[Archers] Dropped arrows rule

[Garth G. Groff]

Lord Siegfried,

Thanks for the clarification. On searching my failing memory, I think 
counting a dropped arrow as a shot was the way we did it in college (a 
very long, long time ago!). That was then, this is now.

When it comes to making more rules, I completely agree with you. That 
could go on ad nauseum. And since there is now no rule concerning this, 
it is better to let sleeping dogs lie.

As for stooping over to pick up dropped arrows, I'm still against this 
purely as a safety matter. What I don't want to see is any archer on my 
line rooting around under somebody else's legs for an arrow. And if an 
arrow is beyond the archer's lead foot, I want it to stay there. Your 
bolt quiver is a different situation than I was thinking of, and the 
same is true for drawing arrows from ground quivers.

Kind regards,


Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir Target Archery Marshal.

Siegfried wrote:
> 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