Welcome to Overton Black Arrows Archery Club

We are pleased to be holding the UK 3D Championships in July this year.

To find out more click here, but if you want to enter you'll need to be quick, over 100 of the 120 tickets have already been taken.

Then later in the year we'll be holding the English Field Championships in September.

But, you'll need to keep your fingers crossed if you want to enter as this event is currently sold out. Click here, if you want to add your name to the waiting list and hope you can get entry should someone else have to withdraw from the event.

Spring 2025 Beginners Course - Completed

Our Spring 2025 Beginners Course took place during April & May with all those completing the course gaining a pass and a certificate to enable them to join an AGB club of their choice. Many we're pleased to say have chosen to join Overton Black Arrows as they will get free membership for the rest of this year to continue their archery journey.

If you are interested in starting archery, please see the BEGINNERS page. for more information.

If you'd like to put your name down for a Beginners Course, please use the CONTACT page and use 'Beginners' or 'Chairman' from the drop down list and we'll get in touch.

I've brought a bow and want to practice with it ...

Whilst it is possible to teach yourself to shoot, there are all sorts of things that can go wrong with this! Where will you shoot this lethal weapon?

An official range has a minimum length of 100m and a width that includes a sizeable safety area either side of the targets.

Are you insured? ... Are your neighbours happy? ... Is your equipment even fit for purpose?

A potted history of Overton Black Arrows [OvBA]

Originally established in 1962, Overton Archers combined with another local club whose membership overlapped and Overton Black Arrows was formed. Overton Black Arrows wanted to allow members to enjoy all aspects of the sport of archery from beginner tuition, recreational archery through to competing and coaching. The club is affiliated with Archery GB [AGB], Southern Counties Archery Society [SCAS] and the Hampshire Archery Association [HAA].

Members currently shoot a variety of disciplines including; Target, Field, 3D and occasionally Clout using; American Flatbow, Barebow, Compound, Horsebow (Asiatic), Longbow, Recurve and Traditional bows. Some equipment is available for novices to use until they develop sufficient technique, before maybe continuing their journey with a hire bow before they go out and purchase their own equipment. Coaches at the club are a great source of knowledge of what equipment to consider buying and where to buy it.

Members shoot regularly at our outdoor range in Laverstoke (between Overton and Whitchurch) all year and during the indoor season the club shoots one evening a week at an 18 metre indoor range in Whitchurch, typically from early September to the end of March. We also meet at our Field Archery course in Kingsclere throughout the year for specifically arranged sessions.

Details of when we can use The Warren appear on our Events page as and when The Warren is available to use and all members must book on to a session to shoot at The Warren, thus ensuring insurance cover is maintained.

Unfortunately, we cannot simply turn up at The Warren and practice our Field, or 3D, archery whenever we want, but we do get to shoot there plenty of times through the year.

Shooting Times

'Club Night':

Wednesday from around 6:00pm to dusk (Laverstoke Range) in spring & summer (outdoors) and if light allows even when we're shooting 'Indoors' at Testbourne.
Wednesday normally 7:00pm to 9:30pm (Testbourne School Sports Hall) in the autumn & winter (indoor season only - typically early September through to the end of April).

What 'other' days/times and places can I shoot as an OvBA member:

At The Warren field archery course (Kingsclere) when available and providing you've booked a ticket to shoot, includes 'Warren Only' members.
Members can shoot at any time at our Laverstoke range, as long as the range rules are complied with and you can see all of the overshoot when you're on the shooting line.

Please see our Contact page for location details and maps.

Want to do more Field & 3D shooting/competitive practice?

Towards the end of the year we typically start a Winter Field League, which has been growing in popularity in recent years. This intended to give archers an opportunity to take part in a fun league, albeit one where most archers keep score, which runs over five shoots and is an ideal introduction to shooting Field and 3D competitively, as well as to keep fine tuning your Field and 3D shooting skills.

The 1st and 3rd shoots (typically November and January) being WA12 Field courses half marked distances, half unmarked distances.

The 2nd and 4th shoots (typically December and February) being WA12 3D courses, all unmarked distances.

Then a 5th shoot (typically March) which is a combined WA12 Field course half marked and half unmarked distances, plus a WA12 3D course, all unmarked distances. Both courses being shot on the same day.

More details will appear on our events page later in the year.

The Warren

The full OvBA Field Course venue has three distinct areas:

The Warren, 12acres ish, which can be described as a curved dead end valley with many steep slopes.

The Woods, 7acres ish, of sloped woodland, some level ish areas, lots of shade but with some lighter areas too.

The Combe, another 12acres ish, lots of slopes (again) with part of it resembling a steeply sloped natural amphitheatre.

The venue, as a whole, represents a challenging environment for even the most seasoned field archer.

As a club, Overton Black Arrows were delighted to have archers shooting the whole venue, which only tends to happen when we host the All British & Open Field Championships.

We hope whenever you shoot any area of our field course venue you won't be disappointed with it and hope you felt challenged shooting it!

Hopefully, everyone leaves with a smile on their face, even if one or two competitors may leave an arrow, or two, in storage somewhere within the venue! But, don't worry, someone will likely find it, although we can't say when, but most arrows stored there do get found ... eventually.

Beginners Course

Our Beginners Courses typically take place in Spring and Autumn and they tend to fill up quickly due to a long waiting list.

An 'Ad-Hoc' Beginners Course for an individual, or couple, may be possible please use the Contact page and select 'Beginners'.

Please see the EVENTS and/or the BEGINNERS page for more details.

I've brought a bow and want to practice with it ...

Whilst it is possible to teach yourself to shoot, there are all sorts of things that can go wrong with this! Where will you shoot this lethal weapon?

An official range will include a sizeable safety area beyond it's furthest marked/allowed as well as safety areas either side of the range where targets are located.

Are you insured? ... Are your neighbours happy? ... Is your equipment even fit for purpose? ... Always ask the question "Where can the arrow go if I miss, or my equipment fails?" and if the answer is into someone else's property, then you need to find somewhere else to practice, or better still, join Overton Black Arrows and use our facilities.