Don't visit St. Paul Minnesota - they are banning archery within the city limits.

Word to the wise, if you are hoping to do archery in St. Paul Minnesota be advised that the city does not have an archery range and city council is currently set to ban archery within the city limits (except at licensed archery ranges), in which case there aren't any archery ranges in the city of St. Paul.

It all started when some nosy neighbour made a complaint about a neighbor practicing archery in their backyard - because when you don't have an archery range, your backyard or garage are your next best option.

So the knee jerk reaction from Council Member Russ Stark is to ban the practice of archery within the city limits, except for permitted classes and archery ranges. The problem is there aren't any archery ranges in St. Paul.

Thus local archery enthusiasts have testified before the St. Paul City Council Wednesday against their planned crackdown on backyard bows and arrows, trying to convince them that a ban would hurt the local archery industry.

"By making this illegal, you're essentially killing my business," said Cameron Christian-Weir, a longtime professional bow maker based on Standish Street. "There is no way I can go out and test my bows unless there is (a range) made in a public park that is accessible to me."

Fellow archery enthusiast James Henderson said St. Paul was moving against the tide by effectively outlawing an increasingly popular sport. He noted that Minneapolis has three ranges, and many suburbs such as Arden Hills, Maple Grove and Lauderdale also maintain private or public ranges. He pointed to studies that show archery ranks somewhere between tennis and bowling in terms of injury rates (and those injuries are typically "archer's elbow", aka tennis elbow).

What is more is banning archery from the city will also certainly decrease archery tourism to the area. Not that they care, but still - banning archery sets a bad precedent for other cities.

If they want to ban archery in backyards they should at least build an archery range where people can legally practice.

;)

Archery in the Mediterranean - Hotel for archery tourists?

Below is a photo from the Intertur Aparthotel in Torrenova on the island of Mallorca, where guests can try archery - or archery tourists can show them how it is really done. ;)

Hunting Area in Hawaii, Archery Only

Below is a signpost from a bowhunting area in Hawaii. Huzzah!

Archery Tournaments equals Opportunities to Travel

Want to travel and see the world?

One way to get started is to travel to different archery tournaments both locally and abroad.

Since many different tournaments have different styles of archery that are emphasized I also recommend building up a collection of different types of bows - and learning to shoot each one with a great degree of accuracy. This way regardless of what tournament you go to, you will always have the necessary equipment and skills to compete.

Take for example if you went to the Frozen to Death archery tournament in Yellowstone.

The Yellowstone Bowmen will hold its Froze to Death Shoot this coming Sunday (Feb 23 2014) at their range west of Laurel (north east of Yellowstone National Park in Montana).

Thus if you've always wanted to visit Montana, now is your chance.

The cost is $15 for adults, $25 for couples and $12 for youngsters ages 15 to 17. Archers ages 14 and younger shoot for free. Registration will run from 8 AM to 11 AM.

The competition will feature 20 targets in two rounds of shooting with one arrow per target allowed. Range finders will be allowed. For more information, call Bill Holland at 780-0353, or Flo at 628-4727.

Larger than normal crowds are expected this year due to the explosive popularity of archery during the last two years - and the increasing number of young archers who now think they are ready for tournaments.

Last week in Leiceistershire (U.K.) their annual archery tournament was so crowded there was barely enough room on the line for all the archers. The Leicestershire & Rutland Indoor Archery Championships had many different categories to compete in, but what is interesting is how many of titles were lost this year to upstarts who have not been doing archery that long.

Reigning archery champions at Leiceistershire had a hard time of it, with only longbow archers Catriona Charters, of Hinckley, and Soar Valley's Alan Lee retaining their titles in the adult divisions. Some of the juniors / youth competitors managed to retain their titles too.

The problem is that Olympic recurve and compound bows are so reliant on gadgets to achieve accuracy that anyone who learns the basics of form and how to use the gadgets stands a chance of winning - in contrast people shooting traditional or longbows need to practice for years and years to master the art because they aren't using any gadgets - and thus newcomers to the sport are less likely to win any titles in traditional or longbow competitions until they master the skills they need.

