# What to do with old Field courses



## huteson2us2 (Jun 22, 2005)

Our range has a 3D course and a 28 NFAA Field course. The 3D course is very popular but the Field course is rarely used. Our range is owned by the County and not ran by the members. In fact the archery club has no say what-so-ever in anything done on the range except to set up for tournaments.

I like to practice on the Field course because it is quiet. Very few people use it and I like to remember the old days when Field was King. It has been at least 5 years since I had shot a tournament on our course.

In the last few years, people have been using the field course to practice and learn how to shoot. I often see new archers shooting at 20 yards on the 80 yard walk-up target because it is the biggest target available. In fact the County has had complaints that the targets on the course are too small.

It had to happen. Yesterday the County put new targets up on our Field course. Almost every target was bigger than required. 50 Centimeter target on the 20 yards butt. 65 centimeter target on the 45 and so on. The 80 yard walk-up still had the 65 centimeter target, but that is because it is the biggest made.

Field archery is almost dead in Arizona. The County put the final nail in our course in order to please the majority of beginners. The NFAA has discovered that the money was in the Indoor rounds like Vegas that can draw thousands instead of a few hundreds and no longer promote the Field round. Individual ranges make their money for the year off the 3D tournaments and might have a field round as a novelty. States that still enjoy the Field round are very lucky.


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## Arcus (Jul 7, 2005)

I'll put a positive spin on it. Getting people to shoot a field course, no matter the target size, is a good thing. It just might lead a few of them to want to shoot a real field course, i.e., with the right-sized targets. I have to smile about those who complained that the targets were too small. Well, just stand closer. Although, I know what some of them might mean. When I was new to archery, I ventured onto my club's field course for practice. I assumed that I had to shoot from the shooting stakes, so I said "no way can I shoot that far" and walked off. Seems silly now, i.e., I could've shot from wherever I wanted.


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## Tiny_MN (Dec 22, 2011)

Agreed, nothing wrong with people using the field course for practice. It gets them active and more people shooting is a good thing.


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## huteson2us2 (Jun 22, 2005)

Agreed. Nothing wrong with people using the field course for practice. Except that our range has two practice courses already. One from 10 yards to 100 yards. The second practice range has targets from Birdie target to 60 yards. This third practice range (that was a field round) does not allow someone to practice anymore for a real field round when the 20 yard target is 50 centimeters and go up from there for the other targets. 

I was trying to say that this is further proof of the decline of Field rounds. For a 3D archer, this would be equal to putting the deer target at 20 yards and the bull elk at medium distances. Elephants at any target past 35 yards. Try having a practice round like that and see how well you do at a real 3D tournament. 

It isn't that this is a one time event. I was disappointed that this in now to become the normal on our field range. We have two practice courses, one 3D course with 3D animals on the range full time, one burlap animal course, a broadhead practice area, and what was once a 28 Field round and now is a beginner course. The next closest field round to me is the Ben Avery range 1 1/2 hours away. As a lover of Field rounds, I will now have to spend my practice time on one of the practice ranges instead of scoring a round on the Field course.


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## wa-prez (Sep 9, 2006)

Post something OTHER than actual Field / Hunter / Animal target faces.

Try Safari targets (animals with spots) or maybe various sizes of multi-color targets (they come in 20 cm, 40 cm, 60 cm, 80 cm and even the 122 cm we use for the Target round.

That way the newbies can practice on nice big targets without getting misled about what a Field round is actually like.


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## wa-prez (Sep 9, 2006)

And when I introduce beginners to our course, I always tell them, "Adults shoot from the white stake, 12-14 year old from the blue, 8-11 from the black, and under 8 from the green BUT when you are just practicing, you are welcome to get close enough to the target that you won't lose your arrows".


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## RoadEagle50 (Jun 28, 2020)

Our course is also on County property, but it is leased to our club for a very minimal cost. The lease includes an agreement that we will host the county parks and recs archery lessons and maintain the property in good standing. The club membership fees pay for the targets and supplies required to maintain the range. Everything is outdoor. The practice lanes are open to the general public to foster the love of the sport and to draw in new members. The field course is open to active members and tournaments only. 
We have five practice lanes that provide distances of 15 feet to 80 yards. The short lane is also used for paper tuning.
We have an NFAA regulation 28 target field course that doesn't get overly used. I try to keep the front 14 targets accessible for physically challenged shooters. The back 14 are much more challenging. 
We also have a 3D range, but we don't keep the targets out because they tend to wander off.
The practice lanes get the most use by far. I have to change out the targets once a month. The field targets only need to be refreshed for tournaments. We host Field, Hunter, and Safari tournaments. The 3D targets are safely stored in a shipping container that I call the "meat locker."
Members that use the Field range are encouraged to use the marked distance with the appropriately sized targets to include walk-ups and Fans. But it is not mandated. We want it to be fun.


