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Rules
A PurposeSection E: En Route
E-1 Visitors
We are visitors on our neighbours’ land. This means:
- Gates are left as we found them.
- Fences are crossed with extreme care, without standing on the wires.
- We stay a discreet distance from buildings that are in use.
- We leave the livestock alone.
- We do not litter. Our orange peels, candy wrappers, bread bags and water bottles go home with us.
It takes one person’s casual mistake to alienate a neighbour, and ten years to regain their trust.
Gates: Teams don’t do anyone a favour by closing a gate the farmer left open – they may have wanted their cows to access both fields.
Fences: Fences are not ladders. Standing on the wire puts enormous stretching forces on the wire, and may break the wire. Teams may go under the bottom wire; may push (hand pressure) on an intermediate wire and step through; may seek out a low or slack spot, push down the top wire (hand pressure) and step over; or they may flip over a cross pole.
Buildings: If the farmer’s dog spots you, you’re too close. If you can tell that the curtains are open, you’re too close. If you can read the license plates of the farm vehicles, you’re way too close.
E-2 Snowshoes
Team members must each have a pair of snowshoes with them at all times. Whether they are carried or worn is a decision up to the captain. RM may waive this requirement if there is little snow.
This arose out of two circumstances: One was that the roads are often a quick way to travel but tough on snowshoes. (Feet too…) The other was that controls are often located in really awkward spots, amid deadfall, dogwood thickets, sides of cliffs.
We are in a region where snow on the ground in January and February can vary between a few inches and 2-3 feet. In heavy snowfall years, snowshoes were necessary, and teams tried to use open fields to take advantage of the wind crust. In light snowfall years, it wasn't an issue. When there is about a foot of snow, captains don't judge the conditions well. Requiring the snowshoes to be with them gives them the option later of putting them on. Even in shallow snow, snow shoes are a traction device and gopher hole bridge. Even in a foot of light powder that compresses down to an inch, snowshoes will reduce the energy it takes, and increse the speed you can travel on rough pasture.
E-3 Out-of-Bounds (2007)
Certain regions are marked on the map as out of bounds. Leaders will not knowingly permit teams to go out-of-bounds. Teams are penalized 20 points per minute for travel in out of bounds areas.
Out-of-bounds are marked on the map with diagonal hatching. The intent of this rule is that a team finding itself out-of-bounds will take the most direct route to get back in-bounds. Leaders should point out boundaries of these regions as they come up. In the event that neither captain nor leader was initially aware of being out-of-bounds, then the leader will inform the captain of the fact, and will measure the time to reach and cross the boundary. Twice this number of minutes will be used for calculating the penalty.
E-4 Captain’s Discretion on Routes
Captains may vary their route plan without penalty to take advantage of easy terrain or to avoid difficult terrain. (But see F6)
While captains have to file a map with their route on it, they don’t have to follow that course. Captains are expected and encouraged to modify their routes depending on circumstances. Example: If a stream is slushy, the fastest route may be to bushwhack to a known cutline, retreat to the road, and come back in at another point.
Certain clues require observation in the field, or may be in one of several possible locations. Find the control early in the search may make a route modification desirable.