Yep, I have a few bows. I'm not at it every weekend but a bit of field archery now and then, and dabble in olympic style target, and have done clout in the past. I also made a bow in lockdown. It was a basic flatbow style but would like to make a proper English longbow one day.
Anyone into Archery?
- Thread starter stephec
- Start date
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Nibor
Bewildered
- Location
- Accrington
Is that in Burnley? Was the course expensive?
classic33
Leg End Member
Moving targets!!
Depends on the club. And the archer. Our club has equipment for beginner courses and for members to use but like with bikes, it's a personal thing. I have unfeasibly long arms so the club bows and particularly most of the arrows don't suit my draw length very well. OK to learn the basic on. I bought my first bow the day after completing the beginner's course.
As in any equipment based sport, if you want to keep doing it of course you're going want your own kit before long
Punkawallah
Über Member
You’re being Bad, and I suspect you know it!
Kingfisher101
Veteran
Yeah, Its worth it if you are going to stick with it but you know what kids are like for chopping and changing interests.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
I tried it many years ago
It was part of my realisation that there are certain sports that are just no good for me
In particular I never stand still - I tend to sway a bit and wobble - just a bit
I also have very weak and thin wrists
As a result I am pretty good at archery at low draw weight - such as we used on an initial training course using fibreglass bows at 20 yards
but as soon as the weight got up my hand and wrists just couldn;t hold the thing still - and my aiming point was never fixed properly
I do remember that I could just about hit a target at 60m - not the bull but at least I didn;t hod everyone up looking for my arrow in the grass!
little aside - we met on a Rugby pitch - firing line was along teh try line and the target were in a diagonal line in front of us
In spite of putting out a loads of signs - and it being private property - people walked across the field.
Some of them took a short cut staying about 10m being each target
it never occurred to them that if one target was at 100m then walking 10m behind a target set at 40m MIGHT just be a bit dangerous
Clearly we always stopped when they walked in that area - but the stupidity of some was mind blowing
(or it was at the time - since then I became a teacher and realised it was far more common than I thought!)
It was part of my realisation that there are certain sports that are just no good for me
In particular I never stand still - I tend to sway a bit and wobble - just a bit
I also have very weak and thin wrists
As a result I am pretty good at archery at low draw weight - such as we used on an initial training course using fibreglass bows at 20 yards
but as soon as the weight got up my hand and wrists just couldn;t hold the thing still - and my aiming point was never fixed properly
I do remember that I could just about hit a target at 60m - not the bull but at least I didn;t hod everyone up looking for my arrow in the grass!
little aside - we met on a Rugby pitch - firing line was along teh try line and the target were in a diagonal line in front of us
In spite of putting out a loads of signs - and it being private property - people walked across the field.
Some of them took a short cut staying about 10m being each target
it never occurred to them that if one target was at 100m then walking 10m behind a target set at 40m MIGHT just be a bit dangerous
Clearly we always stopped when they walked in that area - but the stupidity of some was mind blowing
(or it was at the time - since then I became a teacher and realised it was far more common than I thought!)
classic33
Leg End Member
I hit the fuel tank on a motorbike, when the rider did something similar. The arrow was in flight when he appeared.
How I missed him I don't know.
Punkawallah
Über Member
On the point of bows, several types have been mentioned so it would be interesting to see how many clubs 'encourage' bow types from different countries; recurve, hunting, Japanese etc., as these will have different methods and disciplines in their use.
My local club is a ‘longbow’ club, but were happy to have take-downs, recurves, anything really. My horse bow was a novelty for them, but it doesn’t really shoot that much differently. The arrow still has to be drawn to the anchor point, regardless of the bow limbs.
Time Waster
Veteran
Used to live up the hill from Samlesbury which had a long established longbow club. I kept meaning to join them but moved away. There's no local club where I live.
I did archery in my first term at university. The shooting range was used by the archers and shooting club. I kind of got too busy in my first term so stopped going.
In the last term of my first year a third year student on my course locked the rest of the shooting club in the secure gun cabinet and left with a bag full of guns and rounds around the campus including our department. It made national news as loads of armed police were filmed for TV news in various parts of the campus that he'd been seen in. Shut down most of uni for the morning until the police moved on to his rented house and raided it. Nobody home. Turns out they raided his uni accommodation in the afternoon but he'd already taken the train home and was later arrested watching TV at home with no memory of his gun rampage.
Sorry, off topic memory from my student days when I liked to shoot targets.
I was quite good at getting a nice grouping, just never in the bull. We used those fibreglass training bows, taking turns with the bows. When you collected your arrows you handed them to the next person to use. And you next got to use a bow to never guaranteed to get the same bow and even if you did the drawing pin sight will likely have been moved to adjust the target spot for the last user. I just stopped changing the sight as its run out of arrows just as I got my sight right. Preferred to concentrate on getting a good grouping anywhere on target. Figured that's more important. I knew how to adjust the sight needed to get more consistent even if the sight isn't right for hitting the bull.
It is for this reason I'd recommend buying yourself a bow. It won't be right for you as with experience you'll gain knowledge about what bow you really need/ want.
I did archery in my first term at university. The shooting range was used by the archers and shooting club. I kind of got too busy in my first term so stopped going.
In the last term of my first year a third year student on my course locked the rest of the shooting club in the secure gun cabinet and left with a bag full of guns and rounds around the campus including our department. It made national news as loads of armed police were filmed for TV news in various parts of the campus that he'd been seen in. Shut down most of uni for the morning until the police moved on to his rented house and raided it. Nobody home. Turns out they raided his uni accommodation in the afternoon but he'd already taken the train home and was later arrested watching TV at home with no memory of his gun rampage.
Sorry, off topic memory from my student days when I liked to shoot targets.
I was quite good at getting a nice grouping, just never in the bull. We used those fibreglass training bows, taking turns with the bows. When you collected your arrows you handed them to the next person to use. And you next got to use a bow to never guaranteed to get the same bow and even if you did the drawing pin sight will likely have been moved to adjust the target spot for the last user. I just stopped changing the sight as its run out of arrows just as I got my sight right. Preferred to concentrate on getting a good grouping anywhere on target. Figured that's more important. I knew how to adjust the sight needed to get more consistent even if the sight isn't right for hitting the bull.
It is for this reason I'd recommend buying yourself a bow. It won't be right for you as with experience you'll gain knowledge about what bow you really need/ want.
My youngest daughter always had a notion to take up archery, and had had a couple of trial sessions when at school.
She joined a local club.
When she got her first job, she bought a bow and all the kit with her second pay. (Her first pay was spent on an electric guitar...)
She's now a qualified instructor - although hasn't shot much since Covid.
She joined a local club.
When she got her first job, she bought a bow and all the kit with her second pay. (Her first pay was spent on an electric guitar...)
She's now a qualified instructor - although hasn't shot much since Covid.
