3D Archery is similar in many respects to the practice of field archery. Events take place on courses, which can be plains, woods, or a mix of both. A round consists of 40 targets at which an archer will shoot only 1 arrow each. Likewise, formats are also similar with there being both indoor and outdoor courses (typically depending on season) and marked and unmarked distance courses. There are, however, some differences to be noted as well. Most notable among these differences are the targets. Instead of the yellow and black circular targets common to field archery 3D archery employs foam 3-dimensional animal shaped targets. These animal targets are realistically painted and typically resemble common game animals to help them blend in on the courses, making them harder to pick out and aim at. The targets are comprised primarily of foam but have foam rubber target rings where the animal’s vital organs (heart and lungs primarily) would be located to help simulate a real bowhunting experience for those using 3D archery as a way to practice for hunting season.
The main organizations that host competitions for 3D archery are also different from field archery. While local clubs and organizations hold competitions worldwide in numerous formats, there are two major archery organizations that host competitions for 3D archery; the Archery Shooters Association (ASA) and the International Bowhunting Organization (IBO). While both organizations offer competitions that are similar, they do vary somewhat from one another.
3D archery competitions come in a few different formats; indoor, outdoor, marked distance, and unmarked distance and they break down into divisions for different styles of archery equipment ranging from full bowhunting setups, to Olympic style recurve setups, to traditional style recurves and longbows.
The major difference between these two organization’s competitions is scoring which is done cumulatively for both organizations. For both hitting outside the vital area is only worth 5 points, hitting just inside the outermost ring of the vital area is worth 8 points, and hitting inside the large circle in the center is worth 10 points. For IBO competitions there is a circle right in the middle of the 10 point circle that is worth 11 points, but the other three small circles on targets are counted as part of the larger circles they are inside (8, 10, and 10 respectively). For ASA competitions, however, the center circle is counted as part of the 10 point circle while the two circles on either side of it are counted as 12 point circles, and the fourth small circle located inside the 8 point ring is worth 14 points.
The two competitions differ also in that there are speed caps placed on some of the archery equipment. For ASA competitions a hard cap of 290 fps (feet per second) is placed on all setups and archers must have setups at or below this speed in order to compete. IBO competitions, on the other hand, have a 260 fps cap on some of its youth divisions, but no cap for adult competitions so long as arrows used for their setup weigh at least 5 grains for every pound of the bows draw weight. For instance, a 70# bow would need to shoot arrows weighing at least 350 grains.
There is some debate regarding the best format for 3D archery. Some believe that marked distances allow for a greater level of archery prowess to be displayed rather than competitions going to the best range-finders, while others feel that unmarked distances make the competitions more challenging by adding the additional challenge of doing your own unassisted range-finding, but ultimately the type of 3D archery you choose to practice and why you choose to practice that way is up to you as an archer to decide.
Research for this article was conducted at the following sites:
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