# When you know your good enough to be pro and how to get there.



## Mtnhighhunters (Jan 2, 2020)

When and at what point do you decide your at that level. What paths have to be taken, what do you have to prove? When you get there then what...


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## [email protected] (Nov 14, 2019)

My mom shot professionally for Hoyt for years. She started at Issac Walton shooting in competitions. Winning then state, National and World shoots. Once you start winning at higher levels reps from companies are there. Good luck with your dreams


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## legion_archery (Mar 4, 2014)

Mtnhighhunters said:


> When and at what point do you decide your at that level. What paths have to be taken, what do you have to prove? When you get there then what...


Well it depends on what organizations and/or types of tournaments you are planning/wanting to shoot in???? 

And what class do you currently shoot in??

If Vegas then what scores do you shoot? 300 with 25X or better??? 

If 5spot then do you shoot a 60X basically everytime you shoot a round??

If 3d then will it be known or unknown?? And what kind of scores do you shoot?? Even,10up, 20up??

I shoot ASA Known Pro and shot Open Pro before that... I dont shoot indoor tournaments but I do shoot a 60X 5spot round 9/10 times and I average a 300 27-28X Vegas round and I finished 6th, 10th & 15th at three ASA tournaments.....

When I started shooting ASA I went straight to Pro, got my butt KICKED the first year BUT it thought me a lot of good lessons and all the other shooters helped me and I learned a lot from them... I was a shark swimming with small fish around home but when I started going to the national shoots I realized that I was no longer a shark, but now after putting in my time I am now a shark again.....

Sometimes you have to just take the big plunge and "pay to play" and get beat on and learn the lessons...

A lot of shooters say that you need to move up through the classes but that can take several years and if you really do believe that right now you are good enough to be competitive In a Pro class then GO FOR IT!!!! 



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## huteson2us2 (Jun 22, 2005)

If you want to play with the big dogs, you will have to get off the porch. Join the Pros and compete with them. If you are good enough, one will recommend you to their sponsor. This is how it worked for me years ago before I got old.


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## Bigallyoutdoors (Oct 5, 2014)

I never shot a tournament in my life before and I jumped right in the pro division.I still suck,but I love competing against the best.It make me a better shooter.


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## sjanderson117 (Nov 14, 2019)

legion_archery said:


> Well it depends on what organizations and/or types of tournaments you are planning/wanting to shoot in????
> 
> And what class do you currently shoot in??
> 
> ...


So I'm trying to get more into competitive archery. What do you mean when you say a Vegas score of 300 with 25X? Half the battle is my shooting, the other is learning the jargon.


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## legion_archery (Mar 4, 2014)

sjanderson117 said:


> So I'm trying to get more into competitive archery. What do you mean when you say a Vegas score of 300 with 25X? Half the battle is my shooting, the other is learning the jargon.


You shoot 30 shots at a vegas face target, the highest score per shot is a 10 so that means you shoot shot a perfect score if you shoot a 300... the 10 ring is about 1.25" in diameter and the X ring is about 1/2" in diameter so a 300 w/25X means you hit the 10nring each time and also hit 25X's

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## sjanderson117 (Nov 14, 2019)

legion_archery said:


> You shoot 30 shots at a vegas face target, the highest score per shot is a 10 so that means you shoot shot a perfect score if you shoot a 300... the 10 ring is about 1.25" in diameter and the X ring is about 1/2" in diameter so a 300 w/25X means you hit the 10nring each time and also hit 25X's
> 
> Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk


Ahh, yea i knew a perfect vegas score was 300 but the 25x threw me. Got it


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## OCHO505 (May 27, 2010)

And even if you do put up some of these scores... You gotta be able to put them up in the tournament to actually count. Watch the end of this video gives you an idea what talent your competing against. Keep in mind a World Champion Levi Morgan watching on the sidelines, its definitely a tall task but as Tyler said go for it! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and you'll learn if anything!


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## baller (Oct 4, 2006)

I'll add my 2 cents being that I just made the jump last year after 24 years as an amateur, and happen to be in the above video 

Firstly what is your goal for making the jump? Regardless of where your game is at present, do you personally care if you make the switch to pro and don't win or even make a shoot off or better yet don't make any prize money at all? Possibly even for the first few seasons? If the answer to this question is yes you do care, it may not be time yet. Don't get me wrong, one of my career goals is a pro podium, and a win is a "goal" every time I go to an event, but it's not the focus when I step to the line.. If you don't mind getting your tail kicked for a while, and learning a TON in a short time, make the jump. If you're interested in doing it for the 'experience' go for it. I'm not talking about the experience as in time on the line, but the experience of shooting with and being amongst the best in the world, in an actual tournament setting (similar to one paying to be in a pro-am on the PGA tour, but for the whole 4-day tournament not just). One of my best experiences in my rookie season was last September at the week long event in Yankton for field nationals, target nationals, etc. I got paired with the absolute best of the best at least once in each event for the whole week and learned as much as I could about the pro game....simply invaluable information.

Secondly what is your budget. I was lucky enough to make a few bucks here and there in my rookie year but came no where near to breaking even, which is why I 'went to school' in situations where I knew I was mathematically out of it but had already paid to be there so wanted something out of the trip. Plan on your first year or even first couple of years being completely out of pocket, with the only return coming in the form of place money (don't plan on contingency or sponsor help for budgeting). The talent pool is so deep that anyone in the pro division has the chance to win in any given week, and consecutive wins, or title defenses are very rare.

One way to dip your toes in the pool without committing on the full scale is shoot in the championship division at an open tournament that doesn't require a pro membership to shoot that division. Vegas, Rushmore Rumble (if there's another one), First Dakota Classic, etc. all are open championship events that you can shoot as an amateur and still be an amateur when it's over.

I completely encourage anyone to make the jump to pro regardless of their game if they can honestly answer the above questions. There is a minimum qualifying score, I don't remember it off the top of my head but if you're consistently shooting Vegas 300s you're good enough to qualify.


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## Lee_Wells (Apr 9, 2021)

Mtnhighhunters said:


> When and at what point do you decide your at that level. What paths have to be taken, what do you have to prove? When you get there then what...


Forgive my missing knowledge in some places of my dad's career in archery I wasn't interested in it when I was young and he passed when I was 18 5 years ago but from my understanding this is the path he took.
My dad shot a lot for hunting to get extremely good to extend his hunting seasons. Then was asked to shoot in some tournaments locally, came out of the gate with strong 2 and 3rds and his first 2 events and won a new at the time PSE target bow ( this is like 1993 or so) won lots of local shoots and started competition at a state level and had high placeings and some wins and was offered a sponsorship by PSE and took it along with working in the mines he then started competition at world level I'm not sure of how he did there because I can't find much from his records from then (think they were lost in a partial house fire) but he wasn't home enough and I was around 1 (1999) when he retired to spend more time with me and my mom and focus on family hope this helps


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