t`s been six years since he last claimed the Buckmasters Top Bow

Joseph Goza, the 2011 Buckmasters Top Bow
Champion, holds up The Rack trophy in celebration of his fifth title.
60 Buckmasters Whitetail Magazine [ Winter 2011/2012]
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Chris Berry
Sarcoxie, Mo.
Jamie Patterson
Tallassee, Ala.
Keith Brown had a great weekend, especially
considering he hadn’t planned to enter the
Top Bow event. Keith finished second and
won two Yamaha ATVs, plus cash. Above,
Keith gets the keys to one of his ATVs from
Yamaha’s Robby Braun.
Skipper Booth
Northport, Ala.
Colin Boothe
Harrisonburg, La.
Keith Brown
Greensboro, N.C.
Joseph Goza
Flat Rock, Ala.
nal round against Goza would have been
very close if not for an equipment malfunction.
“I felt good and settled on that target,”
he said. “When I let go, a fletching came
loose, and the arrow just dropped right out
of the vitals. That threw me off mentally. I
came back and hit the next long shot, but
when I missed the runner, I pretty much
knew Joseph was going to take the title.”
Waiting backstage, Goza said he knew
Brown had left him some wiggle room.
“I’ve been in this situation a lot at the
Buckmasters event, and I know when a
guy clears a round, this place goes berserk,” he said. “I didn’t hear that, so I
figured Keith had missed a target or
two. I knew if I came out and shot a good
PHOTOS BY CHRIS BROWN
I
t’s been six years since he last claimed
the Buckmasters Top Bow Indoor
World Championship, but Joseph Goza
is no stranger to winning.
Nobody has won more Buckmasters
titles, and he’s been in the running almost
every year. Still, Goza said it felt great to
hoist The Rack trophy once again.
“You know, the last couple of years it
seems I’ve been happy just to be in the
top four. This time, I wanted to focus and
shoot,” he said. “Some guys can stay real
loose, but I have to focus to shoot well.”
The Flat Rock, Ala., shooter said his
victory also came down to peaking at the
right time.
“That’s one thing about this event,” he
said. “You can’t peak too early. You can
have the best score going into the final
eight, but if you go up against somebody
who’s hot, you can go home pretty quick.
I’ve said for years that when you get to the
top eight in this event, you better shoot
clean every round.”
Goza had to overcome two very hot archers in Colin Boothe and Keith Brown,
both of whom had won their respective
pools earlier in the day to take home
Yamaha ATVs.
“Colin had cleaned (hit all 10 targets)
at least four rounds in a row, and he was
really on,” Goza said. “I shot my worst
round last night in the qualifier round,
but it made me focus. It might sound funny, but I’m glad I didn’t win the pool. I
didn’t want to feel satisfied that I had won
something, and I think shooting that bad
round really helped me come back and
shoot well today.”
Brown had been consistent and near
the top throughout the event, and the fi-
The Top Bow competition tests the limits of the
world’s best shooters with pop-up targets ranging from 15 to 60 yards, including movers.
www.buckmasters.com
[ Winter
2011/2012] Buckmasters Whitetail Magazine 61
BACK ON TOP
Boothe also won a Yamaha ATV for
winning his shooter pool.
Sixty-four shooters began the event
on Thursday in preparation for Sunday’s
championship, which highlights the
Buckmasters Expo.
Another big winner was audience
member Robert Osborn, who won a
Yamaha ATV, thanks to Goza’s great
shooting.
The Buckmasters American Deer
Foundation raises funds through raffles
each year at the Top Bow Championships, and one of the drawings pairs up
an audience member with each of the
eight finalists. Osborn was lucky enough
to draw Goza’s name, and eventually
claimed the keys to a new Yamaha.
PHOTO BY CHRIS BROWN
round that I had a real good chance
of winning.”
This was the first year for a new format that featured two pools of shooters
and an extended prize payout. Shooters
down to 20th place won prize money,
and the top four shooters in each pool
also won prizes.
Goza received a check for $15,000, archery’s biggest purse, and also won the
Dan C. Bussey award with a check for
$1,000 for the highest score.
Brown had a good weekend, winning
two Yamaha Grizzly ATVs, one for winning his shooter pool and one for finishing second overall. He also got a $1,000
check for his second-place finish and a
$500 check for winning the Easton Red
Dot Shootoff — not bad considering he
hadn’t planned to compete this year.
“I had a pretty good weekend,” Brown
said afterward. “I really wasn’t planning
to shoot. I hadn’t been practicing at all
because I had so many chores around the
house. Then Colin called and talked me
into it, so I started to practice. I’m really
Project3 7/6/11 2:49 PM Page 1
glad I decided to come.”
Mathews shooters dominated the Top Bow championships, claiming four of the top six spots.
Shown above are Mike Ziebell of Mathews Inc., Colin Boothe, Keith Brown, Skipper Booth,
Joseph Goza, and Ron Cormier of Mathews Inc.
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