Archery shop owner turns hobby into career

Jim Carlson bought Kansas Archery Center in June after spending eight years as a paramedic and flight nurse with EagleMed. He took over the former Boone's Outdoors location at 8859 U.S. Highway 24 in Manhattan, bringing 26 years of archery experience—he first picked up a bow at 14 after watching a neighbor shoot.

• •Equipment repair and maintenance on bows and archery gear
• •Custom bowstring building (specialty service built in-house)
• •Equipment setup and tuning
• •Archery knowledge and consultation from someone who actually hunts and competes

Carlson's path wasn't linear. He served in the Navy, worked EMS and hospital settings, but kept circling back to archery. What started as tinkering with his own gear—learning how everything works, tearing things apart—evolved into building bowstrings and fixing other people's equipment first for free, then as a business.

"Whenever I get into anything, I always want to know how it works. That led to tearing stuff apart, tinkering with things and learning how they work."

He's been competing in archery tournaments since 2000 and continues to hunt. Three deer mounts above the shop counter come from his own hunting expeditions.

Carlson moved his family—wife Sidney (also an archery competitor), and three kids who all shoot—from Kinsley to Manhattan specifically to expand the business. His goal is clear: grow the sport of archery in the local community. His daughter Vanessa helps in the shop, and the family is actively involved in local outdoors organizations.

Carlson understands what bow hunting and competitive archery actually demand. He respects the preparation, the scouting, the skill development. He's not selling archery as a product—he's supporting it as a lifestyle.