Target Archery

Target archery, as the name implies is focused on the practice of shooting at a set target and is typically shot from a predetermined distance. This is where many archers begin learning about the sport of archery and utilize target archery specifically to hone their accuracy, tune their equipment, and learn the basics of gauging distances. While it is a great stepping stone to other types of archery, target archery is its own stand-alone branch of archery and maintains a number of competitions with rules unique to this style of archery.

If you’re looking at possibly getting into target archery you’re probably wondering “what is target archery’s focus?” It’s a valid question. For the hobbyist practicing in their backyard, target archery may just be a fun casual way to stay practiced, keep equipment tuned, and maybe even try out new firing and aiming techniques. For the person looking to get into the actual sports version of target archery, however, the focus is on competition and there are several varieties to choose from.

Target archery is practiced both indoors and outdoors and utilizes recurve and compound style bows. While there are archery clubs in over 150 countries, no doubt with their own unique competitions, the three big competitions are the Olympic games which at present exclusively feature recurve target archery, the World Games which at present feature only compound target archery, and the Paralympic Games which host competitions for both recurve and compound versions of target archery.

As you may have already guessed the primary difference between recurve and compound target archery is the style of bow used, either recurve or compound respectively. The other major division in target archery is based on setting, either indoor or outdoor. While the primary difference is still fairly obvious there are some distinct technical differences that set the two competitions apart.

Indoor Target Archery: For indoor archery competitions both recurve and compound shooters shoot at targets set 18 meters away from the archer. The traditional style yellow, red, blue, black, and white targets are used with compound shooters firing at a 2 cm diameter 10-point ring and recurve shooters firing at a 4 cm diameter 10-point ring. For international competitions, the target color scheme is altered to include only yellow, red, and blue and targets are set up vertically (as though stacked upon one another) in groups of three. Archers in these competitions are only permitted to fire one arrow at each target at a time.

Outdoor Target Archery: For outdoor archery competitions, recurve archers fire at targets set 70 meters away from the archer while compound shooters have their targets set 50 meters away from the archer. Both styles of outdoor target archery utilize the traditional yellow, red, blue, black, white target with recurve targets having a 10-point ring 12.2 cm in diameter and compound targets having an 8 cm diameter 10-point ring. International competitions are no different for recurve shooters, but for compound shooters, targets are altered to only include the yellow, red, blue color scheme. This was done primarily as a result of the popularity of outdoor compound target archery. With so many participants target sizes had to be reduced in order that each archer could have their own target.

Finally, the aspiring target archer can choose from three different formats of target archery: Individual, Team, or Mixed Team target archery.

Individual Target Archery: Individual target archery consists of a qualifying round, eliminations, and finals where finalists are pitted against one another bracket-style (similar to basketball). The qualifying round involves 72 shots for outdoor matches, 60 shots for indoor matches, and matches are scored cumulatively at the end.

For indoor matches, only the top 32 scoring archers proceed to eliminations whereas for outdoor matches the top 104 proceed to eliminations and the top 8 jump straight to the finals.

Recurve matches utilize the set system for scoring. The archers shoot sets of 3 arrows each and whoever has the highest score for the set wins that set and receives 2 set points. If there is a tie on a set each archer receives 1 set point. The first archer to receive 6 set points wins and advances to the next bracket.

Compound archers, on the other hand, use a cumulative point system. Each archer shoots 5 rounds of 3 arrows each and the points from the 15 total arrows are totaled with the highest total winning and advancing to the next bracket.

In the event of a 5 set point tie or a cumulative point tie, the tie is broken with a single arrow shoot-off with each archer shooting a single arrow. The archer with the arrow that lands closest to the center of the target wins the tie breaker and thus advances to the next bracket. If the tiebreaker results in an additional tie the tie breaker is repeated until a winner is determined.

Team and Mixed Team Target Archery: Teams consist of three archers of the same division (or bow style), typically the three highest scoring archers from the qualifiers, though team managers may substitute archers if they wish. Mixed teams consist of only two archers of the same bow style one of each gender. These are typically the highest scoring male and female archers from qualifiers, however, team managers can substitute if they’d like.

Both teams and mixed teams are ranked for elimination based on the total combined rankings of all their members from the qualifiers.

