Scary Bouncers

[andrew.paterson]

Just got back from a Worcester shoot at HMS Collingwood, and had to say I saw the most bizarre bouncer.

The backstop netting was held up in one place with a metal netball stand (behind the netting of course), and was between two targets. The recurve archer released an arrow, missing the target competely and hitting the stand directly.

It is amazing how cool the shooting line remained when the arrow came directly back at the line, and ended up a full 5 meters behind the original starting point. I was at full draw at the time, but must admit wasn't thinking "gold, gold, gold" but "miss, miss, miss"

[LineCutter]

I get a lot of those when my son shoots -he draws all of 6# & with most targets there isn't enough "oomph" to embed them. Has to be said that they don't usually get back to the archer.

What shape was the arrow in when it stopped??

[Jenny]

That is scary!

I must admit I've had one land about half a metre from my feet before though....it's those darn foam bosses


~Jenny~

[Little Miss Purple]

I managed to catapault I think is the better description.... the arrow hit the edge of the boss and did all sorts of weird and wonderful movements and landed 4 targets down the line!! We were outdoors at the time so not so drastic!

[Furface]

I did on once where I forgot I was shooting barebow, and aimed at the centre of teh target and not a mythical point on the floor. My arrow hit the end wall above - way above - the safety netting, and gracefully arced its way back towards teh compoundeer at full draw next to me. It landed just at his feet. Time did seem to stand still.
And, while teaching nippers in a school hall last summer, one of them did that, only for my colleague Andy to stand smartly in front of the offending archer, and catch the arrow on its way back

[LineCutter]

Originally Posted by Furface

And, while teaching nippers in a school hall last summer, one of them did that, only for my colleague Andy to stand smartly in front of the offending archer, and catch the arrow on its way back

Wow! He took an arrow for the sake of the kid who deserved it. Greater love hath no archer than ... oh, I see, he grabbed it from the air - I'm still impressed!

[Trunkles]

I've was standing in the hall when one arrow hit something on the boss and flew back between my head and a fellow club member, out the doorway of the hall and down the corridor. Must have bounced 30 yards.

[Rik]

Shooting indoors in a church crypt (not quite as creepy as it sounds...) I saw the old dear next to me bounce an arrow from her compound off a wrought iron pillar. It came back down the range at floor height and hit the wall just behind where we were standing. Wouldn't happen at our current indoor venue, as there is a "pit" inbetween the stage we shoot at and the platform we shoot from. Bouncers end up down there.

[LineCutter]

That's one way to stop beginners straying across the shooting line!

How do you get your arrows back?

[MovingTarget]

My sister did the nearly shooting someone in the foot thing on the training course with a bouncer, but the best one I've seen involved my parents.

My sister had purchased a (from what i can gather) 4th hand bow. Shoots fine, few scratches etc. My mom had a go at shooting with my sister's bow, hit the target stand and the arrow came spinning backwards through the air before striking my dad (who was behind where we were shooting from) in the knee. It could have been an outtake from the Matrix or something like that. the way it happened. It was almost in slow motion just watching the arrow cartwheel backwards towards it's unintended target.

No injuries, but gives you a real shock when you're not expecting it.

I'd also like to point out there had been no arguements prior to the incident and it was a genuine accident. Pretty funny though *If only that camera had batteries*