Field Archery is a growing discipline with an increasing number of shoots and participants year on year. Great Britain has a very good infrastructure and series of shoots around the country as well as other local clubs and venues to practice. We also enjoy a strong track history of international performances with recent success and medal winning performances, including a Gold for Alan Wills at the World Championships in Hungary 2010 and we aim to continue with further success. Our message would therefore be to speak to those who are or have done field archery, get some practice, have some fun and give it a go.

In Field Archery all GNAS and FITA divisions are accepted, meaning that there are divisions for: Compound, Recurve and Barebow, Longbow, Traditional and variations thereof.

Field archery at its basic principles is similar, if not the same as, target archery. Very often one will find that a good target archer will also become a good field archer in time once they have become used to the skills needed to master slopes and differing targets. Indeed some of the top Field shooters in the country are our top target archers and vice versa. As such the two should not be seen as mutually exclusive and both have the ability to complement each other.

The differences are as follows:

• A field archer shoots both marked (known) and unmarked (unknown) distances from 5-60 meters, depending on division.
• Field archery involves 24 individual targets on each day of competition with 3 arrows shot at each target. As a result the terrain will differ target by target and requires the archer to adapt their body position to different angles and slopes to shoot each target.
• Field archery can require the archer to shoot uphill and downhill, across slopes and varying terrain and also through different light conditions and wind conditions.
• A field archer is required to judge the distance to the target and learn to adjust body position to maintain the basic fundamentals of their shot on the varying terrain.
• Field archery also requires an archer to consider how an arrow may react to shooting up and downhill and compensate accordingly.
• Field Archery is also shot in groups with 3 - 4 archers drawn to shoot together for the day around the course.

Field archery venues are located around the country, and the UK is blessed with fantastic venues all with differing characters and features. Rolling open countryside, flat woodland, parkland, Welsh mountainsides, quarries, lakes, steep valleys, open sun baked bowls and even the odd country estate, Field Archery really has it all.

Courses holding FITA Field tournaments are reasonably well spread across the UK with several courses in Ireland, Wales and Scotland and courses located throughout England from Kent to Cumbria and most areas in between. There are also many other clubs and smaller venues where field archery in all its' forms can be practised.

Not only will field archery present you with fun and a challenge, it will also often provide you with a pleasant (weather dependent and fitness permitting) walk around a myriad of different terrains and countryside locations. As noted venues differ greatly in character but each will provide its own challenges, be it a flatter course where it becomes a mental challenge to stay focussed and execute the shots, or a steep course where the mental challenge remains but you have to overcome and adapt to the slopes by using your senses and the use of field craft.

Individual targets will differ within a course as well; with 24 targets in a round you can go from shooting an 80cm face on a 25 degree angle up or downhill at 60m to a flat 20cm face at 10m before heading to a shot across a gully or over a lake. Each course and target will present its own unique challenge and part of the enjoyment is you are never sure what is coming next.

Many venues around the country hold regular tournaments or are open all year round for archers to enjoy and practise; there is also a circuit of 2 day events that take place throughout the year from March to October.

Whether you are experienced or relatively new to the Archery generally and whether it is your first time or you wish to return to have another go, you will always be welcome and there will be archers who will help you on your way round as you enjoy the walk and discover some of the challenges of Field Archery and the courses and venues out there.

A full calendar of the shoots is provided at www.gnasfield.co.uk, if it is your first time it is worth speaking with an experienced field archer to ascertain which courses may be better to start, but you will be welcome whichever, local club or national event that you attend and if you let the organiser know they can pair you with someone appropriate to assist you in learning the basics.