Traditional Rounds and Scoring
Under BLBS Rules of Shooting target and clout rounds are always shot two-way, that is with pairs of targets set up at measured distances facing each other at opposite ends of the shooting field. Archers stand along a shooting line at or near one target and shoot three arrows each towards the target opposite. This is known as an “end”. When all the archers have shot, everyone walks up together to record their hits and pick up their misses before turning and repeating the process in the opposite direction.
Target archery
Target meetings are those where the arrows are shot at large straw bosses set on stands. Hitting the different colours on the target face gets you the following scores – nine for gold (not the bullseye – this is not darts, folks!), seven for red, five for blue, three for black and one for white. Green gets you nothing but a mucky arrow. In competition, the person with most hits on the target wins, with the other awards going to those with the highest score and the most golds.
Two-way target shooting at Gardrum House, Fenwick
Typical target rounds shot by Green Hollow Bowmen are as follows (you always start with the long distance and work in):
| York | 6 dozen arrows at 100 yards, 4 dozen at 80 yards, 2 dozen at 60 yards |
| Hereford | 6 dozen arrows at 80 yards, 4 dozen at 60 yards, 2 dozen at 50 yards |
| Double National | 2 rounds, each of 4 dozen at 60 yards and 2 dozen at 50 yards |
| Albion | 3 dozen at 80 yards, 3 dozen at 60 yards, 3 dozen at 50 yards |
| Windsor | 3 dozen at 60 yards, 3 dozen at 50 yards, 3 dozen at 40 yards |
| Western | 4 dozen at 60 yards, 4 dozen at 50 yards |
| Blairquhan | 4 dozen at 50 yards, 4 dozen at 40 yards |
| Mugdock | 6 dozen at 40 yards |
| Portsmouth | 5 dozen at 20 yards at a 2'’diameter target face |
| Palmer | Only hits are recorded, faces are plain white with a black dot in the centre - 4 dozen at 120 yards at a 5' face, 4 dozen at 90 yards at a 4' face, 4 dozen at 60 yards at a 2' face, and 4 dozen at 30 yards at a 1' face. Phew. |
Clout
Clout shooting involves longer distances. The archers shoot high up into the air in order to drop their arrows into a scoring area 26 feet across on the ground. This is marked in concentric circles which score one, two, three, four and five as you move in towards the middle and in the middle is a tiny wee white target which gets you six points if you can hit it. In clout shooting, score counts first before hits.
| Double Clout | 2 rounds, each of 3 dozen arrows; ladies and juniors at 120 yards and gentlemen at 180 yards |
| Long Double Clout | 2 rounds, each of 3 dozen arrows; ladies and juniors at 140 yards and gentlemen at 200 yards |
Two-way clout shooting at Mugdock.
(Yes, that little dot in the distance is the target...)
Clout Shoot-offs
In clout competitions, the double round is usually followed by a “shoot-off by ends”. During the double round, the best scoring arrow of each end is noted. The shoot-off is between those who have amassed the greatest number of best arrows – not always the ones with the highest score.
How the arrows land in the shoot-off is marked for the edification of those shooting by someone waving a flag away down at the target end of the field using a sequence of arcane signals (don’t worry – the marker stands well off to one side when the arrows are actually flying). A good marker is one who can imbue these simple wavings of a flag with all the contempt that a lousy miss deserves. Liam in particular excels in this.
Laura marking for the clout shoot-off