James Ennis pulls back his compound bow, waits a few seconds and lets the arrow do its work as it scorches the air on its way to a target.

Ennis, of White Oak Archery, which is now located inside Andalusia’s Sporting Lifestyles, has been involved in archery for 25 years, both full and part time.

“I’ve been in it for a long time,” Ennis said. “I sell anything to do with archery, from shooting tournaments to hunting.”

Mounted on the shop’s wall inside of the Sporting Lifestyles store in Andalusia are a variety of compound bows that range in prices from $350 to $2,800. Arrows can be seen in boxes near the shop’s front counter.

Right now, Ennis said he offers five different brands of bows.

Getting to this point in his career took a lot of schooling, Ennis said; however, what got Ennis into archery was an early start in bow hunting.

“What got me into working on these things is that nobody lived within 100-120 miles of me who knew how to do anything, so I started learning,” he said.

To do that, he attended several different schools to learn more about his craft.

When asked why he loves archery, Ennis said it’s more exciting than using guns.

“It’s harder than guns,” he said. “Gun hunting to me for deer is boring. When I take kids, I don’t mind anybody using a gun, if that’s their weapon of choice, but mine is a bow, from bears on down.”

Located inside of the 20,000 square-foot Sporting Lifestyles store, Ennis is working on an indoor archery range, which when completed, will be used to host spot sheets.

Spot sheets have blue and white targets printed on them for archery tournaments. There is a little center ring with an “X” marked on it.

The “X” counts as five points and the rings around it count as four points.

“You shoot 60 times at five of them in six rounds,” Ennis said. “The best score you can get is a possible 300.”

It’s possible to shoot 60 “Xs,” Ennis said.

“I can tell you there’s only a few guys in this area who can do that,” he sad. “And, it’s at 20 yards.”

Additionally, the range will host Vegas rounds, a three-spot tournament, Ennis said.

Ennis’s family is originally from Opp, where White Oak Archery was located. He was a military brat, moving around from place to place.

Ennis said this new location in Andalusia will do wonders for his business.