Butsfield Bowmen Archery Club

Eagle Archery have a very close relationship with the NFAS field archery club called Butsfield Bowmen.  Situated in County Durham on the River Brownee, the course consists of forty targets in six acres of land, with shots ranging from eight yard ducks to seventy yard rhinos and everything in between.  

If you're interested in giving field archery a go you can find your local club by looking it up at www.nfas.net.  If you live in the North East of England you are most welcome at Butsfield Bowmen.  Please drop us an email at butsfieldbowmen@hotmail.co.uk, including your name and contact details and also if you are an experienced archer looking to join the club or if you are a beginner who wants to have a go and find out more about field archery.

If you are new to archery, Rich and Ray are qualified NFAS coaches and run regular beginner's courses designed to show you the basics and to get you shooting arrows safely and accurately.  For more information please see our beginners section.  As part of the course we offer an option of a guided introduction to the Butsfield Bowmen course where we will provide an additional two hour coaching session on range, as well as explaining the rules of field archery and signing off your insurance forms.

The cost of joining the club is £50.00 per year with and target fees are only £3.00 each time you visit, which allows you to shoot for as long as you want (or as long as the light allows).  The course is available to be shot all year around at any time of the day, so you choose when is best for you to go shooting.  Member insurance is provided by the NFAS, the national governing body of our sport, so you will need to join this organisation also.  The cost is currently £20.00 per year payable directly to the NFAS, more information can be found at www.nfas.net.

Selecting the correct arrow for your bow is of vital importance if you want to shoot consistently, but it can be a daunting task if you are new to archery.  There are lots of different aspects to consider when choosing arrows and as you progress with your shooting you will encounter many varying views on what works best.  On this page we will give a basic outline of what to look out for when choosing arrows.  If after reading this section you are still unsure of what arrows to choose, please feel free to email us at eaglearchery@hotmail.co.uk for further advice.

As we deal in traditional wooden arrows, what follows refers to those types of bows.  Whilst the basic information is true of all arrows, higher performing bows such as Compounds and Olympic Recurves will alter the choices made when selecting arrows.

Arrow Spine

This is probably the most important aspect of choosing the correct arrows for your bow.  The arrow spine refers to the 'stiffness' of the arrow shaft.  When leaving the bow, the arrow encounters varying degrees of deflection, depending upon the draw weight and performance of the bow.  The arrow will need to bend around bows which are not centre shot i.e. longbows, therefore increasing the amount of deflection that occurs.  There are many thorough explanations of this process to be found on the internet, simply search for 'archers paradox' and you will have lots of interesting reading (plus some cool videos too).

At the most basic level a good place to start when selecting arrows for an English Longbow is to choose arrows which have a dynamic spine rating of around five to ten pound less than the draw weight of the bow.  Be sure to select the spine based upon your own draw weight and not just the weight marked on the bow.  Many bows are measured at a 28" draw length and the actual draw weight will depend upon your own draw length.  If you do not have access to a set of bow scales to test this, a good indication is that for every inch above or below 28 inches, deduct or add two pound of draw weight.  For example, if the bow is marked at 40# @ 28, and you draw 27" then the draw weight that you shoot would roughly be 38 pounds.  We would recommend 30-35 spined arrows as a good place to start.

If you are shooting a Centre Shot bow or a bow with superior performance then selecting a higher spine rating will usually be the best place to start.  For example if you are shooting a one piece recurve with a marked weight of 40# then 40-45 spine will be a good starting point.  If the bow is high performance and has Carbon included in it's limb construction then you may need to go higher again as the increased speed that carbon gives translates to a stiffer spine requirement.

Arrow Length

When selecting arrows you will need to make sure that you choose an arrow length that is suitable.  The most obvious aspect of this is that if you choose too short of an arrow then you will overdraw it and it will fall off the bow.  This is a huge safety hazard and should be avoided at all costs.  If you are just beginning in archery your draw length may fluctuate slightly as you settle down into a consistent anchor point.  Choosing a slightly longer arrow will give you the peace of mind that the arrow is long enough and won't pose a safety issue, allowing you to concentrate on getting a consistent shooting style.

As you become more experienced you can choose a length of arrow close to your actual draw length.  The main benefit of this is that a shorter arrow will be lighter which will enable you to reach further distances.  Shortening the length of arrow will also slightly increase the 'stiffness' of your arrow (think about holding a plastic ruler over the edge of a table and twanging it, the shorter the section of ruler held over the edge, the quicker the reaction).  By the same measure, the longer the arrow the weaker the spine.  This fine tuning of your arrows will often depend upon the speed performance of your bow, and is often best done in the company of other experienced archers or coaches so that they can watch your arrows  leave your bow from behind you and offer advice.  If you are in the North East of England, we will be happy to offer this service, just email us for more details.

