are helping fellow archers to improve. “There are 10 competitive archers who come here frequently.”
He also helps with the Sportsmen Fellowship Ministries in Jerome, Somerset County, that caters to youth archers with its indoor archery range.
“Just helping to grow the sport,” he said.
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“The biggest misconception about archery is that it’s all about hunting. It’s not all about hunting," Tazza said. "I see it all the time from the kids that come in here from Sportsmen Fellowship. Some of them are not athletes. They’re not going to be star athletes and that sort of reminds me of myself when I was in my 20's and teens that I was never a great athlete. That doesn’t mean you can’t be a great archer. Somebody wants to fill that competitive need, and isn’t in team sports, could really excel in archery as a sport."
It’s a hobby that challenges the archer to be focused mentally and physically. “It builds confidence, it builds discipline and those things you learn through archery can help you in a lot of different aspects of your life.”
Part of the challenge is knowing you have your gear set up and working correctly. Tazza said trained instructors can teach beginners how to do things correctly before they start learning bad habits like punching their release’s trigger at the shot. “There are a lot of form flaws that can be eliminated if you learn how to do it right the first time.”
He suggests new archers search for advice YouTube and through local coaches.
Archery season
With the statewide archery season opening Oct. 1, Tazza believes there still is time for people to get into the sport and be proficient. “With today’s equipment and with proper instruction, we have people coming in here and within an hour they are hitting a snuff can at 20 yards at every shot.”
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The archery equipment that is offered continues to improve. “When you get a compound bow with a mechanical release and peep sights, they can be pretty accurate in a short amount of time,” he said.
However, the instructors do like people to start shooting by the beginning of summer and come to understand their limitations with the equipment.
Crossbows are available for people to consider as well.
He said they work great for those who have trouble drawing a compound bow string. However, crossbows can be difficult to shoot as there’s a lot of effort required in drawing the string and bolt into place. “You’ll wear yourself out cocking and firing them, but there are instances where crossbows are good, he said.
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Compound bows require a more individualized custom fit for draw length and pull weight that can be costly for a parent with several children who might want their own bows to shoot.
“If a gentleman or lady is getting older and is not strong enough to shoot a powerful enough compound bow, then we take them (to the crossbows," Tazza said.
He said some compound shooters also buy a crossbow to have an extra tool for days when it makes sense, such as in extremely cold weather.
Points to remember
Archery hunting is a close encounter sport and Tazza encourages shooters to wait until their animal is closer than 30 yards. At longer ranges the deer could take a step or be spooked at the sound of the shot and an arrow or bolt will miss its mark.
The biggest mistake his shop sees is that people buy a bow from a friend or at a yard sale and it doesn’t fit them properly.
“The best bow in the world that doesn’t fit you properly isn’t going to work,” he said. “You are not going to enjoy archery unless it’s set up properly,” he said.
For those who have owned a bow for several years, he recommends getting a check-up to review the quality and condition of the string and to make sure the cam wheels and limbs are in tune with the string.
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“I really recommend going out and shooting 3-D tournaments at your local clubs. There’s no better practice than going out and shooting 3-D tournaments," Tazza said.
The tournaments have foam animals like deer, turkey and bear placed in wooded areas to simulate hunting conditions.
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Some clubs offer shots from elevated positions that resemble shooting from a tree stand.
Tazza suggests visiting Facebook groups like Western PA 3-D archery and your local archery shop to find schedules of shoots near you.
Before heading to the woods for deer, he recommends archers tune up with broadhead tips to see where they hit a target in comparison to field tips.
“Archery is a sport for all ages, all genders. It’s a sport that everyone can enjoy whether you hunt or shoot for sport,” Tazza said.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on your website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on social media @whipkeyoutdoors.