Archery
Traditional archery is practiced in Aethelmearc. There are actually two types of archery in practice, Combat archery under the Heavy Weapons (Rattan) Marshals, and Target Archery under the Archery Marshals.
Types of bows:
Arrows used must be made of wood, have field points and real feather fletchings. Crossbow arrows (bolts) may have other period style fletching, such as parchment. All of these bows may be sited (have a marking or other guide to line up with the target.) and have different weight (poundage) classes. These classes do not generally matter in competitions, but may be more relevant to an archer's experience, size, or skill level.
Typically competitions do not have different rules for the different types of bows. Crossbows (taking longer to load) are at a slight disadvantage for timed shoots while at an advantage for most other shoots.
All archery competitions and practices must have an archery marshal (safety officer) present to ensure safety. All bows and arrows are inspected for safety. This is not a guarantee of the equipment being in safe condition, rather a check to weed out obviously unsafe equipment.
Different types of targets and shoots:
- 20, 30, 40 yards
- Advancing/Retreating man
- The Clout
- Friend/Foe
- Royal Round
- Inter-Kingdom Archery Competition
- Unicorn Archery Challenge
- Novelty Shoots
- Woods walk