[Archers] New Archery Rule Change

[Garth G. Groff]

Lord William and friends,

The question of clear vision was first raised in Lady Esperanza's post. 
I don't see this in Lord Kenneth's explanation, so perhaps this was a 
misinterpretation. Had I the March ACORN to consult, this would be 
clearer, but hey!, I'm at work (as are most of us on this discussion 
right now). On the other hand, what good does a safety zone do if you 
can't see to the end of it? If the zone is blocked by trees and brush, 
you can't be sure somebody or some domestic animal hasn't wandered in 
there.

I agree that the new rule is somewhat confusingly worded. As I read it, 
the relationship of the shooting line, 30-degree boundaries, and target 
line remains the same. It is just that the distance behind the target 
has been increased. I sort of think of the range as a huge home plate on 
a baseball diamond with the point cut off. Now just elongated a bit 
further.

While this whole thing is causing a ruckus right now, I think that 
things will turn out pretty much the same except for some ranges that 
can't be extended to the full 100 yards from the shooting line. My 
apologies to Lords Allen and Kenneth, but a lot of confusion could have 
been avoided if this had been better explained and diagrams provided to 
all the marshals (even those of us who couldn't attend Unevent, just in 
case they did that). I agree with Lord Kenneth that safety is our number 
one job, and I don't blame him or our other leaders for being concerned. 
Let's hope we ALL can learn from this process.

Always in service to the Kingdom and its archers,


Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir Archery Marshal

Charles Oliff wrote:
> I have a few specific questions:  (the new rules are in quotes and my 
> questions/comments are in brackets)
>  
> MODIFICATION :
> 3.9.3.2.2
> "At a minimum, each shooting station will have a safety zone that
> extends 30 degrees from each end of the shooting line to a line even with
> the furthest target, or 50 yards, whichever is closer." 
>  
> [The above is clear so far]
>  
> "The safety zone will then extend 100 yards from all points on the 
> shooting
> line, or half the distance from the shooting line to a line parallel 
> to the farthest
> target, whichever is greater."
>  
> [This part bothers me because it basically states that the 'safety 
> zone' extends 100 yards from the shooting line  or half the distance 
> to the farthest target.  Which, as written, says the saftey zone for a 
> 200 yard target is 100 yards from the shooting line.  Now, that being 
> said, I assume that they mean 100 yards from the end of the 30 degree 
> line, but that is not what is written.  It should be pointed out that 
> the old rule specifies that 'the zone extends from the end of the 30 
> degree line while the new rule does not.]
>  
> "A larger safety zone is recommended if possible........"
>  
> NEW POLICY NUMBER:
>
> 3.8.3.2.5
> "The MIC-Target Archery will design the range with safety being the
> primary concern."
>  
> [This part is just plain offensive.  Safety is always the primary 
> concern at all of my shoots and at all of the shoots I have attended.  
> It's rule number one that they teach at all of the marshall training 
> classes I have attended as well.  If they're just trying to say that 
> rule number one on the range is 'Saftey First' then they could go 
> about wording it much better.]
>  
> " Range design will account for control of the shooters,
> visibility of the range and the surrounding area, site layout and foot and
> vehicle traffic patterns."
>  
> [Is this just them putting in writing what we already do?  Or are they 
> trying to say something more?]
>  
> I do see some people mentioning that the saftey zone must be entirely 
> clear and visible.  Where is that specifically stated?   Unless the 
> last line of the new rules is intending to mean more than what it 
> actually says, all I can see in the rules is in section 
> *3.9.3.2.1* where it statest that "Safety zones need to be clearly 
> marked off."  So all this means to me is that with the new, larger, 
> safety zones nothing has changed except the amount of area that I need 
> to 'clearly mark off'  That being said, I do agree that this is not 
> possible at some events, especially where the actual location of the 
> archery range on the event site borders property that isn't part of 
> the event site and thus we don't have the right to block off.  This 
> has been the case at many events and is the whole point of allowing 
> anyone to call HOLD when they see something. 
>  
> The new rules are definitely unclear and poorly written.
>
> William of Wolverhampton
> Caer Gelynniog
>  
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