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Dude, LIVE ARCHERY RANGE!

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  • Dude, LIVE ARCHERY RANGE!

    So just came back from two glorious days of a medieval fair, running the archery range and having a general good time.

    Unfortunately, due to a bit of a fail with planning, it wasn't made clear that when the range is in place, there needs to be a huge f*cking dead zone behind it for safety reasons. Yes, we roped off the dead zone, but we STILL had problems.

    There were two main issues with where we were:

    1) We were right near the toilets (there were at least four blocks around the ground, so THAT wasn't the issue, but it was the closest ones for some of the other groups including ours)

    2) NONE of the groups located near us had archers as part of their membership. (Closest were the Dutch group who shoot muskets and a cannon)

    Several times over the space of two days, we had to yell "HALT" during a round because some twit would walk through our dead zone or juuuust outside of the rope, but still essentially in the zone. (to give you an example, we roped off about 50m out and we had someone who would walk 51m out) Inevitably, this was to have easier access to the toilets, because going through the general grounds was far too much for them apparently. -_-

    The WORST ones however, turned out to be the HEMA guys (basically people who will wear full armour and beat the absolute crap out of each other), who figured that since the public were only shooting low-poundage bows, it was perfectly fine. Er, no. If you see bows pointing in your general direction with pointy arrows on them, it doesn't matter how low poundage they are, you DO NOT WALK THROUGH A F*CKING ARCHERY RANGE!

    Thankfully, the public weren't sucky about it, because whenever we would call "halt," we'd turn around and start snarking about the twit who was stupid enough to wander through the dead zone (usually along the lines of "Ladies and Gentlemen, as you can see, this person is clearly tired of life. Unfortunately our insurance sucks, so this is why we call halt.")

    LARP arrows are a different story though - there was archery tag next door to us and they were actually fairly cool with the arrangement. We also made a deal with them that if their arrows landed in our dead zone (which was fairly rarely), they weren't to go jumping in here, we'd go and get them. Likewise, if any of ours landed there, they'd chuck them back over. No dramas.

  • #2
    You need to get some arrows tipped with cotton wool. Not for reduced damage on impact, but for remotely cleaning out the ears of the idiots in question, so you can yell at them more effectively
    This was one of those times where my mouth says "have a nice day" but my brain says "go step on a Lego". - RegisterAce
    I can't make something magically appear to fulfill all your hopes and dreams. Believe me, if I could I'd be the first person I'd help. - Trixie

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    • #3
      Quoth RealUnimportant View Post
      You need to get some arrows tipped with cotton wool. Not for reduced damage on impact, but for remotely cleaning out the ears of the idiots in question, so you can yell at them more effectively
      We actually have that kinda - a LOT of our members have LARP arrows. Part of our show at one of the fairs we're at involves half the club shooting those towards the other half who are riding in on hobby horses. The side who get the LARP arrows have to be shooting bows that have a draw weight of 30lbs or less, because shooting LARP arrows from a warbow (80lb+ draw weight/poundage) HURTS.

      Hmmm...this gives me ideas

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      • #4
        I don't care how "light poundage" the bows are, any arrow can find a gap in the armor. Remind these idiots that King Harold was wearing armor as well and look what happened to him...
        "If your day is filled with firefighting, you need to start taking the matches away from the toddlers…” - HM

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        • #5
          I'm a member of several rifle/pistol ranges and we have the same problem all the time. Your crew are shooting low power bows at most of these ranges we're shooting high power rifles. At one range we own past the top of the ridge and the range is fenced with 8-foot chain-link topped with barbed wire yet idiots climb the fence to see what is going on. Luckily no one has been shot but there has been a few close calls. Far too many people are out there trying to win a Darwin award but when then win their family will blame everyone but the winner.
          Bow down before me for I am ROOT

          Preserving precious bodily fluids sine 1952

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          • #6
            A bit , but last time I was at a Renn Faire, my son and I tried out the archery range. I've shot arrows before, but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

            There was an excellent instructor at this range. She told us how to stand, how to hold the bows, to look at the target and not down the arrow, etc. Thanks to her, I actually managed to hit the target with all four arrows (not the bulls-eye, but within the circles, which is still a big improvement!)

