Archery Adventures in Stunning Native Bush
“Wow, I highly recommend this to anyone and everyone. Skill, nature, fun and excitement!!” – Trip Advisor Review
Great news: We are back to running the Dragon Hunt with no restrictions and offer pickups again. We keep our new family and group prices and now make them available to all Kiwis.
Learn to shoot the longbow and get to explore a native New Zealand forest that has been left alone by humans since the begin of time – classified as one of the most diverse nature areas on the top of the South Island: Nelson’s cleanest stream, giant towering trees, some of the largest silver ferns in NZ and an active bird life await you.
Archery challenges will keep you entertained throughout the tour: Shoot realistic looking Dragons and other targets uphill, downhill over streams, between ferns and under trees. This is archery in a whole new format and unique in New Zealand!
Your guide has 18 years of archery experience, is a certified archery coach, holds a NZ silver medal and a national archery record. You will get initial in-depth archery coaching and help to master the challenges in the forest archery course.
Free photos and highlights of special nature features are included.
A great instructor, heaps of fun and walk through beautiful NZ native (That rivals many paid bush tours). For the time and effort you get, great value for money too.
Learn how to hit the spot using your body and mental focus
You might be thinking that instinctive archery takes years to master, but we show you the right posture, how to hold and draw the bow, and before you know it you will have started your journey into instinctive archery.
You will develop the ability to shoot your arrow into the exact spot you’re mentally focusing on. While this technique takes a lot of practise to master, we always see great results with our training method and you will feel the rush of adrenaline as you see your arrows hit their mark.
You will shoot feathered arrows with a real longbow and look and feel like a pro with your armguard and quiver. Just like your favourite fantasy figures from the movies…Â
We have gone to great lengths to find longbows suitable for beginners, as we want you to have the best experience. The arrows are custom made to be a perfect match for the bows. The Archery Park gear for guests is maintained to the same standard as our own personal archery gear.
The longbow is the purest form of archery – no sights and no modern technology
Experience archery on a whole new level with our special 3D archery targets
Special archery targets in various shapes and sizes await you thoughtfully placed throughout the park. Shoot at targets in the shape of a boar or rabbit and meet some marvelous fantasy creatures like Dragons.
Follow a short tramping track along Nelson’s cleanest stream that leads into over 120 hectares of pristine native bush and enter a forgotten world.
Miraculously missed by generations, you’ll experience a New Zealand forest that remains in a pre-human state and is part of the rare last 5% of New Zealand virgin forests. Walk under Totara and Maitai trees that are hundreds of years old and tower high above the forest and shoot between silver-ferns that are among some of the tallest around.
Our trapping program ensures that you will get close to New Zealand bird life, with Bellbirds, Robins, Tuis, Kereru and Fantails abundant. And if you’re lucky we will spot a pair of the extremely rare native NZ Falcon that calls this place home.
Relax in some of Nelson’s finest nature and leave civilization behind.
Get up close to fully grown Silver Ferns, 1000 year old Maitai and Totara trees and learn about NZ nature
Learn all the archery skills required from our certified archery coach at the practice range before facing dragons and other creatures
Your trusty guide and archery coach is long time longbow archer Markus. He has been practising the sport for over 18 years and has now made his life-long dream a reality by opening Archery Park to share with you his passion and knowledge in this beautifully tranquil park.
Markus is a certified NZFAA community archery coach, has built his own bows and arrows and has trained hundreds of archers. He is actively involved in the professional field archery sport. He has won and organised several archery tournaments and recently won the silver medal in his division in the 2018 NZFAA Bowhunter Nationals. He also holds the current NZ record with the highest score shot at a 20 * 3D archery target tournament with a historic bow.
Markus is a member of the Traditional Archery Society, the New Zealand Field Archery Association (NZFAA) and the New Zealand Bowhunter Society (non-hunting, but enjoying their tournaments). He has also been an administrator for one of Europe’s largest traditional archery internet discussion boards.
All Dragon Hunters automatically qualify to shoot at the 3D archery range and target archery range at Archery Park on their own with a day ticket.
Bring your new learned skills to the next level with regular training sessions and meet more archers. Or just enjoy the option of coming back whenever you feel the urge to shoot some arrows.
Become a qualified archer that can shoot at Archery Park on their own
We have updated our prices and applied our discounted local Nelson-Tasman rate for all New Zealanders. We’re also now offering group discounts.
This is a fully guided half day archery outdoor adventure. Please plan 3 to 4 hours for this and be prepared by reading through our recommended pack-list below.
Minimum age is 10 years. Kids must be accompanied and supervised by a responsible and participating adult at all times.
Minimum age is 10 years. Kids must be accompanied and supervised by a responsible and participating adult at all times.
Minimum age is 10 years. Kids must be accompanied and supervised by a responsible and participating adult at all times.
