Archery Park

So the other day a professor brought to my attention a story that involved a Wisconsin archery park whose members are no longer allowed to shoot there. This is due to the complaints of neighbors who are concerned for their own safety. This is a common problem with outdoor shooting in an urban area. Although the article says that there are earthen berms that surround the park this often is not enough to stop all of the arrows that are deflected by various objects.
Most arrows that are shot hit their desired target however the problem is the ones that do not hit the desired target. Most likely these arrows would bounce off of an object and land somewhere in the park. The arrows that don’t land in the park are the one’s raising concerns. Even though it is an arrow these are usually not that dangerous. This is because most of their energy was lost when they first hit the ground.
What should be done to fix the problem here is to install a netting, like the one a mentioned in a previous post, on top of the earthen berms. This would further hinder any arrows from escaping the archery park, but it is important to remember that this will not fully stop all arrows from escaping the park because it is an outdoor park and arrows can fly really high. Another solution would be removing all hard surfaces that an arrow could possible bounce off of. An example of this would be a rock or anything metal. In this case wood would be acceptable because more than likely it will stop the arrow without making it bounce off. My last piece of advice would be to put a wood awning over the shooters. This would prevent arrows that are accidently released when pulling the bow back from leaving the park. The most likely way arrows are ending up out of the park is because archers are accidently releasing the string when they are pulling the bow back. This makes the arrows trajectory look like a very high arch. The awning would stop most arrows from leaving the inside of the park by stopping them immediately.
Unfortunately there is a good chance that this park will not reopen. However an alternative to an outdoor archery range would be an indoor archery range that could possibly be built on the same location. This would allow a safe backstop for the arrows in all directions. It is important to remember if you do not have a safe backstop do not shoot your arrows!