[Archers] Dropped arrows rule

[Siegfried]

Greetings Mungo ... I'll chime in with my experiences/thoughts

On the 'counts as a shot':

I've never seen that applied in the SCA.  If you fumble and drop
something, whoops, grab another from your quiver.   So no, tradition
indicates that if you didn't 'shoot it', it wasn't a 'shot'.   We
shouldn't be trying to find ways to penalize shooters, instead of
letting them have fun.

(In fact, I've seen this applied so far as to discount any 'thrown'
arrows, on purpose or by accident as well.  Since again, if it wasn't
shot, it wasn't shot)

On the safety rule:

You are correct, noone should be reaching over a line to pick up an arrow.

(Of course, the situation is somewhat complicated by "How far away did
it drop", etc.   As a standing crossbowman, I bend over at a 90degree to
load my crossbow and draw bolts from a leg quiver.  If a bolt drops
right next to my feet, or maybe a foot in front of them, I don't bend
any more than normal to snag it.   However it's a very different
situation when a bolt/arrow falls 3 foot in front of the line, and
someone 'leans out' or 'steps out' to get it.  EEEK)

And in all honesty, at THAT point, it's covered by the "Noone shall
enter the safety zone during active shooting" bits, so you really don't
need a separate rule.

However, also in general, I'd be very hesitant to start listing off
every single "You can't do X" rule.  As the list would be ginormous.
You can't turn around with a loaded bow.  You can't shoot backwards.
You can't aim your bow at an 80degree angle while drawing it.  You can't
poke the guy next to you with an arrow.  You can't kick someone while
they are drawing their bow.  You can't cut someone's crossbow string
while they are aiming ... etc etc etc etc

Such things, IMO, are best left under "Keep a safe line" and "Keep
everyone out of the safety zone" and for the marshal to inform folks about.

Siegfried


On 8/27/10 9:58 AM, Garth G. Groff wrote:
> Lady Lorelei and friends,
> 
> I've been looking for a rule concerning dropped arrows on the shooting
> line, and haven't found anything. On our range, a dropped arrow always
> counted as a shot, or maybe I'm going back 30 years to college rules. I
> was corrected by the MIC last spring at a tournament when I told a
> shooter to leave the arrow and count it as a miss. So what is the
> kingdom rule on this?
> 
> Whether the archer is allowed another shot, or has to count a dropped
> arrow, is a separate issue from whether they should stoop over to pick
> it up. I contend they should let it lay as it is until bows go down,
> since stooping over to pick up the arrow could cost them a poke in the
> eye if the person next to them is nocking. Yes, it might get stepped on,
> but that is a smaller concern than safety of the line.And there is no
> question that an arrow beyond the line says put until "Bows down" is
> called.
> 
> Lady Lorelei, should this become an addition to our safety rules at the
> next update?
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> 
> Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir Target Archery Marshal
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