CONTENTS
General Rules of conduct
General Shooting Rules and Etiquette
Special Shooting Rules
Officer of the Day
Activities
Field
Target
Indoor
Hunting
Social
Anniversary Tournament
Club Championship
Club Grade System
Club Coaching and Instructional Programme
Club Award Structure
Range Layout
The Standard Club Round
The Hunter Round
Indoor Range
Outdoor Range
Archery Rounds
Shooting Styles
Handicap Competition
The Spot Chart
Match play Archery
Records
Hunting (see Hunting Rules Booklet)
GENERAL RULES OF CONDUCT
GENERAL RULES OF CONDUCT
· An archer who shoots arrows in excess of the prescribed number shall lose the score of the arrow (or arrows) of higher value.
· In the event of a miss-shot arrow, the arrow may be re-shot providing the arrow can be reached with the bow from the archer’s position at the marker/line.
· Arrows passing through the target face but retained in the butt may be pushed back by the target captain or deputy who did not shoot the arrow, and scored accordingly.
· Arrows believed to have passed through the scoring area but not retained in the butt may be re-shot with a marked arrow.
· An archer who shoots from the wrong marker or at the wrong face will loose the value of that arrow. It may not be re-shot.
· In rounds where IFAA rules are followed (Mainly Field and the IFAA Indoor round) the line is part of the lower score zone and therefore, to score the higher value, the arrow must cut through the line.
· In rounds where FITA rules are being followed (Mainly Outdoor Target and some Indoor rounds) the line is part of the upper score zone and therefore only needs to be touched to score the higher value.
SPECIFIC SHOOTING RULES
The shooting rules as recognized by the Club shall be those pertaining to the International, National or other body whose round is being shot at the time. Copies of those rules shall be obtained from the appropriate bodies and they shall be made available to members when required. At any shooting activity the Field Captain of the day shall ensure that the shooters are aware of the rules for that particular round before the event commences.
OFFICER OF THE DAY
At all formal shooting occasions and events an Officer of the Day to be known as the Field Captain shall be rostered from within a list of the most experienced senior members of the Club. The Club Committee will be responsible for making up this list.
The Field Captain shall have overall responsibility for ensuring the smooth operation of the day(s) events and will be the senior club member in charge of all the day(s) shooting activities. He/She may delegate responsibilities to other club members as they feel appropriate for each occasion.
The Field Captain shall adjudicate on all questions pertaining to the shooting events within his/her control.
The Field Captains decisions are final on the day. Any Club member dissatisfied with any decision must express that dissatisfaction with any decision must express that dissatisfaction in writing to the Club Committee within 7 days of the event concerned. The Club Committee will arbitrate the matter at its next full Committee Meeting.
Each Field Captain must make him/herself aware of all matters, rules. Regulations, etc, pertaining to the day(s) events prior to the occasion. The Field Captain must ensure that the range/course concerned is correctly prepared for the event, the appropriate targets are available, score cards ready, made out and set up into shooting groups, rules and instructions given to shooters, the event got under way and supervised, cards collected and checked after the shoot, awards, prizes, etc, correctly organized for a prize-giving if applicable and results/information passed on to the appropriate Club officials for recording or publicity.
To help the Field Captains with these tasks, the Club will publish a handbook which will contain the necessary information and will ensure that there is available the latest information on the various rules and rounds published by the various International and National archery bodies, and shall ensure that any other equipment/information that from time to time may be of specific help is made available.
ACTIVITIES
The equal weighting of the five activities described below may be altered at the discretion of the Committee to reflect the interest of the current Club membership, but in ay one year, each of the five activities must be available for member participation.
FIELD
The Club shall erect and maintain a field course(s) at a suitable permanent location which shall become the Club’s head quarters. This shall remain open at all times for the member’s use except during such times as the Club Committee for Range Captain, after consultation with the Club Committee, deem it necessary to close all or part of the course(s).
TARGET
The Club shall erect and maintain an outdoor target range at a suitable permanent venue as close as possible to the Club Head Quarters. If possible this shall remain open at all times for the member’s use except during such times as the Club Committee and Range Captain deem it necessary to close it. At least one Sunday per month shall be set aside as a formal club competition day to be known as a “Card Shoot”. Other competitions may be arranged at various times of the year as deemed appropriate by the Club Committee.
