Make sure your membership is up to date, either as a probationary or full membership. If you are a full member you will also need to be an ABA member as this is your insurance policy. If you are a probationary member (or full member) you can go to club shoots but for inter-club shoots you need to join ABA: http://www.bowhunters.org.au/

With club shoots you need to nominate when you get to the club before 8.30am on the day of the shoot. Interclub shoots you need to pre nominate. To do this you need to contact the Branch Score Recorder. At the moment this is: Allan Hall 0432 917 511 or Email abasqscorer@gmail.com.

This information can also be found in the Club Newsletter. If you are not sure about nominating please ask a committee member or even a club member.

An archery field range is similar to a golf course except the golf ball is exchanged for an arrow. Lakeside has two ABA ranges winding through a natural bush with uphill, downhill, across pond, between trees and bamboo shots. Each range has twenty targets with distances from six to forty eight metres.

There is also a IFAA Range.

Each target will have a start off point with coloured pegs, yellow for cubs (up to 13), green for juniors (13-17 years) and red for adults (17yrs and up). There are a few other pegs but for now all you need to know are the three coloured ABA pegs.

Archers shoot one at a time from the appropriate shoot peg. The leading foot must touch the peg either with the front, back or side. The foot must never be past the peg. If the shot is deemed unsafe, then, with the permission of the group leader, you can move to either side to get a clear shot.

Don't walk past the peg you are to shoot on unless you are putting up a target, you have finished your shot and are moving onto the other pegs or scoring is to begin. Whatever you do DON'T walk past the shoot peg if your arrow drops off the bow or even if you drop it past the peg.

Make sure to place your bow in front of the bale if you have an arrow go over to ensure other groups know you are there.

Watch what other groups are doing all the time if they are in front or behind your group.

Targets consist of a bale structure with a target face pinned to the front which is usually a feral animal. Each target will have an A zone, B zone and C zone. The A zone is designated as the killing spot with the B and C being wounding zones.

In ABA there are three kinds of shoot rounds, a three arrow, a one arrow and a two arrow round.

With the three arrow round you have three chances to score on the target with the first arrow in being the one to score. Obviously the first arrow scores more than the second and the second more than the third.

With the two arrow round both arrows count and the one arrow round you have only one chance for a score.

When shooting the three arrow round always shoot another one if you are not sure you have scored. It's better to be safe than sorry as once you move past the shoot peg you are stuck with the score of the arrow you shot. Many an archer have had their eyes opened to the realisation that the arrow they thought was in, was in fact just outside the line resulting in a zero score.

With a top score of twenty points and a total of twenty targets that gives a grand total of four hundred possible points you can score per round and with two rounds (3 arrow and 1 arrow) that gives you eight hundred possible points for the day.

The two arrow round on the other hand, as both arrows are scoring, will give a total of eight hundred points.

Make sure to mark your arrows so that you, and others in the group, can tell which arrows you shot when scoring. This only applies when shooting the three arrow round.

When someone else is shooting it is good etiquette to keep the chatter to a minimum to let the shooter concentrate properly. Don't stand alongside or ahead of a person shooting. Don't pull or touch arrows until scores are complete and scorer has said they can be pulled out.

Good luck shooting and we will see you at the next club shoot Don't feel that you are not good enough to shoot competition as we compete to have fun and meet other archers. So come along and have a good time.

Ok we are now to the topic you have been dreading, the selecting and buying of your bow etc Selecting the right bow and accessories for yourself is one of the most important decisions you can make and that is the main reason we at Lakeside Bowmen give you the three months probation.

One of the best ways of finding what is best for you is to try the three main varieties for yourself See what the other club members are using and have a talk to them, after all that is the reason we are a club, to help each other.

We do have a huge range of recurve and a few compound bows but a very limited supply of long bows but you can see a few members getting around with them so ask.

The three main types of bows are the recurve, the long bow and the modern compound bow. The main bow you will have learnt on, and it's our preferred basic learning tool and that's the recurve bow.

I won't go into detail too much in here because all I want you to do is to find out for yourself what the best bow for you to start with is.

The long bow or traditional bow as well as the recurve bow go back a long way in history so if you want to keep to a traditional style then either of these will be your pick. Which one you pick is up to you but like I have said before the best thing to do is ASK around the club and what members think of their favourite bow. You will get a bucket full of answers so pick out the gems.

The compound bow has the advantage of having a "Let off" which allows you to take more time aiming, with some modern compound bows having a eighty percent let off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_shape - Further reading at the bottom of the page

Look in the Lakeside Bowmen's Web Site links page to get the archery dealers we approve of Links.