anyone here into archery ?

[chippy1970]

My wife took my eldest son to a taster session of archery this week and he loves it and might be a natural. I wanted to have a go too but sadly I've been off work this week with sciatica so couldn't do the archery either.

Anyway as he seems really excited about his new found pastime I want to find out more. Anyone know of any good forums on the net ? Obviously we will go back to the archery club and I'm sure that they will have plenty of advice on what to buy etc but I do like my forums

 

[t8hants]

As a family we used to be very keen on the sport. However when we had worked ourselves up to club level we found the regular weekend commitment was just too much. Outdoor on a summer Sunday was wonderful, indoor just brilliant fun. The different disciplines, re-curve, compound, long bow, all add interest and scope. As a hobby its wonderful, but you must become singleminded if you get to competant club level. Also as children grow they seem to go through equipment like there is no tomorrow, which can be a drain on funds. If you don't mind then a good club will always have a stock of 2nd hand gear.

Can't help with forums, see what the GNAS have on offer

Gareth

 

[chippy1970]

Cheers Gareth, I was surprised how cheap a hobby it looks actually. I'm sure there are expensive bows as well but in general they seem cheap compared to say a good set of golf clubs. So far the only sport I could get my son interested in was cricket, he plays for the under 13's. He seems to be a real natural with the archery though, my wife said he got about 8 bullseyes out of his first 16 shots so not bad. That was from 10m as far as I know.

 

[mailee]

I used to be into archery a few years ago and loved it. Luckily I shoot left handed and so could pick up a bow very cheap (I am right handed normally?) I found Quicks to be a good supplier of equipment at a reasonable price. I used to make my own arrows, strings, guards, etc to keep the costs down. Can't help with a forum I am afraid but I did join the local club which helped. always wanted to build a longbow but never got around to it. :roll:

 

[James C]

I've been practicing archery on and off now for the past three years (mostly off) but have recently found a decent local club and have been properly going for the last 6 months.

As far as I'm aware Archery Interchange is a reasonably active site with welcoming members who seemed eager to answer questions and I didn't see a single troll whilst there. Here is the link - http://www.archery-interchange.net/forum.php

The bit I liked the most was that they have different areas for General Archer, Recurve, Compound, Traditional Bows and even a Field Archery sub forum.


Field Archery by the way is very interesting as it involves shooting in woods (not fields) at 3D targets in the shape of animals. You aren't given a shooting distance and sighting binoculars are not allowed to try and stump the people that have about 6 sight adjustments for perfect shooting and makes you shoot more instinctively.

With most ranges having around 12 targets of different size at different distances you get a lot more variety than just standing shooting at the same target all the time. Not that I don't like target archery, I do it all the time, I just miss field archery.

 

[James C]

Sorry to post again but I most let you know about Merlin Archery Centre.

http://www.merlinarcherycentre.co.uk/

These guys have, in my opinion, some great archery gear and they are almost always cheaper than quicks.

 

[bugbear]

Cheers Gareth, I was surprised how cheap a hobby it looks actually.

(helpless giggling)

BugBear

 

[James C]

Cheers Gareth, I was surprised how cheap a hobby it looks actually.

(helpless giggling)

BugBear

He's not wrong. £1000 Bows. Arrows at £15 a pop shattering into oblivion.

 

[MIGNAL]

Anyone would think we were on a knitting forum.
Traditional long bows and laminated bows are relatively cheap to make. A friend and myself made two laminated bows and
about 20 arrows. Cheap, fun and it fascinates even those who have no real interest in them.

 

[bugbear]

Anyone would think we were on a knitting forum.
Traditional long bows and laminated bows are relatively cheap to make. A friend and myself made two laminated bows and
about 20 arrows. Cheap, fun and it fascinates even those who have no real interest in them.

Absolutely true. There are active forums devoted to bow making, and primitive hunting.

http://www.stickbow.com/
http://primitivearcher.com/pages/community.html

There are some great books, of which this is ... well ... the bible:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Traditional-Bow ... 1585740853

But most English archery clubs have a tendency towards competitive target archery with modern, factory made, equipment.

Which carries "a price tag".

It's jolly pretty stuff though.

BugBear

 

[Mike Wingate]

I am an archer. It is a great sport and pastime. Join a club. It is not something to do in a garden. It can become expensive. My Easton X10 arrows with Tungsten piles cost about £35 each, they concentrate the mind when shooting! I just got a 6 gold end at 70m in a competution. Look at ArcheryUK, Archeryinterchange, Quicks, Bowsports, Alternativess (my favourite) websites. There are a few archery shops spraed about. You should get advice from club members and the possibility of suitable second hand equipment that you can try before buy.

 

[chippy1970]

Cheers guys plenty if advice there. I'm sure as you say it can get quite expensive but it looks to me that it doesn't have to if you stay at a lower level and just do it for fun .

 

[James C]

I bought my bow for around £100. It is an American Flat Bow and has a draw weight of around 45lbs so will last me a good long time (by which I mean improve my strength until I can shoot it, it is a dog to shoot at the moment)

 

[Mike Wingate]

Wooden bows do not last. Many of the longbow archers at my club have to change their bows every few years as bows weaken, delaminate and break.

 

[WoodMangler]

I just got a 6 gold end at 70m in a competition.

Congratulations - as a sometime-archer myself, I know how hard that is to do...

 

[xy mosian]

I just got a 6 gold end at 70m in a competition.

Congratulations - as a sometime-archer myself, I know how hard that is to do...

Some shooting indeed. I was a target archer for a few years, re-habilitation after a spinal injury, I never reached those heady heights. Especially in competition.

Chippy, a great sport. Not so nice when the rain is dripping off everything in sight though.

xy

 

[Tinbasher]

I just got a 6 gold end at 70m in a competition.

Congratulations - as a sometime-archer myself, I know how hard that is to do...

Some shooting indeed. I was a target archer for a few years, re-habilitation after a spinal injury, I never reached those heady heights. Especially in competition.

Chippy, a great sport. Not so nice when the rain is dripping off everything in sight though.

xy

I was an archer myself for a few years after a spinal cord injury, I shot in the inter spinal unit games and won a bronze in the short metric. I shot for a few years at my local club but was not able to shoot indoors on the winter as they shot in an inaccessible venue. Then I injured my shoulder and couldn't shoot for a while and I just sort of stopped. I have been thinking of restarting again now I have retired. I have always fancied shooting traditional English longbow.

 

[xy mosian]

Tinbasher, I don't want to nick this thread. But ain't it a small world? Did Inter Spinal Games myself '92 & '93. I can't remember my finishing position.
xy

 

[Sawyer]

he got about 8 bullseyes out of his first 16 shots so not bad. That was from 10m as far as I know.

Good shooting, but don't let the afficionados hear you say 'bullseye' or 'fire an arrow'. They are very picky about terminology!

Centre of the target is the 'gold' and arrows are shot, not fired.

None of this really matters of course - hope your son enjoys his new sport..

 

[bugbear]

Wooden bows do not last. Many of the longbow archers at my club have to change their bows every few years as bows weaken, delaminate and break.

IIRC 5000 - 10,000 shots is the life span.

BugBear