garden set up advice please!

psychonaut

New member
Thanks for your reply. The "sail"would be a roof attached to the house on one side and concrete posts on the other, properly constructed , just like a side shed. No chance of it taking off.The whole thing is completely enclosed. Top, sides and back. Any reason for such a large 4m height requirement? I cant see this being any different to shooting in a garage. Happy to be wrong please let me know if I am!
 

brman

Member
I think (although someone might correct me) that the 4m will be for an unenclosed barrier. So yes, if it has a roof (so is effectively an inside range) that does not matter.
I am curious if there any UK rules (or even guidelines) that are similar to the dutch ones ThomVis has mentioned? I haven't found any in my searches. All I found basically said "assess the situation yourself and makesure it is safe" which is only partly helpful ;)
 

brman

Member
btw. Something else I am not sure has been mentioned - make sure there is nothing hard that can cause bounce back. ie unprotected brick behind the target, metal fittings etc. There is another thread here where someone mentions having an arrow return past his head on the shooting line after hitting something small.....
 

ThomVis

Active member

4 meters not necessary if there is a roof. Above is a picture from the rule-book for short ranges.

General rules for short ranges are:
No arrow shot up to 20° elevation or 6° side deviation should be able to leave the shooting range. Measured from the shooting line up to 2 meters height.
No ricochets should be allowed to leave the shooting range.

They talk about unsafe zones and their distances. The distances can be replaced by arrow-catchers, which need to be walls of at least 18 millimeter pinewood or comparable arrow catching capabilities.
Netting is only allowed of have-a-go's with low poundage bows up to 10 meters.
 

psychonaut

New member
thansk for that. guess i may have to protect the brick wall as well. and definately the windows in it!
 
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steve

Member
I am curious if there any UK rules (or even guidelines) that are similar to the dutch ones
Strangely enough, considering gun laws, UK laws regarding what you can do on your own property are more liberal than those in the USA.
I recently moved from a house with half an acre gardens in the midst of farmland in North Yorkshire where I used an air rifle. and looked into the relevant laws. It astounds me that so many UK archery retailers refer to "hunting" repeatedly. I've even seen a newspaper article that referred to people "hunting game with a bow and arrow" in the UK.
You can use any weapon that you legally own on your own property (with some restrictions regarding distance from "public highway") or on other property with the owner's permission BUT if any fired projectile (arrow, pellet, bullet) leaves said property you are in big trouble.
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
If you think it's bad for bows, consider the issues for blowpipers! They were made completely illegal in the UK in 1989 (as a knee-jerk reaction to urban unrest, along with most 'traditional' martial arts weapons.)
I ran a blowpipe club in Zaandam for 4 years but unless/until the law is changed I can hardly even talk about it here. There is zero interest in pushing for a legal change because there was/is no representative body for a sport which is as big as archery in many parts of the world including USA, Japan, Germany & ofc Holland.
Yet a blowpipe dart is massively less 'dangerous' than a standard pub dart.

When will we say 'enough is enough' & start living in a world run by common sense?
 

ben tarrow

Well-known member
When will we say 'enough is enough' & start living in a world run by common sense?
Problem is that common sense isnt that common.
Whats obvious to you might not be so obvious to the next guy.
As a coach teaching beginners, I'm often amazed by the number of beginners who are surprised when I tell them (in answer to the "can I shoot my bow at home) that the hedge at the edge of our field wont stop arrows.
If you dont have rules, you're leaving it to the discretion of the doer and thats not always a good thing.
If it can go wrong, it will (at some point) go wrong and when it goes wrong badly, at its worst, if you've not caused damage or injury to someone else or their property then whats the problem? If no one knows, theres no one to report it
 
D

Deleted member 946

Guest
I've been following this but until now have been unable to reply. Can I tell you my experiences?

