Field Archery

For those that do not know of Field Archery, it is a form of the sport where small groups of Archers follow a course of targets through mainly woodland. The course will consist of a set number of targets; each target will have a set number of pegs. When you reach a peg you shoot at the target. The targets on a field course can be 3D models, paper faces, cut-outs or any combination of these. No two courses will be the same. At an Open shoot you will be put into a group and each group will be assigned a start target. Following a brief introduction by the shoot organisers that will cover such things as scoring; start signal, any particular rules that apply for that day, etc, you will be led out to your start target to await the starting signal. On hearing the start signal you can begin to shoot. After all the group have shot at the target you walk to the target, score your arrows and look for any arrows that missed. When you are ready you then follow the marked path to the next target and as soon as it is safe to do so begin shooting at that one. This continues through out the day until you have shot the entire course. During the day you will pass the tea tent at least once. When you have completed shooting you return to the registration area, following the safe path, and hand over your scorecards. When all competitors are back prizes are awarded to the best archers in each class. Within the NFAS there are presently 10 classes ranging from the Primitive class which is based on bows of primitive design up to Unlimited where the most modern bows and aids are used. Each class has its own sub-set of rules and for a fuller description of the classes see the NFAS web-site.

Avalon Archers

Shuttleworth Bowhunters were a well established club shooting at Shuttleworth College. However in 2003 we lost the use of the grounds but were exceptionally lucky to find and move to our present location. When we moved from Shuttleworth we were obliged to change the name due to a number of copyright issues established by Shuttleworth. The name Avalon was agreed after considerable debate and even a small competioin amongst the remaining members. Avalon the name finally selcted seemed to us to be evocative of a period in legend and myth closely associated with the search for High Standards and Chivalry, and whilst there is no real link to Archery it just seemed to fit.

We are lucky in that our grounds are on one of the few wooded hills in the area that does not have public access. These woodlands are covered in a mixture of deciduous woodland, conifer and scrub. This allows us to layout courses that have a good mixture of shots. We try to organise around 12 shoots a year, see the shoot calendar for dates, these are a mixture of the following:

a. NFAS Opens, one of which is a two day event. These tend to be 100% 3D targets. These are open to any current NFAS member and full catering is provided and a small trophy is awarded to the class winning archers.

b. NFAS Friendlies - using any combination of 3D and paper faces. These are intended to be a little less formal than an open shoot and entry is limited. At these events there is only tea and coffee available and there are no trophies.

c. Club shoots - paper faces or anything else that the organiser of the day would like to lay out. These shoots are run principally for Avalon Members or by invitation of an Avalon member.

Tony Weston of "The Archery Company" is at most of our shoots and will be willing to help in all aspects of the sport, please have a chat with him, He is a very knowledgeable and nice guy