Dave Powers

I got into archery about the same time I started walking. I shot and hunted with homemade bows and arrows until I was able to buy a Ben Pearson Deer Slayer Bow at age 14. I had bagged one deer and small game, mostly rabbits.
I started shooting competitively in 1959 (age 18) the same year I saw my first NFAA Field Range, and have competed on and off ever since. I shot mostly field archery all bare bow or instinctively back then.
I won the Mississippi State Championship from 1962-1966 and several tri-state and sectional tournaments. I shot the NFAA National Field Championship in 1967 at Jackson, MS. I made the top target with some well known shooters, Frank Gandy, David Hughes, and Rick Gilly. I finished 4th but was very happy!! That was also the first shoot I saw sight shooters beat the bare bow shooters but not by much as Frank Gandy posted a 269 average out 280 possible.
I moved to Idaho in 1967 and switched to mostly hunting. There was so much hunting opportunity I rarely shot competition but did compete in a few shoots. I don’t remember what year 3-D archery started in this area but I quickly got involved and started shooting any time I could. Being mostly a hunter, I saw the benefit of the realistic practice 3-D archery offered. We all shot hunting equipment at unknown distances at life size targets. Some of the earlier shoots were with broadhead arrows, very realistic, but a little dangerous.

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Dave with his son Dusty At the 2007 Idaho State Jamboree

I got my first chance at a national tournament in 1983. I was guiding the Golden Eagle Archery owner, and Gale Caualin on a bear hunt, we were shooting some around camp when Gale (2 times NFAA National Field Archery Champion) asked if I would shoot on the Golden Eagle team at the Bowhunter Nationals in Aurora, IL that year. All expenses paid! Needless to say I jumped at that chance. I was teamed with Jim Hadly (placed 2nd in Vegas Indoor that year), Gale Caualin, and now IBO president Ken Watkins. I was high overall score by 35 points and we also won the team by a wide margin. That was my start in the big league as Golden Eagle offered to send me to the Grand American in Ohio later that year which I also won by several points.

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IBO started the next year and I decided to shoot for High Country Archery as I really liked their high letoff bow designed by my good friend Bob Proctor (who is also now owner of Alpine Archery). I shot the IBO National Triple Crown the next 6 years and won overall high score 3 times, placed 2nd twice, and 3rd once when my bow broke using a prototype riser.
I started my own bow company in 1989 and my 1st bow “The Clearwater Power Mag” was built, with help from Bob Proctor. That year my son, Bubba, and I tied for the overall high score at the Triple Crown Championships. I won the shoot off but the bow was off to a good start and Bubba paid me back later by un-seating me at the world championship. I was so busy the next few years, I couldn’t take the time to compete in the three shoots required to compete in the Triple Crown.
IBO started the world championships in 1990. I wasn’t able to go until 1991. I shot the open division in 1991 and won my 1st world championship. I shot the open class the next year or two, and then the pro senior division and senior division. I won six of the next world shoots. I would have liked to shoot some ASA but everything is long a ways from Idaho.
I sold Clearwater Archery in 2000 and didn’t shoot competitively for a few years. My eye sight had gotten so bad it was a struggle to compete in any divisions. I started shooting Alpine bows soon after selling Clearwater Archery but just hunted mostly. I might shoot a local shoot once or twice a year. Alpine offered to sponsor me to the World Shoot in 2005 and it was like a home coming. I realized how much I had missed all the people and the activities with all my friends. I hadn’t shot a qualifier so I had to shoot the Trophy Division but, I did win my division and was hooked again.
I shot the World Shoot in 2007 but missed the cut by one point. I had Lasic Surgery on my eyes in 2006 and was seeing pretty good, but miss pinned on an easy shot and you just don’t get by with that at the World Shoot. In 2008 I decided to try to get serious as the Alpine bows had reached an all time great. While shooting the Alpine Ventura in 2008 I got 1st at the Western Triple Crown, 1st at Idaho State, 1st at the NFAA marked 3-D Nationals, 1st at the Redding Western Trial Shoot, and 6th at the IBO Triple Crown. My most notable lifetime wins are 6 individual world championships and 10 national championships.
I have competed a lot, but my first love is hunting. Bull Elk my most enjoyable and Whitetail Deer my obsession! I’ve taken about 75 bull elk with a bow and at least twice that many whitetails. I’m not an elk trophy hunter but I have bulls in the 350-360 class. I don’t live in an area where there are many big bulls and hunting pressure is high. I do trophy hunt whitetails and we are in a area that has good whitetails. I haven’t gotten any monsters but I have several in the 150-170 class. I’ve also taken most of the North American game, and most of the African Plains game.
Archery has been a very important part of my life. Donita, my wife of 40 years, is also an avid hunter and competitor. My boys are also big hunters and competitors. My only daughter decided she’d rather be a shopper than a hunter. I’ll be 68 in June but hope to have a few more good years.
Some of the dates may not be exactly right so just remember “I’m Old!”

Good hunting,
David Powers

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