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## huteson2us2 (Jun 22, 2005)

I shot my first 550 practice field round since I was 50 years old. Of course the smallest target was the 35cm on the Birdie target and 50cm from 15 yards to 40, and 65cm above 45 yards. Lost all my points on 60 yard and above as they used the largest target which is the right one for the distance.

County parks in Arizona have hiking trails, camping spots with full hook-ups, gun and archery range. There is a club on our range but they are allowed only to run tournaments and cannot put targets up for practice. 1 1/2 hours north of me is Ben Avery Gun Range that has every type of gun ranges from pistol to 1000 yard rifle range. They also have a FITA range, Field range, and indoor archery and small arms range. The archery club at Ben Avery do take a more active role in running the ranges. FITA and Field archers are two different clubs. The Arizona Cup is shot at Ben Avery.

Nobody in Arizona knows what a Safari round is. There are some that goes to Redding and do not realize that there are other tournaments popular on the West coast known as Safari rounds. Washington State and California have several a year and Oregon has the Oregon Safari that I loved.


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## carlosii (Feb 25, 2007)

Count your blessings. We lost our range on county property. Another was lost on state propert.


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## m60gunner (Mar 15, 2003)

I use the Ben Avery range at least 2 times a week. Both the field and hunter courses are set up but not used that much. A few of us talked about an informal shoot once in awhile. But COVID-19 put that aside. In order to have any formal function we would have to lease the time and range from the folks that lease it from Game&Fish. Let’s say there are some politics that I rather not discus. Most folks shoot the animal round and the unmarked hillside rounds. Yes, there are other ranges for “target” shootin. What used to be the broadhead range is where a lot of newcomers and youngsters shoot. It’s close enough and has big targets on the butts.


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## huteson2us2 (Jun 22, 2005)

I talked to Usery Mountain Regional Park and they will give anyone a free RV spot for the winter with full hook-ups next to archery range if the person will perform 20 hours a week as the range master and take care of the field course and 3D range. If interested please call:

*Usery Mountain Regional Park*
3939 N. Usery Pass Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85207
(602) 506-2930 ext 4 
ask for Sheila


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## daleofmesa (Aug 22, 2015)

Be thankful that it is still an archery range. I was out there last Thursday and mountain bike riders were using the field archery trails. I am afraid that the county might get other ideas for that section of land.
Dale


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## wa-prez (Sep 9, 2006)

I notice sometimes when I walk an archery range that is used for both Field and 3D ...

There are spots where the 3D shooters - because they often use shorter distances than the Field stakes - start short-cutting the trails, cutting across a switch back, and eventually the "new" trail they have trod comes out in front of the longer stake, and the ground around that stake becomes overgrown.

In this picture, the longest stake is where the black dog is standing, and the trail is supposed to go to the right side of that tree, but the new shortcut goes where the B/W dog is looking toward. Thankfully just a few minutes with a weed eater can still get this one back in shape.


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## BentinMiddle (Oct 3, 2021)

wa-prez said:


> ... BUT when you are just practicing, you are welcome to get close enough to the target that you won't lose your arrows".



This it is important to newbies, and people with equipment that isn't cutting edge with great accuracy. I've seen 3D target courses set up behind local archery shops where I would be afraid to enter the match because I would almost certainly lose arrows in the tall grass and bushes if I didn't hit the animal.


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## wa-prez (Sep 9, 2006)

BentinMiddle said:


> This it is important to newbies, and people with equipment that isn't cutting edge with great accuracy. I've seen 3D target courses set up behind local archery shops where I would be afraid to enter the match because I would almost certainly lose arrows in the tall grass and bushes if I didn't hit the animal.


But that's one of the nice things about Field archery, instead of 3D.

Field targets are placed on target butts, usually about 36" x 36" and BIGGER. So a shot which would have just barely missed high over the 3D deer's back or gone between its legs, will still be in the bale on a field course.


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## Mr. Ken (Aug 6, 2019)

The closest field range is an hour away and the next closest field range is 2 hours away one way.
So there isn't any close to me and that sucks.


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## ahunter55 (Aug 17, 2009)

Now adays I consider "any" range within an hour, close. I have 1. All others are average 2-3 hours away.


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