Kodiak Archery on mark for range of shooters

Robin Hood has come a long way.

The archery of ancient times may evoke longbows and feathered hats. But at Kodiak Archery in Otis Orchards, modern is the name of the game.

The full-service archery shop and indoor range features a wide selection of compound bows and high-quality arrows, as well as the region’s only nationally and state-certified 30-yard indoor range, said owner Anthony Lubina.

His shop gives customers a big-box alternative. “We’re customer-service oriented,” he said. “You want to deal with someone who knows how your bow works. The big-box guys don’t have a stake in their company.”

Lubina opened the range after receiving a medical retirement, saying he “couldn’t sit around and do nothing.” Lubina prepared to open Kodiak Archery by spending almost 10 months interning at an archery shop in California.

Now he can provide a wide range of services. “There’s no order too small,” he said. The range is family oriented, partly because Lubina’s family spends so much time at the range. His son Michael shoots after his homework is done, and his wife Lisa helps with bookkeeping and maintenance.

The range also hosts impromptu youth leagues, in which about 15 kids get together and shoot bows, but only “if their grades are up to snuff,” Lubina said. The leagues are on hold for the beginning of the school year, but will likely pick up soon. Things around the shop have been kind of slow during the past week, Lubina said, because bow-hunting season has started up.

In between the two bow-hunting seasons, muzzleloaders are allowed to hunt. During that time, Lubina said, he’d hold a few archery leagues to keep hunters’ aims fresh.

Lubina has also found another benefit of owning an archery shop: he is his own son’s – and the area’s – counselor for the archery merit badge for the Boy Scouts of America. “All of the kids in my son’s troop better be getting their merit badges, that’s for sure,” he said.

Anybody is welcome at Kodiak, from beginners to professionals, Lubina said, even if it’s just to get rid of some cabin fever at the heated indoor range.

“The coffee’s on in the winter and soda’s on in the summer,” he said.