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Field
archery, unlike target archery, is shot over the undulating terrain
of woodland and moorland. The targets, often in the form
of animal faces or 3-d targets, are set at various unmarked
distances and vary in size from pigeon-sized to full-blown grizzly-bear.
The challenge is to hit the target in either the "wound-zone" or the
smaller "kill-zone" with greater points scored for the kill-zone.
If the archer is unsuccessful with their first arrow, then they
advance to a new, usually closer shooting position and take a further
shot. If they miss again, they advance to the third and final
shooting position. Obstacles such as the
uneven terrain, low-hanging tree branches and so on create a unique
experience on each target and add to the challenge.
Field archery thus simulates the experience of hunting without actually
causing harm to any real animals. It should be noted that hunting
with the bow is banned in the UK.
Field archery is practiced with any of the main bow-types, recurve,
compound, longbow etc and there are many different classes depending on
your choice of bow-type, whether you use sight-aids and even what
material you choose for your arrows (eg wooden or metal/carbon).
At South Leeds Archers we do not have direct access to a field archery
course but many of our members travel to local (and not so local) field
archery events. As they often comment: "It's about as much fun as
you can have with a bow".
Len / Ewen Reynolds
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