Pennsic 43: Populace Archery Results
The East took two of the three populace shoots, for 6 war points!
The three traditional populace archery war point shoots were adapted to this year’s safari theme. Each shoot was worth three war points. Archers could shoot each of the three shoots up to five times on their own schedules, spreading them out over the five days the range was open for war point shooting, or doing them all at once if they wished.
On the Castle Window range, archers had 30 seconds to shoot as many arrows or bolts as possible into the window about 30 yards away, for one point each, or into the monkey hanging in the window, for two points per hit.
This year’s “Soldiers” were elephants and rhinoceroses. Archers could shoot six shots at their choice of target. Hits on the closest (about 15 yards) scored one point; two points for hits on the second rank of targets (about 35 yards); three points for hits on the third distance (about 45 yards); and four points for hits on the farthest distance (about 55 yards).
The center of the Clout was at the usual 100 yards, but the perimeter of the castle was square this year. Archers had six shots to send at their choice of the moat (about 50 yards away) or the castle turret. Shots landing in the moat scored one point; hits on the alligator in the moat earned two points; shots landing inside the castle were worth three points; and hits on the giraffe earned four points. The giraffe was about twelve feet tall, and proved to be a durable and well-designed — and challenging! — target; shots high on the neck or head could be retrieved by lowering the hinged upper portion. If tales told are correct, the giraffe was herded to Pennsic fully upright, and wore its own EZ-Pass transponder!
No accurate counts exist for the numbers of archers who shot in each of the war point shoots, but over 2200 inspection stickers were issued, giving a rough estimate of the overall participation.
At the end of war point shooting on Friday, final tallies were done and the East won 6 of the 9 available war points, as follows:
Castle Window: East = 2119, Midrealm = 1670
Soldiers: East = 7062, Midrealm = 5775
Clout: East = 4806, Midrealm = 4880
(Photos and report by Ygraine of Kellswood.)