Sunday 23^rd January saw the Club’s second “annual” Clout Shoot, which was well attended with 16 members, old and new, shooting a mixture of bowstyles, with Recurve, Compound, Barebow, Horsebow, American Flatbow and English Longbow all being represented.

As some of the members hadn’t shot a Clout before, and after the obligatory pre-shoot briefing, two ends of 6 sighters were shot so archers could select what distances they could compete at. The start of the competition was then marked with the shooting of a whistling arrow, and archers stepped up to the shooting line for the first volley.

A Clout Shoot comprises 36 arrows shot in 6 ends of 6 arrows at flags placed on the ground at 180 yards, 140 yards and 80 yards from the line. The flags have a 12-foot radius circle inscribed around them in 2-foot wide zones, and arrows are scored by how close they are to the flag;the closest scores 5 and the furthermost score 1. Arrows landing outside the 12’ circle are not scored. Those arrows landing within 2 feet of the flag, or actually hitting it, are called “Clouts”, and on Sunday, a few archers achieved this.

Luckily the weather was dry and calm, and arrows flew straight and true! It was very satisfying to see so many arrows arcing high into the sky and land so close the flag, so that some ends saw a veritable forest of arrows within the scoring circle.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Certificates were awarded for each distance, and it was interesting to see that some of the new members (with not even a full season’s shooting under their belts) are now shooting well enough to take some of the prizes.

Of course, the aim of the day was to give the members and opportunity to shoot a different archery discipline, and it seems that everyone really enjoyed themselves.

The next Fun Shoot is planned for a weekend in March, so watch out for the report on that !