NFAS v EFAA??

[Big John]

Hi All - Have shot longbow for many years and am finally going to give Field Archery a go (also shoot modern recurve target). Can someone please explain the difference between the National Field Archery Soceity and the English Field Archery Association? Which has primacy? Do I need to join both as well as GNAS?

While on the topic and never having been on a field course, how and when do you score/collect arrows? Do you go around the course in a small group and shoot/score/collect together? (Do you lose many arrows too?)

Thank you.
John

 

[English Bowman]

Here's a quick run down as I understand it.
GNAS Field, mainly shoot roundels. (They do shoot animal rounds as well)
NFAS only shoot animal rounds
EFAA only shoot roundels.
All societies split you into groups which you walk around the course with.

On a GNAS roundel (FITA) course you shoot 3 arrows from one peg.

On an animal round you shoot your first arrow from the furthest (usually) peg. If you miss you go onto the next one, if you miss again you go to the last peg. You score according to the arrow that you hit with as well as where you hit.
A 1st Kill is worth 20points, 1st wound 16. 2nd kill 14, 2nd wound 10, 3rd kill 8, wound 4.
I don't know how EFAA work.

I don't loose or break too many arrows, out of a group of 4 longbowmen we can expect to be one arrow down at the end of the day. (fortunately for me it's usually someone elses!)

My advice is to find a local GNAS field club if you can and try it, since you are already a member. If you like it then look into NFAS or EFAA if you want something a bit more different.

NFAS tend to be more relaxed about their shooting than GNAS, but this can mean less safety concious as well. GNAS field archers tend to be the ones in bright colours, NFAS in camo! (This is a generalisation before anybody flames me for that coment! :stirthepo )

 

[Big John]

Thanks EB - more complicated than I thought but I am still really keen to give it a go so I will follow your advice and join some of my GNAS Club collegues at the next regional field shoot. Best I do a bit of research on scoring before then or else I'll look a bit dim when I can't score my own round. Cheers.

 

[NeilM]

I would absolutely dispute the fact than ANY NFAS club is " less safety conscious" than any other archery club. That is an irresponsible generalisation.

EB, if you have seen any unsafe practices at a NFAS club or shoot, then it should have been brought to the attention of either club or shoot officials.

NFAS has a defined set of Safety Rules, which apply to every member, whenever and wherever they are shooting.

Big John, EFAA shoot marked / known distances, and also tend to shoot to longer maximum distances than NFAS (bit of a generalisation).

I would tend to look at both NFAS and EFAA web sites and find local clubs to visit. Many field archers shoot in both organisations.

 

[whisky]

Big John - If you're anywhere near Cheshire (Stockport) our club has 2 GNAS field courses and 1 NFAS, which youre welcome to try. In fact we have an NFAS open shoot on in a few weeks time that you can enter - Though you will need to join the NFAS which is ?10 per year

 

[robtattoo]

Spend the tenner.....you'll never regret it!

 

[Bald Eagle]

Best tenner I ever spent too!

 

[Raedwald]

Here's a quick run down as I understand it.

NFAS only shoot animal rounds
EFAA only shoot roundels.

Erm.... nope, not quite EB! EFAA shoot animal faces as well (our EFAA course currently has Big Game faces out).

Our club is both EFAA and NFAS, holding 9 EFAA classification shoots on all faces and 3 NFAS shoots through the year.

The main difference between them tends to be that EFAA courses tend to be marked distances whereas NFAS tend to be unmarked.

NFAS can be 3D or animal faces. Scoring depends on the rounds (Big Game as defined, but there are several variants).

EFAA can be field or hunter (black&white roundels - 3 scoring rings (3, 4, 5), 4 arrows per target). OR it can be forrester or big game (both animal faces). Forrester is one arrow from each peg, anything from 1 to 4 pegs per target. Arrows score 10/15/20 depending on where they hit. Big Game is similar to the NFAS (3 arrows maximum, first scoring hit counts) but the scoring differs slightly - 20/18 16/14, 12/10 - depending on kill/wound.

As for safety, well, I know what went into our Crystal shoot today (under NFAS rules), in clearing lanes, making sure there were enough marshals, etc, etc. To suggest "less safety conscious" is perhaps about as accurate as a beginner from 80 yards on an EFAA course...... :frying:

John, have a quick look at the website that's listed on my signature, it might give you an idea of what things are like.

 

[English Bowman]

I would absolutely dispute the fact than ANY NFAS club is " less safety conscious" than any other archery club. That is an irresponsible generalisation.

