Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

A lot of reenactment level work is about learning appropriate historical crafts and skills. This board is for all general skills that don't have their own forum.

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Manveruon
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Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

Post by Manveruon »

Hi all!

I am trying to organize a little fun-shoot style archery tourney for the local SCA archery practice this evening, and it got me to thinking a little about how and where we all like to practice, and archery practices in general. So I wanted top pick your brains a little. Those of you who shoot - and especially those who shoot regularly - what does your usual practice look like? At what range do you usually shoot, and at what kind of target? Indoor or outdoor? What is your personal standard for a "good" practice, or just a "good" end? Etc. etc.

Also (and more to my point at the moment) do any of you have any particular favorite "fun-shoot" type practices? For instance, one could affix a fake apple to a styrofoam wig head, and then attach that to a short archery butt, and voila! A "William Tell" shoot! Archers get points for hitting the apple, but are eliminated if they hit the head or the butt. Or, I know some people have done moving shoots, wherein they will attach a man-shaped (or orc-shaped, or zombie-shaped, etc.) target to some kind of pulley or trolley, and then pull it towards the archers as they shoot, simulating a charging enemy.

So! Any thoughts? I'd love to hear if any of you have ever played with these ideas much - especially people like Ringulf and other SCA members on the forums, because I know that stuff is popular in the Society.

Cheers!
Maerondir Perianseron, also called “Mickel,” Halfling Friend - Ranger of the Misty Mountains
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Re: Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

Post by Straelbora »

I'll post photos in the next few weeks- now that I've got land on which to play, I'm taking scrap 2x4s and making the 'skeletons' of a deer and two Orcs. I'm using curb-picked sofa cushions for the 'meat' of the deer's body and the abdomen, arms and legs of the Orcs. I spent about $10 at a Goodwill store and bought some black clothes, gloves, etc. to dress the Orcs, including a faux fur coat that can be used for both the deer and the Orcs.

I am going to buy some foam heads to paint for the Orcs.

Then, I'll place them out in the woods.

Once I have things set up for people to come stay at the Inn, the Orcs and deer will be placed at random along the hiking trails, for use as target practice.

(By the way, the Orcs in the woods by the trail was the idea of my five year old son.)
Vápnum sínum skala maðr velli á
feti ganga framar því at óvist er at vita
nær verðr á vegum úti geirs um þörf guma
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Manveruon
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Re: Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

Post by Manveruon »

Hah! Love it!
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Peter Remling
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Re: Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

Post by Peter Remling »

Did a little of all of those. Instead of the target coming toward you on a pulley it was a derr going perpendictular to the archers. My brother and I used to set up raiders (wood figurines ) at various ranges. You had a certain time to shoot all of them or you were considered killed. I've also competed in several clout and wand shoots when I was in the SCA.
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Re: Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

Post by Greg »

In the woods, I prefer a wand. At practice, I just slip a scrap of cardboard in the strings of the hay bales, unless I have my foam block.

The goals I have for practice always relate to live game...I like my groups to fit inside a typical cap from a jar of peanut butter, to approximate a deer's heart, for example. I shoot at an actual cap occasionally to dial this in.

I don't typically practice outside the range I feel comfortable shooting at live game...the last thing I want is a wounded animal on my conscience, so I never practice beyond 30 yards, and rarely beyond 20. If I'm shooting at orcs, I don't have to be as discerning...wounding can be desirable.
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Re: Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

Post by Rhonin »

Hey Manveruon!

We have a couple of archery drills/fun shoots that we do besides the 3D foam targets (deer, turkey).

-Hanging Apple from a string, still or swining (swinging is more fun, but way more frustrating)
-"Squirrel Shoot", hand towels rolled and secured with a rubberband and then scattered on the shooting field, great reusable targets
-Ping pong ball hanging
-"Medieval Shoot", burlap bags filled with dried beans set on a post about 60 yrds out. (my personal favorite)

As for training or "fun-drills", we play a couple of games:
3 Lives
Each archer starts with three arrows and all shoot at a target with each. The archer that has shot the closest to the center gets to keep all their arrows. The other archers "lose a life" and are down to two arrows.

Kings guards
You have 10 seconds to put as many arrows as you can into a paper plate sized target (we shoot from 30 yards, but you can shrink the target if your closer). Any arrow that hits is a "Dead" guard. The number of rounds changes depending on the shooting conditions (super hot out, make it a short game), but normally 3 - 5 rounds is good. The archer with the most "kills" wins.

Shooting Gallery
12 arrows, 10 targets. This pits each archer against themselves. We try hard to encourage younger archers to keep track of their best score. We normally reserve this for more experienced archers, but its fun for anyone to try. We do this one a lot at tournaments and offer a couple of prizes. Normally we have a buy-in for this. $5 for a round.

8 out of 10 targets hit - free retry
9 out of 10 small prize, normally a small leather pouch
10 out of 10 big prize, This has been everything from a $200 leather quiver to really nice silverware

Normally we get everyone to pitch in some money before the tournament so someone can go and buy the prizes, this obviously depends on how many people we have showing up.

The gallery is pretty tough though and I've only seen a handful of people actually make it to the 9 out of 10 (not sure if anyone has actually won the thing).

We use clay skeets and have 10 targets hooked up to a simple system of gears and rope. Once the rope is pulled there the gears move the targets, swinging some and dropping some in place, rolling them, etc. Every year we change the pattern so no one can memorize it. Well worth it if you have the time money and effort to make one.
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Re: Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

Post by Pwyll »

My favorite activities were with the SCA. Specifically, an event called Will's Revenge, which was archery focused. Some awesome roving ranges (or 3D shoots, if you wish). My personal favorite was the "Monty Python/Holy Grail" shoot. Knights of Ni (timed, 5 targets, no limit on arrows), Frenchman in the Castle (moving, hard to hit, annoying commentary), Knight at the Ford, Girl With Moose.... The designers are geniuses.

But that's an event, not practice. Used to do the standard, Royal Rounds. Fine training for...Royal Rounds.

Here's an idea for you. Stump Shooting. Go out with friends into the woods. Take old arrows. Expect to lose/break some. Pick targets like "that stump over there" or "that knothole". This gives an imprecise distance, variable targets and odd angles. Just have fun with it. Did this one cold winter day. Couldn't feel my feet when I came back. But it was just so much fun...
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Kortoso
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Re: Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

Post by Kortoso »

We have a few field archery ranges in our area.
These lead us along a forested trail, where we find targets to shoot, one at a time, at various distances. These are usually maintained separately by clubs. Sometimes there are 3D targets as well.

Find a range near you:
http://www.bestrecurvebowguide.com/arch ... r-usa-map/
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Re: Archery Practices and Fun-Shoots

Post by Pwyll »

That's great. We have a good club here, as well, with a couple of good 3D trails. I was just out yesterday. Hopefully, I can get out tomorrow...
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