Three Safety Rules When on the Archery Shooting Line

It has to be regarded as surprising that, in a sport where the basic skill is to fire a potentially deadly arrow through the air at a target several yards away, there are few incidents of people being seriously hurt. According to American Sports Data, Inc. in 2006, for every 100 people who took part in archery only 0.2 were injured, compared with 18.8 in American football. This record is thanks to the strict safety rules that are in place for anyone stepping up to the archery shooting line.

  1. Stance

    • When at the shooting line you must have one foot on either side of the line and may only approach the shooting line after being instructed to do so by the field captain. You should never shoot in front or behind the shooting line. Standing in front can do injury to yourself as it increases the chances of you being hit by a wayward arrow belonging to another archer. If you stand behind the line and start shooting, it could be your wayward arrow that injures another archer.

    Shooting

    • Only point and fire your arrow at the targets that have been set up. Firing elsewhere can cause injury to others. Bows and arrows are not toys. This is not just true of firing it, or threatening too, in the direction of someone else but also of firing it into the air or off into the distance. You cannot guarantee where the arrow is going to land. Therefore you cannot guarantee that it will not do damage to another human being. A guideline is to keep the bow level with the target when pulling, or "drawing" back because starting high and lowering the bow can lead to the arrow being prematurely fired.

    The Bow

    • When at the shooting line you must not, under any circumstances, draw back the bow and let the string go without an arrow in it. In archery this is called a "dry fire" and can damage the bow. If the bow is damaged and you continue firing, it can lessen your control on where you are firing your arrows. On a similar note another archer must not use the bow to fire if his draw length is longer than yours. This can also damage the bow.