Minimum age is 10 years. Kids must be accompanied and supervised by a responsible and participating adult at all times.
If you have done the Dragon Hunt in the past and want to bring your friends then this is the option for you. We only accept bookings for Initiated Dragon Hunters that come with at least one first time guest adult.
Minimum age is 10 years. Kids must be accompanied and supervised by a responsible and participating adult at all times.
Tours run every day and twice a day during busy season. Just choose the day and start time that suits you best in our online booking system.
It is essential to book in advance as all tours are by arrangement only and are limited to a maximum of 6 people.
Please be on time as we will all depart together.
Our Enjoyment Guarantee:
If you don’t have an epic time at the Dragon Hunt, and are not completely happy with your experience, we will refund you 100% of your payment. No questions asked!
Exploring untamed nature, walking unformed tracks and maybe even crossing streams is all part of your archery adventure
All you need is a pair of sturdy shoes, weather appropriate clothes and a sense of adventure. Our unique forest archery adventure takes place along a 3 km track with uneven ground and may include stream crossings using only a rope handrail and boulder hopping. Jandals (flip-flops) are not appropriate footwear!
Bring sunscreen and insect repellent, water and a snack – carry it in a small backpack so that you have your hands free for your bow.
Carry your emergency medication if you are allergic to wasp or bee stings or anything else you might encounter outdoors. And please advise us about this when you book.
You need to be fit enough to walk an outdoor track of about 3km which has uneven, unformed, steep, muddy and narrow sections. It can be slippery in places.
But we do not expect you to know anything about archery as we will give a full archery coaching session at the start of your adventure.
The Dragon Hunt Archery Adventure is suitable for kids from the age of 10 onward. They must be able to walk for ca. 3km and be able to spend 3 hours outside in the bush as we can’t return to base in the middle of the tour. Children must be accompanied by a guardian that must also participate in the archery experience.
If they are under the age of 10 but have experience in archery or are fit and very coordinated from other sports we may agree to their participation, but contact us before you make your booking so that we can assess the situation.
Heavy rain and strong winds severely affect arrow flight and can create risks on our tramping tracks. Should we have to cancel a session because of a bad weather, we will try our very best to advise you on the day before your booking at around 5 pm. A full refund will be issued.Â
Do it, it’s a lot of fun. Marcus is friendly and has a passion for archery and that shows during this lifelike experience. Not your typical range by no means. A+
Great fun! Markus was a patient and effective teacher. He is knowledgeable about the sport and about the native plants and resident animals. The free pickup from the Nelson iSite... read more
100% recommend giving this a crack, Markus is an absolute legend and was so patient with our big group. Guiding us through the native bush to each target was almost... read more
Absolute Highlight of my trip to Nelson! Such an amazing experience. Thanks Markus for an great day!
This was a fantastic day out but what made it so much better was Markus. His sense of humour had us laughing all day. He makes you feel like a... read more
We had a great afternoon of archery and adventure at Archery Park Nelson. The experience was an excellent Xmas present for our 14 year old daughter, but was also fantastic... read more
What a great family outing! Marcus was very patient (and remarkably effective) while teaching us to shoot straight and safely. Hunting the 3D targets was definitely the highlight though -... read more
I loved the whole experience and my day at the archery Park in nelson. Markus the instructor is a super friendly guy and he is very good at teaching the... read more
I recently spent an entire month road tripping all of New Zealand and going on all kinds of adventures. Archery Park Nelson was my absolute favorite experience of my entire... read more
We had such a great day here. We came for our work Chrismas do. We wern't sure what to expect but we had such an amazing day. We did the... read more
Great fun! Markus was a patient and effective teacher. He is knowledgeable about the sport and about the native plants and resident animals. The free pickup from the Nelson iSite... read more
100% recommend giving this a crack, Markus is an absolute legend and was so patient with our big group. Guiding us through the native bush to each target was almost... read more
Absolute Highlight of my trip to Nelson! Such an amazing experience. Thanks Markus for an great day!
This was a fantastic day out but what made it so much better was Markus. His sense of humour had us laughing all day. He makes you feel like a... read more
We had a great afternoon of archery and adventure at Archery Park Nelson. The experience was an excellent Xmas present for our 14 year old daughter, but was also fantastic... read more
What a great family outing! Marcus was very patient (and remarkably effective) while teaching us to shoot straight and safely. Hunting the 3D targets was definitely the highlight though -... read more
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Markus, the owner, guide and coach of Archery Park is a member of several recognised governing archery bodies:
ONLINE BOOKINGS CLOSE 12 HOURS BEFORE TOURS START. FOR LAST MINUTE BOOKINGSÂ CALL US ONÂ 03-398 8043
"A great half day out, great value for money. Start out slow to get the technique right and then go for a walk through the native bush shooting targets. A great sense of achievement at the end of it...."
