PROFILE: SCOTT STANBURY

If you shoot field in the UK, you might well recognise Scott Stanbury. An archer since 2006, he discovered field in 2009 and it's possible you’ve shared a peg with him since then, or seen him receiving a medal in his preferred class of Freestyle (Olympic recurve). His achievements include multiple podium finishes in the past few years across the UK field archery societies, with 11 National Field Archery Society championship medals, including five golds; and 28 with the English Field Archery Association, including 13 golds. Internationally, he’s been selected to shoot and placed at European field championships, winning gold in the team 2019 European Field Championship. I caught up with him after his most-recent victory at the NFAS Championships in October 2021.

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE BACK SHOOTING IN COMPETITIONS? Where do I start? Field archery is so friendly and social with archers on a peg mixed between age, bow style and ability and that’s what makes it fun. Travelling around the country visiting different clubs and shooting new courses is incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. The UK has many exceptional club courses with a good selection of different terrains offering great training experience for shooting in the IFAA world venues.

SHOOTING A VARIETY OF SOCIETIES, WHAT SKILLS DO YOU NEED?

The structure of any shot consists of the same end result: hitting the middle of the highest scoring zone. Round targets are pretty much the same, however, the big game target faces require a bit more studying to locate the kill. 3Ds are also a tough one as these can be quartered, making the location of the kills a bit more difficult to hit. Saying all this, I still tend to draw up just above and to the right of the required target and then start the process of my shot execution, sturdy foot placement, exact grip placement and a good solid repeatable anchor point.

When shooting an unmarked round, I use three techniques when distance judging: I have an initial instinctive guess; then I find the halfway mark and double it; then, last of all,

I use 20-yard marks to the target. If all three add up to the same figure, I commit and set the sight. The other non-archery skill I focus on is talking to fellow archers. You can gain so much information and knowledge by discussing ideas, techniques and training drills.

WHAT EQUIPMENT ARE YOU USING AT THE MOMENT?

I shoot two types of Hoyt bow set-ups: one is built for speed, being the Hoyt Formula HP for unmarked distance shooting; the other bow, built for forgiveness, is the Hoyt Formula Xi for my marked distance rounds.

IF YOU COULD STAGE A FIELD SHOOT SOMEWHERE, MONEY (AND REALITY) NO OBJECT, WHERE WOULD IT BE?

I can think of two places. The first would be Austria, because of its breathtaking scenery. I’ve shot there twice and everywhere you turn there is an opportunity to place a target. The other is Stourhead, a beautiful National Trust garden in Wiltshire. I went for a day out and thought it would be a perfect place for a World Archery or IFAA course with spectators, introducing the public to field archery.