ARCHERY SAFETY RULES AND REGULATIONS

The Bhutan Indigenous Games and Sports Association (BIGSA) being the technical authority on archery, concerned with increasing incidents of people getting hit by arrows, is pleased to issue the following Rules and Regulations to safeguard the general public as well as archers from getting hit by stray arrows in the surroundings of an archery range.

A. Construction of “Bacho” (archery range): Criteria required to be met:

1. Ideally, the size of the archery range or Bacho should be 200 meter long and 20 meters wide, thereby leaving a safe distance of 25 meters behind each target area;
2. No public thoroughfares of any kind including parking of vehicles should be allowed within this area;
3. If the 200-meter length cannot be obtained due to space constraint, then a wall of 6 meters high, on top of which a 2-meter high wire mesh with the smallest possible eyes should be erected behind each target area. The minimum width of the wall should be 7 meters;
4. If no spectators are expected within the above area, the width can be reduced to 10 meters, which is purely for shooting area;
5. Where spectators are expected, the width of the shooting area should not be less than 15 meters;
6. Archer safety barrier/wall of at least 8 feet long and 7 feet high should be erected on both sides of the Bacho preferably with materials which will protect the archers and at the same time the arrows will not be broken on hitting it;
7. The outer perimeter of the archery range should be fenced off if it is located in urban or highly populated areas;
8. Proper signboards should be erected to warn the public of existence of archery range in the area, and necessary precautions to be taken not to walk or drive or park vehicles within the above designated area; and
9. Other additional measures as required by the peculiarity of the location of the archery range should also be put in place.

B. Registration of “Bachos”:

1. All existing archery ranges within urban/municipal areas shall be registered with the respective city/municipal corporation. An archery range shall be registered only after physical inspection and ensuring that it meets the prescribed public safety criteria as mentioned above;
2. All existing archery ranges outside the municipal boundaries shall be registered with respective Dzongkhag/Geog Administration who shall ensure that the safety requirement criteria as prescribed above are met; and
3. Any new construction of archery range will be approved by the respective authorities only if it meets the BIGSA prescribed criteria.

C. Other safety measures:

1. An archer who draws his bow sideways threatening the safety of spectators will not be allowed to participate in archery games and tournaments;
2. Drink shooting shall not be allowed at any archery range. The concerned officials, archery range caretakers, owners and team captains will be responsible for enforcing this rule;
3. If an archer or a person gets hit outside the prescribed shooting area, the archer concerned shall be fully liable for the consequences. Such archers can also be banned from playing archery;
4. An archer involved in fatal accidents shall be banned for life;
5. A person learning to shoot shall take all necessary precautions by not playing in Bachos where public safety is a major concern;
6. Learners shall also not participate in archery games and matches where safety, of players as well as spectators, is a concern;
7. No spectators shall be allowed within the 10-meter wide shooting area of the archery range; and
8. All archers participating in an archery game or a match shall always be alert and take all necessary precautions from getting hit by an arrow.