Archery TECH: DANIEL WOODLAND
I was born in Great Falls in July of 1990. When I was 5, my parents decided to move to Cascade (24
miles south of Great Falls on I-15) to live a quiet small town life. As I was growing up, I can remember
my dad building a target in the back yard for me and my 2 brothers (Richard and Perry). The 3 of us
had fun shooting at about 10 yards (because that’s as far as dad would let us shoot with our little 10lb
bows), but I was the only one that would stay up and watch dad as he would shoot at the longer distances. Since then, I have always wanted to be able to shoot better and farther than my dad.
When I got older, my parents told me that I had to start buying my own big kid toys. I started working
on the ranches surrounding Cascade. While I was out walking the fence lines, looking for loose or
broken wire to fix or while I was throwing hay bales, every time I saw an animal I was always thinking
of how I could sneak up to and then guess how far the shot would be. Hunting was, and still is, everything to me.
When I was 16, I bought my first hunting bow. Since then I’ve never looked back. I still, to this day, try
to shoot tight groups and see how far I can shoot, but instead of trying to beat my dad, now I try to
beat my supervisor, Rob Patton. It’s only happened a couple times but we both know it’s all fun and
games. I will say that even though I have been professionally tuning bows for the last 4 years now, I
learn something new everyday. I do need to credit a lot of my knowledge to a good friend Travis Maphies and to Rob Patton. With out these 2 men I would not be at the level I am today. I do hope to go
to some of the national tournaments some day and be a top competitor, but only practice and time
will tell.
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