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This last weekend did not only have British weathermen warning us of an impending great storm which promised to lay waste to huge areas of the UK along with winter clock changing (back an hour) but it was also to be the Artemis shoot. Busy weekend then.

People gathering for start

Artemis archers only host one nfas shoot a year as they are reliant on the good nature of neighbouring farmer to allow access to their field for their parking. For the last two years we’ve marshalled the event so shooting it would be a new experience. You can read past shoot reports here. 2012 and 2011

Their shooting grounds are on a wooded hillside not far from Belper in Derbyshire. This allows them to put on a mix of up and down hill shots which is not common in many club grounds and a lot of walking.

The course was to be of 36 targets mixed 3d, paper and a few exceptionally well painted hessian faces.this was Split into two large loops of 18 targets each side of the woodland with a food stop between targets 36&1 and 18&19.

The day started in bright sunshine but with a cooling wind reminding you it was autumn with November just round the corner.

As I said earlier over the years I’ve marshalled the artemis shoot twice but never shot the course. Even when i was a member i only managed to shoot part of the course so it would be interesting to see it from other side of the fence so to speak. Or should that be the other end of the bow?

The bad weather that was forecast fortunately stayed away with us having brief heavy showers and strong gusts but not the monsoon predicted. Speaking with the organisers i understand a number of trees had come down in the previous few weeks and organiser stated that if any more came down on the day they would stop the shoot on safety grounds. Fortunately the gusts promised didn’t materialise and we were able to shoot the entire day.

Artemis administration limited the numbers on the pegs to four which made for a quick day which was good considering weather. And change of clocks made sunset that little closer.

There were some long shots and one very interesting one on a boss half way up the wall which you had to shoot at 45 degrees.

Interesting new faces from France (http://normandie-archerie.com/ )which caught a lot of archers out especially the thinking gorilla. Pigmy hippo and small wolf caught me out. As a side note Not sure if I’m a big fan of faces that aren’t life size.

The thinking gorilla

I’d not shot for nearly 4 weeks and it showed in my distance judgement which was out and my fingers were feeling the strain.

One of few decent shots of day

Came in with 600 not too bad I guess but still not great but that’s what happens when I don’t get to practice.

Sharon did well winning in the ladies barebow class and a clean sweep in gents bare bow as severn Valley got first second and third. Well done guys.

Full results for the shoot are available here.

This will be my last shoot report for a while. I’m not booked on anything for several months and I’m trying to get my head back into archery following various things recently.

As always thanks for taking the time reading this. I hope you found it useful and interesting.

http://normandie-archerie.com/