Clout Archery is shooting at a fixed target at quite long distances. Traditionally the distances were 180 yards for Gentlemen Archers and 140 yards for Lady Archers. We tend to shoot 160 yards and 120 yards as we are 'pussies'. The Clout round is usually three dozen arrows. The lower picture shows the archers using a marked tape to see which arrows have scored. The scores are 5,4,3,2 and 1 depending how close to the flag or Clout they are.
The difference in shape
of a warbow and a target bow can clearly be seen when
comparing the two bows nearing full draw in the foreground of each picture.
In the picture on the left a 130 lb draw warbow is nearly at full draw, you can see the bow bends from each side of the archer's hand, the bow is said to bend full compass, this makes the bow fast and good for distance shooting, it is however, less forgiving and therefore less accurate to shoot at shorter distances. The arrow shaft is 1/2" diameter and 32" long, if the shaft was any thinner it would be liable to break on loose when shooting from a 100 lb plus bow!
In the picture on the right a target bow of 55lbs is almost at full draw. The bow shows the Buchanan dips (named after the bowyer Buchanan) which is a stiffened section approx 10" each side of the archer's hand this slows the speed of the bow reducing distance but greatly increasing consistency and therefore accuracy at shorter distances. The bow bends from the end of the risers. The arrow shaft is 11/32" and 29" long.
