Somerset — Robert Young of Rockland has been an archer most of his life, having won numerous trophies and accolades over the years for his ability to hit the target with his trusty bow and arrow.

However, now at age 76, Young made others feel old with his performance at the Somerset Bow Hunters 3D State Shoot Aug. 5 in Somerset.

Young, who was the oldest competitor in the traditional division and shooting against archers more than half his age, won his division and, in turn, the state championship, shooting to an impressive 339 out of 400 possible points.

Young has been shooting for 47 years and calls it a "good, family sport." He bested 19 other competitors in his division to win the title.

Young has several bows but prefers traditional, which those privy to the sport often refer to as "stick and a string," as opposed to the more modern compound bows used today.

The tournament had roughly 140 participants spanning nine divisions, including open, hunter open, male finger, female finger, male/female finger, youth, traditional, cub and peewee.

Each participant shot 40 targets from roughly 25 yards away, with 10 points awarded for a bull's-eye, eight for the middle ring and five for the outer ring.

The 3D aspect of the tournament is that the targets are actually man-made sculptures of animals, such as deer, foxes, bears or coyotes.

The Somerset Bow Hunters is a branch of the Central Maine 3D Shoot, for which there are 15 tournaments from April to August at different locales, with that being one of them. Young has participated in eight of the tournaments thus far this season with the final tournament — the Lester Corson Memorial — set for Sunday, Aug. 19 in Somerset, an event Young plans to participate in.

Young also is one of the founding members of the Maine Traditional Archers, formed roughly 10 years ago. He won the state championship for that organization, which has roughly 130 members, in 2007.

Courier Publications Associate Sports Director Mark Haskell can be reached at 207-594-4401 or by email at mhaskell@courlerpublicationsllc.com.