Choose Your Bow
There are three main types of bows that you will see being shot at Wellington Bowmen and they are:
- Longbow – they were first recorded in use during battle in 1298 and were a dominant weapon on the battlefield until the mid-16th century. The bows are characterized by their simplicity: they consist of a long, slightly curved piece of wood the same height as the archer and do not have arrow rests or sights.
- Recurve Bow – Recurve bows were historically used by horsemen. These bows are named for their distinct shape: the central parts of the limbs curve toward the archer, and the tips of the limbs curve away from the archer. Recurve bows are used to teach archery, and beginners often start with a barebow recurve, which only has a string, an arrow rest, bow limbs and a riser to help balance the bow. Components such as sights, pressure buttons, clickers and stabilizers are added to the bow as the archery student becomes more skilled.
- Compound Bow – Compound bows were first produced in the 1960s and involve an innovative system of cables, pulleys and eccentric cams that assist the archer in holding a heavy draw weight at full draw. This system gives archers time to aim a powerful bow without causing excessive muscle fatigue. However, a good deal of strength is needed to initially draw the bow.
Rules of shooting
ArcheryGB maintain and publish the Rules of Shooting.
Rounds
Today there are a large number of archery rounds which can be shot either at the Club or at a Tournament, whether Indoor or Outdoor. A round is a set number of arrows shot at specific distances on a target face of a given size. The two main types of round are imperial rounds and metric rounds.
Imperial Rounds
In imperial rounds, the distances are measured in yards and only one size target face is used (122cm diameter) when shooting outdoors. Also, outdoor imperial rounds only use the five-zone scoring face (i.e. 9 for gold, 7 for red, 5 for blue, 3 for black, 1 for white).
Metric Rounds
Under the metric system, distances are measured in metres, a 10-Zone scoring face is used (i.e. 10 for inner gold, 9 for outer gold, 8 for inner red, 7 for outer red and so on) and outdoor rounds use two sizes of target face, 122cm at the longer distances, 80cm at the shorter.
Indoor Rounds
Indoor archery rounds use a variety of different size target faces for the different rounds; refer to the GNAS Rules of Shooting for all the details.
Scoring Zones
The picture below shows the difference between 10-zone (left) and 5-zone (right) scoring.
List of Rounds
The numbers in the tables below are the number of dozen arrows shot at each distance for each round. The furthest distance is always shot first and the closest distance is always shot last.
Imperial Rounds – Outdoor (5 Zone Scoring)
| Round Name | 122 cm Target Face | ||||||||
| 100yds | 80 yds | 60 yds | 50 yds | 40yds | 30yds | 20yds | 10yds | Max Score | |
| York | 6 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 1296 |
| Hereford | – | 6 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1296 |
| Bristol II | – | – | 6 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | 1296 |
| Bristol III | – | – | – | 6 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 1296 |
| Bristol IV | – | – | – | – | 6 | 4 | 2 | – | 1296 |
| Bristol V | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1296 |
| St.George | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 972 |
| Albion | – | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 972 |
| Windsor | – | – | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | 972 |
| Short Windsor | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | – | 972 |
| Junior Windsor | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | 972 |
| Short Junior Windsor | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | 3 | 972 |
| New Western | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 864 |
| Long Western | – | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | 864 |
| Western | – | – | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 864 |
| Short Western | – | – | – | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | 864 |
| Junior Western | – | – | – | – | 4 | 4 | – | – | 864 |
| Short Junior Western | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 4 | – | 864 |
| American | – | – | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | – | – | – | 810 |
| St.Nicholas | – | – | – | – | 4 | 3 | – | – | 756 |
| New National | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 648 |
| Long National | – | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 648 |
| National | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 648 |
| Short National | – | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | 648 |
| Junior National | – | – | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | – | 648 |
| Short Junior National | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | 648 |
| New Warwick | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 432 |
| Long Warwick | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 432 |
| Warwick | – | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 432 |
| Short Warwick | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | 432 |
| Junior Warwick | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | 432 |
| Short Junior Warwick | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | – | 432 |
Imperial Rounds – Indoor (10 Zone Scoring)
| Round Name | Distance | Face Size | Dozens | Max Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | 20 yds | 60 cm | 5 | 600 |
| Bray 1 | 20 yds | 40 cm | 2.5 | 300 |
| Bray 11 | 25 yds | 60 cm | 2.5 | 300 |
Metric Rounds – Outdoor (10 Zone Scoring)
| 122 cm Target Face | 80 cm Target Face | Max Score | ||||||||||||
| Round Name | 90 mtr |
70 mtr |
60 mtr |
50 mtr |
40 mtr |
30 mtr |
20 mtr |
50 mtr |
40 mtr |
30 mtr |
20 mtr |
15 mtr |
10 mtr |
|
| FITA (Gents) | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | 3 | – | – | – | 1440 |
| FITA (Ladies) | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | 3 | – | – | – | 1440 |
| Metric II | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | 1440 |
| Metric III | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | 1440 |
| Metric IV | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | 3 | 1440 |
| Metric V | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | 1440 |
| FITA 900 | – | – | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 900 |
| FITA 70m | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
| FITA 60m | – | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
| FITA 50m | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
| Half FITA (Gents) | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | – | 1.5 | – | 1.5 | – | – | – | 720 |
| Half FITA (Ladies) | – | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | 1.5 | – | 1.5 | – | – | – | 720 |
| Half Metric II | – | – | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | – | – | 720 |
| Half Metric III | – | – | – | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | – | 720 |
| Half Metric IV | – | – | – | – | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | 1.5 | – | 1.5 | 720 |
| Half Metric V | – | – | – | – | – | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | – | – | – | 1.5 | 1.5 | 720 |
| Long Metric (Gents) | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
| Long Metric (Ladies) | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
| Long Metric II | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
| Long Metric III | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
| Long Metric IV | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
| Long Metric V | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
| Short Metric I | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | 3 | – | – | – | 720 |
| Short Metric II | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | 720 |
| Short Metric III | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | – | – | 720 |
| Short Metric IV | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | 3 | 720 |
| Short Metric V | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | 720 |
| FITA Standard Bow | – | – | – | 3 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 720 |
Metric Rounds – Indoor (10 Zone Scoring)
| Round Name | Distance | Face Size | Dozens | Max Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FITA 18 | 18 mtr | 40 cm | 5 | 600 |
| FITA 25 | 25 mtr | 60 cm | 5 | 600 |
| Combined Fita | 18 & 25 mtr | 40 & 60 cm | 10 | 1200 |
| Stafford | 30 mtr | 80 cm | 6 | 720 |