Archery

agnes

agnes

agnes

Soldato
Joined
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Amsterdam, NL
Afternoon all, my girlfriend and I got an archery session (75 mins) which is a beginner class basically on groupon. £19.99 for 2.

Whilst I didn't think much of the offer, I got it as my girlfriend has done it before and loved it. Anyway, I started doing some research and wow, I'm really hooked on all the technical side of it.

So, let's say I enjoy it and decide to grab my self a traditional bow or a modern recurve bow, what legal requirements are there? Can I shoot this thing off in my back garden (long garden). Does it require a licence etc.

I like the look of recurve bows and traditional bows a lot more. Specially wood, they are absolutely stunning! I didn't think I would find them so awesome. I don't like a composite bow, don't like the idea of a bow making it easy for me... Ruins the fun I would have thought. I see the appeal for hunting... But not for fun target stuff.

So... What's involved to make this a hobby?
 
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agnes said:
Afternoon all, my girlfriend and I got an archery session (75 mins) which is a beginner class basically on groupon. £19.99 for 2.

Whilst I didn't think much of the offer, I got it as my girlfriend has done it before and loved it. Anyway, I started doing some research and wow, I'm really hooked on all the technical side of it.

So, let's say I enjoy it and decide to grab my self a traditional bow or a modern recurve bow, what legal requirements are there? Can I shoot this thing off in my back garden (long garden). Does it require a licence etc.

I like the look of recurve bows and traditional bows a lot more. Specially wood, they are absolutely stunning! I didn't think I would find them so awesome. I don't like a composite bow, don't like the idea of a bow making it easy for me... Ruins the fun I would have thought. I see the appeal for hunting... But not for fun target stuff.

So... What's involved to make this a hobby?
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I have been shooting for about 6 years now, my wife, daughter and I are all members of a local club. I used to shoot recurve but more recently have swapped to compound.

You don't require a licence for a bow at all. However there are certain guidelines you should follow if solo shooting. The first being, your garden probably isn't long enough unless you are really lucky to have a 200m long garden! You should really have at least 100m as overshoot because if you miss the target the arrow still needs to go somewhere.

Your best bet is to find and join a local club, it is more fun shooting socially anyway and you can get lots of help from more experienced archers to improve your form.
 
I'd strongly recommend you get yourself onto an official beginners archery course at a local club, even if there might be a bit of a waiting list.

They'll teach you how to safely construct and de-construct a bow, so you don't injur yourself, and various other safety aspects, as well as hopefully some good sensible advice on what to buy.

And it's generally fairly unwise to shoot on your own land, as most of us in the UK simply don't have enough of it! An arrow can easily overshoot a fence or any target that you have setup, and travel a fairly long way afterwards, or ricochet and bounce off on wild angles. Last thing you'd want is to skewer someone, or even a passing cat or dog...

You'll probably want to start off on a recurve bow. Even good archers at my club aren't brilliantly accurate with their wooden bows over 20 yards, which doesn't sound a lot... until you try and shoot it and get consistent scores ;)
 
I'll echo what others have said, and find a club. Archery is for the most part about technique and having others to help will be invaluable.

Something else I would highly recommend looking at as well as target archery, is field archery - courses with multiple different targets at different ranges, often in the woods. These places often change out the normal paper targets for animal targets and 3d models, to mix things up a bit. Personally I find it a lot more interesting than shooting a coloured target over and over!
 
I have been interested in archery fo a while but need more money to get myself a bow :D

I believe you need to deconstruct the bow before taking it outside as it can be classed as a weapon, not 100% sure on this for normal bows but its a definate for XBows

Atlas23 said:
Did Legolas have a license?

THEY'RE TAKING THE HOBBITS TO ISENGARD!
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You evil man now I will have this and the "I got a jar of dirt!" song in my head for another 2 years -_-
 
As others have said, join a local club. Everything and anything archery related will then become clear to you, until you actually start shooting that is then it's OCD time :)

Unless of course you then shoot Longbow for the fun like my self ..
 
There's no real requirements to owning a bow, other than the obvious:

Don't shoot anyone or any animals with them
Don't have it strung in public places out in the open
Don't shoot in public places like parks

As far as I'm aware you can have the limbs on, but it can't be strung, else it's fine to carry in public, though I guess you may be asked to put it away if the police saw you.
 
If you get into it in the long term, make sure to work on the left side of you body in the gym or your muscles will develop disproportionally. Your gf will dump you and the only job you will find is at a circus, in a cage with the sign "Guess why this man has such a strong right arm!"
 
Zethor said:
If you get into it in the long term, make sure to work on the left side of you body in the gym or your muscles will develop disproportionally. Your gf will dump you and the only job you will find is at a circus, in a cage with the sign "Guess why this man has such a strong right arm!"
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with the typically dirty mindset in the UK, I know what they would guess;)
 
I have been doing target archery for 23 years now.
Membership at a local club will get you membership with ArcheryGB. This bit is important as it comes with liability insurance. Most club grounds will be ~ 200m long to cater for overshoot.
Also your local club will offer beginners courses. This will set you on your way from just being able to hit a 1.28m target at 20m to something a little more consistent. Several years later with practice you can hit something the size of a large melon at 90m consistently.
 
Just noticed you're in reading, checkout http://www.bowmenofburleigh.org.uk

I shoot there every so often. Great club with some very talented members. Really friendly bunch.

It's an expensive sport but o so much fun. First time you hit dead centre at 100 yards you'll feel like the ultimate badass :D or a classic Robin Hood at 70 yards.

I have a target set up in my back garden thankfully its 30yards and I've built a brick wall/fence panel behind it to stop overshoots (not that I ever miss :D). It's not illegal but you have to be so careful its untrue. You miss and hit someone no insurance will cover you from private property.
 
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