Field Party in the Wild - American SRS round, 5 July 2026

On the 5th of July, Glasgow Archers ran our first record‑status shoot since 2019. In the intervening years, COVID, field drama, and the usual twists of club life conspired to keep us off the competitive calendar. But hosting our traditional Fourth of July American round and BBQ finally had us back in the game, baby! This was a Scottish Record Status (SRS) shoot and a lot less laid back than the club is used to.

But how exactly were we back? New field. Inexperienced field party. Less kit than we used to have. On paper, it could have been rough. It could have gone spectacularly sideways.

Spoiler: it didn’t.

Yes, there were hiccups. Someone didn’t read the field map and the field was briefly doing its best impression of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Saturday’s high winds nudged a marking rope so the 3‑metre line was ten centimetres out — the Koreans would have wept into their clickers. Our World Archery‑licensed 122 cm faces were only 120 cm top to bottom. King of the Line Cutters, Geo, has already lodged an official request for ten bonus points to compensate for lost line cutters. And the weather? Soggy. Breezy. Scottish. In other words: business as usual.

Judges’ opinion on the field: Satisfactory. Now where’s our tea?

Chef John and his kitchen staff

Once Tourney Organiser John handed things over, the shoot was in the hands of the three judges (three wise men, three witches, three Stooges — depends how many line cutters they didn't give you). From then on, the field party's job was to fix problems, the worst of which was the wind yeeting a couple of faces off their pins mid‑end. Cue a FAST call, a heroic trot down the field, a re‑pin, and a trot back.

Although let’s be honest: if you believe any field party member “trotted” anywhere, we’ve got a brand‑new compound bow — only shot once by a little old lady and never dry fired — that we’d love to sell you.

After the shoot wrapped, the BBQ kicked off. You’ll be delighted to hear cannibalism was avoided and no one was bitten or trampled in the rush for food. Burgers, hot-dogs and Henri's legendary homemade vegan chilli were inhaled at a rate normally reserved for plagues of locusts.

Archers do not queue. They descend.

Many dishes died bravely.

While prize‑giving took place in the rugby club bar, the field party cleared the bosses. As tradition demands, we had more things to pack away than we’d taken out — including an unclaimed scope and tripod left on the line, exactly as predicted in our earlier article. Some prophecies simply fulfill themselves.

So big ups to the field crew from Sunday. It's seven years since our last record‑status shoot. And while this team only had four experienced members, the noobs stepped up and carried us through. The club hasn’t lost a step in producing quality do‑ers.

Your GA field party was: Chris, Geo, Henri, Chef John, Joliet Tony, Jonah, Laura (the Tent Queen), Mark, Meredith, and Michael who remained the anchor throughout. Fortunately, this time we mean that as a compliment.

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* This is a known problem but until there are enough complaints sent in to World Archery, it's unlikely they will do anything. If size is incorrect, as long as the face is smaller than it should be, under current World Archery rules, record status is retained.