Point Weight

The weight of your arrow point can have two main effects on your arrows.  The first and most obviously noticeable is that the overall weight of the arrow will be increased, meaning that less distance may be achieved.  The second effect is that the arrow spine will also be altered slightly, much in the same way as with arrow length.  A heavier point will result in a weaker spine and a lighter point will increase the stiffness.  Once again this fine tuning of arrows is best done in the company of experienced archers and/or coaches who can watch the effect of the point weight on your arrows.  We recommend a 100 grain point as a good starting point for your arrows (we use this weight on our 'Range Arrows').  This point doesn't slow the arrow down too much and also does a good job of keeping the arrow on course in windy conditions.

Fletchings

There are many different styles of fletching to choose from (as well as lots of interesting colours), all having different effects on your arrow.  The main thing to consider is that the longer the fletching and the higher the fletching profile, the more drag will be created on the arrow in flight, which will slow the arrow down.  Conversely, the shorter the fletching and the lower the profile the less drag created and the quicker the arrow.  The other thing to consider is that a bigger fletching will give more stability to your arrow so it will straighten out of the archers paradox quicker, meaning that it will gain it most efficient and aerodynamic position in flight quicker and will keep more momentum from the bow and will increase accuracy and arrow speed.  A good place to start is with either a three inch or four inch standard profile fletching.  For something a bit different, try our Raven fletched arrows.  These five inch fletchings have a cut away section at the back, which gives excellent aerodynamics.  This means that the fletchings give the stability of a five inch fletching with out the excess drag, so the speed is comparable to that of a three of four inch fletching (they also look really good!)

This advice is by no means exhaustive, but should form the basis of a good understanding of what to look out for when buying arrows.  If you have a specific question about arrows and would like more advice, please contact us at eaglearchery@hotmail.co.uk and we will be happy to help.

Intensive one day coaching

We offer a one day intensive coaching session at a local Field Archery Range (Butsfield Bowmen) with a fully qualified NFAS (National Field Archery Society) coach  The day consists of a 10:30 meet time and finishes around 15:00.  We provide all the equipment needed for the day, you need to bring only something to eat and weather appropriate clothing/footwear.  The day begins at the practice boss, where you will be given the basic instructions needed to get you shooting safely and competently.  We will then head out onto the course for some more 'on the go' coaching, which will give you a real feel for what field archery is all about. 

These sessions can be either on a one to one basis, one to two or one to three.  We can accommodate bigger groups but please contact us first with specifics. 

Prices are as follows : One to One - £50

                                    One to Two - £40 per person

                                    One to three - £35 per person

  To enquire about booking an intensive coaching session please email eaglearchery@hotmail.co.uk

Full Beginner's Courses (Indoors)

Our beginner’s course consists of four, two hour sessions held over a four week period.  The course explains and demonstrates the basic techniques needed to shoot consistently and accurately, whether you're interested in target or field archery.  We will also advise you on what equipment you will need as well as explaining how to select the correct arrows for your bow.

The course currently runs on a weekday evening in Washington at a cost of £60.00.  The dates and times of these courses vary so check out our calendar for upcoming sessions.  Upon completion of the beginner’s course we offer an additional two hour coaching session at a local field archery course, Butsfield Bowmen at a cost of £15.00 per person.  As well as the chance to receive an additional coaching session in a field archery setting, you will also be shown the safety rules and etiquette of field archery.  If you wish to continue field archery we can sign off your insurance form for the NFAS (National Field Archery Society), speeding up the process to get you shooting regularly.  For further information please see the field archery tab.  To book a place or enquire about our beginner’s course, please email eaglearchery@hotmail.co.uk

We are a Target and Traditional Archery company based in the North East of England and have been established since June 2013.  We specialise in custom made, high quality wooden arrows for traditional and target archery as well as coaching for traditional forms of shooting and hand made leatherwork.  Both Ray and Rich are fully qualified NFAS coaches and have many years experience shooting in both the Target and Field archery disciplines.   We also have close links with Butsfield Bowmen, the largest NFAS club in the North East, all of which means we know what makes an arrow withstand the rigours of a tough Field shoot, and what is needed for one to fly well in a Target competition.

The best way to contact us is via email on : eaglearchery@hotmail.co.uk or phone on 01914155111 or call into our shop in Washington (Units 6-9, Vermont House, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE37 2SQ)