I quite fancy taking up archery bu my knowledge is zero (apart from have-a-go’s at country fairs).

It looks like there are a few clubs in my area, but before I approach them I thought I’d do a bit of homework.

My main question is – what is it likely to cost me! And can you use the same kit for targets and field target archery, as I’m inclined to do both.

Any advice, links, etc welcome.

Ta!

Loads of info out there – have a look at Robin Hood Arrows for more.
https://www.facebook.com/robinhoodarrows

Go have a chat with the local club… Then you will have to do a beginners course. You should be able to borrow kit to start with but, like bikes, it’s easy to start spending absolutely loads on kit. Also like bikes there is a good second hand market. Any bow can be used for target and field archery as there are different classes to shoot in. Hth

I was advised to check out the sets at decathlon – you can get reasonable bows with proper arrows and targets for a reasonable price, to dip a toe in – then I suspect it’ll require the club thing to move on.

Fairly sure the decathlon stuff came in under £100 for everything but that was a while back.

You can use the same equipment for both I believe (though target archers might get a bit vexed if you turn up in your field archery wellies). What class you decide to shoot in will dictate what equipment is available, in field archery at least; I know little about target. Ie, people with similar kit shoot against each other in competition, in the same way that Formula 1 cars don’t race against Ford Focuses.

That said; DO NOT buy anything yet. Every club worth its salt will have loan equipment.

Another observation after several years of shooting… Field archers are a hell of a lot more relaxed than target archers….

This.

Field archers I know who have tried their hand at target likened it to a golf club atmosphere.

Non of the target archery clubs i used to be in had any involvement in field archery so you perhaps need to visit a few to see which type is for you.

Try the Derwent lot, meet at Milford, possibly closest to you.

That made me double-take. Derwent is the old name for Darwen, they were my first club. Just a namesake though, it seems.

Wait, it was Derwynd, my mistake.

As you were.

I like the sound of field archery over target archery – the bigger the thing you’re aiming at the better, ime.

Well,

It doesn’t quite work like that. Field targets vary greatly in size and distance. They’re more interesting than target archery targets (IMHO) – usually pictures of animals rather than the concentric circles you see on telly.

Size wise, you could be shooting a bear from a Very Long Way Away one minute, and a squirrel up close the next. Target, as I understand it, tends to have measured distances; you’ll be told a shot is x yards, you set your sights to x, put the button on the target and let go. Field is far more instinctive, distance measuring aids are expressly banned.

I’ve never shot target so may be biased, but it always sounded very clinical to me and doesn’t really appeal. Field is an art, Target is a science. Or, Field is MTB, Target is Road.

Caveat, as I said I know little about Target archery. Others may be able to give a better view from the Other Side.

so it’s not just aiming at a field then?

*is disappoint*

Ah, a joke! Sorry, I’ve too much blood in my caffeine stream and missed it.

It’s ok. I’ve made a note to, in future, add a 😉 to anything similar posted prior to 11am.

so it’s not just aiming at a field then?

That’s Clout shooting.

I’ve never shot target so may be biased, but it always sounded very clinical to me and doesn’t really appeal.

You should try a two way longbow shoot Cougar. None of that behind the line paraphernalia, no waiting around for the compounders to do whatever it is they do, and sherry after three dozen.

That’s Clout shooting.

Field and target are both fun. But its clout that really sorts the men out from the boys 😉

Go to a local club and talk to them. They often have beginner kits for general club use.

For costs you’ll need to pay for club membership, GNAS membership (which is required for shooting in this country and includes insurance – may be included in club fees).

Equipment costs are dependent on what kind of bow you want. For recurve you are looking at £50/60 for a basic bow. Arrows are probably about £50 for a semi-decent set of 12, but this can vary a lot dependent on the material (I’d advise aluminium). Then you have other accessories like a bag, quiver, finger tab, sight, longrod, etc., etc. which are all optional (though you probably want the first two).

When you get in to it proper you’ll have a better idea of what you want to spend on kit.

My current setup is a compound bow (£800), Easton A/C/C arrows (£12 each), release aid (cheap £50 job), sight (£250), scope (£70), quiver (£30), bow case (£20), arrow box (£15), longrod (£20), arrow puller (£3), plus a few other bits.

