Any archers in?

[meles meles]

Any of you oomans that don't do archery practice weekly are committing an offence under the Statute of Cambridge. You should have started at age 7 and continue until 60.

We have a proper yew longbow and a cornucopia of arrows, broadheads, Type16s, bodkins, platecutters...

[Dangermouse]

Archery is an activity that my wife has expressed a little interest in and a sport that I could see myself getting very competitive in.
We have "had a go" a couple of times whilst on holiday and I am sure, some day when the children are a bit older, we will take up.

I was amazed at how many clubs there are locally and what also appealed was that some of the clubs had fields that were open 7 days a week. As a shift worker it would bee nice to spend some time doing something by myself whilst the kids are at school. Especially Mondays when Bisley is shut.

More than once I have been tempted to sell up my shooting kit, Archery would be a good substitute should I ever do so,

DM

[saddler]

Any of you oomans that don't do archery practice weekly are committing an offence under the Statute of Cambridge. You should have started at age 7 and continue until 60.

We have a proper yew longbow and a cornucopia of arrows, broadheads, Type16s, bodkins, platecutters...

Nice

I have a few bodkins, though may need more with the upcoming changes that the Holyrood-heathens are about to inflict

DO need to get some Type16's as well - they'll look so nice flying toward the sporran bedecked brethren of this parish
When I was in the archery club in the borders I was the only one to use a real bow; everyone else had modern recurves & other non-yew modern junk...they were very quick to criticise my poor grouping in the target by comparison to their sight-equiped kit.
I was just as quick to inform them that the reason for the poor grouping was that I'd misplaced the kilt that I used to hang below the target frame as a traditional aiming marker (some of them thought I was being serious!)


...cloth yard shaft anyone?

[saddler]

Mereheath, I'm probably wrong, but are those the "flat" bows? Unlike the English, or long bow that's a "D" in cross section?

MereHeath is an olde design, roughly from the period dating to the construction of StoneHenge
A type of flat-bow with criss-crossed sinew bindings...VERY fast...

One thing I found odd when talking to the archers who ran the local club is that there's no certificates or anything like that for bows. You just buy a bow and arrows and off you go.

WHY would there be certificates??
...it's more fun & cheaper to make your own arrows too!!

Wow... can you imagine partaking in a shooting event that's not looked on like a dirty secret and is actually socially acceptable?

ONLY socially acceptable IF you wear the green & white & hold your pinky-finger out when eating the cucumber sarnies at breaktime.
There is a school sports field a couple of towns over from me that is used most Saturdays for archery meets...nobody even stops to point/stare at them!

So, question, if I may; assuming I join a club. Do I literally just toddle off and buy a bow and arrows and ta-dah, I can shoot. No paperwork, no nothing? Is there a restriction on draw weight. I doubt I'd be able to pull a 150lb warbow, but I'm a history buff, so one day I'd like an English bow, if I take up the sport

WHY join a club? Proves how much our mind-set has been beaten down due to some of the bollox legislation surrounding firearms ownership!
Not a requirement in any form. Look into getting access to some land and do "roving" shoots. There is a good active field archery scene in the UK too. Buy a 3-d target for the garden & let rip (as long as you have netting in place to stop any strays or ricochets bouncing over the boundary & making a kebab of the queue for the No.73 bus)
Best range to start is 45lb-55lb for club use. My war-bow is about 125lb - and you don't DRAW them, you push the buggers!!
The restriction on draw weight is like going to an all you can eat restaurant; purely down to you yourself.

The Robert Hardy book on the Longbow is a MUST read...(him of TV fame)

[Sim G]

One thing I found odd when talking to the archers who ran the local club is that there's no certificates or anything like that for bows. You just buy a bow and arrows and off you go...


So, question, if I may; assuming I join a club. Do I literally just toddle off and buy a bow and arrows and ta-dah, I can shoot. No paperwork, no nothing? Is there a restriction on draw weight.

Ripe to subjugate.... sign01

[Burner]

1066, very nice video.

Tower, when you return we will have to loose some arrows over at Jeff and Kendras.
There is even a new crossbow in the family I can borrow.

[Sandgroper]

Tower,
The only thing I would change to Saddlers last post is the draw weights. As someone who has very little experience of Archery, I would start lower (25-40lb) range. It does depend on the club - indoors, indoors it's unlikely you'll need to update to a heavier bow. Clubs that shoot outdoors, higher poundage bows will be advantageous, but with a lower poundage bow it gives you the opportunity to get your technique sorted and the excuse to buy more bows!

To put it perspective, when I hunted in Australia I used a 55lb bow, which was fine for everything I was hunting. My target bow was 35lb bow and that fine for outdoor use as well. Now, if I not shooting my crossbow, I shoot the club's 40lb horse bow or flatbow which are much better suited to my (poor but fast) technique!

[GazMorris]

Evenin' all.
Just out of interest, does anyone on here also partake in archery?

Yup, shot at University for four years. Got the basic hang of recurve and used to shoot 540ish on a Portsmouth round before moving on to shoot compound unlimited for a year or two. My bow is on semi-permanent loan to a Uni friend who still shoots.

Cheers,

Gaz

[Old Chap]

I moved from archery to shooting following an injury when I could no longer draw my bow. Without that injury I would never have bothered touching a rifle, but I needed something with a bit of competition and shooting fitted the bill. As far as I am concerned archery is far superior in every respect.
Phil

[tackb]

I moved from archery to shooting following an injury when I could no longer draw my bow. Without that injury I would never have bothered touching a rifle, but I needed something with a bit of competition and shooting fitted the bill. As far as I am concerned archery is far superior in every respect.
Phil

unless you want to hunt in the uk! or shoot targets at extended range............