Coming up with a theme for a party can be tough. Do you go with an ’80s or ’90s theme? A TV show theme? A holiday theme? Why not do something out-of-the-box and throw an archery party! Get your friends together at your local archery range for a night of launching arrows and good times.
Check Out Your Local Range
It’s best to start by researching your local range to determine its policies. Check and see if you can reserve range time, or if it’s on a first-come, first-served basis. See if you can book the entire range for a private party, or make sure you reserve enough lanes for all of your friends, family and any other party enthusiasts who will attend. If it’s first-come, first-served, you and your friends can take turns sharing any available lanes. It’ll function much in the same way as bowling, in that you and your friends can cheer on the person up at the line from the waiting area.
Before the cold winter months set in, check out the outdoor archery ranges in your area. Enjoy the fall weather and take your archery party to a 3D archery course, where you’ll launch arrows at various 3D animal targets, or find an outdoor range with traditional targets.
If you’re an experienced archer, you can teach your friends the basics of safety and form. If you yourself are an archery novice, sign up for an archery class or private instruction so that you and your friends can learn all about archery together. Either way, it will be a great bonding experience for you and your friends, trying something new together, whether it’s new for them or new for all of you.
Check for Events
Archery ranges host events and themed shoots, so check your archery range’s calendar for any weekly events or upcoming fun events around the holidays. This is a great time to try archery, as the probability is high there will be other archery newcomers present. If you attend an archery party before the holiday season, you might end up with something to add to your wish list!
Bow Rentals
Check to see whether your range offers bow rentals. There are bows with a universal draw length, which means that any archer can use the same bow, regardless of their individual draw length.
You can also check your eye dominance ahead of time to see if you’re left-eye dominant or right-eye dominant. If you’re right-eye dominant, you’ll want to use a right-handed bow. If you’re left-eye dominant, you’ll want to use a left-handed bow. If you have a different dominant eye from your dominant hand, you can choose whichever handed bow feels better for you.
After the party, if you decide that you’d like to pursue archery, the bow technicians will help you select a bow to buy. They will measure your draw length and draw weight and provide you with a bow that fits your needs. Your wingspan, or the measurement across your arms and chest horizontally from fingertip to fingertip, will determine your draw length, and how much weight you can pull back on the bowstring will determine your draw weight.
Get Others Involved
Having an archery party will help you introduce your friends to a new sport, and hopefully a new passion. Whether you’re sharing your love of archery or discovering archery for the first time yourself, an archery party will help unite you and your friend group with a shared, fun experience that also helps local businesses.
Find an archery range near you and start planning your own archery party.