Oh, and stay away from Armex kit if you value your life.

I shoot the longbow…. The way I do it is… Shoot, then whatever I hit, call the target 😆

Sorry, I missed this too.

My main question is – what is it likely to cost me!

Back when I used to shoot, club membership was in the region of about £15pa. Of that, ~£3 went to NFAS (governing body) for affiliation fees and insurance, the rest went to the club. I’d expect to pay maybe £20 for the year these days, but I’m guessing wildly as I’ve not set foot on club ground in years. Of course, each club will set their own fees.

Once you’ve got the basic kit, your only running cost is arrows (and coffee). I used to shoot HT – Hunting Tackle – which is a regular recurve bow and wooden arrows. To keep costs down I made my own arrows; they were coming in at around a couple of quid apiece IIRC (it was a while ago!). A quick look on Quicks (ho ho!) would suggest that prices have shot up (ha ha!) somewhat. That said, they’re carrying ‘beginner’ alloy arrows at £40 for 8, which sounds like a good price to me.

Obviously, you can reuse arrows, though they do wear out eventually. Your biggest reason for replacing them, especially as a beginner, will be due to loss. Miss a target completely and they go to ground, often largely buried. (For this reason, bright colours are a good idea!) Hit a rock with an alloy arrow and it’ll likely bend; it’s usually possible to straighten them again (unless it’s kinked or right near the end), but this requires special tools and skills. Someone at the club will be able to do it if you ask nicely. Wooden arrows OTOH tend to snap, usually right behind the point. These are trivial to fix, but will leave you with a slightly shorter arrow. For this reason, many traditional archers will choose to shoot with arrows an inch or two longer than necessary.

Bare minimum kit you’ll need will be a bow an arrows (duh), some form of finger guard (“tab”), depending on your technique and arm shape probably an arm protector (“bracer”), and something to wipe the grot off the arrows when you’ve pulled them out of the floor (our lot mostly used home-made wooly tassels, like long pom-poms).

But as a beginner you don’t need any of this, the club will provide it. I’d strongly recommend not spending a penny on equipment until you’ve been shooting a little while. You may decide it’s not for you, or discover you actually need to shoot left-handed, or want to use a longbow / recurve / flatbow / compound rather than whatever you’ve bought. First thing I ever bought was my own tab, if memory serves.

GNAS membership (which is required for shooting in this country

GNAS is the governing body for Target archery; they have a Field branch these days I believe but NFAS is the de facto Field body. I don’t remember membership of either being required unless you were shooting in competition. (Please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m hazy on this; it’s been a while.)

There’s the EFAA too, but I know next to nothing about them I’m afraid.

Regardless, whichever club you choose will be affiliated to one of the bodies and will dictate who you fall under. If you join more than one club, you won’t have to re-pay affiliation fees unless it’s a different body.

A quick Google would suggest that NFAS fees are now £20pa and GNAS £35pa. Oof.

I don’t remember membership of either being required unless you were shooting in competition

If you join a club you would also have to join the governing body to which it is affiliated, unless it has its own insurance arrangements.

But that would all be explained when/if you want to join a club.

If you join a club you would also have to join the governing body to which it is affiliated, unless it has its own insurance arrangements.

Sure. I was just contesting the suggestion that GNAS membership is required to shoot in the UK; it isn’t.

Then you have other accessories like a bag, quiver,

Damn, I missed quiver off my list.

There are various styles of quiver; over the back Robin Hood style looks cool, but isn’t as practical as you might think (and can cause you to bend alloys if you’re not careful). Side quivers, gun-holster style are popular. One of the best field archers I ever knew used to stick his down the side of his wellie. Personal preference.

(DO NOT BUY ANYTHING until you’ve spoken to a club or two!)

Plenty of people shoot both field and target, just as plenty of cyclists have both road and MTBs – there does tend to be a different mindset in each but I’d steer clear of the roady vs mtber analogy. The only person I ever came across cheating was a top field archer, but it didn’t prejuduce me against field. 🙂

I would say that target might be best to start with as it’s easier to develop a good style standing in a flat field shooting at fixed distances than it is clambering around the woods and shooting round a tree with one foot higher than the other. There is additional skill needed for field (certain types anyway) in judging distance and you can only use that effectively when you have a consistent shooting style.