EB, if you have seen any unsafe practices at a NFAS club or shoot, then it should have been brought to the attention of either club or shoot officials.

NFAS has a defined set of Safety Rules, which apply to every member, whenever and wherever they are shooting.

Big John, EFAA shoot marked / known distances, and also tend to shoot to longer maximum distances than NFAS (bit of a generalisation).

I would tend to look at both NFAS and EFAA web sites and find local clubs to visit. Many field archers shoot in both organisations.

Sorry I didn't mean to cause offence, and I agree it is a generalisation, but one based on experiance.
I know someone who was nearly shot by an NFAS member decide to go "roving" because he was bored of the shoot. (He was thrown out, but I have never heard of this happening on a GNAS shoot.)
The times I have been uncomfortable about course layouts have been on NFAS courses, not GNAS
The only instance I know of someone being shot was at an NFAS course. It was a child that shot an adult who was forward of the peg and should have known better, and it wasn't a serious injury, but again I haven't heard of this happening at a GNAS shoot
And finally more NFAS archers than GNAS wear camo. Not a bright choice when walking around a woods full of people with lethal weapons!
Now I don't want to sound like I think that all NFAS archers have no regard for safety, as that is plainly not the case, but, I do think that if there are "problem archers" then they are more likely to join NFAS than GNAS because of the reletive lack of rules and the fact that GNAS prefer roundels whereas NFAS shoot animal faces and 3Ds. I know that these archers are a very small minority and they are weeded out when they show their colours, but as a friend of mine found out, that could easily have been too late. (The arrow hit a tree about 3' from where he was standing waiting to shoot!)
As I said. I don't think that NFAS are dangerous, or I would have never shot with them, (more than once!) but I do think that GNAS are stricter on safety based on my own experiances.

Daniel

 

[Munsterman]

is there any reason why a club cannot be affiliated to GNAS/EFAA/NFAS at the same time?

 

[English Bowman]

Nope. Raven Field archers are affilliated to GNAS and also run NFAS shoots. (NFAS don't have club affiliation archers afflilate direct)

However to allow members of both societies to shoot together we have our own club insurance, as GNAS won't cover a shoot with non GNAS members and NFAS won't cover non NFAS members.

 

[Swaledale]

is there any reason why a club cannot be affiliated to GNAS/EFAA/NFAS at the same time?

None at all
We are NFAS and GNAS and hold events under either flag, there are plenty more where we come from!
If Big Jon is anywhere in the Northern Counties catchment area, he may like to enter the NCAS/YAA Field Champs in October even if he is not he is more than welcome.
English Bowman
I appreciate that you may have had a bad experience at NFAS events in the past but recent changes in rules and attitudes may well serve to put your mind at rest the next time you visit an NFAS event. You step forward of the shooting line now and you'll be linched and hung from a tree, we ain't gunna have no transgressers here goddamit!
Cammo wearing, yes this does occur but increasingly it instills micky taking so perhaps it is only a matter of time on this one.

 

[Raedwald]

Having "volunteered" to help set up our January "Big Game Special" NFAS shoot, we're already looking at potential shots (the first couple are already plotted out, and there's a few others that "might work".

Rules employed in the placements of targets and pegs:

Rule 1: Is it a safe shot?
Rule 3: Is it a possible shot with all bow styles?
Rule 2: Is it a good shot with all bow styles?
Rule 4 - n: See rule 1.

 

[Haywain]

The only reason is down to the membership. If your members do not shoot for a particular society there is little point in being affiliated to them.

Of the clubs I have been involved with, the first was purely GNAS when i first joined (Bowmen of Bude). As more and more members started shooting field (and there were very few GNAS field shoots within a suitable distance at that time) the membership changed and the club went GNAS and NFAS and is now purely NFAS.
The second club is NFAS and EFAA affiliated (Fleet Ibex), but has been going for many years and has in the past been GNAS, EFAA and NFAS affiliated at one time or other, again mostly due to the fact that the archers changed societies themselves.

NFAS does have official club affiliation (this started at the beginning of this year when all clubs were asked to submit their details).

Safety.... I have seen some misuse of equipment by archers of all societies, but this is down to individual archers who are too stupid to follow the rules or have little or no common sense.
The worst case I saw was not at a field shoot at all and was caused by an archer drawing an arrow on a bow while pointing it towards everyone on the shooting line "just to watch what would happen" !!!!!! What happened was being banned from all future shoots, the club and the society.

is there any reason why a club cannot be affiliated to GNAS/EFAA/NFAS at the same time?