I mentioned in a previous article that I shoot now and then with a gentleman named Roy, who often shoots longbows. While shooting with him recently, I noticed Roy was using ground markers, something I haven’t seen in a while.
There is often a bit of confusion if you shoot a longbow as to what vision aids you can use, and as it often seems, it depends on where you are in the world and the competitions you intend to shoot at.
I asked Roy about it, and he put it in an easy – and memorable – way. If the round you’re shooting has sights in it; Possibly a GNAS tour. If there are no spectators, but a half hour or so of “practice” beforehand, that’s a round of FITA. If you are shooting a FITA Tour, no vision aids are allowed.
If your tour is a GNAS tour, you have three options.
- Markings on the tip of the bow
- Rubber strips no more than 1/8 inch deep and thick
- Ground Markers – artificial aiming points on the ground, placed between the shooting line and the target. The signs cannot be more than 6 inches high by 3 inches wide and clearly cannot hinder another pitcher.
Roy would periodically nudge his tutor while we went to collect our arrows. Personally, I haven’t shot with staples, but I have a feeling they require a degree of patience in getting them into the correct position (you can’t adjust them once you’re on the shot line), as well as skill in getting them in the same position every time.
Thinking of all three, my favorite is the rubber band. Markers are fine, as long as you can adjust them easily as you change distance, and as long as they don’t mark your bracket permanently! Ideally, try to get a red postal band; It’s small enough to be within the bases, and because it’s red it pops out of your bow for faster, more instinctive aiming.
Of course, there are more shooting governing bodies around depending on your location, and they all have their own variations on these rules. My advice is to know what type of round you’ll be shooting, and then prepare accordingly.
Happy shooting!
