Shoot report – Thornbury Archers – October 2018

Thornbury Archers October shoot

So on a very foggy Sunday morning we would load up the car and head south on the motorway to just outside Bristol for the Thornbury archers NFAS shoot. Thornbury had wanted to start early, stating registration would close and they wanted to start by 9:30, so it was an earlier start for us being a little over an hour drive. I’m not sure exactly what time we did get started shooting in the end as it didn’t feel that much earlier than normal. Thankfully the fog quickly burnt off making the journey easier and leading to a lovely bright autumnal day.

Sharon shooting a 3D panther between the trees

This was the first shoot we would have done since the NFAS national championships in mid-September and only the third time I’d picked up a bow since, so there would be a few cobwebs to clear and muscles needing reminding of how to shoot. It was a good opportunity to catch up with people and a chance to have a chat with friends we hadn’t seen for a few weeks.

Jim shooting another 3D owl in the early morning sunlight

The woods are a mix of deciduous trees with a few areas of dense undergrowth allowing for a few dark corners. The land is mostly flat, with only a few gullies and the famous Thornbury tower shot which this year would be at a 3D bear in the undergrowth. The set-up of the course was to be 40 targets, being a mix of 3d and paper faces.

There would be five of us in our shooting group, with Gail in ladies hunting tackle, Jim shooting trad bow hunter (both of whom we’d shot with at Druids earlier in the year) and Martin shooting in the primitive class, with a bow he had only finished making a couple of days earlier.

Martin shooting 3D wolf

The course layers made some good use of dead ground and also were able to use a new part of woodland offering some lovely shots in the early morning sun and views of some ancient oaks.

One of the ancient oaks and cleverly set targets

One of the ancient oaks and cleverly set 3D targets

This meant there were several new shots as they had reworked areas of the woods completely from our last visit. You can read a shoot report of that visit here.

The day would flow well, with lots of conversations and jokes interrupted by the occasional shooting. This made for a very relaxing and enjoyable day. Top marks to the catering team too, who seemed well organised and had an ample supply of lemon drizzle cake.

Personally I think there were a couple of shots that were stretched, where maybe the red peg might have been better suite as a position for a wasp peg. They did use wasp pegs on some shots, which was nice to see. The two shots that I mean was one at a small squirrel on the wooden stump (One Two Tree) and a paper face caribou in the gully another.

squirrel 3D on the stump

To be fair to the course layers I did think they set some really nice shots, including one of the 3D owls. This target was set to appear as though it was sitting in a nest but was in fact on a post a few feet behind.

Martin shooting the owl 3D between the trees

Close up of the owl between the trees

I feel the only negative of the day was the number of arrows Sharon broke, 5 in total with a couple being due to the metal hoop pins used to secure the 3D targets. She had one hit the pin and glance off and another on the same target hit the 3D and penetrate the foam hitting the securing pin. I did mention this to one of the marshals, suggesting in future they might want to reconsider using the metal pins replacing them with wood dowels as it would be kinder on any arrows. Other than the fatalities to the arrows it was a really enjoyable day.

Sharon shooting the paper face tiger on the hillside

I’ve always liked Thornbury as on previous occasions they have always had a couple of nicely set targets, normally a fox 3D set to appear to be going through a dustbin. Whilst they didn’t have this shot this year, they did have some very nice shots. Our last being one, a paper face Tiger on a hillside is well worth mentioning as it looked great.