‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Lands will be laid open for you, and Allah will spare you the fight. So, let none of you fail to play with his arrows.”
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informs his Companions that lands will be opened for them without fighting, so none of them should fail to learn how to shoot arrows, because it is the most appropriate thing that Muslims can play with, so long as doing this does not entail neglecting a due right. This is because shooting arrows is one of the things that aid them in fighting in the cause of Allah, which is one of the most excellent objectives and most sublime goals. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used the expression 'play' because souls are naturally disposed to like it, so this was taken into account. However, the greater aim for learning archery is to prepare oneself for fighting in the cause of Allah, the Exalted, not to merely play with arrows.