Targets In Archery

Archery can be classed as a sport or a hobby and it has its own category at the Olympic Games. Archers either hunt wild game animals or aim at targets or both. If you aim at targets in a competition, it is the aggregate score of all your arrows that is used to work out your position in that competition. The nearer the centre of the target that the arrow strikes, the higher the tally.

Target archery can also be sub-divided into two categories: field archery and target archery. In target archery, the archer stands in a preset spot. If there are several archers, they can stand in a row and all aim together on command from the person in charge of enforcing the rules and safety. Any type of bow can normally be used in target archery, although only compound bows may be employed in the Olympic Games.

In field archery, the targets are of different sizes and are placed at different distances. The archer moves around the course, so there is no one set shooting spot. The targets may be the well-known round targets with concentric rings or they may be life-size effiges of wild animals like mountain lions, deer and rabbits.

The bows used in field archery are more often than not traditional type bows: longbows, flat bows and recurves, although archers are allowed to use any bow that they like. When hunting live animals, compound bows are usually used because they are smaller, so more manoeuvrable, yet they are still extremely powerful.

Archery targets are conventionally made from straw bundled and tied together to make ropes. These ropes of straw are then wrapped around themselves like a Catherine Wheel and stitched together. The cloth or paper target is pinned to the front of it.

The other name for these targets is ‘butts’ and many old towns and villages in Britain still have a recreational area known as ‘The Butts’. These days they play football or cricket on it, but Henry VIII decreed that all males had to practice his archery skills every Sunday at the butts using a longbow, so that there would be a lavish source of archers for his army.

In competition archery, every archer shoots at his or her own target, but every archer is expected to have uniquely coloured flights, so that if there is a problem an archer and the arrow can be known. This is useful for retrieving arrows that have missed the target altogether.

There are usually six arrows shot by each competitor in a series and if they are to be shot from different distances, it is normal to shoot from the furthest distance first. Men usually shoot from 90, 70, 50 and 30 metres, while ladies usually shoot from 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres.

Archery as a sport appears to be growing in popularity, especially as there is a tendency in some countries, like the UK, to make it more difficult to obtain a gun license. They say that fashion goes around and comes back again, well British men are back at the butts working on their archery skills again in greater numbers than there have been since possibly the sixteenth century.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several topics, but is currently involved with archery bows for sale. If you would like to know more or for special deals, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.