Shooting

CLOUT SHOOTING

A game that always stirs one to do his finest shooting is called "clout shooting." A 4-foot, white circle should be laid on the ground with a tennis marker. Now, everyone entering the competition should select his three best arrows and retire to a distance of 60 yards. Each boy should shoot his arrows into the air and try to drop them into the 4-foot circle. The archer nearest the circle, or nearest the center of the circle, wins.

WAND SHOOTING

Shooting a wand is a game that comes from the days of Robin Hood. Place a 1-inch, square white stick 4 feet high on the shooting range at 60 yards. Each boy shoots three arrows, and the one striking the wand is an excellent bowman.

THE HUNT

Very often, it is fun to organize a hunt. Cut life-size forms of various animals—rabbits, wolves, a bear, deer—or any other animals that strike your fancy. These can be cut from discarded, heavy, paper packing boxes and nailed to stakes which are stuck in the ground to hold the animals upright. One or two members of the group should hide these in a wooded lot, then the rest of the group stalk the wild game, shooting at a distance of not less than 30 yards. A hit, to count, on large game must be in the chest region of the animal. It is interesting to see how good hunters the boys are, and how few arrows they lose!

POP-IN-JAY

Pop-in-Jay is another game that is as old as archery. Something to represent a bird is fixed on the top of a pole, or a limb of a tree, some 30 or 40 feet from the ground. Each archer takes his turn at shooting two arrows to see who can bring down the bird. Anyone near by should keep his eyes on the arrow in flight and take care that he is not hit by its descent.