Outdoor field Measurements

Tim P

New member
Hi Dudes and Dudettes, the club are looking for a new field, we have found one, however it is 4 yards short of full 150 yards (overshoot guidelines of 50 yards because of compounds). Looking to known if there any clubs that shoot on shorter fields. Is it possible to only shoot 80 yards maximum and get away with a shorter field, so only getting 50 yards over shoot after 80 yards, so total of 130 yards?
 

Draven

New member
We have one, and if you miss the target at any distance you are in deep woods - literally. The distance after the target is there but obsolete because of the vegetation.
PS Not many tournaments here go past 70m.
 
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KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
Hi Dudes and Dudettes, the club are looking for a new field, we have found one, however it is 4 yards short of full 150 yards (overshoot guidelines of 50 yards because of compounds). Looking to known if there any clubs that shoot on shorter fields. Is it possible to only shoot 80 yards maximum and get away with a shorter field, so only getting 50 yards over shoot after 80 yards, so total of 130 yards?
Your answer is in the 'rules of shooting' section 302(b)
Up to 60yds you need 110 yds overshoot from shooting line
Over 60yds it is the distance + 50yds
Minimum of 150yds if any bow style uses a mechanical release aid
 

Tim P

New member
Thanks @KidCurry, I understand that is what the guidelines state, however I was trying find out if any club out there has had special dispensation, ie using a field 4 yards or so short, with maybe kick boards to stop any stray arrows. This could be the difference between a club folding or carry on. I was trying to gather information before I went to Archery GB.
 

dvd8n

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
Our field is shorter than that but it has a large embankment at the end that we shoot towards.
 

Rabid Hamster

Well-known member
Ironman
might be of interest .. I'm about to do a risk assessment on our field where I'll rotate the field 90' anticlockwise to make use of the blaes pitch. this is to improve footing given the somme like mud/Serengeti grasslands we are battling. we have no compounder members at present so no-one shooting with us using release aids at all which means i have a little more wiggle room with the 110yrd-m/+60yard-m rule 302b (rather than blanket 150yrds) as long as I stipulate no mechanical release aids will use this orientation. I think!
do need to get down the field in the next day or so and measure exactly how much room we have as the min max ranges will vary depending on what I find.
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
Thanks @KidCurry, I understand that is what the guidelines state, however I was trying find out if any club out there has had special dispensation, ie using a field 4 yards or so short, with maybe kick boards to stop any stray arrows...
Ahhh...yes some clubs have boards which reduce their overshoot requirement. We have a bank topped with boards. We also have net in front of the bank but it only stops the weaker bows. How much space do you have behind the shooting line? AGB are more flexible about reducing distances here I think. I've shot at a few clubs where there's not enough space behind the shooting line to swing a cat, if swinging cats was your thing.
 

Rabid Hamster

Well-known member
Ironman
I've shot at one where there wasnt room to swing a hamster .... standard sized golden (13 – 18 cm for Adult), not me, I'm 6'1".
 

Graham Smith

Active member
AIUK Saviour
:ROFLMAO: I think you'll find that the term "Not enough room to swing a cat" refers to a cat o' nine tails that was used to flog badly behaved sailors not the furry animal.🏹;)
 

Big George

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
:ROFLMAO: I think you'll find that the term "Not enough room to swing a cat" refers to a cat o' nine tails that was used to flog badly behaved sailors not the furry animal.🏹;)
Apparently not. The cat o’ nine tails was apparently invented in the mid 1600’s but the phrase is said to predate it and be is use in the 1500’s.

there was I think a mention of it on a QI episod.
 

chrisgas

Supporter
Supporter
@Big George Thanks, We are considering maybe a long 2 metre high netting. Hoping that will be good enough for Archery GB guidelines.
Just as a rough guide in Spain you would only need a "raised" backstop at a distance of 35m behind the target, shooting a 90m distance. I would imagine a net at 2m high would probably suffice with AGB.
 

little-else

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
you can use a berm or bank in the UK, AGB have guidance but it is really too vague to be fit for purpose. They need to revisit this and put some numbers in with regard to elevations, energy levels of projectiles etc, not just say that compounds have an overshoot of x because of the mechanical release aid. In your case a 1m bank with a 2m fence would cover the beaten zone for 100yds but I'm sure that you wont find this in their guidance, especially as they outsourced the writing of it to a company that doesnt actually have any published expertise in such matters.
AS for swinging a cat, it is a naval phrase but was in use before it was first associated with the cat-o-nine -tails. There is also a suggestion that cats were placed in bags and shot at by archers so not enough room to swing a cat would mean no room to place a target somewhere.
Letting the cat out of the bag refres to the practice of selling piglets in sacks to prevent them escaping and unscrupulous sellers putting cats in the sack instead. A bad buy being the pig in a poke, ie the unseen piglet/cat
 
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