[Archers] Dropped arrows rule

[John Atkins]

I'm in agreement about the dropped arrow doesn't count thoughts here.
We ARE out here for the fun of it, not to penalize folks.

As for the stepping over the line, we have a rule to cover that.  As for
picking up a shaft at one's feet, to me this goes right back to the
quality of the marshal running the line.  I have seen marshals "running"
the line while sitting under a sun shade 10 feet back and 20 feet off
the end of the line.  I have seen marshals, at Pennsic, so involved in
"teaching/instructing" someone they are not watching the line.  To my
way of thinking these are marshals who should have their warrants
pulled.  A marshal is a safety officer.  We have some basic rules to
fall back on but, as stated in the rules, the marshal is the final word
on the range.  i.e. atlatl can occur on the arhcery range if the marshal
is comfortable with it, otherwise no atlatl.  Not everyone who expresses
an interest in becoming a marshal should be warranted as a marshal.
There has to be a judgement on the warranting body of the individual's
ability to be a GOOD safety officer.  You can't write rules that prevent
stupid.  I know, I've seen too much of it!

cog

-----Original Message-----
From: archers-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:archers-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of Garth G.
Groff
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 10:46 AM
To: Archers at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
Subject: Re: [Archers] Dropped arrows rule


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

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