Clout Archery

Clout archery is a type of competitive archery which is rather like target archery. However, with clout archery the archers attempt to fire for both distance and height. The goal is to release high into the air in such a way that your arrow drops down into the target like a hawk coming down on a mouse (except the targets are not moving). The ranges are very long. For men the targets are in ranges that measure 165 meters and for women the targets are in ranges that measure 128 meters. Clout archery tournaments are also held for youth archers and these have shorter ranges depending on the age-group.

The targets in clout archery are similar in design to those for target archery, except in clout archery the target is not up on a bale of hay or anything but is marked on the ground and surrounds a marked flag which is 30 cm square. This flag is inserted as deeply into the ground as possible so that the the flag itself is practically touching the ground.

A clout "round" typically consists of 36 shots off. Once they are given the signal to shoot, every competing archer releases six arrows in one "end". Once the command is given to end the "end", the archers all walk forward and go to their targets to calculate their scores, collect their arrows, and mark their hits. There is often used a "Double Clout Round" system in this specie of competition wherein the archers will shoot 36 arrows twice. In the Double Clout Round system, the arrows can be shot either in one-way or two-way. So, they can either all be shot in one direction or in two directions. The archers are permitted to use any kind of recognized bow, from compound to longbow, to compete. This aspect is very wide open.

The scoring in clout archery can be complex to follow, especially for beginners. A measure of rope with a looped end is placed over the flag stick. The loop is divided into concentric circles which serve as the scoring zone of the target. These are indicated by five different colors, gold, red, blue, black, and white. The gold ring scores five points, the red ring scores four points, the blue scores three points, the black two, and the white one. Once this is all set up, the rope is walked around target area and then the "end" is released. At the end of each "end" the those arrows which have fallen within a particular scoring zone are laid out and the rope is removed. The Scorer calls out the name of each archer who in turn call out their scores to him while they are going about retrieving their arrows. The Scorer tallies them up on his master scorecard. Here the scores are listed in ascending order just as in target archery. And, as it probably goes without saying, that archer who scores the most points wins the prize.