Back when I was learning, we set up a boss (target) in a field away from the main woods, and plugged away at that. Same principle really. I take your point, but I’m unconvinced it’s strictly necessary to become a target archer first.

I was a brilliant target archer, shooting consistent 2nd and 1st class with a recurve, fair at best with a longbow … Rubbish field archer at the start but enjoyed it more… Hopefully I’ll get back to it next year…

Cheers all!

I know what you mean about the difference between field and target archers. I used to do Field Target Shooting and 10m Match Air Rifle Shooting – like chalk and cheese!

The 10m target shooting did have one advantage – no-one wore cammo and thought they were the midlands answer to Rambo!!!

Yup the same… Some people think they need to be hidden in the trees in full Realtree HD from head to toe, bows too! Target archers tended to look down on those not wearing full whites! But I still prefer field.

Something I know a little about, I’ve been a keen target recurve archer for the past 10 years shooting for my county over the last 5 and my son is on the GB junior compound squad and has had a few trips in the last 2 years including China and Moscow even winning medals on his last two trips. We are both target but my son is looking at field for his next challenge, my club is mainly field but we do have members that have represented GB in field archery. From what I understand field archery is shot over varying distances at 3 different size target faces, certainly at a competitive level,other forms shoot at animal shaped targets.

Costs, GNAS fees around £50 a year (to join Archery GB for insurance purposes and compete) and club fees vary club to club from £50 upto coiuple of hundred depending. Usually clubs are run by and for their members so not for a profit.

Kit can start from £100 but as everyone will tell you, seek a local club, do a beginer course and take it from there. Many clubs will have a eBay nut who will help sourcing 2nd hand kit. I built my kit up over 5 or 6 years and was somewhat shocked when someone said my kit would cost around £2K to buy new as I’d bought it over such a long time, I dare not add up how much kit my son has.

I’d suggest trying it out a target club, once you are proficient enough to hit the target at a good range of distances then have a go at field, you may soon get put off if you went straight to field and constantly loose arrows in the undergrowth.

I shoot both field and target with the same recurve bow. Essentially, I’m a target archer in a target archery club, but we do invites and crossover events with the local field club, which I’m considering joining as well (quite a few of our members are in both clubs). You just do field archery without your sights (bare bow), but everything else is the same. If you want to do both, I recommend in any initial purchase of kit, get field quiver rather than a target quiver.

At our club there seemed to be two ways people started, put your name down with the club and wait for a place on their beginner course (I waited a year).Or, find another club which does intensive or more regular courses, but then join the local club once you get your certificate.

Our yearly fees are £90, quite a chunk of that goes to national and county governing bodies. Also, a chunk goes to hiring a building thru the winter.
For a reasonable starter recurve set up, you’re probably looking at £350-£500. Most shops do package deals at different price points, but I didn’t go down that route, I bought quite a bit of my kit on classifieds and ebay. I’ve probably spent about £500, but much of my kit would have been double the price bought new. I think the only new bits I bought were limbs, bowstring, arrow rest and arrows (basically all the bits you have to be measured up for).

I’d probably concur with neil above, maybe look to join a target club and learn basic skills and technique first, so a lot of stuff becomes instinctive, then start seeking out field archery.

A friend had a bit of a do last weekend to celebrate the opening of her hotel thirty years ago, with all sorts of things to do, one of them archery. I hadn’t actually used a bow since I left school, so I wasn’t sure if I’d even hit the target!
Using a flat bow, and some commercial and some handmade arrows, I managed to get a consistent grouping around the gold on the right-hand side, including one in the centre ring!
Now I’m wondering about going along to my local club and see how I get on at proper shooting distances.
I still have my original Slazenger flat bow, arrows, quiver, arm brace and finger tab; however, drawing a bow originally used by a thirteen/fourteen year old might result in a loud cracking noise…
Thanks for the info, chaps, it’s sort of crystallised a vague interest. 😀

You just do field archery without your sights (bare bow)

Depends entirely on the class you shoot in. Unlimited is compound + sights, stabilisers and whatever other tat you want to attach, and there’s a recurve variant too (Freestyle? maybe, it’s been a while).

