Bow International

So, there is a sort of monthly** magazine all about archery. Its called Bow International which was first published in 1995. And while there are quite a few publications for bow hunting in the States, Bow International (BI) is the only magazine that we are aware of, anywhere, that is focused on target archery. They carry the latest news, World Archery events and competitions, publish provoking/interesting features, interview leading names in the target archery world, review kit and even have experts writing on technique ... its a lot to squeeze in every month. But is it any good?

Well, since Quicks Archery no-longer publish a paper catalogue, BI is our Vice Chair's favourite "quiet time" reading. (They did chose Ki Bo Bae as the Archer of the Decade 2010-19 so he was bound to be a bit less than impartial!)

In the last six months the magazine has changed hands. It was owned by a huge publisher (Future Publishing) who wasn't really interested in a niche sport like archery and in April 2023 decided to shut the mag down. At the last moment, a previous publisher of BI (Wes Stanton of International Media), rode to the rescue and acquired the title. Since the acquisition its changed format a little, altered the quality of paper, shaken the contributors up and has a new editor ... but remains a publication worth checking out. Articles by archer and personal trainer Lucy O'Sullivan or internationalist compounder Duncan Busby are always worth a read for their insight. Academics like Dr James Park have contributed extremely technical articles of the flight models of arrows! You get a broad range of articles every month although there are often special editions where one subject is given special attention. Its a nicely compact way to learn a little more about the broader world of archery ... without having our vice chair talk at you for 10 hours!

Although you can take out longer subscriptions, they are currently advertising 2 issues for £6.99 which might be a nice little stocking filler this Xmas. If you like the feel of paper, physical copies are mailed to your house. Digital subscriptions are available through BI's partner PocketMags and finally they have an iPhone/iPad application ... so you can get the magazine in whatever format you like. There are quite a few past articles on the website (linked below) if you would like a taste of what they bring to archery.

Archery can be more than just shootie. There's a big archery world out there to explore and Bow International can help you find it.

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Bow International website

Sample past articles from the Bow International...
Bow International article on their 150th issue
Modelling arrows in flight - Dr James Park 

Quicks Archery's last catalogue 2015-16

**Note: We think its publishing frequency is 9 issues per year.