Archery is a popular sport in Georgia. Northern Georgia in particular has a circuit of archery clubs called the North Georgia Circuit. You can shoot in several different locations in this circuit. There are certain rules and requirements to join these organizations. You also will need certain equipment, depending on which class and division you are competing in at the archery clubs.
Club Locations
The North Georgia Circuit includes popular archery clubs around northern Georgia, such as the Amicalola Bowhunters Archery Club and the Black Mountain Archery Club in Dawsonville Georgia, the Gainesville Archery Club in Gainesville Georgia and the Soul Hunters Outdoor Ministries. Kennesaw Archery Club, located in Kennesaw, Georgia, is another archery club in northern Georgia. The Traditional Bowhunters of Georgia and the Georgia Archery Association are statewide archery organizations, but these organizations have events in locations all across the state of Georgia.
Types of Lessons
Clubs on the North Georgia Circuit offer a variety of classes for all ages and skill levels. Money classes and trophy classes are available. More advanced shooters are required to shoot in money classes, and trophy classes can shoot any type of bow. Divisions within the trophy classes are open trophy, senior classes for archers older than 50, hunter, true novice, women's open and hunter, young adult for teens 15 to 17 and youth for teens 12 to 14. These clubs also offer classes for kids under 11 and classes for archers who prefer to use longbows or recurves.
Membership Requirements
Anyone can join one of these clubs, provided they have some archery experience. Most clubs, such as the Gainesville Archery Club, do require that you fill out an application and pay annual membership fees or a lifetime membership fee. Trophy classes for all archers cost $10, or $25 for families as of 2010. Winning at least two trophies in any division in any club requires a move to a higher class. Money classes for these clubs cost $20, with an average 70 percent return.
Equipment
Archers in Known 45 classes are required to come equipped with their own range finder. In trophy classes, you can use any kind of equipment. True novice divisions, women's hunter and other hunter classes require a compound bow with fixed pins and a 12-inch stabilizer. You can use magnification in these classes as well. Traditional classes shoot with a longbow or recurve bow that doesn't have marks. These bows also might not have any type of release.
Events and Competitions
Shoots rotate between the four clubs on this circuit from January to August, along with annual charity shoots. The NGC Bowhunter's Championship is held in April, June, July and August in four different segments. All archers in this competition are required to shoot in all four segments in order to qualify for the championship. The 29th-Amicalola Bow Hunters Warm-Up in August is the only large shoot where range finders are allowed. The North Georgia Circuit does not hold shoots on the same weekends as ASA Pro/Am shoots to allow archers to compete in both local and national shoots.
Archery Club Rules
Range finders are not allowed in any North Georgia Circuit clubs, with the exception of the K-45 classes. Officials can check equipment at any time to ensure it matches the regulations of your shooting division. Littering, foul language and poor sportsmanship are not tolerated in clubs on the North Georgia Circuit. Shooters have a time limit of 2 minutes to keep a steady flow of groups from target to target. Groups need to be formed with three to five people.
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