Amber Christensen can’t wait until this fall.

She finally drew a tag to hunt moose in an area near her home in Preston, Idaho.

“I hope to get a big one,” she said.

She may have to work around a conflict, however,

The 16-year-old Christensen is in line to make the U.S. Junior Olympic Archery Development team. If she does, she could be headed to Turkey during hunting season.

Christensen will compete in the JOAD Nationals in Oklahoma City next month for a spot on the U.S. team. Qualifying for national teams is not new territory for her.

She competed for the U.S. in a junior world tournament two years ago in Mexico, placing sixth individually as part of the victorious U.S. team.

This would not be her first trip to Turkey. Having qualified for the Junior Olympic development team last year, she placed third individually in the world competition in Turkey, with the U.S. team taking second.

Christensen first took up archery at age 5 — it was only natural.

“My dad and my sister both shoot,” she said.

The three are all competing this weekend in the annual Big Sky Open tournament at the DoubleTree Hotel.

“During the summer, we go to about five shoots that aren’t in Preston,” she said.

One of those is the Big Sky, which traditionally draws some of the top competition from around the country.

The individual competition begins at 8:30 this morning, with another team shoot scheduled for mid-afternoon.

The three-day tournament finishes Sunday with more individual competition.

Christensen competes in four major tournaments each year, two indoor and two outdoor. After the JOAD Nationals next month, she’ll return to Colorado in August for the U.S. Nationals in Colorado Springs.

Archery is a year-round venture for Christensen, one that has allowed her to see the world and develop some friendships.

“I’ve have a lot of friends,” she said of acquaintances she’s developed through competition.

Ultimately, “I want to win a world championship,” she said, knowing she lost a chance to compete for the world title in Turkey last year by losing in a shootoff in the semifinals.

In the meantime, she’s glad to have left the rainy climate of Preston this weekend.

She had a good night in the GoForIt team shoot Friday, scoring 44 out of a possible 50. She hopes to improve on her marksmanship during the individual competition today and Sunday.

“You can always do better,” she said.

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E-mail Kent Mincer at kmincer@gjds.com.