INDOOR
The Club shall erect and maintain an indoor target range at a suitable permanent venue within the Club’s locality. At least one evening per month shall be set aside as a formal club competition to be known as a “Card Shoot”. Other competitions may be arranged as deemed necessary by the Club Committee.
HUNTING
Although hunting is seen as an individual recreational activity, the Club will encourage those interested in hunting to participate regularly and help in the training of others. The club will encourage those interested in hunting to participate regularly and help in the training of others.
The Club will also organize from time to time, group hunting activities open to all members who have demonstrated suitable competence in shooting skills and who have acquired the appropriate technical skills and knowledge of the ethics required.
Training programmes and rounds designed to test bow hunting shooting skills shall be made available to members from time to time but in any case at least twice per year.
The test rounds shall be set out over 20 targets with a maximum range of 30m and with targets that show the major kill zones set out appropriately. These may be scored with points or a simple kill/wound designation, but in any case must require at least a 75% success rate.
The Hunts Master will be responsible for organizing at least three (3) Club hunting activities each year.
SOCIAL
The Club Committee shall arrange at least tow non-shooting social activities per year which are open to all Club Members. These shall be such day or evening events as are deemed appropriate but he Club Committee at the time, keeping regard to overall cost and suitability to the majority of members, including families.
ANNIVERSARY TOURNAMENT
The Club shall hold an Annual Anniversary Tournament on the 2nd weekend in May. This tournament shall be an unmarked animal round field tournament of at least 2 rounds duration. If possible it shall be staged over two days with more than 2 rounds being shot. An invitation shall be made to all clubs to attend this tournament and its festivities.
Awards in the form of pennants or cards shall be printed for presentation and a prize table made available to the first 3 place getters in each division of the tournament based on overall aggregate tournament scores. A decision to restrict or extend the number of award placings may be made by the Club Committee according to the actual number of entries in each division. In general there should be at least three entries in any one category for it to be treated as a separate division.
The divisions for this tournament shall be set as follows:
· UNLIMITED: Any type of freestyle equipment shot with a release aid
· LIMITED: Any type of freestyle equipment shot with fingers
· UNSIGHTED: Any type of bare-bow equipment
· GRADED: For all graded shooters including ladies and juniors.
· LADIES: For open lady shooters.
· JUNIORS?CUBS: For open juniors and clubs with the proviso that if numbers justify it a separate cub division shall be made available.
· LONGBOW: For traditional type equipment, i.e.: Longbow with feather fletched wooden arrows.
It is important to the tradition of this tournament that an emphasis be generated towards fellowship of the bow, participation for its own sake and enjoyment by all aspects of the occasion.
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
The dates for the Club Championship and rounds to be shot shall be decided on by the Committee, taking into account the experience of the Club’s archers.
The Championship tournament shall include three separate disciplines; Outdoor Target, Indoor Target and Field. The winners of each division in each discipline shall be presented with awards, in the form of certificates and any trophies which have been donated for such position.
Members within each division with the highest aggregate score taken over all three disciplines shall be recognized as the Club Champions and presented with certificates and an annual trophy. Their name shall be added to the club honours board.
The Club Championship shall be contested in the following divisions; however, these may be adapted to suit the make up of the Club at any particular point in time.
OPEN: Any type of equipment or style except crossbow.
FREESTYLE: A sighted bow of any type except crossbow, shot with fingers.
BAREBOW: Any type of bare bow or bow hunter style shot with fingers without sights, except a cross bow.
LADIES: Lady Archers shooting any style or bow except a cross bow, and who are not classified as a graded shooter.
JUNIOR: Open junior shooters between the ages of 13 and 16 inclusive.
CUB: Un-graded juniors 12 years and under.
GRADE: Graded Senior and Junior archers, male and female (exclusive of cubs), who have not yet attained open status.
All graded archers, juniors and cubs will shoot from their normal pegs or ranges during the Championships.
Only full club members are eligible to enter the Club Championships.
The Club may, at the discretion of the Club Committee, invite other archers to participate in this event however; such visitors may not take awards other than those special awards which may be established for that purpose.
Awards and trophies shall be presented at a social occasion.
Awards and trophies for the annual hunting competitions, and the competitions themselves shall also be timed to coincide with the Annual Championships, and be presented at the same occasion.
CLUB GRADE SYSTEM
All members of the Club on first joining shall be appointed an appropriate shooting grade in each discipline according to their ability. The grade system allows fair competition within the club while at the same time providing for astructured progression of each archer’s ability.
