# USA Archery vs NFAA



## Moebow (Jul 8, 2010)

Both have their place. And it depends on what you mean by "target archery." I don't know the membership numbers for the two organizations, but USA Archery is the Olympic governing body for that style archery in the US. NFAA is more oriented to hunting (3 D) and field style archery but mostly target. Just different targets and range setups (different archery games). Check out both web sites. Different interests and goals produce different organizations.

Arne


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## Joe Schnur (Mar 22, 2012)

Nfaa if compound usa archery considers compound secondary and before I get called out show me their training Pgm that applies specifically to compound archery


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## ccwilder3 (Sep 13, 2003)

Nfaa has a much larger membership. USA archery and the NFAA have an agreement that a member in one can shoot in the other's tournaments.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

*NFAA* 
is primarily concerned with Field archery where you walk around a course and shoot at paper targets a varied marked distances. Of course they do have some 3D shoots and Indoor shoots (Vegas) but their focus is field shooting. They support and encourage shooting with all types of archery equipment. They have a lot more shooting divisions and a handicapping systems too that help support league shooting and completions. Their targets are generally unique to their organization. 
*
US-Archery* 
As stated above is the governing organization for Olympic shooting. For this reason they tend to focus much more on recurves and Olympic style shooting although the company line is that they are pro all things archery including compounds. They tend to be a lot more closely tied to international events and international competitions too. Because they are international focused they tend to conform more closely to the international rules.
*
IBO*
International bowhunters Organization is the most common scoring system for 3D shoots. Bowhunting clubs where the focus is on hunting tend to be most often associated with IBO and not US Archery or NFAA.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Not sure why it matters who "most" belong to. It should only matter which one suits you better, shouldn't it ?

Bender is correct.



> show me their training Pgm that applies specifically to compound archery


Joe, however...

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Archery/...ery-Debuts-Compound-Junior-Dream-Team-Program

Maybe not so much.


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## Mr. Roboto (Jul 13, 2012)

Well, the NFAA has plenty of target opportunities. They have the 20 yard multicolor indoor, the 20 yard Blue face indoor, the 600 and 900 outdoor target rounds. Apparently the NFAA Indoor Target nationals draws more people to Kentucky then the USAA Indoors. This doesn't even count the 2000+ people that shows up for the Vegas round. And the NFAA has a boat load of field, safari, and 3D rounds.

The NFAA also lets you wear blue jeans at all of their tournaments, or kilts if you have them.

The NFAA doesn't discriminate against the type of bow you want to shoot at any tournament. 

Now the USA Archery has the prestige of being the only route for anyone to qualify to represent the US at the Olympics. Or represent the US for any of the world championships. Because they are the only way to the Olympics or world events, then one has to find the appropriate tournaments in their locale to develop their skills. 

But for the most part, it is really up to your state and local clubs in deciding what types of tournaments. It might be that you may need to find a few like minded people and put on a WA tournament yourself for a while and let the interest grow there. You don't have to be a slave to the NFAA way of doing things.


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## hdracer (Aug 8, 2007)

ccwilder3 said:


> Nfaa has a much larger membership. USA archery and the NFAA have an agreement that a member in one can shoot in the other's tournaments.


The reciprocal agreement appears to be coming to an end with USAA requiring "membership" from all shooters...


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## archeryal (Apr 16, 2005)

If it's important to you, I know of at least two guys who often shoot USA Archery tournamants in kilts. The clothing rules have been relaxed in recent years, (at one time, you had to wear all white), allowing any color except camo or jeans. The goal is safety (must wear close-toed shoes) and a neat, professional appearance (no torn clothes, offensive slogans on clothes, etc).


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## RickBac (Sep 18, 2011)

Both organizations are fine. Try the various types of tournaments. Enjoy shooting you bow.

They do have a reciprocity agreement. Right now NFAA Members can shoot in any USAA tournament except the indoor and outdoor nationals. NFAA does not mention how theirs works toward USAA.

There are 5 JOAD clubs in South Carolina and you can contact the director in South Carolina for NFAA. Their information is on the two websites.


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## Mulcade (Aug 31, 2007)

hdracer said:


> The reciprocal agreement appears to be coming to an end with USAA requiring "membership" from all shooters...


You are correct in that USAA is requiring memberships of all participants. However, they offer a free temporary membership to NFAA members for each sanctioned event. To sign up for the membership, an NFAA member need only find that event on USAA's calendar and there will be a button to "Click here to get a membership for this event."

So, the reciprocal agreement is still very much in effect and I see no sign of it ending anytime soon.


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## J. Wesbrock (Dec 17, 2003)

> Also why two organizations?


Back in the 1930s when recreational bowhunting and field archery (which started as roving shoots for bowhunters) were at their infancy in America, the NAA (now USA Archery) wanted nothing to do with either. So a group of folks from Redding, CA started the NFAA. The rest is history.


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## scolist (Sep 16, 2014)

I notice that NFAA uses the term "flight", in shoot divisions. Can someone explain what that means?

Thanks,
Scott


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## Mr. Roboto (Jul 13, 2012)

Its not a division as in the sense of age or style division. Its a numbers division. If a particular tournament has a 100 people shooting in the same age group with the same bow style, that large group is divided into a smaller set of groups. The division occurs based on how you are currently shooting in that tournament. The idea here is to have groups shooting at similar shooting abilities shooting against each other. So with 100 people shooting against one another, and only having 3 awards, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, you can have 3 groups of people with a total of 9 awards. You don't get to pick which flight you are going to be in. The tournament organizers will determine that after the first day of shooting.


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## scolist (Sep 16, 2014)

I should've explained my question better. I want to register for the Vegas Shoot, but in the Shooting Division category, I don't understand what "flight" means.


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## Beastmaster (Jan 20, 2009)

scolist said:


> I should've explained my question better. I want to register for the Vegas Shoot, but in the Shooting Division category, I don't understand what "flight" means.


Putting my tournament director hat on here...

A "flight" is a generic term used to group archers who shoot similar scores into similar groups. The theory involved means that you shoot a score, you will then be placed with archers of similar skill levels to shoot for some sort of final award.

Using Vegas as an example, you shoot day 1 and day 2 of Vegas for score. The two scores are then tabulated together, and then you are grouped (flighted) with archers in a similar range of scores. You then shoot for monetary awards after that.

Your grouping in Vegas is determined by score, type of bow (freestyle = all out everything compound, bowhunter = pins and short stabilizers, recurve = Olympic style recurve, so on, so forth), and ignores gender.

Hope that helps,
-Steve


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## scolist (Sep 16, 2014)

That is a great help Steve. Thank you very much.


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## wa-prez (Sep 9, 2006)

scolist said:


> I should've explained my question better. I want to register for the Vegas Shoot, but in the Shooting Division category, I don't understand what "flight" means.


For Vegas, some of the styles have both "Championship" and "Flights" categories.

Registration fees are higher for Championship than for Flights.

Payouts are higher for Championship, but only one ranking. the Flights categories breaks the archers into groups of (about 30), and you could end up 1st place in 7th flight and get some prize money where 20th in the 1st flight (20th overall) doesn't get any or at least not as much.

Championship Division is (mostly) for the seriously competitive shooters, Flights for us who want to just come and shoot.


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