Why is the US kill rating so different?

Question

In European 3D archery we've (besides a few "uncommon" ratings) two basic rating systems:

One kill

The yellow, red and blue area is "the kill":

• First arrow - Kill: 20
• First arrow - Body: 16
• Second arrow - Kill: 14
• Second arrow - Body: 10
• Third arrow - Kill: 8
• Third arrow - Body: 4

Split kill

The yellow and red area is the center kill. The blue area is the kill.

• First arrow - Centerkill: 20
• First arrow - Kill: 18
• First arrow - Body: 16
• Second arrow - Centerkill: 14
• Second arrow - Kill: 12
• Second arrow- Body: 10
• Third arrow - Centerkill: 8
• Third arrow - Kill: 6
• Third arrow - Body: 4

These ratings follow the concept that you score more points if you hit the lethal point of the target to maintain a "hunt like" environment.

Split kill: Green Arrow 20, Red Arrow 18, White Arrow 16

This makes sense imho due to the fact that you hit the heart in the "Centerkill" or the lungs in the "Kill":

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However, I noticed (at least) in the US the 3D rating is by far more complex:

I don't get a few things about this system. For example I feel like that you have to explicitly aim for the "non-scoring" point to hit it, what makes it a little bit useless. How did this system evolve and how does it make sense?

Answer 1

Arbitrary rules are just that - arbitrary. One point of difference is that in 3D archery in the USA, you get exactly one arrow per target -- there's no concept of a "split kill".

The ring you list as "non-scoring" is 14 points in ASA tournaments, but non-scoring in IBO tournaments. The smaller "upper/lower" 12 are only valid for ASA, and the middle 12 is only valid for IBO.

https://dmtargets.com/scoring/

Why? Who knows. But they have to be different or you wouldn't have two associations to join.

In other news, NFAA and USA Archery / World Archery use different rules too -- For instance: NFAA allows "barebow" to have a 12-inch stabilizer, where USA Archery / World Archery requires the whole bow to fit through a 122 mm ring when unstrung.