Rules for Safety in Archery
1) Never aim an arrow at another person. You may accidentally shoot it.
2) Don’t shoot an arrow straight above, even if you are standing in an open space. The
arrow may come back straight at you or may hit another person. You never know.
3) Don’t shoot an arrow into unknown territory (where visibility is poor or you are not
sure where the arrow will land). Here too you may injure somebody.
4) Practice shooting arrows only in specified places for target practice. It may be either an indoor or an outdoor shooting range.
5) Shoot arrows only at specially set up targets. This way you lessen the chances of hitting a person with an arrow that is let off accidentally.
6) Ensure that nobody is allowed to approach a distance of 20 meters behind the target and also a 30 degree angular space around the shooting lane.
7) Have the targets placed in a secluded area or a place less frequented by people.
If you want to search an arrow that is ‘lost’ behind the target, place your bow or some other equipment against the target to prevent anyone else taking shots at the target and accidentally injuring you. You can also ask one of your partners to stand near the target if possible and prevent somebody from shooting at the target.
9) It is good to check your bow for its condition regularly and if you are not sure, ask a professional to check it for you.
10) Check the condition of the bowstring. Replace the string if necessary or you may have to undertake extensive repairs on the bow or may have to replace the bow.
11) Don’t overdraw the string of the bow. Drawing the string back more than the length of the arrow for which it is made can break the bow. The shooter can injure himself in the process.
12) Don’t draw a bow without any arrow. Also releasing the bowstring without any arrow known as ‘dry firing’ may damage the bow.
13) After the shooting is finished wait for word from the ‘Range Captain’ giving his approval that the range is ‘Clear’. This way you won’t be in the line of an arrow that is shot towards the target area.
14) If there are many archers shooting simultaneously at various distances, have the targets arranged at different distances. All the archers should stand in one line.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 10:37 am and is filed under Archery Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.