A lion, a crocodile, an owl, a dodo: so many animals that will serve as targets this weekend from April 16 to 18. At Fort Vézelois, the Archers du Royal club organizes its traditional archery tournament. A somewhat special tournament since the targets are life-size sculptures.
An international tournament
“Each archer must hit 100 targets and has two arrows each time to try to hit them,” explains Jean-Denis Heidet. “Each animal has a target with areas that represent more or less points,” continues the club president. Another part of the competition takes place at the Bourogne gymnasium with classic targets. This year, around sixty archers are expected and some come from far away like this Belgian family who knew the competition thanks to social networks: “I saw the photos on Facebook and I said to myself that we should not miss that. The setting, the targets, the atmosphere, everything seems very pleasant. It’s a great course to do”, sums up the father of the family.
Understand the distance
The 100 targets competition runs throughout the weekend and is reserved for those who have an archery license within a federation. “The archers start in groups of 4-5 for a round of 2-3 hours. Once all the pelotons have left and finished the course, we change all the targets of places and there is a second round, ”explains Didier Magris, vice-president of the Royal Archers. “We planned a target attached to a zip line. It should surprise more than one! “, rejoices the president of the club.
The distance to 3D targets varies depending on the size of the target. The furthest can be placed up to 54 m and the closest 18 m. “The precise distance between the target and the shooting point is not given, it is up to the archer to assess it and adjust his shot to score as many points as possible”, specifies Jean-Denis Heidet. A distance that is easier to tame depending on the type of bow in possession of the archer. “A compound bow has a sight, a scope, tools to be able to be more precise. On the other hand, on a straight bow there is none of that, everything is done with the eye of the archer”, presents Didier Magris.
The public is obviously welcome to come and discover this rather special archery tournament. However, for obvious security reasons, visitors cannot walk freely on the course during the competition. “On the other hand, they can very well follow a peloton to experience the competition from the inside”, nuance Jean-Denis Heidet.