            Back OT, it's amazing how blase some people are about there own lives. It takes a Speshul Kind Of Stoopid™ to walk through a live shooting range!
            I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
            My LiveJournal
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            • #7
              Quoth XCashier View Post
              A bit , but last time I was at a Renn Faire, my son and I tried out the archery range. I've shot arrows before, but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

              There was an excellent instructor at this range. She told us how to stand, how to hold the bows, to look at the target and not down the arrow, etc. Thanks to her, I actually managed to hit the target with all four arrows (not the bulls-eye, but within the circles, which is still a big improvement!)
              We do very much a similar thing (and I got unceremoniously roped into that on my first day despite never having done it before ) at our range. Everyone enjoys themselves though

              (And this year, we trialled a kids range through one of the other groups run by a member - his group had a boffer fighting arena and a "kids" range where the kids had to hit a shield using a plastic bow and LARP arrows.)

              Back OT, it's amazing how blase some people are about there own lives. It takes a Speshul Kind Of Stoopid™ to walk through a live shooting range!
              Surprisingly, this year it wasn't the public so much as it was other re-enactors. We have had general idiots walking through the range before though.

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              • #8
                Quoth LadyofArc View Post
                The side who get the LARP arrows have to be shooting bows that have a draw weight of 30lbs or less, because shooting LARP arrows from a warbow (80lb+ draw weight/poundage) HURTS.
                Can't imagine it'd be a pleasant experience if you were to get hit in the knee with one.
                To right the countless wrongs of our days... We shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise...Oh, what a wonderful world such would be...

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                • #9
                  Quoth Mr Hero View Post
                  Can't imagine it'd be a pleasant experience if you were to get hit in the knee with one.
                  We have made that joke MANY times, up to and including the suggestion that I should steal our old dummy from the office, dress him up and stick arrows in him, including one in the knee. (I've also been making that joke of late, as aerial hoop results in bruising on the backs of the knees )

                  As it happens, this is why we specify 30lb bows or less for shooting LARP arrows. I've managed to get one guy in the groin and someone else managed to get our resident monk in the ass with one

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                  • #10
                    Quoth LadyofArc View Post
                    The WORST ones however, turned out to be the HEMA guys (basically people who will wear full armour and beat the absolute crap out of each other), who figured that since the public were only shooting low-poundage bows, it was perfectly fine. Er, no. If you see bows pointing in your general direction with pointy arrows on them, it doesn't matter how low poundage they are, you DO NOT WALK THROUGH A F*CKING ARCHERY RANGE!
                    Did they taunt you with a French accent? Or threaten to fart in your general direction?

                    Or were they INVINCIBLE!!??

                    Side note: I've thought about taking up archery with a recurve bow. Nowhere around where I live to practice, though.

                    Quoth Crossbow View Post
                    I don't care how "light poundage" the bows are, any arrow can find a gap in the armor. Remind these idiots that King Harold was wearing armor as well and look what happened to him...
                    "I used to go to ren faires, but then I took an arrow to the knee...
                    Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

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                    • #11
                      It would be amusing, if I had armor, to go to a Ren Faire wearing it but with a (fake) arrow taped so that it stuck out of my knee....
                      “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
                      One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
                      The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

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                      • #12
                        Too bad Darwin was out of period here
                        I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                        Who is John Galt?
                        -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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                        • #13
                          This is so overblown. I mean, they're only arrows, right? It's not like anyone's ever been killed with one.

                          <runs away>

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                          • #14
                            Quoth TheSHAD0W View Post

                            <runs away>
                            Go ahead, run. You'll just die tired.
                            "If your day is filled with firefighting, you need to start taking the matches away from the toddlers…” - HM

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                            • #15
                              And here I thought even the idiots could grasp the concept of "if you're pointed at it, you might just hit it" (otherwise more commonly known as "don't point at anything unless you want to hit it" when yelling at novices to put that f&€king thing down where it's not pointed at people. The amount of times on the range where I've had to tell some novice that shooting your instructor is bad for their health is ridiculous (They're holding their bow at full draw and the instructor will tell them to do/correct something and the idiot will turn to listen still with bow drawn. But it's the only time I can get out there). I use both a longbow (while standing) and short bow (for when I'm mounted).
                              Don’t worry about what I’m up to. Worry about why you are worried about what I’m up to.

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