Before the 2023-24 Louisiana State Bullseye Tournament, Brilee was practicing a couple rounds after letting her chickens out. She said the fowl fans were a tough crowd and got her ready for the state tournament. LDWF National Hunting and Fishing Day event introduced Brilee Dobbins to archery Brilee Dobbins entered the high school archery ranks […]
LDWF National Hunting and Fishing Day event introduced Brilee Dobbins to archery
Brilee Dobbins entered the high school archery ranks a few months ago with all the momentum and precision of an arrow launched from her bow.
Brilee, the 14-year-old daughter of Jason and Tarrah Dobbins of Haughton, is making her mark in the sport with countless hours of practice with her Genesis Archery compound bow and Easton Archery arrows.
“I love the sport,” she said after starting her first year on the Haughton High School Archery Team following an eighth-grade season that included two state titles.
Her passion for archery has expanded to shooting on the ArkLaTex 3D and Indoor Archery Trail, while also undergoing extra training sessions from widely known coaches Chip and Kathleen Hemphill, who own Hoot & Holler Archery in Bossier City.
It’s been quite a leap from a chance encounter with the sport to the present for the Haughton High School freshman, who’s also active on the HHS pep squad and in the 4-H Shooting Sports Program. Brilee never, ever even held a bow and arrow until one September day while she was in elementary school.
A Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries National Hunting and Fishing Day event at the Bodcau Wildlife Management Area Shooting Range happened to be the catalyst for the young girl to eventually get a bow and arrow, practice and shoot competitively. Held every fourth Saturday in September, the event includes exhibits and shooting and fishing demonstrations.
The archery range caught her eye.
A spark is ignited
“I thought it was cool. I went and picked up a bow, shot a couple arrows at 3D deer, shot at a couple of bullseyes,” Brilee said, adding she aimed and hit Xs that day without any previous training.
“She hit nothing but bullseyes,” her mother said.
The thrilling moments, however, weren’t enough to entice her to join the archery program at Princeton Elementary School.
“I thought about it but never did it,” the student/athlete said. “It also was the same year as Covid so it was really hard for people.”
She never forgot the experience, however, and got into the sport when the timing was right.
“I tried out in the seventh grade at middle school and made the team,” she said. “I was excited but I never knew what would actually come from joining the team.”
Brilee’s accomplishments during two short years of Haughton Middle School competition are eye-opening, especially at the end of the 2023-24 season with two ALAS state titles and lofty national rankings earned at national tournaments in Louisville, Ky., and Daytona Beach, Fla. She shot her personal best score of 295 last season and traveled with confidence on the way to finishing second among middle schoolers and fifth overall at the NASP National Championship Center Shot Bullseye tournament in Louisville.
She noted she went from being ranked 75th overall as a seventh-grader for 3D and seventh overall in middle school for Bullseye in 2023 to third overall for 3D and second overall for Bullseye as an eighth-grade student in 2024.
On top of her game
Brilee put the rest of middle school competition in the rear view mirror while winning the ALAS 2024 Louisiana State 3D MS championship, finishing third overall, and the ALAS 2024 Louisiana State Bullseye MS championship, finishing second overall.
She has an ongoing motivating factor at home in her younger brother, 10-year-old Cormac Dobbins. Her goal, she said, is to “score higher than my brother.”
“There’s a lot of competition, a lot of trash talking,” her mother said with a chuckle.
Brilee’s first action this season was at an ArkLaTex Archery Trail season opener in October. She shot 292 in that practice despite going without practice for three months during the summer of 2024.
“I wasn’t able to shoot over the summer,” she said, noting she was “super busy.”
She’s quick to thank the men and women who have made a difference in her archery career, starting with her parents. She praised ALAS and the LDWF’s Chad Moore, who coordinates ALAS, and also saluted the coaches in her life at the middle school and high school levels as well as the Hemphills.
Brilee thanked Haughton Middle School head coach Doug Smith and his assistant coach, Dylan Langston. They believed in her ability and encouraged her to work hard and do her best, she said.
Brilee also said she’s ready to ride archery post-high school “as far as it’s going to take me.”
