His archery knowledge has grown over the last 54 years from a simple sporting hobby to a lifetime passion. He has also contributed more than decade with the Hastings Valley Archery Club.

His first introduction to the sport was at age ten in Loftus, Sydney when he was given a bamboo bow as a Christmas present.

"(It had) barely enough power to penetrate a cardboard box. I had no idea on correct technique but had a lot of fun shooting in the bush adjacent to our home," he laughed.

"I think all kids go through a stage of liking archery. I played many sports but I liked being out in the bush rather than inside watching the television.

"It was all fun, the whole experience of making your own arrows, quivers is an overall hobby. It's not just about the shooting."

Mr Drew quickly developed a passion for the sport joining the Menai Field Archers (now defunct) at age 12. He was gifted a 35 pound draw strength, fibreglass recurve bow and taught correct form by a boyfriend of his older sister.

"My older sister had met a recently arrived boy from England, he was about 17 and was a keen archer who had been trained properly and had won many tournaments in England," said Mr Drew.

"He taught e the correct technique for shooting a bow and I was soon hitting what I aimed at. Archery wasn't in schools at that time and at Jannali Boys High School none of the other kids had shot a bow, they had no idea," he said.

"When I was old enough to work (as a firefighter) and earn my own money I bought a succession of better laminated recurve bows and quality accessories. In the early seventies I was tempted to buy my first compound bow, made by PSE Archery. "

Compound bows were first developed around 1966 in America. They used a customisable system of cables and pulleys to bend the limbs of the bow and would eventually overtake recurve bows in popularity.

"They were a new innovation in archery and through the use of cams and cables reduced the holding weight at full draw while increasing the performance of the bow," said Mr Drew.

"Aluminium arrows replaced wood and accuracy improved. Fast forward to today and the modern compound bows we use are light years ahead of those old bows.

"The fundamental principles of how compound bows work is now understood and with correct tuning a modern compound bow has accuracy that would make robin hood envious."

Mr Drew became a member of the Mount Kiera Archers and later joined Mossman Archery Club in Queensland from 2003 to 2010.

Mr Drew mentions his most inspiring role models as Matt Stutsman, a competitive archer born without arms and Howard Hill, a trick-shot performer employed in the cinema industry to shoot 'Indians' from horse back with a bow.

He also recommends reading the exploits of Byron Ferguson, another trick-shot performer on American TV who is famous for shooting an Aspro tablet tossed into the air .

Mr Drew said the best advice he can give to any budding archers in the community is simply to have a go and enjoy the experience.

"Archery does not require any real fitness, anyone can become an Olympic archer not matter their size or strength," he said.

"The best advice I can give someone wanting to try archery is to visit a club. Most have 'come and try' days where for a small fee you can shoot a bow safely under close supervision. If you enjoy it and want to continue you can then join the club where you will get the benefit of the accumulated experience of the members.

"An archery club is only as good as the committee that runs it, in this regard Hastings Valley Archers is the best I have been a member of. Their enthusiasm gets passed on to the members who appreciate what they do and they respond in kind.

"The transformation of the club over the last ten years that I have been a member is a credit to the dedication of these people and the support they have received from the members."

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