Archery Parcours Wobachtal

Parcours Wobachtal is managed by the outdoor club Seil und Bogen (Rope and Bow). It is close to St. Veit an der Gölsen (between Hainfeld and Traisen) in Lower Austria. For detailed arrival instructions, see their web page: http://www.seilundbogen.at/cms/anfahrt. The parking place is just below the hut, a toilet is available. Go past the hut to reach the practice range. From there on, go left and down towards the first target. Initially, the route takes you downhill and then up again almost until the hut. There, you can make a short rest and resupply your body with fluids. Then you keep going uphill and finally down towards the hut. The whole parcours is situated in the forest, which means that some places are particularly hard to navigate, especially when it rains or when it has recently rained. So hard, in fact, that you should reconsider going there in first place when the weather is bad. The way is very challenging and in the evening you will know why you are hurting. Even in good weather, you should wear good hiking shoes with strong soles.

Close to the hut, there is a terrace with tables and benches where you can have a nice view over the climbing park. The practice range is a steep upwards slope. There are three targets with two faces each – at 10, 20 and 35 meters. The lower face is made from foam, while the upper one is straw and is usually so hard, that you will have a hard time getting your arrows out. The topmost target is a bit tricky, because the wooden supports are not entirely covered by the target face, so try to avoid hitting those. Several targets are equipped with nets. However, these usually lull you into a false sense of security, because the arrows can fly straight through them. There are large wooden beams close to some targets. If you hit those, you can almost say good-bye to your arrow. The animals themselves are varied and in a good condition.

The 3D-parours is actually not very visited. Most people come for the climbing park. Furthermore, the parcours fee is not very cheap, even though it is a day card and you could go the parcours twice if you wanted, and if you were fitenough, and if you woke up early enough that morning. Thus, the road is not very well traversed, but the route is very well marked with arrows, as well as with target numbers and pictures. With very few exceptions, all shooting positions allow you to shoot at two or three targets. So, take enough arrows! There are some several nice uphill long shots.

You can hire equipment (20-25 pound recurve and longbows, as well as children bows) or buy drinks in the hut when the parcours is open (until the end of October). The parcours is still navigable in winter – then you throw the fee in the post box to the right of the hut and take the piece from the filled form. Otherwise you can pay directly in the hut, where you have to fill out a form with your name and archery club. There are many small animals, some middle-sized and one really large elk. The shooting positions are usually hard, because you usually shoot on a slope. Of course, this only adds to the realistic feeling. In 2015, the route will be supported with some steps, the practice range will be expanded, and the targets will be 32 instead of 24.

Things to visit nearby: the rope-climbing garden – there are some rope-parcours for beginners, as well as for experienced climber. You can hire equipment in the hut. There is also a short instruction session for beginners. They have some unique coupled carabineers – you can only open one of them at a time, which makes them particularly safe for children.