Nathan Trosper stood deep in the woods at Bonita Lakes’ three-dimensional archery course, visualizing his next move.

The Collinsville native grabbed his bow and aligned himself into position. He squinted with his left eye, took aim and let loose an arrow toward the 3-D deer resting in the distance.

“There’s a lot of technique involved, and it takes a lot of practice,” Trosper explained. “Sometimes you don’t have as much time to practice as you’d like to, but it’s all in technique and form.”

The archery event is associated with the State Games of Mississippi, allowing for plenty of competition among the participants.

The competition was spread across 15 separate divisions, competing in 3-D and field events, with the targets placed 40, 50 and 60 yards away.

“We had about 100-150 participants last year,” Commissioner Brian Stokes said. “And we’re looking for more this year; it grows every year.”

Trosper is no stranger to the event, as Saturday’s edition marked the sixth consecutive year he has taken part in the competition in addition to attending a number of them as a teenager.

“I’ve been playing in this ever since I was 13 or 14 years old. I missed a couple of years when I was college,” Trosper said. “This is a great event. The results have been good, sometimes not as a good as I’d like for them to be, but it’s all in fun and enjoyment, and I get to be here with the family and enjoy the outdoors.”

Trosper was just one of a number of highly accomplished archers putting their skills on display Saturday.

“We have some of the best archers in the country here,” Stokes said. “We probably have 15-20 archers that compete nationally and compete well in it. We have professionals, we have semi-professionals that come in from all over the state that are very good, and we have novices as well.”

Trosper said archery is an emerging sport, with Mississippi demonstrating an increased interest at the younger levels.

“Archery in Mississippi schools is growing with the National Archery in the Schools Program,” Trosper said. “It’s also an accredited program that you can have through the public school system.

“But it’s also growing with the (Archery Shooters Association) with the national shoots. We have a lot of national shoots around the Southeast. There will be 2,000 competitors that will show up for those.”