Archery
All Target Rounds will be for war points. The Kingdom with the most wins, takes the point.
Target Archery Marshaling Convention
Lord Crevan of Leinster, Captain of the Rangers in Trimaris, Shall be Marshal-in-Charge of Panhandle Skirmishes Target Archery. The Kingdom of Meridies may designate their Captain of the Rangers and such other warranted representatives to assist in marshaling. Other kingdoms represented are welcome to supply appropriately qualified marshals to assist. Lord Crevan, Ranger Marshal-in-Charge, has ultimate responsibility for all target archery related activities at this event. As these are friendly skirmishes, we anticipate no need for a marshal’s court. However, Significant disputes will be solved, if possible, by a consensus of the Kings of Meridies and Trimaris. However, the King of Trimaris remains the final authority in marshallate matters.
The target area shall be clearly marked and pointed out to all participants. For the safety of spectators, no shooting is allowed outside the designated area.
Marshals have the power and duty to remove any person violating the rules of target archery, including those who are endangering safety, and those who ignore instructions or the rules.
Equipment Rules
Bows
Recurves, Longbows, and Crossbows may be used in competition. No compound
bows may be used. Only bows of period construction may be used in Traditional
class competitions.
Mechanical sights are not allowed.
Recurve and Longbow division shooters may mark the limbs of their bows
for sighting.
Primitive sights may be used on crossbows.
There are no weight limits for target archery bows.
Arrows may be shot off a rest, the shooter's hand, or a shelf.
Bow straps and lanyards may be used.
No stabilizers, clickers, kissers, or modern mechanical string releases
may be used.
Arrows
Shafts will be of natural wood only.
Fletching will be feather type only.
Nocks may be any material.
Only field points or target tips may be used.
It is recommended that crossbow bolts have either a cap or a ring around
the end.
Bowstrings
Strings will be of any modern material used to make modern bowstrings.
Bows in the traditional class may use period materials in constructing
strings.
Strings may not have knots tied in them between the nocks (excepting Flemish
strings with bowyers knots).
Strings may have nocking points.
Strings may not have kissers or peep sights attached.
Miscellaneous Equipment
Bracers or arm guards are recommended, but not required.
Gloves or finger tabs are recommended, but not required.
Setting Up Shoots
Safety shall be of the utmost concern when setting up a shooting field.
Care must be taken to insure there is adequate space to prevent anyone
being struck by an arrow.
Range dimensions shall follow these general rules:
There may be NO campsites or people at the end of the shooting field, regardless
of the backstop, for a minimum distance of 100 yards.
Beginning at the firing line, there must be no campsites or people for
a minimum of 50 yards from each side of the range.
Firing lines should be marked off at each distance with a clearly visible
marker.
It is highly recommended that the range be marked off along its perimeter
with either rope, tape, or signs posted at access areas warning of the
presence of an archery range and advising all persons to keep out of the
down range areas.
Spectators and shooters waiting their turn must remain at least ten feet
behind the firing line.
Arrangement of the butts is optional depending on the facilities available.
Some suggestions for set ups are:
Butts are set up in a straight line abreast, with the firing lines set
up at 20, 30, and 40 yards.
Butts are set up at 20, 30, and 40 yards distance from a straight firing
line.
Non-standard shoots such as novelties, clouts, and flights, should follow
these general safety guidelines taking into account the distances involved.
Flight shoots and clouts, which require a lot of space, should allow twice
the distance to the target. I.e. if you are shooting a 100-yard clout,
there should be 100 yards free space beyond the target. If it is a flight
shoot, figure the maximum shooting distance at about 300 yards, meaning
you should have about that in back space. The backspace distance may be
modified depending on the terrain. If there is a hill or wide stand of
trees behind the target, the doubling rule can be dismissed.
IF THERE IS ANY DOUBT OR QUESTION AS TO THE SAFETY OF THE RANGE, CONSULT
THE CAPTAIN OF RANGERS OR THEIR LIEUTENANT(S).
Running a Shoot
A Ranger must be on the archery range at all times.
Before any arrows may be nocked, the Ranger will call "Clear Downrange" in
a loud voice to be sure there is no one downrange. Close visual scrutiny
should be maintained at all times to be sure that no one wanders into the
shooting area.
The Ranger will announce the range and number of arrows to be shot.
For untimed shoots:
The Ranger will state "you may nock an arrow and fire when ready".
Archers may spend as much time as needed to shoot their flight.
After each shooter is done, they will lay down their bow, and step back
form the line.
For timed shoots:
The Ranger will state the range and time allotted.
Archers may start the shoot with an arrow nocked and drawn.
After the Ranger insures the line is ready, he will count down in seconds
from five to one, ending with the command "fire" (i.e. 5-4-3-2-1...fire)
at the beginning of the timed interval.
Five seconds prior to the end of the interval (25 seconds), the Ranger
shall again count from five to one, ending with the command "hold".
If an arrow is released before the command "fire" or after the
command "hold", the highest scoring arrow of that round for the
shooter will not be counted.
Arrows in flight before the command "hold" is called will be
counted.
When all archers are finished, the Ranger will call "bows down".
All shooters must then lay down or hang their bows and step back from the
line.
After checking to make sure all archers have laid down their bows, they
will call "you may score and retrieve your arrows".
Scoring
IKAC and Royal Round shoots will be shot on 60-cm target faces (known
as "Olympic" targets). These are divided into five concentric
circles of contrasting color, each ring divided by a black line.
The order of scoring shall be from the center out, the colors being Gold,
Red, Blue, Black and White. The point count shall be 5 pts. Gold; 4 pts.
Red; 3 pts. Blue; 2 pts. Black; and 1 pt. White.
An arrow that breaks the black line between colors is counted as the next
higher point value.
Scores will be recorded on a Kingdom score sheet, containing the SCA name,
real name, the score for each range, and the totals for the round.
IKAC shoots shall follow the current inter-kingdom rules, but generally
shall consist of two untimed and two timed rounds at each of the following
ranges: 20, 30 and 40 yards. Each untimed round will consist of six arrows,
timed rounds will allow as many arrows as can be loosed in the allotted
time.
Royal Round shoots shall consist of one each untimed round at 20, 30 and
40 yards, as well as one timed round at 20 yards. Each untimed round will
consist of six arrows, timed rounds will allow as many arrows as can be
loosed in the allotted time.