...does anyone on here partake in a spot of archery?
I quite fancy giving it a go, but don't want to get hooked on another sport that eats money! On the face of it archery looks pretty inexpensive relative to mountain biking but I just wondered what the "running costs" are if you did it on a regular basis?
I know as with most sports you can spend silly money quite easily, but can you get decent kit for modest sums?
I shoot left handed. Used left handed kit can be pretty cheap at the expense of choice. Start up cost was £70 for the bow, £40 for a dozen arrows, measured and matched. Straw target I got for £10, and a long garden means I dont pay any membership to anyone. Lost arrows are the only recurring expense. Have a look at the quicks website. Could probably get started for £200 easily.
There are basically two disciplines, Field and Target. It's slightly more complex than that, but it'll do for now.
Target Archery is the one you see on TV. It's usually indoors, marked distances, concentric circle targets, sights, stabilisers, cricket whites, expense.
Field Archery is almost exclusively outdoors, usually in a designated woodland area (a la paintball or clay shooting). Intuitive shooting, targets are pictures of animals, bows ranging from longbow to Rambo, wellies and bodywarmers.
If you want to get started, I'd suggest going to a couple of local clubs to get the feel of things before spending any money. Field and Target have a very different vibe, so what works for me might not work for you.
Personally, I find Target archery to be clinical and boring, and Field to be a lot more fun. Target archers might argue that they don't want to get their arrows dirty, or something. Who knows, they're a funny bunch.
Oh,
Field archery is as expensive as you make it, as you generally shoot with people in your own class based on gear. You'd never turn up with a bit of string on a twig and have to compete with someone looking like they'd just fallen out of the Olympics - so by extension, you don't need the latest and greatest in order to get a fair round.
My recurve was under £100, and I make my own arrows so they come out at, well, not much. If you want to shoot at a club (which is a good idea) then insurance, society dues and club fees should all be wrapped up in an annual club membership, which shouldn't break the bank either. I'm a bit out of touch TBH though, I've not shot in a good few years now other than as a group on an 'activity' day.
Target archery I know a lot less about, but I expect they do similar things with club fees etc (though I also expect they'll be a lot higher).
Another sport already split into its niches 
I used to, and clubs unusually have a selection of loaner equipment, plus second hand bows from members who have upgraded.
skaifan - Member
and a long garden means I dont pay any membership to anyone. Lost arrows are the only recurring expense.
Another sport already split into its niches
I think they got there first. (-:
a long garden means I dont pay any membership to anyone. Lost arrows are the only recurring expense.
If you joined a club, you'd learn to shoot properly and would stop losing arrows. (-:
Another sport already split into its niches
Wait until you start airgunning...more niches and sub niches than you can shake a stick at!
Don't know about target being an indoor sport, there are very few buildings big enough to enable shooting at a decent range, plus there's the risk of hitting walls and the floor and breaking arrows and causing damage. The local archery club has alway shot outdoors, and I think all of the other clubs in the region shoot outdoors too, it's far easier to find a rec where you can set up targets than a building long enough.
Costwise it shouldn't cost a huge amount to find out if you enjoy it, apart from a reasonable bow and a couple of dozen arrows, an arm bracer and finger tab, that's about it. I've still got the Slazenger bow and arrows I used at school, usable, but far too small for me now. Good fun, I was looking at some handmade longbows at Treefest at Westonbirt, and was very tempted to get involved again.
Its the target archery I'd be keen on trying - I did loads of 10m match air rifle shooting many years ago, and in a sad way that sort of that repetitive, averages, grouping etc type of discipline appeals!
I also did a lot of air rifle field target shooting, but there were a few too many people who lived in camo gear for my liking!
Indoors? Safety first...
Don't know about target being an indoor sport,
Fair enough. It's not my "niche" so I'll defer to superior experience here.
Its the target archery I'd be keen on trying - I did loads of 10m match air rifle shooting many years ago, and in a sad way that sort of that repetitive, averages, grouping etc type of discipline appeals!I also did a lot of air rifle field target shooting, but there were a few too many people who lived in camo gear for my liking!
I think I'd concur with your conclusions. Weirdo. (-:
If you joined a club, you'd learn to shoot properly and would stop losing arrows. (-:
For the cost of annual membership to my local club, I could lose about 30 arrows!! I dont have anything at the end of my garden other than a wall, and I tend to break more arrows than I lose these days. A club would be a good place to start I guess. I imagine my form is far from orthodox, seeing as I have never anyone to correct me.
For the cost of annual membership to my local club, I could lose about 30 arrows!!
Really? Good god, either that's an expensive club or prices have shot up since I last looked. Or, I suppose, you have very cheap arrows (-:
I quite fancy the idea of field target archery...
Arrows have got to be cheaper than my .243 and .303 rifle ammo - And you lose every single one of those 
Really? Good god, either that's an expensive club or prices have shot up since I last looked. Or, I suppose, you have very cheap arrows (-:
Last time I looked (maybe 5 years ago) it was about £100 for the year, and a hassle to get to. My garden isnt a hassle to get to, unless I am at work, and I paid £40 ish for a dozen arrows.
Target archery is generally outdoors, we're now moving back to indoors for practice during winter as the nights draw in and it's too dark for after work. Field archery seems very sociable - kind of the cyclocross/roadie relationship.
As much as the split between field and target disciplines, there is a strong distinction between the longbow, recurve and compound bow 'camps'. I tend to think of them as a bit like the differences between rigid singlespeed, hardtail and long travel full suss 
The language and terminology is as specific and obscure as in biking. Being new to it I'm still struggling to get my head round it. And the handicapping system needs a degree in quantum physics!
A custom made longbow might well set you back as much as the latest full-on recurve (a grand or so). It is relatively cheap compared to biking though. Lots of similarities in that there's shiny alloy and carbon so something to satisfy the gear freaks.
Most target archery clubs will shoot indoors during the winter (18m or 25m for FITA rounds and 20 yards for imperial rounds - most sports halls can manage that) and outdoor during the summer (max 90m for FITA rounds or 100 yards (91m) for imperial (GNAS) rounds.
for winter evenings outdoors can you strap a glow stick to an arrow and turn it into a tracer round?
Always thought it was a shame there was no archery as my uni as I used to like it when I was a kid. I love the rubber animals you get with replaceable organs
I used to shoot to quite a high standard, recurve target for me, sometimes referred to as Olympic bow. As opposed to compound which are the ones with pullies.
As said, a couple of hundred quid should sort you out, but don't be splashing too much cash at first.
Do a beginners course to get a feel for the equipment you need, but if you progress quickly, bow limbs will need upgrading to heavier draw weights and consequently, you'll need stiffer arrows.
Indoor is usually restricted to winter. It's mostly outdoor though with rounds at various distances topping out at 100 metres. My club owns a field but most rent football fields etc. Membership is usually around 100 quid a year though you may have to pay 'subs' to shoot indoors etc.
I loved it and got to a high standard quickly - I won Bronze in a national indoor 25 metre championships - but I found the time needed to achieve Master Bowman status severely impacted on my biking time.
And it's one of those sports that's kind of difficult to dip your toes in because it's all competition and league based.
Plus, if you think there are some boring b*****ds in biking, wait til you meet archers... Beardy weirdies that like hanging things off their belts and knitting their own cars... ;o)
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