Combat archery ranks in the top ten for stag parties

Combat archery, also known by three other names; battle archery, bow and arrow tag and assault archery, is when you turn the arrows on you mates at your stag event, instead of shooting targets. But before you imagine that there is a stag party activity where you get to seriously injure your fellow participants with arrows flying and bodies pierced, the arrows at combat archery venues are tipped with a large foam tip. Some look like a large marshmallow and others like a small foam ball and make it so they simply bounce off the victims of your best shots. The bow fire capability for battle archery is also reduced to a low maximum of 30lbs of draw weight so the impact will not knock you down, but you will feel it.

This activity is described as a combination of dodgeball, paintball and archery or a grown-up version of nerf wars. Now, come on, who hasn’t had a go of a kid’s nerf gun? Nerf guns are great fun and now you get to play with a grown-up version.

Combat archery is fast, fun and perfect for a last day of freedom event.

There are a few combat archery game formats around that you will be offered and many bear a close resemblance to paintball game names. – Last-man standing, capture the flag, free for all, archery tag, total elimination, run the gauntlet, protect the stag, hunt the stag and scavenger hunt – because like paintball games, combat archery is a team-based game and so is ideal for a stag party weekend activity.

One format, the free for all is when you all make a big circle around a pile of arrows placed in the centre of the playing area. At the whistle, players race to collect the arrows and then fire them at will at everyone else. A player is eliminated if struck by an arrow, but, if you are playing in teams, an eliminated player can be brought back into play by one of his team catching an arrow; all clever stuff that requires quick reactions and superior eye to flying arrow skills. There is a bit of honesty involved, as the arrows don’t leave a mark. Anyone found cheating by the referee is permanently eliminated form that game.

Stag groups love the adrenaline rush of combat archery

Many combat archery arenas offer various battlezones set-up that can vary from an elaborate urban environment of barricades and refuges or simply a field of inflatables. These battle ready game zones are ideal for most of the other game formats where teams that are identified with team coloured vests. In a field, one team starts at one end and the opposition the other end. Depending of the objective of the game, which in the scenario of capture the flag, said flag is placed centrally and then the teams to duck and dive, shoot the opposition until they successfully, or not as the case may be, collect the flag.

The duration of a combat archery session is either sixty minutes or ninety minutes depending on your group size and whatever fits into your busy stag party weekend. The ninety-minute session is recommended for big groups to enable everyone to get a taste of the action.

By CJ