Anyone training to clout-shoot via body indexing?

Russ Mitchell · Post by **Russ Mitchell** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 7:50 pm

The more I read in the historical records, the more I recognize that my technique work is a good first step, but simply won't do in toto, because I'm not honing any ability to engage in meaningful indirect fire (which in English was called clout shooting).

I know that there are longbowmen who aim and mark sections off on thier bow for range... I haven't heard anything about folks working on really honing their ability to put an arrow in a given piece of ground *from above* by feel.

If any of you are, any pointers before I start losing all my arrows?

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:44 am

Rus; I have always wondered what clout shooting is. -j-

Ron Jachim · Post by **Ron Jachim** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:17 am

Clout shooting is distance shooting at a high trajectory, to simulate shooting at soldiers in a tower. There are many variations, all basically involve shooting at a round target laying on the ground. The usual distance is 100+ meters. The usual target size is something like 10 meters. Sometimes bales of straw are arranged in a circle to denote the target. Other times a sheet ot cloth strips are used. I've always wanted to try it. Perhaps I can talk the folks at IHAF into having a round.

Russ Mitchell · Post by **Russ Mitchell** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:10 pm

I've been wracking my brain trying to find a suitable site here in the metroplex, and coming up short on places that won't get me arrested...

jonR · Post by **jonR** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:03 pm

Ron
I talked to Dave a couple of years ago about a clout shoot at the IHAF. He seemed interested in the idea. I don't think he is in the "loop" anymore but
I'm sure someone there would be open to suggestions.
jonR

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 4:59 am

Roy,
English clout targets in the old days were much smaller than ten metres. "Clout" is an English dialect word for cloth and the target was a piece of cloth. Modern clout shooting has a flag in the centre of a 15 metre ring with concentric rings arranged like an archery target. The range for men is 185 metres.

The video Archery, its history and forms has a good reenactment of a Tudor clout shoot. The target was over a metre in diameter and there was a marker, who stood next to it and used flags and gestures to indicate where the arrow fell. The ranges were longer too. At Finsbury Field the stone marks survive and shooting those distances would test a modern longbowman.

One of the practices for qabaq shooting was to mark a large circle on the ground, gallop your horse across it and shoot your arrow straight up when you were in the middle. Once you could get the arrow to land in the centre of the circle, you moved onto to regular qabaq shooting.

ed · Post by ed » Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:53 am

I asked a similar question on another site and was informed that many longbowmen used to carry another stick which they also held in their bow hand. One end on the ground and the higher up the stick they held it the higher the trajectory, nothces being made for known flat land distances. makes even more sense to me if this is a yet to be finished stave.

You would be surprised at how quickly you can get a feel for clout, withing a few shots you will be getting within 15m of a target regularly. At the end of my first day I vowed never to stand still with an archer at less than 200m!