Field Archery 101 - The Field Round

Field archery is one of the most technical competitions for competitive archers with its roots based in the National Field Archery Association. For those of you who are new to field archery, this article will help you navigate the nuances of the NFAA Field Round!

Field Round Scoring & range layout

Field Rounds consist of either two 14-target courses or one 28-target course, with shooting distances ranging from 20 feet to 80 yards for adults. Targets come in four sizes (65cm, 50cm, 35cm, and 20cm) measured by the diameter of the outer scoring ring. Each target face features a black center spot (13cm, 10cm, 7cm, or 4cm depending on the target size), valued at 5 points. An “X” is marked in the center of the spot and is used to break ties in the amateur divisions, while in the Professional divisions the “X” is scored as 6 points due to generally tighter competition levels. The two surrounding white rings are worth 4 points, and the outer black rings score 3 points. To receive the higher point value, the arrow simply needs to touch the solid scoring line. At every target, archers shoot four arrows for a maximum of 20 points for amateurs and 24 points for Professionals.

Field round targets

Target sizes are assigned to specific distances and remain consistent across all ranges. For adults, the targets and corresponding distances include the following:

20–35 ft. → 20cm target, 4cm center dot
15–30 yds. → 35cm target, 7cm center dot
35–50 yds. → 50cm target, 10cm center dot
55–80 yds. → 65cm target, 13cm center dot

Review Appendix 4: Range Captain's Staking & Target Guide from the NFAA Constitution & By-Laws for a detailed description of the required distances and target sizes for each division and round type.

Yardage markers & Maximums

Youth and Cub distances differ from Adult distances on most targets and are clearly marked at each stake. Cubs shoot from the black markers (maximum 30 yds), Youth archers from the blue markers (maximum 50 yds), and Young Adults shoot from the white markers alongside the adults.

general field archery shooting rules

Shooting positions

When shooting in a group, the archers in a typical foursome will mutually decide who shoots from which side of the stake. On targets 1 and 15, archers will switch positions and order: those who shot first will shoot last, left-side archers move to the right, right-side to the left, and top/bottom target archers swap positions. For butts with multiple target faces, the first two archers take the bottom targets, while side-by-side targets are assigned left and right to the corresponding archer.

For target signs that list a single distance, all arrows are shot from that distance. If a target sign lists multiple distances, it is a Walk-Up target, meaning archers shoot one arrow from each stake, starting from the farthest distance and moving forward. When four of the same distances are listed, it is a Fan target. Archers shoot one arrow from each stake, rotating positions left to right within their group, with two arrows per target. Each arrow must be placed in the target corresponding to the archer’s shooting position—for example, arrows shot from the two left stakes must go into the left target. Any arrow hitting the wrong target is scored as a miss.

The Birdie target is the closest target, and is shot as a walk-up for adults with distances of 35 ft., 30 ft., 25 ft., and 20 ft. Targets are shot vertically, with each archer choosing to shoot either top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top. Each archer selects one column on their side of the stakes (left archer chooses one of the left two columns; right archer chooses one of the right two columns), and may not shoot a column already selected by another archer. The Badlands Target 18 pictured below shows a Birdie target.

Pass-Throughs & Bounce-Outs

Arrows that glance off the ground into the target do not count, though arrows that clearly hit an obstacle may be re-shot. Witnessed bounce-outs that appear to hit a scoring area can also be re-shot. Pass-through arrows may be carefully pushed back through the target to score, but they cannot be removed and reinserted. Arrows believed to have passed through the target may be re-shot with marked arrows, but will not count if the originals are found in the butt. If the target captain rules that a pass-through is obvious and unscoreable, the archer may re-shoot from the designated distance.

Excess or Omitted Arrows

Shooting more than the prescribed number of arrows results in a penalty of one scoring ring per extra arrow, and the highest-value excess arrows will not count. If an archer shoots fewer arrows than required in an end, they may shoot the remaining arrows only if the omission is noticed before advancing to the target. Otherwise, the omitted arrows are scored as misses.

Emergencies & Equipment Failures

An archer who leaves the range for reasons other than an emergency or equipment failure may return to their group to complete the unfinished or subsequent targets, but any arrows missed during their absence cannot be made up. If the absence is due to an emergency or an equipment failure, the archer may reshoot missed targets under the supervision of a tournament official. In the case of an equipment failure, the archer is allowed up to 45 minutes to make repairs, with the restriction that only one equipment failure is permitted per archer per day.

closing summary

If you prefer to watch a video summary the NFAA Field Round, click HERE. To dive deeper into the other formats, be sure to check out our other Field Archery 101 blogs on the Animal Round and Hunter Round. Together, these three guides provide a complete introduction to the fundamentals of NFAA field archery.

Please note, this blog provides only a summary of the rules for the Field Round and is not a complete list. For the full and official rules, review the NFAA Constitution and By-Laws.

< Back to all news