1 I practiced in my garage, shooting with my back to the window wall and at a 2' target at about 8m distance. There was a stop net hanging behind the target. One day, I forgot to alter my sight and missed the boss. The arrow went straight through the stop net and the metal garage door, leaving the fletchings inside the garage, and hit my car in the drive.
2 A new member at our club shot an arrow with a compound bow but released accidentally with it pointing a little but not excessively high. The arrow landed about 450m away. He didn't mention it to anyone so is now an ex member.
3 Shooting indoors at 20 yards, someone's bouncer came back the length of the hall and stuck in the skirting behind the shooting line.

The possibility of these things happening was small but the consequences had a person been where the arrow went could have been an avoidable serious injury or death. Think about that before you set up your range, after you have and regularly afterwards.

I now practice in the garage with two stop nets, set apart by around a metre and lean 19mm ply sheets against the garage door behind both of them. I have shot an old arrow at this to check that it stops the arrow and it is effective. It is very important that the stop nets are free to swing and are not taut - ie make sure that the boss is not sitting on them. I think that was one of the issues that led to the hole in the garage door.
 

Stevec1960

New member
I have a target set up inside the far end of my garage with my house wall on one side and my neighbours wall on the other, this give about 15m range. No side access on the neighbours side ( they are fine with me shooting) and shooting into the garage should stop any strays. Large wooden 15mm thick backstop and garage wall (wooden) behind so nothing is going through.
 

steve

Member
When will we say 'enough is enough' & start living in a world run by common sense?
That ship sailed a long time ago. How many times has pretty much everyone that drives had to brake hard because some numpty has walked straight out in front of them while staring at their phone? You know, that thing that teenagers (and many "adults") have had surgically attached to their hand. And if you hit them, as the law currently stands, it WILL be your fault.
 

LionOfNarnia

Supporter
Supporter
... has walked straight out in front of them while staring at their phone?
I'm lucky to live in part of the world where dumb pedestrians are a rare breed - even the tourists tend to be heads-up-and-admire-the-scenery types. It helps that cell coverage is very poor - no indoor signal & even outside, only 3G at best. I have a 'feature phone' in the car for emergencies but basically if I can't do it on this rather good 3-screen gaming PC, I'm not interested. (Liquid-cooled i7 CPU, GTX970 GPU, 32GB RAM, Win7 Pro.)

BTW - The answer, or rather the beginning of the answer to the somewhat rhetorical question I raised is to end 'control of money' by companies & governments. Digital (Crypto) currencies MAY be the route to that goal but are already being resisted/suborned by the powers that be. Time will tell.

(I have passed Masters' Degree -level courses in 'Money & Society' & 'Digital Currencies' at the Universities of Cumbria & Nicosia, respectively & have a very small investment in 2 'interesting' Alt-Coins, KoboCoin & ZeitCoin.)
 

Timid Toad

Moderator
Staff member
Supporter
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
BTW - The answer, or rather the beginning of the answer to the somewhat rhetorical question I raised is to end 'control of money' by companies & governments. Digital (Crypto) currencies MAY be the route to that goal but are already being resisted/suborned by the powers that be. Time will tell.

(I have passed Masters' Degree -level courses in 'Money & Society' & 'Digital Currencies' at the Universities of Cumbria & Nicosia, respectively & have a very small investment in 2 'interesting' Alt-Coins, KoboCoin & ZeitCoin.)
Far too much criminal activity involved in crypto currencies. And what that has to do with setting up a garden range I'm not sure. Stick to the subject LoN!
 

little-else

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
Read Graham Birch's paper on banks, money and gold- then decide whether cryptocurrencies are really the future.
he bought a farm big enough to shoot in his back garden and then some.
 

Corax67

Well-known member
Garden range - thought mine was spot on perfect until today, my wife decided to try a compound for the first time. It was only a Rukus Jnr set to around 20# that I was tuning for a junior at our club.

First dozen or so arrows were lovely but then she bounced an arrow off the rest just on release.

A 1716 travelled 20yds, misssed a 4’ square layered foam boss by a couple of feet, passed through an arrow net then straight through a double skinned wooden fence before smashing itself to bits against my neighbours pine end wall.

Thankfully no one was hurt in this escapade but it’s the last time we shoot at home - club only from now on.


Karl
 
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