Field Archery

The WA Marked Field Round

Information on this page is based on the rules as laid out on the GNAS Field Archery website

Outline

WA Field Archery courses consist of targets at distances between 5 and 60 metres, which may be marked or unmarked distances. Except for major Championship rounds the round may be achieved by shooting the same set of targets twice. The Warwickshire County Field Championship is a 24 target, marked distance round, shot by going round a course of 12 targets twice. All the distances are marked.

Bow Styles

AGB recognise a number of bowstyles. For the full list see the link above. Those likely to be of interest to Leamington archers are Recurve (freestyle), Recurve Barebow, Longbow and Compound Unlimited.

Procedure

No sighters are allowed but archers may usually practice at a separate range before the round starts. Archers shoot in detail, similar to target archery, in groups of four (or sometimes 3). If there are only three in the group it is always D who is missing. Archers shoot just 3 arrows at each target. A group will start the course at whichever target the organisers allocate to them. The targets are numbered and you shoot the course in numerical order finishing at the target before the one you started at. There is no formal break in the round; archers normally have a break when they come to the refreshment area and continue when they are ready.

Age Groups

As well as adults, there are junior age groups for under-18, under-15 and under-12.

Pegs

At each target there will be three different coloured pegs at different distances from the target.

Archers are usually paired up to shoot the same pegs if possible. Archers shooting from different pegs may not shoot at the same time.

Target Faces

	20cm – the smallest target, used at the shortest distances: 10, 15 & 20 metres from the red peg; 5, 10 and 15 metres from the blue peg and 5, 7 and 10 metres from the white peg. The faces are arranged in 4 columns of 3, 1 column for each archer. A and B use the 1st and 3rd column from the left and C and D use the 2nd and 4th. Archers must shoot 1 arrow into each of the faces in their column in any order. However, if two or more arrows land in the same face only the lowest scoring arrow counts. Other arrows in that face count as misses.
	40cm – used at 20, 25 and 30 metres from the red peg, 15, 20 and 25 from the blue peg and 10, 15 and 20 metres from the white peg. There are 4 faces arranged in a square. A and B shoot at the top left and top right faces respectively. C and D shoot at the bottom left and bottom right.
	60cm – used at 35, 40 and 45 metres from the red peg, 30, 35 and 40 from the blue peg and 15, 20 and 25 metres from the white peg. Under AGB rules a single target face will be used but under strict WA rules two faces may be arranged horizontally. In this case archers A and C shoot at the left-hand face and B and D at the right-hand.
	80cm – used at 50, 55 and 60 metres from the red peg, 40, 45 and 50 from the blue peg and 20, 25 and 30 metres from the white peg. This is a single face which all archer shoot at.

Scoring

The WA Field Face consists of a yellow center spot surrounded by four black scoring zones. The yellow zone is divided into two scoring zones. The inner ring is scored as 6 the
outer yellow zone as 5. The four black zones score 4, 3, 2 and 1. Dividing lines are counted as part of the higher scoring zone, as usual.

There will normally be two scorecards which must be checked at each target to see that the scores (not totals) agree before any arrows are drawn. Corrections must be agreed and initialled by all archers at the time, and by a judge at the next opportunity.

Lost Arrows

If an arrow is lost behind a target and archers are searching for it, one member of the group must remain in front of the target to ensure that the following group do not shoot until the range has been cleared.

Further Information

The WA website has an excellent booklet called WA Field Archery Guidlines which explains the differences between Target Archery and Field Archery and has some very good advice on techniques required to estimate distances (required for unmarked and mixed rounds) and how to shoot on sloping ground.

The full AGB rules are on the GNAS Field Archery website as well as in the current AGB Rules of Shooting.

The full WA rules are available on the WA website