Seven-year-old Jackson Moleski is 15 months older than his brother Hunter and until this weekend Jackson had never lost to Hunter in an archery shoot.
As the oldest boy in the family, Jackson goes out of his way to make sure his little brother never gets the better of him in anything.
But Hunter was bound and determined to practice his archery and every day after school last week he was out on his own in the yard taking aim at targets, knowing he and Jackson would be going head-to-head against each other in the Silvertip Archers Father's Day 3-D tournament.
All that practice paid off. After two rounds of shooting stuffed animal targets set up in the woods at the Silvertip club's outdoor course, Hunter trailed Jackson by only one point. Hunter turned it on in the final two rounds Sunday and finished second in the peewee male category with 624 points, 19 better than Jackson's third-place 605 total.
"Hunter was very dedicated all week, counting how many shots he took in the yard," said Cara Moleski, the boys mom. "Jackson thought he had it, but Hunter was very focused today and he got it done. He's very proud."
Hunter, who turns six in two weeks, says there's no substitute for hard work in brotherly competitions. "I've been practicing a lot at home and that's how I beat him," he said.
Logan Yon won the peewee class with a 641 total. Even after the kids were called up to accept their trophies, Jackson was under the impression he had topped his brother. When his dad told him otherwise, Jackson's response was: "That's bad. I'm going to punch him."
The highlight of Jackson's day was when he hit five straight five-point targets. He especially liked the ram target, a bighorn sheep made to look like it was bedded down in the grass catching some rest in amongst the trees.
"I shot a 10 on him," said Hunter. "I hated the little bear. I missed him but I'll hit him next time."
The boys draw their archery inspiration from two in-house sharpshooters. Cara won the Father's Day women's bowhunter unlimited class with a 672 total, while their dad. Jeff Moleski, ended up fourth in the men's bowhunter unlimited category with 728.
"I got a new bow on Tuesday and spent the week sighting it in and it did good," said the 30-year-old Cara. "I've placed second or third sometimes so it's exciting [to win]. Some of the targets were small and far away and that makes it tough. I just felt good with my new bow and the weather was good, it wasn't too hot and it didn't rain."
Jeff, 32, dabbled in archery when he was a young teen but got serious about it 10 years ago. He hunts big game with his bow, and now that Cara is getting more comfortable slinging arrows she plans to join him soon on a deer hunt.
The two-day shoot drew 125 archers from as far as Terrace, Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Williams Lake and McBride. (See page 14 for top-three results by category).
The Moleskis live in Prince George but spent the weekend in their camper at the outdoor range off Highway 16 East renewing acquaintances with other archery families. They've traveled the outdoor 3-D circuit this year to Terrace, Quesnel and Williams Lake and will probably compete in a couple more events before the season ends.
During the competition the four of them walk the course and shoot together. It's quality time doing something they all enjoy outside, away from the usual time-consuming electronic trappings of life.
"It's getting them active instead of sitting on a computer at home, it's outside and it's just fun," said Cara. "Hunter and Jackson both love it and that makes it more enjoyable."
"It's a good family hobby and it's very affordable," said Jeff. "There's a lot of good people here and a lot of kids and they play all day. These 3-D shoots are a lot of fun and they get you ready for hunting season."
The Silvertip club will host the provincial field target championships at the Highway 16 range, Aug. 30-31.
