# Scoring the field target



## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

I want to make sure that I got this right. I took up field shooting last December and shot a number of Hunter rounds over the holiday period. A couple of months ago I shot a field round with my son (the first time field targets were setup on the front 14 of the course). We scored the targets 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. I have since read that they should be 5, 4, 3 just like the Hunter round -- that the two rings in each set score the same. Is this true and does anybody know why the extra rings are there? If true, our intial scores were much better than I thought.


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## VA Vince (Aug 30, 2005)

Field face, the inner black is 5, middle white is 4 and the outer black is 3. Same goes with the hunter target but flip the colors.


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## rock monkey (Dec 28, 2002)

they're set up that way. there's plain ol' regular scoring of 5-4-3 for EVERYONE at EVERY shoot or tournament.

they're also set up to be scored as 5-4-3-2-1. that is called 'EXPERT' scoring and has to be declared BEFORE the first arrow of the shoot is scored by the club/org running the shoot.

not many clubs use expert scoring, but it is in the rule book.


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## TNMAN (Oct 6, 2009)

The expert round was used mostly by the pro division in lieu of a meaningless animal round that nearly everyone cleaned. The animal dots have changed that and some. :darkbeer:


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

Some clubs shoot the 10-target "International Round". 20 thru 65 yards in 5-yard increments. Three arrows per target, and twice through for a perfect score of "300". This round is easy to set up on almost any practice area and can be completed in just over 2 hours time. It also only consists of 60 arrows, for those shooters that like to complain about field rounds having "too many arrows" and "taking too long". hahaha.

However, one really competitive variant of the International round is to score it 5-4-3-2-1 (touching the line scores higher value). Many feel that it separates the Men from the boys, and the Women from the girls, ha. 

Miss "big" and you pay the price big time. Shoot one in the "black" outer ring and you are in bigger trouble score-wise.

Personally, I like the expert scoring and think it should be used more often, even for field shoots. The Top echelon standings probably wouldn't change much. However, for the mid-level shooters, I think that they would improve their game if they paid a higher price for a "big miss". 
With the present scoring if you miss by 1/32" you get a "4", the same as a guy that misses the dot by 5"???? Somehow, I think there should be more of a penalty for a "big miss".

One goal you might consider that would help your "real" scores, is when practicing....score yourself as 5-4-3-2-1....and make it a goal to not shoot ANY shots outside what we call the "idenity" ring (the first black line in the middle of the white area on the field face). Make yourself pay a price for a big miss, and IMHO....you will subconsiously buckle down and start to shoot better.

This is akin to many top echelon shooters that keep count of X's on their practice and tournament rounds, and are disgruntled with themselves if they shoot less than 50% X's on a 14-target half. To them, the X-count is their real indicator of how well they really are doing.

field14 (Tom D.)


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

Great responses. Mystery solved. I kept reading the rule book over and over wondering how so many rings could produce only three scores. I like the expert scoring as well. It makes it an even bigger challenge when you consider that I shoot most of my field rounds with a barebow recurve. I took up compound finger shootiing recently to see if I could become a bit more competitive. I cannot shoot traditional at field distances.


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