VALPARAISO | Peering at his target through bare branches and under gray skies, Chris Taylor slips a red-and-black shafted arrow from his quiver.

(Video: Taking aim)

Taylor's camouflage hat, which hides his closely cropped dirty blond hair, matches the design on his compound bow. With three fingers, Taylor draws the arrow back against 62 pounds of resistance, bringing it to rest against the right side of his face. He gauges the distance of his target, a foam turkey, and aligns the peep sight on his string with the appropriate pin on his sight -- all while keeping the bow perfectly steady.

In a blink, the arrow is gone, whizzing through the air at an eye-blurring speed of 255 feet per second.

"Good shot," Don Dolph Jr. says as the arrow pierces the foam turkey.

Dolph, 28, manages a roofing company. Taylor, 36, drives trucks. But at week's end, there's nothing the two Valparaiso residents like more than killing a couple hours at Deep River Bowmen's outdoor practice range in Valparaiso.

"This is my No. 1 hobby," Taylor said. "I love the atmosphere. I love the camaraderie."

Dolph has been coming to the bowhunting archery club since he was 12, long enough to see the club grow from fewer than 30 members to more than 230. He, like Taylor, was introduced to the sport by his dad, who is still a club member.

"It's all about having fun -- practicing, making yourself better and just having a good time," Dolph said.

For Dolph, it's practice to become a better target shooter.

Dolph competes in everything from indoor shoots at the club to the Michigan Triple Crown to the World Championship. His accolades include a first-place finish in the state and a 16th-place finish in the World Championship when he was a kid. He has already qualified multiple times this season for the World Championship.

For Taylor, it's practice to become a better hunter.

"Hunting, for me, it's a responsibility," Taylor said. "To look at an animal, one of God's creations, and take its life for your sustenance, it brings everything into a different perspective."

Taylor and Dolph also differ in their equipment, and thus, their competition classifications. While Taylor draws an arrow with his fingers, Dolph's arrows are mechanically released. He draws with a metal mechanic, aims through a magnified scope and releases the arrow by tapping a trigger with his thumb.

Regardless of your equipment, the sport takes strength and skill, steady hands and an astute ability to estimate the distance of a target that could be 50 yards away. Not to mention strong fingers.

"When they start turning colors and speckled on the ends, you know they've had enough," said Taylor, who also has a scar between his eyes from the homemade longbow that broke while he was shooting it as a child. "They start turning purple on the string line and getting speckles on them, almost like warm-weather frostbite."

Of course, calloused fingers are a small price to pay for an afternoon of fun.

"We're avid archers and bow hunters, and that's what this club is all about -- people who are in love with the sport of archery and trying to better themselves in the harvesting of game animals more responsibly," Taylor said. "We're all out here as a family."

Archery has quite literally become a family endeavor for Dolph and Taylor, something they learned from their dads and are passing down to their kids.

"I have a few daughters who shoot with me," Taylor said, "so it's a family thing."

Said Dolph: "That's my next thing is to get my kids out here."