For teams and mixed teams using recurve bows matches are scored using the set system. Like in individual target archery winning a set awards the team or mixed team 2 set points. A tie awards both teams or both mixed teams 1 point. Archers shoot 2 arrows each per round for a total of 6 arrows per team or 4 arrows per mixed team. The first team or mixed team to reach 5 set points wins the match.

For teams and mixed teams using compound bows matches are scored using cumulative scoring. Like with recurve teams and mixed teams, compound teams and mixed teams, shoot two arrows per archer per round. For compound teams (shooting 6 arrows total per round) and mixed teams (shooting 4 arrows total per round) there are 4 rounds and the team or mixed team with the highest cumulative total (from 24 arrows for teams or from 16 arrows for mixed teams) at the end of the 4 rounds wins the match.

Like with individual target archery, a 4 set point tie or a cumulative point tie at the end of a match is decided by an arrow shoot off with the archer closest to the center winning the tie breaker. The difference from individual target archery’s tie breaker is that each member of the team gets the chance to shoot an arrow at the target. If both teams have arrows equally close to the center than the tie goes to the team with the closer second closest arrow. If this does not decide the match, then they look at the third closest arrows. If a winner still cannot be determined then the tie breaker is repeated until a victor is decided.

While other target archer formats and competitions exist all around the world, the three major competitions and formats provide a solid baseline for what to expect when getting into the sport of target archery. Hopefully, the sport and some of its rules and nuances are made clearer for you and perhaps that added clarity will even encourage you to participate in a local archery competition and enjoy this amazing branch of the broad art of archery.

Research for this article was conducted at the following sites:

- https://worldarchery.org/Target-Archery

-  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_archery

Archery and the Holidays

The holidays tend to illicit images of pine trees wrapped in multi-colored lights, boxes of various shapes and sizes covered in decorative paper and sealed with a bow, and even snow covered hills just waiting to be slid down at near-reckless speeds on a wooden platform with rails or on a large plastic disk. What we tend not to envision however is, an archer holding their trusty bow with a nocked arrow drawn back and ready to shoot., however archery and the holidays have more in common then you might believe.

The holidays, at least for the traditional American family are all about family, friends, and yes turkey. Without these critical components the holidays just would not be the same. The same can be said for archery.

Archery is very much a family affair. While it’s certainly true that some archers stand alone in their families, more often then not archery is something that a family can and often does do together. According to a poll taken by the Archery Trade Association back in 2014 39% of America’s archers indicated their family’s interest in the sport as their number one reason for participating themselves. That’s two fifths of the archers in America, and that doesn’t even account for those that listed family as a more secondary or tertiary reason. Clearly family is of major importance both to the holidays and to the sport of archery.

Much like family, friends also play a huge part in archery and the holidays. The same poll mentioned above indicated that for 13% of the American archer population friends were their number one reason for participating in archery. Something about archery just is not the same without someone there to share the experience with and the same is true of the holidays.

Finally we come to the humble turkey; the final link between archery and the holidays. Historians disagree about whether or not turkey was served at the first Thanksgiving Day feast in 1621, however it is an undeniable fact that turkey has become a staple dish of the holidays today. According to a survey conducted by the University of Illinois, in 2012 68 million turkeys were consumed between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Clearly turkey is an integral part of the holidays. Likewise bow hunting for wild turkey can be one of the most challenging and thus one of the most rewarding experiences for the aspiring bow hunter. Many hunters report between 30% and 100% success rates on their turkey hunts, varying largely based on tactics it would seem (with the higher success rates being reported largely by blind hunters). However it’s not just the challenge of hunting turkey that makes them a huge part of archery, but also the fact that the primary feathers from the turkey’s wings provide some of the best natural arrow fletching available today. I’m sure the irony of the best arrow fletching being among the most difficult to take with a bow and arrow is lost on no one. Though it’s clear that the reasons for the turkey’s importance to archery and the holidays are different it is very much vitally important to both none the less.

At last we can see the connections between archery and the holidays. So while you’re celebrating this holiday season with your family, your friends, and your turkey, remember that while the holidays bring together these elements once a year, archery can fill the void and bring these elements together as well, all year long.