Category Shoots Reports

Write up and photos of shoots I’ve attended

Oct 3 2011

Shoot Report – NFAS Nationals

Well it’s been a while since I last posted on this this blog, so here goes.

So what has been happening?

The big thing has been the NFAS National Championships 17th-18th September at Eastnor Castle, near Ledbury. This is a 2 day shoot, where you shoot 2 different courses. A course on Saturday and this year Y course on Sunday. Photos here https://picasaweb.google.com/111701601294639380446/NFASNationals2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Originally there were to be 4 courses, 2 for wooden arrows (A+B) and 2 for metal (X+Y), but thereweren’t enough entires to warrent 4 courses so X course was dropped. This was a bit of a shame as it meant as I thikn it was obvious that Y course was not set for wooden arrows. I’m not complaining about the distances of the shots, but the choice of faces (very skinny for the distances) meant it pretty tough for woods. Whilst discussing target faces I was disappointed by the number of repeated faces on the courses. There are enough faces out there for a nationals course not to have to repeat faces

On the subject of target faces Merlin Archery (http://www.merlinarcherycentre.co.uk/) had a selection of new taret faces on display at their stall.Nice to see some new taret faces and some of them look really good.

We headed down on Friday and pitched the tent in the afternoon, glad we headed down in day light as it wasn’t the easiest place to find. There were a few people who had to pitch their tent in the dark, witht he aid of headlights and torches.

Ok so how did we get on? Well not too bad really. I came 20th in my category, best result at a nationals. Am really proud of Sharon though as she came 2nd (was second after the first day and managed to hold it together onthe second day despite a harder course) My personal achievement was not blanking any targets over teh weekend. Oh and we were 10 points behind the winners of the Nearest and Dearest trophy (2004 to 2014, Congrats to Andy and Carol Soars)

There are a load of photographs of thecourse and the weekend  (http://www.nfas.net/photos/2011Nationals.asp)

Overall a good weekend. Think the cost and distance may have put some people off which is a shame and maybe something organisers need to consider in the future

Sep 13 2011

Pines Park 9th September 2011

It was once again with some nervousness I returned to Pines Park this last weekend. I hadn’t shot the week before as I was helping out at Artemis Archers site (they are about to run their first NFAS shoot in November and there is still quite a bit of work to be completed for the course) Sadly Artemis have been the victim of vandals that have repeatedly burnt their buildings and some bosses.
I’d managed to shoot a little on Saturday but my should was aching and causing quite a bit of pain so kept it to just a few shots at the practise bosses. Back to the Pines Park shoot.

It was a 36 target course with a mix of paper and 3Ds. Some people had commented they would prefer all paper faces in readiness for the nationals, but I like many others thought the mix was just right
By their standards it was a quite shoot with only about 100 archers in attendance, which made for a very relaxed feel. Sharon and I were joined by Helen “H” Harris from LEFA, making only 3 of us in the shouting group. Big thanks to H for her support and company, was a great laugh. Maybe some people had been put off by the weather forecast but it remained dry and not that cold, but it was windy at times. Despite my shoulder giving me quite a lot of pain I managed to scrape a 3rd place with 526 points. When the painkillers kicked in the afternoon my score jumped by 100 points!! Must remember them for next weekend and take them in good time. Sharon didn’t shoot too well but managed a 2nd place (This in theory meant she bought dinner on Sunday night, which ended up being fish and chips by the way, but she didn’t have any cash)
The course was really good, with only a couple of targets that could be thought of as stretched distances and enjoyed shooting the new paper faces they have got from flybow (http://www.flybowshop.com/) in Ireland. If you could mark 24s on them I think they would be great. I’ve shot their course 5-6 times and think this was by far the best they had laid, with some really nice 3D locations that just looked good and right.
Top marks pines and look forward to next one. Now just have to survive the nationals

Aug 30 2011

Shoot Report – Castle shoot August Bank Holiday 2011

A few photos from a cracking weekend

Photos from weekend

Photos from weekend
Castle August 2011 Above is the trophy Sharon won on the First day

Over the bank holiday weekend we journeyed up to the Castle Bowmen grounds for there 2 1 day shoots. Neither of us had shot Castle before and thought this a great opportunity
So early on Saturday morning we packed the car and headed North, via Loughborough as we had to pick up some camping supplies. We’d arranged to meet up with some fellow archers at a local campsite, (thanks Karen for finding the site, was great) Arriving on Saturday afternoon we pitched the tent and then ended up moving it closer to the Conisbrough Castle Archers (http://www.ccarchers.webs.com/) crew.
Saturday was a BBQ and early ish night for the shoot Sunday. This would be a trophy shoot.
The course proved challenging with 4 loops to allow for stops at catering. Think they could have dropped one of the stops. Good selection of distances and some good use of dead ground. Though if you were under 5ft 6 I think a few shots might have proved very tough. We were shooting with 2 great compound archers from Black Sheep, Mark and Lynn.
Sharon won hence the photo and I got a 3rd place. The plan for the evening was a pub meal but when we got to the pub in the village we discovered they had stopped serving so it was across the road and Chinese take away. This was a great idea as it was fantastic, washed down with liberal amount of alcohol back at the campsite.
The only problem being, my shoulder locking up in the evening when I was getting out of my chair, actually read trying to get out of my chair. Guess it’s still not right and I wondered how it would cope with Monday shoot.
Monday saw some changes to the ground, with pegs moved and the organisers taking on some of the comments from the previous day had changed a few shots. Always good to see a slightly different course on the second day rather than the same again. Again we had the good fortune to shoot with Mark and Lynn
Mark put in a storming day of shooting scoring 900 points, sadly my back and should started playing up three quarters way round, but that was nothing in comparison to Lynn who at one target had her back crack. At this point I must say I think she was fantastic, you could see the pain in her face but she refused to give in and though her score dropped slightly she still put in a storming show. Well done a true inspiration to anyone who has physical difficulties but doesn’t allow them to stop them enjoying the hobby.
So how did the second day go?
Sharon won her second 1st in 2 days and I put in a personal best of 702 to win too.