Note - Another way to travel with respect to archery is to visit historical re-enactments or go LARPing.

Otherwise archery tournaments are a great way to travel and great social events for hanging out with other archers.

Bhutan and Archery, an Archery Tourist's Paradise

Above is a photo of a Buddhist temple in Bhutan - a tiny country on the borders of China and India - but why is it special with respect to archery and tourism?

#1. Bhutan's national sport is archery.

#2. Bhutan is sometimes said to be the location of Shangri La / Shambala, a mythical utopian paradise - one of seven such places that according to myth were created by Padmasambhava in the 8th century as an idyllic, sacred place that was isolated from the rest of the world.

#3. The place is beautiful and very scenic. Who wouldn't want to visit there?

The Robin Hood Town Tour in Nottingham

Above is a photo of Ezekial Bone (aka Ade Andrews), a tour guide in Nottingham England, leading a tour of the town, while dressed in costume with leather jerkin, cloak, leather boots, the whole bit.

Ade has been shortlisted for the Tourism Superstar Awards organized by VisitEngland, the official national tourism board known until 2009 as the English Tourism Council.

So how did Ade become a tour guide dressed as local folk here? "I had long hair, a sword and a degree in history - and that's how it started!" he says.

The tour covers much of historic Nottingham and doesn't include much archery, but it is a very entertaining tour according to the rave reviews.

Reminder - Ontario Hikes Book

This is more just a reminder for myself to buy this book and then visit many of the places suitable for archery mentioned in the book.

Karl Little Archery Range near Plymouth, Michigan

The Karl Little Archery Range near Plymouth, Michigan has a large platform for archers and spectators to stand on - I am guessing it is for hunter to practice shooting from tree-stands. That or it is for spectators only. Would have to visit Michigan and do some archery there to find out which is which.

Karl Little Archery Range near Plymouth, Michigan.

Sligo Indoor Archery in Ireland

Sligo is a town in Ireland that has an interesting indoor archery range. See the photos below. In theory you could just build your own indoor archery range similar to this, but if traveling in Ireland I would tempted to stop at Sligo and try out their archery range.

Archery in Hamilton - City of Waterfalls

So I found this website called Hamilton - City of Waterfalls and I have determined I definitely want to go there - and do archery of course.

Largely I want to go there because Hamilton has 126 different waterfalls - which means it would be a very scenic place to practice archery and work on my photography book.

Furthermore I think it would be a fun place to go, whether it is Summer or Winter.

Deitian Falls in Vietnam

The waterfalls below is Deitian Falls in Vietnam - omidragon, I want to go there and do archery there!

:)

Archery Tourist Attractions in the U.K.

There are many tourist places in the U.K., Scotland and Ireland where you can do archery - either as a beginner or as someone who takes their bow with them when they travel.

Below are two examples of such places, Adare Manor in Southwest U.K., and Glamis Castle in Scotland.

Adare Manor in Southwest U.K.

Glamis Castle in Scotland.

Archery Tourism in the Arctic

I will not be using this photo for my book, but it is a great photo of someone doing archery in the arctic.

Archery Tourism in the Mountains

I will not be using these photos for my book, but they are excellent examples of visiting the mountains for some fresh air and archery.

Archery Tourism Via Bicycle

I collected these images of archers with their bicycles for fun. They will not be going in my archery tourism book, but I am posting them for fun because bicycling is a great way to explore hiking trails / bicycle trails - and take your bow with you for fun / hunting purposes.

 

Travel, tourism and archery!

This my new blog devoted to travel, tourism and archery.

It is very simple. Go places that are amazing and beautiful, preferably outdoors, and then do archery there for fun! My goal is to eventually, after years of collecting archery / tourist photos, publish a photography book of myself and friends doing archery in many different tourist locations.

Below is photos of Hilton Falls, Ontario, a waterfalls in Hilton Falls Conservation Area, just west of Milton Ontario.

I think it would be an awesome place to go and do archery - with the Conservation Authority's permission of course.