Established archers joining the Club shall be placed on an appropriate grade by the Registrar and Coaching Director according to their shooting record and their initial performance within the club. New archers will automatically be placed in the novice grade and will progress form there according to their individual abilities.
The system shall have seven steps:
LEARNER: The beginner/first time shooter.
NOVICE GRADES: 1 to 3: The grade shooters progressing through the instructional programme.
OPEN GRADES C TO A: The established archers having fully graduated from the novice grade programme. They are graded according to predetermined score levels. All archers, both senior and junior, participate in this programme.
CUBS: Will be a grade in their own right, shooting from the equivalent Grade 1 positions. Cubs of exceptional skill may be allowed to shoot as juniors in the overall programme and will be given three trials to test their skill. After this if they continue outside their grade they must then remain as full juniors.
Each novice grade step shall have its own distance pegs or ranges to shoot from in any event in any of the disciplines with the exception of the FCA Hunter’s course and hunting qualification round.
Learners are first time archers learning the basics and should not be allowed to compete until placed in the grades by their coach.
GRADE DISTANCEDS
Grade distances for both indoor and outdoor target shooting are calculated by deducting 20% off the preceding longest distance. In other words begin with the open distance in each case and deduct 20% from each grade to fine the next.
Indoor Grades
Distances: Learner – 6m
Grade 1 – 9.2m
Grade 2 – 11.5m
Grade 3 – 14.4m
Open – 18m
In any round with other than a standard 18m rnage, the grade distance is determined as above.
Outdoor Grades/Target Grades
Distances: The grade distance to be shot in each case is determined by calculating as above, beginning with the longest open distance in each case. The maximum initial outdoor distance for learners is 10m then extending it to Grade 1 of the Club Grade Round.
The Collegiate Round and Club Grade Round:
Cub and Grade 1 – 25.6m
Grade 2 – 32m
Grade 3 – 40m
Open Grades -50m
Field Grades
Distances: In unmarked animal rounds the four colour coded pegs are set out at the grade distances for each of the target sizes. These are a set of maximum and minimum parameters within the Standard Club Round measurements (see Range Layout).
Learner: Shoot on a fixed practice target butt, maximum initial range 10m then extended to Grade 1.
Grade 1 and Cubs: - From the Yellow Peg
Grade 2 – from the Blue Peg
Grade 3 – from the White Peg
Open - from the Red peg using the normal sequences of pegs for the round
Grades 1 and Cubs shoot all arrows from the one peg. In one or two arrow rounds that use closer pegs graded shooters must not use pegs beyond their normal shooting distances. Graded shooters may change pegs in the closer rounds as long as both pegs lie within their normal grade range.
In marked and unmarked IFAA rounds grades 1 and 2 and Cubs shall shoot form the IFAA Cub peg, Grades 3 and 4 and Juniors shall shoot from the IFAA Junior peg.
In FITA Field rounds Cubs and graded shooters use the peg which is placed in the appropriate sequence for their grade.
BECAUSE of their greater degree of difficulty it is not recommended that Graded Archers shoot IFAA or FITA rounds.
Grade archers, Juniors and Cubs may compete outside/beyond their grade only three times. If they compete above their current grade for more than three competitive rounds they must stay in the anew grade from that point on.
To graduate from one grade to the next a grade archer must obtain score levels of 75% of the possible for the round being shot. Only one grade score is needed to move from Grade 1. Three 75% score levels must be achieved in each of the other grades. The final decision to regrade is made by the Registrar after consultation with the Club Coach and Coaching Director.
In the event that an archer shoots his final grade score for a particular grade during a tournament that archer does not change grades until the tournament has been completed. Graduation is not automatic on completion of the grade scores but is formalized but he Club Registrar.
Learner archers do not obtain grade scores as such bit are placed into the system, usually at Grade 1 stage, by the Club Coaching Director in consultation with the instructing coach, when it is felt that a suitable standard has been reached.
To qualify as grade scores all score cards must be witnessed by at least one other archer or adult and must be forwarded to the Club Registrar who keeps the Club record of all member’s progress and who will recommend the appropriate awards.
Score cards must contain the name of the archer, the witness, the date, the round, the archer’s current grade and the score, preferably kept by using a running total.
Novice and grade shooters are under the overall supervision of the Club Coaching Director who may at the request of a club coach or instructor hold an archer back of delay a grade if it is felt to be of ultimate benefit to that archer, even though the three grade scores may have been attained.
