Archery Ranges: Lessons, Clubs, Supplies And Shooting Ranges

People have been taking archery lessons since the dawn of civilization. There must have been some top notch archery ranges back in medieval times when one considers William Tell shooting an apple on his son's head and Robin Hood splitting an arrow at the height of the Royal archery competition. Robin and his merry men may even qualify as the very first archery club. Yes archery has had an important place in history with Indians shooting arrows, pygmies shooting arrows and in the present with movie stars like Burt Reynolds and rockers like Ted Nugent shooting arrows. Archery has even been an Olympic sport since it was first introduced at the Olympics in Paris in 1900.

In order to learn how to be a good archer it helps to take archery lessons at professional archery ranges. Lucky archers may even buy a home on the range. Lessons are reasonable, costing about $25 per hour and equipment is usually included. Archery ranges don't require a lot of space because arrows don't fly nearly as far as an overshot bullet can on a shooting range. Some archers even make a range in their yard because it only takes 25 – 30 yards of space between the target and the shooter to practice. Archery ranges do require either open space behind the target or a backdrop to catch a stray arrow like a wall or a building. Stacking hay bales against the backdrop will protect it and keep the arrows from getting damaged.

Many archers prefer to go to professional archery ranges where a variety of targets and types of shooting such as field archery, 3D and target shooting are available. Field archery ranges have targets set in natural conditions at prescribed distances from 20 – 240 feet. Field archery ranges have 28 targets and shooters shoot two rounds. Four arrows are shot at each target for a total of 112 arrows per round. Some targets require archers to shoot four arrows from one position, while other targets have four different positions to shoot from. 3D archery ranges are similar to field archery ranges except these do not measure the distance to the target and offer realistic 3D targets to shoot at. Target shooting is the form of archery most people think of which uses a variety of fixed targets like the traditional bulls-eye.

Safety is a primary concern in archery. Targets and shooting progressions are established at professional archery ranges and safety is built into the design and policies. Archers get their feathers ruffled if a shooter goes out of order or backtracks, so for the sake of safety archers must keep shooting in the prescribed order. Most archery range fees are relatively low, from $2 for practice rounds to $20 or $30 to enter a competition.

Archery supplies can be purchased relatively cheaply, and archery ranges or archery clubs are good places to find high quality used archery supplies. Archery ranges offer outdoor fun at reasonable prices, so no need to take from the rich to participate. Archery equipment is made in sizes that are suitable for all ages and sizes so pull on those green tights, be merry, nock that arrow and let'er fly.


Sources:
Outdoor Range Beginner Archery Lessons.Craigslist.org.18 May 2007. 23 May 2007.
http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/lss/332611442 .html
Tournaments. California Bowman Hunters State Archery Association. 23 May 2007.
http://www.cbhsaa.org/
Olympic Archery. ArcheryWeb. 23 May 2007. http://archeryweb.com/archery/olympics.htm.
What is Field Archery?. National Field Archery Association. 23 May 2007.
http://www.nfaa-archery.org/field/info.cfm
About Us. El Dorado Hills Bowmen. 2005. 23 May 2007.
http://www.eldoradohillsbowmen.com/AboutUs.aspx< br />Staff Expert. “How to Set up an Archery Range.” eHow. 1999-2007. 23 May 2007.
http://www.ehow.com/how_11359_set-archery-range. html