Red Deerians are taking aim at a new trend that’s growing across North America, archery tag.

A new facility recently opened up its doors in the city, and owners believe it is one of the largest facilities in Western Canada.

Those brave enough to step into the arena say it was a unique experience.

“It definitely felt like Robin Hood up in there,” said archer Josh Adam.

Before people can play the game, archers get some training and a chance to test their aim with a bow.

“So you get over the frustrating part so when you come inside hopefully you’ve learned enough of the skill to go play the game,” explained Archery Tag Adventures owner Branden Majeau.

Then, like picking teams in gym class, two captains decide who will be on their side of the battle field. Once the masks are on, players race for their ammo and hope they’ve got the fastest draw.

“Huge adrenaline rush right off the start when you got to go in grab your arrows and trying to grab as many as possible the second round and just not get shot,” said archer Hillary Fardella.

Majeau says this is one of the fastest growing sports in North America. He explained that while you can find arenas like this in Europe, Asia and the United States, he wanted to see more of them in the western provinces.

“Looked kind of back into the history of where it is in the country and there's a ton of these out east but nothing really in the west,” said Majeau.

The Red Deer facility has only been open for a couple of weeks and is drawing a lot of attention.

Majeau believes it’s because of the challenge, “This is a skill, it's not just you pop out and you shoot. This is something where you actually take your time your aiming actually trying to hit a target at the other end of the field and you're anticipating where they're moving.”

Majeau said the regulation style game rules are a combination of paintball and dodgeball. Once the group is more comfortable with the equipment, they can then choose between over 40 different types of archery tag.

According to a couple of archers, the game was a lot more physical than they anticipated.

“It actually took a lot of stamina, like my quads are a little bit sore after crouching down,” said Hillary Fardella, who added although challenging, brings out the kid at heart.

Her advice for future archers, “Ammo is scarce. You got to really push up and grab it.”

Another tip from first-timer Florian Hainzmann, “being able to hit somebody without them even knowing it’s coming.”

You can find more about the group online.