Hope Im not going to unleash too many fireworks with this question.....(lighthearted)

[LineCutter]

I shoot both styles (my mugshot is me shooting field). There is a point that's missed out so far - I can shoot field with my 3 kids, but I can't do a target shoot & supervise them at the same time.
Field is fun & some of that fun is the sharing the day.
(Target is fun too, but in a different way)

[Little Miss Purple]

I shoot target with my recurve and occasionally with my longbow, field however is on my hit list of things to try - I've even asked Swaledale about it!!

[sweetpea]

hi wpc.
our club has a diverse group of archers, longbow, barebow, recurve sighted & unsighted, compound sighted & unsighted, sirian/mongolian bows. we all love to shoot. we have the usual friendly banter but we are a ''family'' and nobody takes offence. we are only a small club of about 25 at most [we never all turn up at once either]. we can only shoot target but those who need to shoot field travel to foreign parts [next county] to get their fix. only one thing wrong we never have cake which should be rectified me thinks.

[whisky]

It gets even worse because the GNAS field archers can sometimes 'object' to the NFAS archers. We have 2 GNAS courses but people within the club had to set up a completely new club so we could shoot NFAS targets.

I don't know how true it is but I was told that factions arose because filed archers objected to paying towards funding GNAS target archers going to the Olympics when if they only shoot field they shouldn't have to pay. I'm told there was a break away and the NFAS was formed. Anyone know if this is true? I have to say the NFAS membership is only £10 per year and the insurance arrangements seam the same. You have to question where all that extra money goes?

[Thunk]

Originally Posted by whisky

It gets even worse because the GNAS field archers can sometimes 'object' to the NFAS archers. We have 2 GNAS courses but people within the club had to set up a completely new club so we could shoot NFAS targets.

I don't know how true it is but I was told that factions arose because filed archers objected to paying towards funding GNAS target archers going to the Olympics when if they only shoot field they shouldn't have to pay. I'm told there was a break away and the NFAS was formed. Anyone know if this is true? I have to say the NFAS membership is only £10 per year and the insurance arrangements seam the same. You have to question where all that extra money goes?

I'd be interested to hear the recollections of those who were around at the time; but I am quite convinced that archery as a whole suffers because of the multiplicity of little organisations all protecting their little corner. If everybody grew up a bit and drew up a charter that would represent us all, we might not be such a minority sport.

[ramshead]

We are both members of a Target club where most people shoot recurves with sights, huge stabilizers and many gizmos on their bows.

We are also members of a club where everybody shoots traditional wooden bows and arrows at targets.

We also shoot at a NFAS club where every type of bow you can imagine is used from long bows to compounds even crossbows.

You can learn lots by just listening to what everybody from all the discipline has to say, just nod your head, add your to pennyworth if it seems appropiate, and learn.

We have found some rivalry but very little true animosity, there will always be bigots and small minds, just do your own thing enjoy archery and don't worry about what other people think of you.

[JohnK]

I don't think there was a split off from GNAS. I think what happened was that a field association divided into those who weren't interested in promoting international competition (NFAS) and those who were (EFAA).

Anyone here who was around at the time?

[Marcus26]

Our club is a Target, Indoor and field club. For many years you could join the club and be members of either the target body (AV) or the Bowhunting body (ABA), The register would push them towards the ABA side so we had around 35 target shooters and about 100 ABA.
A few years ago we decided we had had enough and took on the ABA side by providing the target shooters more shoots and better coaching. Now it's 120 AV to 40 3DAAA (we also had to switch to a new org)

There is still head butting between old ABA members who want things the way they were. But as a whole we all get along well. Our best shooters shoot everything.

[Witchie Poo Cat]

Its been interesting reading everyones thoughts on this. When we first got into archery it was by way of an "archery day" with field-style shooting over a fun course. We liked the idea of shooting barebow and having to shoot lots of different targets and distances. However, since starting the target archery course I realise that I will probably progress quicker in terms of learning the basics if I just stick with the target for now then branch out later when I have more confidence. I just cant get the hang of instinctive shooting at all so will leave that for a time when Im not trying to absorb so much information about target archery! Personally I like both types of archery, they both have their place. I havent come across any strong animosity between the two groups, mostly harmless ribbing with just the odd snidey remark.

Incidentally, we are members of NFAS as we thought we were going to be shooting field until we started the target course and, at £10 a head for membership, seems very reasonable compared to GNAS!