“I don’t eat meat,” a former colleague assured me as he tucked into a plate of wild boar, “but I make an exception during game season.”

A rather extreme exception to a rule, I thought. But that was before I had eaten my first plate of Swiss game. Known as “la Chasse” or “Wild”, it’s available for a limited period each autumn. And is utterly delicious.

Robin Hood
As the warmer temperatures recede, you’ll hear the crack of guns as the hunters get to work in the forests, announcing that game season is open. But for some reason, whenever I think of hunting, my mind goes to bows and arrows.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve always enjoyed the legend of Robin Hood. I never took to the 1991 Kevin Costner movie, but a decade earlier was entranced by a TV adaptation which featured a Maid Marian who managed to keep her tumbling locks of russet hair tangle-free as she bounded through the forest, bow strung over her shoulder, a quiver of arrows at her hip.

It was quite the look. Since then, I’ve always had a bit of a hankering to give archery a go. So when a friend told me she’d taken up “3D archery”, I had to learn more.

3D Archery
The Bowhunter Saanenland club (bowhunter-gstaad.com) is where it’s at. Whatever your level – professional, amateur or complete beginner– they’ve been welcoming archers in the Saanenland since 2017.

You’re probably familiar with target archery, where participants shoot at a circular target set at a specific distance on a flat surface. You earn points for where your arrow lands in the five-colour target’s scoring zones.

3D archery takes the experience into the woods. Participants hike along trails and aim for three-dimensional animal targets. The idea is to face challenges that mimic a real-life hunting experience. Without the actual animals.

3D archery brings with it a mass of different complexities. It introduces different shooting angles. The targets vary enormously in size (think rabbit to elk). Even the shooting ground is not always even. You may find yourself shooting from hillsides, raised platforms, uphill, downhill, thick woods, or wide-open fields. But no matter the angle or scenario, the scoring area will always be visible to the archer.

The 3D archery course in the Saanenland has 28 targets, each of which has three launch points marked with coloured wooden pegs to represent the different levels of difficulty.

The club welcomes all ages and abilities and helpfully rents out equipment if you don’t happen to have your own bow handy. They even offer international archery training if you want to take things further. The club is open from April till October and if you’ve a yen to compete, this year they’re holding a “Highland Tournament” on the first of October (offering a free drink to anyone brave enough to wear a kilt).

Don’t Miss Out
Whether you’re tempted with bows and arrows or not, as summer turns to autumn, keep your eyes peeled for the game menus. Most of the local restaurants offer wild hare, venison, wild boar and more, and you can even buy these dishes (along with all the trimmings) in the “ready meals” section of the supermarkets. It’s not quite “blink and you’ll miss it”, but the game season is short. So get ready. I’m sure my former colleague will be.

ANNA CHARLES