ArcheryGB recently issued guidelines for returning to outdoor shooting that comply with the current government advice. It involves wider spacing of targets, designated people to put up and take down targets, a Field Captain who doesn’t shoot who will take the register and enforce the social distancing, a booking system on this website, several new lengths of rope marked out with the required distancing and more besides.

We had a trial run yesterday (Tuesday 9th) which was successful, apart from the fact we are all now a long way from being archery-fit and the new bosses are really hard!

The guidelines have been sent to all club members by email. If you are a member and haven’t seen the email then let me or Fi know and we can go through it. Booking in advance is essential.

Sorry, but we can’t accommodate visitors from other clubs at the moment, nor can we run beginners’ courses. We will, of course, be keeping an eye on the guidelines as they change over time and will adapt what we do accordingly. We look forward to welcoming some new archers as soon as we are able to.

For now, though, it is great to be back out shooting!

It will come as no surprise to anyone that archery activities have been suspended for a while. We normally start the outdoor season at the start of April, and whilst it would be easier to keep a distance from each other outdoors than indoors, the current government order is not go out unless necessary. Much as we love our archery, nobody would argue that it is necessary. We will be monitoring and following government advice and will not restart until the restrictions are relaxed. Even then it may be necessary to observe social distancing rules for a time. This makes it impossible to run any beginners’ courses as we have to get close to people to do any instruction.

We’ll be back when we can. Until then, please respect the advice to stay at home as much as possible, and feel free to get in touch if you are interested in joining us when the time comes.

This year’s Valentine Tournament will be held at Pool Academy Sports Hall on Sunday 16th February. We will be shooting a Vegas round in the morning and a Worcester in the afternoon. A Vegas is 5 dozen arrows shot at a special target face with three spots, the idea being that you shoot one arrow into each. Please be aware that your arrows need to be numbered. The targets are numbered 1, 2 and 3, and the rule is that you put numbered arrows in ascending order into each target. So targets 1, 2 and 3 have arrows 1, 2 and 3, or arrows 2, 4 and 8, whatever, as long as they are in ascending order so that everyone can be sure you haven’t missed the target you are aiming at and accidentally scored in another one. Arrows should be marked permanently on the shaft, not the fletching. You can buy decals or wraps from archery suppliers, or a silver pen generally works quite well.

The Worcester is a black target with a white centre that scores 1 to 5. You shoot five arrows each end rather than the usual three.

Download an entry form here.

We learned today that the annual chicken show at Ludgvan Community Centre will be held next Saturday, 16th November. Clearly it is not ideal for arrows and chickens to be occupying the space at the same time, so we will give it a miss that day.

Dare I suggest, use the time wisely – do some exercise at home, use a stretch band to work on shoulder position or something….

Booking is now live for our next beginners’ course. Dates are Monday evenings 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd September. Each session starts at 6:00pm and will last for about two hours, subject to weather and daylight. We provide all the kit you need and will show the basics of shooting safely and with a good chance of hitting the target. We will also show you some of the different kinds of bows we shoot with. You can read more about it here, and there is also a link at the bottom of that page to book your place.

As we usually do during the summer season, we will be having a series of monthly clout shoots with barbecue. It will be the next-to-last Tuesday each month, with a 5:30pm start. For those who haven’t done one before, a clout is aimed at a small flag placed in the ground at long distance and you score depending how close you get. The rugby field isn’t long enough to do a full-distance clout, which is up to 180 yards, so we do one at 100 yards. Most people should be able to reach that far, even with lightweight bows. It does mean aiming high up, but that’s part of the fun. This is an informal series and not intended to be anything serious, but there are awards to be had for the best scores of the season, which we normally hand out at our Christmas shoot.

A barbecue will be lit at the same time, so if you would like to join in then bring something to cook.

If you would prefer to shoot at a normal target then you will be perfectly welcome. We can do both at the same time.

Dates are:

23rd April
21st May
18th June
23rd July
20th August
17th September

That gives an opportunity to try again the following week if the weather is bad.