# What is field shooting?



## daleofmesa (Aug 22, 2015)

(96) NFAA Field: Fundamentals of a Field Round - YouTube 
This is a good video to explain it.
Dale


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## wa-prez (Sep 9, 2006)

See a couple of the pinned posts at the top of this forum for lots of examples of Field ranges.

If Indoor Archery is like the putting green, and Outdoor Target Archery is like a driving range, Field Archery is like actually playing on the golf course. Roving through hilly and usually forested grounds, encompassing several acres and usually about a mile total walking.

Shoot from the stake, at the target, walk forward to score and retrieve your arrows and (instead of returning to the shooting line) proceed on a trail to the next shooting stake and a different target at a different distance and direction.

The very best kind of archery in the opinion of a lot of archers.


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## Arcus (Jul 7, 2005)

Hoyt-Prime-Hoyt said:


> Sorry, never heard of it.


Ever hear of Google?


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## huteson2us2 (Jun 22, 2005)

I use to love Field shooting the best of all archery events. Now it has been 5 years since my last one.


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## kballer1 (Aug 31, 2010)

huteson2us2 need to come to WI & visit your son & get a couple field rounds in.


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## dad2sixmonkeys (Jun 26, 2011)

Hoyt-Prime-Hoyt said:


> Sorry, never heard of it.


In my opinion the best archery format there is. Skills are tested at all different distances, and if you have a field with a good terrain skills are tested at angles etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## 871182 (Aug 11, 2021)

Hoyt-Prime-Hoyt said:


> Sorry, never heard of it.


Thanks for asking the question. I had no idea either.


daleofmesa said:


> (96) NFAA Field: Fundamentals of a Field Round - YouTube
> This is a good video to explain it.
> Dale


Great video. Is field archery only done with compounds or are there divisions for Olympic and barebow as well?


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## wa-prez (Sep 9, 2006)

There's a post on Archery 360 (www.Archery360.com) that explains Field Archery.









Field Archery Offers Fun, Unique Challenges


Traverse epic archery courses and compete in NFAA or World Archery field archery events.




archery360.com


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## 871182 (Aug 11, 2021)

@wa-prez thanks for the link. Field archery looks like a blast, basically a mash of sporting clays and disc golf.


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## Hikari (May 15, 2021)




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## BentinMiddle (Oct 3, 2021)

I'd never heard of "field archery" before, but it looks interesting. I've done the same type of set up with firearms-- walking a course in The words coming to certain clearings where a target has been set up. Going station to station shooting targets that are presented at various distances (and unknown distances if you're new to that course.)


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## wa-prez (Sep 9, 2006)

871182 said:


> @wa-prez thanks for the link. Field archery looks like a blast, basically a mash of sporting clays and disc golf.


Yes, there are similarities between Field Archery and both those sports.

I often compare archery ranges and golf courses like this:

If an indoor range is compared with a putting green and target archery is like the driving range, field archery is like playing the whole course. Uphill, downhill, sun and shade, wind and rain all come into play to exacerbate the distance factor.


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## kballer1 (Aug 31, 2010)

Field is shot from 10 yards to 80 yards & a full course has 28 targets usually 2 halfs of 14 targets per side.


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## wa-prez (Sep 9, 2006)

871182 said:


> Great video. Is field archery only done with compounds or are there divisions for Olympic and barebow as well?


Just saw this comment, and it looks like no one answered it yet.

NFAA Field Archery divides archers into Divisions and Styles for competition like against like.

Division is what you are - Gender and Age Group
Ages are PeeWee (under 8), Cub (8-11), Youth (12-14), Young Adult (15-17), Adult (18+), Senior (50+), Silver Senior (60+), and Master Senior (70+).

Style is your equipment (and a little with restrictions on how it is used). Generally:
Freestyle - anything goes, usually compounds with moveable sights, release aids, stabilizer
Freestyle Limited - same as Freestyle but must draw with fingers (tab or glove)
Bowhunter Freestyle - same as Freestyle but sight must have no more than 5 fixed reference points, stabilizer limited to 12"
Barebow - no sights or release aids. Long stabilizer and string walking OK
Freestyle Limited Recurve - recurve bow or longbow, sights, fingers (no release aid)
Barebow Recurve - recurve bow or longbow, NO sights, fingers, no stabilizer
Traditional - recurve bow or longbow, NO sights, fingers, 12" stabilizer, NO string walking
Longbow - longbow, no sights, no stabilizer, fingers, no string walking.

