What is field Archery

What is Field Archery?

So often people have heard of archery, maybe they have seen target archery on Olympic broadcasts but field archery is not something most people have heard of. For this reason I thought I might try and give an explanation of what it is field archery is one of the many forms of archery, that is practised around the country and indeed the world over. Though it is less well known than target archery, field archery is still a very popular sport and pastime enjoyed by thousands of people of all ages. To give you an idea of the size and scope of the hobby in the UK. The National Field Archery Society has well over 100 registered clubs across the UK with in excess of 6000 members and this is only one of the UK based societies who promote archery.

The title “field archery” is slightly misleading, as most field archery courses are set in woodland or forested areas, so not really a field. Yet target archery courses are set on open fields, just to make it a little more confusing.  

As well as being a sport in its own right, it was originally introduced by American servicemen in East Anglia to keep their bow-hunting abilities sharp, being away from home and off season. Although to English archers, is it purely a fun sport with no ambition to hunt or harm real wildlife.

What is a Field Archery Course?

Organisers set a field course, consisting of a series of  targets, varying in size and distance to test the abilities of the competitors. The exact distances and size being dependent on the governing body or association the hosting club is running the event under.

We are going to focus on the NFAS as it is under that society we shoot and have the greatest experience of.  Under the NFAS banner (National Field Archery Society) courses normally comprise of 36 or 40 targets. These could be 36/40 individual targets or 18/20 target course that you go round twice. The latter is quite common for smaller clubs that don’t have either the space or resources to accommodate a full 40 target course.

Unlike other societies or governing bodies the NFAS targets can be paper faces, 2d targets or 3d targets in the shape of animal.