Please find below a handy summary of the rules governing all hand-bow styles.
(Ref. NFAS Rule Book 2022 edition, with additional rules for TXB added 2023.)
Key to hand-bow styles:
- AFB – American Flatbow
- BB – Barebow
- BH – Bowhunter
- CL – Compound Limited
- FS – Freestyle
- HT – Hunting Tackle
- LB – Longbow
- PV – Primitive
- TB – Traditional Bowhunter
- TD – Thumb Draw
- TXB – Traditional Crossbow
- UL – Compound Unlimited
NFAS Style rules for hand-bows (not crossbow (XB)) | |||||||||||
AFB | BB | BH | CL | FS | HT | LB | PV | TB | TD | UL | |
One-piece bow, braced limbs curve in one direction, oval to rectangular limbs | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||
Bow of wood only, D or oval section, braced limbs curve in one direction, wood/ horn limb nocks, hand grip not shaped | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||
Bow incl. limb nocks of natural materials only (glues, finishes and string excepted) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||
Recurve bow | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||
Compound bow | • | • | • | ||||||||
Brush button allowed | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||
Silencers allowed | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
Sight allowed | • | • | • | ||||||||
Multi pin sight (up to 5 pins) only (non-adjustable unless equipment failure) | • | • | • | ||||||||
Spirit level allowed | • | • | |||||||||
Pinguard allowed | • | • | • | ||||||||
Peep sight/ kisser button allowed (not both) | • | • | • | ||||||||
AFB | BB | BH | CL | FS | HT | LB | PV | TB | TD | UL | |
Vibration damper allowed | • | • | • | • | |||||||
Mediterranean loose only | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||
Any hand loose allowed | • | • | |||||||||
Thumb loose allowed | • | ||||||||||
Thumb loose only | • | ||||||||||
Thumb protection allowed | • | ||||||||||
Index finger must touch the nock at full draw | • | • | |||||||||
One anchor point only used throughout the shoot | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||
No face/string walking | • | • | • | ||||||||
No arrow-rest or arrow shelf allowed | • | • | • | ||||||||
Arrow must be shot off the shelf or hand, no rest is allowed | • | ||||||||||
Arrow must be shot off the hand only | • | ||||||||||
AFB | BB | BH | CL | FS | HT | LB | PV | TB | TD | UL | |
Arrow rest must not overdraw more than 2 inches behind throat of handgrip | • | • | • | • | |||||||
No draw-check allowed | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||
No draw-check allowed above manufacturer’s specification | • | • | |||||||||
Single stabiliser allowed – any length | • | ||||||||||
Single stabiliser allowed – max length 12 inches/ 30cm | • | ||||||||||
Full stabiliser system allowed | • | • | • | ||||||||
Release aid allowed | • | ||||||||||
Aiming marks allowed | • | • | |||||||||
Wooden arrows only (natural feather fletching) | • | • | • | • | |||||||
Arrows must be of non-wooden and non-bamboo materials, fletched with natural feather | • | ||||||||||
Any arrow permitted | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||
Reference memoranda allowed | • |