Email Question
I am looking for information regarding the rules and regulations
regarding how the range is set up. I am working to get a range set up
for our club in Sparwood, BC which will be within city limits. Any and
all information you can provide would be appreciated, including target
set up, back stops, controls in place to keep stray arrows with in the
range, etc.
Thank you very much for any help you can provide
Vince Kropodra
Archery Club Director,
Sparwood Fish and Wildlife Association
Hello Vince!
These are some more unusual questions, but I shall try to answer it as best as I can.
Target Butts
The
Toronto Archery Range uses target butts are composed of Natural Tentest
(a wood pulp material we get from a paper mill in Ajax, Ontario). The 4
feet long Tentest is stacked 4 feet high, and is 1 foot thick. The
Tentest is then held in place using wooden frames, shown in the photo
below.
Back Stops
Ha. I wish. If we miss the
target butts completely then our arrows end up in the field, which means
beginners often lose arrows in the grass as they slide in under the
grass and can be only detected by the keenest eyes and/or accidentally
stepping on them while searching for them.
I wish we had a hill
backstop, perhaps something made of sand, which would allow the arrows
to simply hit the sandy hill and make retrieving arrows very easy. If
you don't have a sand pit nearby you would need to be trucking in tonnes
of sand to construct such a hill, so that would be expensive, but once
there a sand backstop would be ideal in my opinion. To save on the
amount of sand required I recommend building a wall and then piling the
sand up on a 45 degree angle up to the top of the wall.
Keeping Arrows within the Range
Our
safety rules and a large field with a wooded hill behind it are the
primary reasons arrows stay within the archery range area. People are
only allowed (or supposed to) shoot from the shooting line, and aiming
at the sky is likewise prohibited.
In theory a strong compound
bow (or a similar strong bow) aimed upwards on a 40 to 45 degree angle
could reach the street above and behind the wooded hill, as it is only
about 200 yards away on an upward angle. So if people were ignoring the
safety rules there would be the potential for danger - but most people
don't like losing arrows in the woods and would not bother to do such a
thing anyway. If people stand closer to the further targets and shoot
from there (not using the official shooting line) they would be creating
a greater risk of shooting an arrow up into the street level.
People
using the "crooked shoulder" method of drawing back a compound bow,
which involves aiming at the sky (or ground) on a 45 degree angle and
then pulling it back before readjusting their shoulder/aim towards their
target, is also discouraged. Not only is it bad for the shoulder
muscles and ligaments, but if they misfired while aiming at the sky they
could send an arrow pretty far into the distance and potentially hit
someone up near the road behind the hill.
Supervision, Safety and Laws
The
Toronto Archery Range is open 24/7 every day of the year. There is no
supervision to make sure people are following the range safety rules and
instead people are bound by Toronto by-laws and visits of by-law
officers who are checking to see if people are following the safety
by-laws and passing out $4,000 fines if people ignore the by-laws. Part
of the by-laws makes clear that any injuries or illegal actions by users
of the archery range are the fault of the users and that they are held
legally responsible for their actions.
For legal /
insurance reasons it would make more sense if you make an effort to
monitor and supervise your new archery range during official open hours,
have hours of operation posted, and a "no trespassing between certain
hours" sign. Make it clear that trespassers enter the range at their own
risk, that users of the range during normal open hours likewise agree
to use the range at their own risk, and that you have abundant liability
insurance for the archery range.
You will also need
to check with Sparwood what by-laws effect the operation of your archery
range, as being inside the city limits will require your range comply
with any local by-laws.
Other Ranges
I
recommend you also check with the Burnaby Archery Range and the
Montreal Archery Range, two other archery ranges in Canada which also
operate within city limits. They may have additional ideas for how to
ensure the safety of your range. eg. The Burnaby Range requires a
membership, a safety/accuracy test (which according to rumour, is so
easy a blind archer could pass it), and an annual fee.
I
have heard of someone who is currently opening a private 3D archery
range (3D targets of deer, bears, etc) north of Toronto, but he has
chosen to make the location of his new range secret so that only a small
number of members / friends will even know the location, as opposed to
opening up the range to the public and letting everyone know where it
is. This way only people he trusts can use the range, and this in turns
saves him money on liability insurance.
There are
other private archery ranges near Toronto, using a variety of different
setups - usually with monthly or annual membership fees, and setups
geared towards making a profit by having a restaurant, pro shop and
other facilities located at the private range.
One of
the nicest setups I have ever seen is a warehouse, so everything is
indoors and considerably safer, and they have designed it to be like a
golf course with rooms and hallways that twist and turn, lots of 3D
targets and walls covered in black foam. Users go from room to room,
waiting for the previous users to be done their turn, take their turn,
collect their arrows and then move on to the next room. A buzzer system
indicates a time limit for each room so that people collect their arrows
when they hear the buzzer and move to the next room.
Toronto
has an abundance of "archery tag" locations that are indoors, also in
warehouses. Those places are, in my opinion, a liability lawsuit waiting
to happen. There are also so many of them now that they have become
over-saturated and eventually their popularity will wane, so I expect a
few of them to run out of money sometime in the future. I recommend
AVOIDING anything resembling an archery tag facility, as they mostly
target people who have never done archery before, and fall into the same
category as axe throwing leagues and knife throwing leagues.
Best of luck with your archery range!