drawing a bow originally used by a thirteen/fourteen year old might result in a loud cracking noise…

It’s surprising. You use a fairly unique set of muscles; at 14 and 11 stone wet through, I could draw heavier bows than most strapping blokes. Now I’d probably struggle to draw my own. (-:

Ex archer going back after a 15 year break 🙂

GNAS, target archery, for competiton shooting you must be in GNAS for insurance cover. It may have relaxed and less is needed if only shooting within a club and not competing in open comps or postal leagues. Ranges from 18 yards to 100 yards or 180yards for clout. Most you will shoot is 144 arrows, that will take all day.
Expect GNAS fee and club fee and subs on night/day shooting for rental of range.
Club level is mostly informal dress code.
Open competiton is very strict dress code and regimental order of shooting. It may have relaxed……

http://www.nfas.net Field archery, animal targets on large target bosses or 3d/2d targets. Club i am joining up with is £40 a year plus £20 to NFAS for insurance.
Field is more relaxed, few odd types (camo rambo comments above) open competitons revolve around a central hut/shed with tea/cake/bacon sarnies going all day.
Expect 34-40 targets set around woodland, all unmarked distance, from 3yards out to 70ish, most will be 20-50yards. Depending on the round being shot, you might do 120 shots in day + cake breaks.
No use of binox or scopes or rangefinders, wastes bacon sarnie time.
No formal dress code.

EFAA is more target like field archery, you have black circle with white center targets and they tell you how far away it is, you can also use binox and scopes. Think they are tied in with FITA and you can get up to international shooting level and shoot for GB.

Some Longbow only groups, some fun some very victorian and quite snobby about equipment and dress code, more of period only than modern standards.

Nip down WHsmiths and look for “Bow International” magazine, only mag i know of over here in UK mostly target based articles and some FITA field, but info/ads for Archery specialist shops which will kit you out with a basic starter bow right up to maxing out a couple of your credit cards on kit.

Field and target clubs do taster sessions and beginners courses, enroll onto a course, they supply all the gear. Also second hand sales of kit within a club to consider.

Try searching for “Quicks Archery” “Bowsports” and “Merlin Archery” 3 of the larger retailers in the UK, loads of others.

I went for an informal tryout with club last weekend, i bagged several deer, a duck a fish, 3 dragons, a bear, mountain lion and a wolf 🙂 (no fluffy animals with big teeth where hurt, just expanded foam)

I went for an informal tryout with club last weekend, i bagged several deer, a duck a fish, 3 dragons, a bear, mountain lion and a wolf (no fluffy animals with big teeth where hurt, just expanded foam)

You know a mountain lion is a cougar, right?

*looks at you*

Depends if your Canadian or American !

If i didn’t shoot it might have eaten my bacon sarnie 🙂

You just do field archery without your sights (bare bow)
Depends entirely on the class you shoot in. Unlimited is compound + sights, stabilisers and whatever other tat you want to attach, and there’s a recurve variant too (Freestyle? maybe, it’s been a while).

Probably should have put a ‘can’ in there. What i was meaning to say, very badly, was I didn’t need to spend any more money to go do field archery. 🙂

Where are you based ?

Field Archery = Mountain Bikers
Target Archery = Roadies 😉

Go to the following link and find a club near you:
http://www.nfas.net

I just become President of my field archery club. I was shooting today and did my first Hunter Round and little cheeky roving on the side.

Also, with field archery the targets are more fun and the 3D’s are just great.

Small plug:

Some of my targets can be found here 🙂

http://black2colour.com/arrows/?cat=24

Derwent Bowmen meet at Darley Bridge, so the-muffin-man im thinking you must be localish, if so there are a few clubs about but in this area Derwent has the best facilities by far, If you go onto http://www.derbyshirearchers.com/links.html that gives you a list of clubs, some are better than others.
Clubs normally run a couple of beginners courses a year Derwents is soon http://derwentbowmen.co.uk/wp1/beginners-course/, but you dont have to join at that club, all the kit will be provided and normally for a short time after you join so you can decide if you do like it before you start spending money also people at clubs upgrade so there is always gook kit for sale.