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Fish and Game club archery range revitalization: what would you want to have at your archery ranges.

spracklin

spracklin

Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2022
Messages
45
Location
Ontario Canada
background info - discussion at my local club's monthly meeting - the range has been defunct for some time with minimal use - the primary use of the club is handgun shooting and trap shooting.

That said - we have an archery range, and in talking with the board of directors, they are willing to invest in it, if someone is willing to do the legwork to get things going.

We currently have 1 functional target butt

So far possible improvements I've thought of are:
  1. Construction and installation of additional target butts to maintain a fixed shooting line, with targets spaced at 20, 30, and 40 yards.
  2. Designated shooting lane for longer range shooting, Single target butt, lane marked with 5 yards increments out to whatever maximum we can fit in the space 70yards??
  3. Amendment of range rules to allow for use of broadheads limited to a designated shooting lane constructed with an appropriate back stop (member to provide own broadhead target?) for the purpose of zeroing hunting setups.
  4. Construction and installation of a raised shooting platform to simulate hunting conditions - tree stand/saddle hunting etc
  5. Sea can or similar storage structure for target materials/archery equipment (top of which could be used for raised shooting platform with installation of stairs/railing etc)
  6. small 3d target course.
  7. Lean-to shed with tables for equipment setup/adjustment
  8. Bow rack for shooting line while archers are down range retrieving arrows.
  9. Shooting bench for zeroing of crossbows
What else can you all think of. We're a small club - about 500 members. so we will be working with a budget both for capital improvements and ongoing maintenance and upkeep, that said - dream big what would you want?
 
Let me go ahead and stir the pot first, you dont need to mess with #9 if it is an archery range. :cool:

Now that I got them panties wadded up like the first draft of a Kamala Harris speech, we can move on.

I would not open it up to broadheads, period. As great as it would be to have a nearby range for that, it's just not a prudent for a whole bunch of different reasons.

It might not be feasible for the your spot but if you could line up the storage container parallel to the woods, you could setup targets in the woods to supplement the walking portion of the small 3D course. That would be in addition to the open area targets to shoot from the elevated position. I might also consider making the range butts 10,20,30 and then have your lane for extended range. Having that 10 yard butt would be good for kids trad bow shooters like me:)
 
BTaylor said:
Let me go ahead and stir the pot first, you dont need to mess with #9 if it is an archery range. :cool:
I would not open it up to broadheads, period. As great as it would be to have a nearby range for that, it's just not a prudent for a whole bunch of different reasons.
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lol - our bow season allows crossbows, and I'm a crossbow hunter so #9 is happening.... As for your reasoning for no broadheads - why? Give me the nitty gritty. That way when others ask me about it I can present the down sides with the positives to make an informed decision.
 
Our bow season allows crossbows as well. I do not give two hoots what anyone hunts with as long as they follow the rules. As for the broadheads, you will have knuckleheads shooting them into all the targets when no one is around. Might want to check on any impact that might have re: insurance as well. Not sure why it would matter from that perspective cause a field point will kill just as dead as a broadhead, but logic doesnt always apply.
 
Be sure to post range rules and have a common firing line and then targets at various distances. Too many outdoor ranges have all the targets lined up even (so everyone gets their own target) and then the archers stagger themselves. So, the guy at 60 yards has people at 20 yards downrange from him.

Avoid excelsior bales...aka insert thieves. With a powerful enough bow, sometimes you can't pull the arrow out.
 
raisins said:
Be sure to post range rules and have a common firing line and then targets at various distances. Too many outdoor ranges have all the targets lined up even (so everyone gets their own target) and then the archers stagger themselves. So, the guy at 60 yards has people at 20 yards downrange from him.
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Yeah range rules are already in existence - just the equipment that is dilapidated - currently have 4 target butts, 10, 20, 30 and 40, but only the 40 is viable at the moment. the others are old frames for tentest that are long since fallen apart beyond repair. I doubt we'll see more than 3 or 4 people max at any one time given the membership, but thats no reason to be lax on safety.
 
Cross bows are havoc on targets. They wear out a bit faster. That’s my only negative on cb. I also agree with the no broadheads. People suck and you will have things shot to hell within a few months. It may be better to have broadhead tuning days rather than open to everyone, every day. 3D targets are awesome but again, people suck. Everything but the core will be shot out. $3000 elk target and the head will be destroyed before the original core is used. A covered shooting lane(s) may be nice. Most importantly is someone to care for the range. Leaving targets out will shorten the life and be more costly.
 
My daughters enjoy the Bear targets, they also are larger . I’d suggest setting up a few areas with kids and / or grandkids in mind.
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retired targets can be offered to kids to take home
 
My local club has 3d targets that stay locked up unless there's a 3d shoot. The 3D course has straw target butts at every point, and the 3d target gets set near it with a good backstop.

