Being Smart About Bunkering

Like anything there is a smart way and a stupid way to bunker someone. The basic idea to bunker someone is to pin them down by shooting around whatever they are hiding behind, then running up on them and either tagging them out or forcing them to surrender by catching them off guard. Being smart about this is a simple as following the rules. Every field has a set of rules that is to be followed when playing on that field, the details of these rules may vary but all fields have pretty much the same rules. All rules should be followed no matter how stupid they seem they are all there for your safety.

One rule that you should always be aware of when trying to bunker someone is the surrender rule. The surrender rule says that when you run up on someone if you can't tag them out you must yell "surrender" and wait to see if they do or if they try to shoot you instead. If a person does surrender you can't shoot them, however, if they do try to mark you first you have the right to shoot them. The standard distance is somewhere between 15 to 25 feet away before you need to follow the surrender, also this rule is mainly meant for when you catch some one unaware from behind. The purpose to this rule is to keep people from getting shot from close distances, because close equals pain or possible injury.

There are dozens of very good reasons to follow this rule. It keeps you from getting thrown off the field. It keeps you and your friends from getting hurt. Also, not following this rule could cause someone to get mad at you perhaps paying you back in the same way. Besides that when you shoot someone up close after sneaking up on them you have a higher chance of hitting them where they are not protected or where they are poorly protected; such as, in the neck, the back or top of their head, or the groin. hitting someone in places like these can cause a fair amount of pain, and it isn't something you want to do to a fellow player or have done to you.

I played a game about two weeks ago where something like this happened, but it wasn't because someone didn't follow the rules it was because someone didn't know how to do it. this kid was a first time player and didn't know very much about how to go about playing. In the match before this one he saw me bunker someone and i guess he thought he could do it to. He tried to bunker someone but got scared at the last minute and shot him in the top of their head standing only a few feet away. This is a perfect example of what i mean. the kid that got shot ended up with a small gash in his head, not enough to worry about stitches but more then enough to hurt and produce a sizable bump.

The best thing you can do is to follow the rules and know your own limits, so in addition to following the rules be mindful of what you are doing and don't try something if you aren't sure you can pull it off without anyone getting hurt. And if you can't follow the rules and be smart about playing within your abilities then don't play. it's not worth playing if your going to be risky about it, chancing injury because of ignorance ruins a great game and gives the rest of us a bad name. For those of us who try our best to ensure the safety of those we play with through rules and using our head, we don't appreciate you smearing that by calling your selves paintball players.