So for example, I'm Silver Senior Female Freestyle Limited.

Olympic would register as Freestyle Limited Recurve
USAA Barebow would register as Barebow Recurve

USAA / World Archery also shoot a version of Field (fewer targets, fewer arrows per target, different target faces, metric distances) and they recognize just Compound, Recurve, and Barebow.


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## sotexbowhunter (Feb 3, 2006)

Very good read. In my opinion, Field Archery is the greatest for families wanting to learn the fundamentals of archery. I've seen entire families enjoying the tournaments and social gatherings. Many became state, national and world champions. If you have not ever shot a field round, I highly recommend you try it. Others I have introduced to it have loved the challenge.


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## Steven Bressan (May 6, 2009)

Field archery is great because every shot is a different presentation. You also get a chance to be out in nature for the day and is a great family activity. Having to plant your feet up and down on hills creates it's own challenge.

Targets can be paper with different size bulls or animals. Set distances or unmarked where you have to guess the distance to the target. 

If I remember correctly the birdy targets were 3 - 5 yards and the furthest target was 80 yards. I could hit the 80 even using my indoor bow with 27 pounds and the right arrows.


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## Arcus (Jul 7, 2005)

Steven Bressan said:


> Field archery is great because every shot is a different presentation. You also get a chance to be out in nature for the day and is a great family activity. Having to plant your feet up and down on hills creates it's own challenge.
> 
> Targets can be paper with different size bulls or animals. Set distances or unmarked where you have to guess the distance to the target.
> 
> If I remember correctly the birdy targets were 3 - 5 yards and the furthest target was 80 yards. I could hit the 80 even using my indoor bow with 27 pounds and the right arrows.


Agree with most of what you wrote, but some slight clarification is in order. All targets are paper, and the only animal targets are on the animal round, not on the field and hunter rounds. There are no unmarked distances. The birdie (a.k.a. bunny) target on the field round is a 35'-30'-25'-20' walkup.


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## Hikari (May 15, 2021)

Arcus said:


> There are no unmarked distances.


I think that is only one field type (NFAA?). World Archery and USA Archery field rules have an unmarked round and a marked round. The first day of qualifications is the unmarked round.


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## Arcus (Jul 7, 2005)

Hikari said:


> I think that is only one field type (NFAA?). World Archery and USA Archery field rules have an unmarked round and a marked round. The first day of qualifications is the unmarked round.


Since he mentioned an 80-yd target and animals, neither of which is in the World Archery/USA Archery field rounds, then yes, I assumed NFAA field.


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## kballer1 (Aug 31, 2010)

If going to shoot unmarked & animals you might as well shoot the ASA rounds instead.


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## ahunter55 (Aug 17, 2009)

I have always said, Field Archery seperates the men from the boys & Women from the girls. 4 arrows each target, 112 total in a tournament, various size target from 10 thru 80 yards & various terrains. Best competition one could experience but sadly, not as popular these days of 3-D.. Hunter round (black face, white bull) is same 4 arrows various size targets & ODD yardages. JULY 20 thru 25th, 2022 will Be the NFAA Championships held in Pa. this coming JULY. It is an awesome event & these ranges are some of the best in the U.S.A...


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## Mr. Ken (Aug 6, 2019)

@ ahunter55: Good luck at the NFAA National Field match in July. Hope to see you take 1st place in your division and class.
We just had the Southern Sectional at the Percy Quinn State Park in Mississippi. The high prices kept a lot of people away, I think. We had approx. 25 or so shooters on Saturday and 6 less on Sunday. I had one other gentleman with me in the SSMFS. I bet him by 10 points even with my couple of mistakes. We shot 28 Field on Saturday and 14 Hunter and 14 Animals on Sunday. Had to shoot 7 or 8 targets in the rain on Saturday.

I have the Louisiana State Field match on July 9 &10 in Shreveport, Louisiana. That is almost 5 hours one way for me.

I prefer the format of 14 Field, 14 Hunter and 14 Animal targets.

Why is there a dislike for the animal rounds? The animal round is the closest that I want to get to 3D. I don't like 3D for the simple reason of shooting just 1 arrow at a target. I don't really get warmed up until 25 or 30 shots.


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