If you have a 3d course, you might consider having a list of people with permission to use the mower throughout the year. We had a really bad tick year and the range wasn't mowed until the 3d shoot in August so I just shot at home, where I could cut shooting lanes.
 
spracklin said:
Construction and installation of a raised shooting platform to simulate hunting conditions - tree stand/saddle hunting etc
Click to expand...

Did you ever get anywhere with this? I'm the newly appointed Archery Committee Chairman at my club and we are talking about doing this. I'm interested in what others have done to get some ideas
 
We had a range set up like a woods walk along the river. Used one backstop and target at each post w/stakes at different yardages like a 3D. We might as well forgotten any rules because a member caught some liberal w/a handgun shooting up our targets. They also shot through a building that was behind a target butt and shot up our aluminum boat for pond maintenance. We gave up. We would still like to provide a nice range but don't know how w/o a guard posted there.
 
Blacksmith said:
We had a range set up like a woods walk along the river. Used one backstop and target at each post w/stakes at different yardages like a 3D. We might as well forgotten any rules because a member caught some liberal w/a handgun shooting up our targets. They also shot through a building that was behind a target butt and shot up our aluminum boat for pond maintenance. We gave up. We would still like to provide a nice range but don't know how w/o a guard posted there.
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After my club got mowed I was out paper tuning and encountered the neighbors. These neighbors - who were not members - walk their aggressive and territorial German Shepherd on the 3d course and were very cross that I had the gall to draw a pistol on their aggressive dog. On private property I had a right to be on, but they did not. Astonishing how the appearance of the pistol turned "she's friendly! She likes you!" to "Holy $hit, Princess, please don't bite that guy! Honey is the leash in your purse?"

Making a property really secure against trespassers really isn't in the budget for a small club with modest membership fees. A mix of CCTV cameras - real and decoy - combined with cellular trail cams and a commitment from the sheriff to cite trespassers helps. You might offer a discount to County employees, which would include the Sheriff and County Attorney. My local SO trains at the range I'm a member of; trespassers - especially those who damage range property, which is partially subsidized by the SO - are cited aggressively.
 
GreginPA said:
Did you ever get anywhere with this? I'm the newly appointed Archery Committee Chairman at my club and we are talking about doing this. I'm interested in what others have done to get some ideas
Click to expand...
Our last club meeting was november, I volunteered to take the archery chair at that point, No meeting in december due to busy holiday schedules. step one is address immediate safety issues, clean up the range and assessment of the equipment we do have. step 2 is build plan from there. The majority of our club members are handgun shooters, the archery range will see limited use, so I'm tempering my expectations based on how much people will use it. thoughts of making it very kid friendly etc.
 
Iron_llama said:
After my club got mowed I was out paper tuning and encountered the neighbors. These neighbors - who were not members - walk their aggressive and territorial German Shepherd on the 3d course and were very cross that I had the gall to draw a pistol on their aggressive dog. On private property I had a right to be on, but they did not. Astonishing how the appearance of the pistol turned "she's friendly! She likes you!" to "Holy $hit, Princess, please don't bite that guy! Honey is the leash in your purse?"

Making a property really secure against trespassers really isn't in the budget for a small club with modest membership fees. A mix of CCTV cameras - real and decoy - combined with cellular trail cams and a commitment from the sheriff to cite trespassers helps. You might offer a discount to County employees, which would include the Sheriff and County Attorney. My local SO trains at the range I'm a member of; trespassers - especially those who damage range property, which is partially subsidized by the SO - are cited aggressively.
Click to expand...

Yikes, thats a nightmare. Our range is switching to a new controlled access system to limit who can enter the property, but thankfully the only trespassing issues we've had is people who are not members using the rifle range on occasion. The terrain conditions and location make it un-likely we'll see people tresspass onto any of the ranges.
 
ricky racer said:
Contact the National Field Archery Association and set up your archery range to meet their criteria. That's the way most archery courses are set up.
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Yeah i've reached out to a few of the archery associations and have not heard anything back... not sure whats going on with that.
 
Set up at least one range for NASP. Unless somethings changed in the past 5-6 years, that should be really hot.

Don't allow broadheads. All you need is one knucklehead with a missing fetching or two and the blades can potentially steer the front end somewhere very erratic. Also, exponentially more target wear.

Chain a few arrow removal tools to the sides of the targets.

Set up a live feed camera so I can relive my past and laugh/cry at the buffoonery that is a bunch of people shooting bows in front of other people. I wouldn't work at or own one in a million years.
 
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