Tag Archives: American Flatbow

May 28 2015

Shoot report – NFAS 3D Championships

Flete Estate - 3D champs 2015

Flete Estate – 3D champs 2015

As I started writing this I realised a few things

  1. Firstly it was going to be a long report so I’m breaking it down into two parts. Overview of the event, day one and day two.
  2. Secondly some of my comments maybe read as gripes or criticism based on just not shooting well. That’s not the intention they are my observations, thoughts and opinions.

So here goes,I hope you like this epic.
The late May bank holiday weekend saw us load up the car on Friday morning and head south to just outside Plymouth for the NFAS 3D championships. Unlike others we had a pretty easy drive down and popped into the venue before heading to the hotel. This year we decided against camping and booked into a Premier Inn about 20 minutes drive from the venue. This would prove to be a popular choice of accommodation for many competitors as the restaurant and bar was well stocked with fellow archers in the evening.
The 2015 champs would be the first time we would shoot a 3D championships not held at Osmaston estate, instead it would be at the Flete Park, Devon. I think the extra distance put a few people off travelling, which was a shame as the venue was stunning in parts and relatively easy to get to on the roads (traffic allowing).
This year would also see Sharon defending her championship title in ladies Hunting Tackle. Here is a link to last years shoot report (Link )

40 v 36

Due to these lower numbers of attendees (some 550 rather than 650 or so in previous years) the organisers reduced the courses from the normal 40 3d targets to only 36.
I can understand why they did this, as it made it easier for the course layers but personally I don’t think this was to prove a good idea. The extra few empty targets might have lessened the delays experienced by some archers on the courses.

Start the clock

The other thing which was new was that they instigated a time limit of 8 hours from the start of shooting. Any archers not completing the 36 target course within this time would have to be scored only on the targets they had shot.
This worked with groups being off in good time, but I wonder if this was partly due to

  1. Reduced numbers at the event meant there were less people.
  2. No particularly long walk outs to the courses and corresponding walk backs at end. On some courses at Osmaston the walk back took 30 minutes.
  3. The mostly good weather, which resulted in people not slipping and sliding as much as at past events at Osmaston.

I’m not sure if I like the idea of a time limit. Would it have worked if there had been any problems? Who knows, guess time will tell in the future if they do this again.

Behind the scenes

There is a an awful lot of work that goes on behind the scenes at events like this, not just the setting of the courses but also the sourcing of a venue, organising delivery of 3ds and administration of shooting groups. I’ve been lucky enough to offer some help a couple of times to break down a course. So I’d like to say thanks to all involved.
Top marks to the administration team who, not only coped with last minute drop outs but also managed to get the first day and final results out and on the website within hours of the last people coming off the courses. Well done.

I would also like to say how great it was to meet new people and those readers and followers of this blog who introduced themselves throughout the weekend. Thanks guys.

What are the championships?

For those not familiar with the process of the NFAS championship here is a quick run down.
The championships consist of 2 days of shooting 2 different courses.
X & Y courses were for archers shooting compound bows, crossbows and barebow ie the metal/carbon arrow courses.
A & B were for longbows American flatbow, primitive and hunting tackle ie the wooden arrow courses.
You are randomly allocated to a shooting group. With all archers in the same class shooting the same course on the same day.
So I would shoot B course Saturday with all other flatbow archers and A on Sunday. Sharon was shooting hunting tackle so shot A course first and then B.
Okay so that is all for now. I’ll try and get the other parts written up as soon as I can. In the meantime thanks for reading.

May 5 2015

Shoot Report – Wasp Archers – April 2015

WASP archers wood

WASP archers wood

Sorry been a bit slow in writing this shoot report, but here goes. A couple of Sundays back we headed north to just outside Derby for Wasp archers shoot. Having had twinges in my shoulders which had cut my practice short on Saturday I wasn’t feeling confident.
Many years ago we had visited their old ground but this shoot was at a new site and would be their first shoot there.
Though slightly cooler than previous days it was still bright and warm enough for a spring morning.
Unlike some grounds who struggle with parking Wasps have ample space, which was good as the event was well attended with 100 or so archers present.
Sharon chatting with Mark from Artemis

Sharon chatting with Mark from Artemis

Added to this ample parking they have a lovely little wood,  with a great mix of deciduous and conifer woodland, with  a small valley which allows for a good mix of down hill shots.

View of the woods

View of the woods

Though a small wood they make good use of the grounds.

First target

First target

The  course would be made up of 40 targets with a 50/50 split of 3d targets and paper faces. Unlike Highcross the week before, Wasps alternated the targets so you would shoot a paper face and then 3d target then paper and so on. Something I think worked really well.
We would do two loops round the wood.

Sharon shooting across hollow

Sharon shooting across hollow

I don’t think there was anything over 40 yards.
Of all the targets I think there was only one which could have done with an addition of a net behind. Not for safety reasons, simply because it was well laid and tricked you causing you to just overestimate the distance resulting in arrows disappearing into the pine needles. Having said this there were marshals there to help. Thanks guys.

3D Turkey target

3D Turkey target

They had one special target, a 3D owl on a tree stump. If you missed you ran the risk of hitting a paper face behind and what you scored on the paper would be deducted from your score. So there was a  chance of a -24 -14 -8 on one target, I’m not a fan of negative target scoring but it was far enough that you had to be unlucky to get negative points.

Shooting group

Shooting group

Joined by Ann Marie and Shelley, both from Black Sheep Archers shooting barebow.

Last target of the day

Last target of the day

It was a really relaxing and flowing day and would definitely go back
Sharon won ladies hunting tackle but no medals for me as missed third place by 8 pts and 50 behind first. Still feel like I have a long way to go to get to the level I feel I should be.

Apr 20 2015

Shoot report – Highcross – April 2015

3D deer shot at Highcross

3D deer shot at Highcross

So Sunday saw us heading south on the motorway to Highcross clubs ground. Though Sharon had shot Highcross once before, it had been at their old wood, so this would be a new venue for us both. It was nice to visit somewhere new as everything is completely unknown.
Fortunately the weather was good, with a slight chill in the air it did feel cooler that earlier in the week. The good weather did mean I was able to get quite a few photos.
Unlike other shoots where there are upwards of 150 archers, Highcross had some 60 archers which made for a relaxing and easy shoot.
Highcross have a lovely wood with a 36 target course set up with targets 1-18 paper faces and 19-36 3d targets. For the shoot they had been able to secure an extra part of woodland which was where they housed the 3D shots.
First target of theday

First target of the day

Personally I’m not sure if I liked the 50/50 split, the 3d targets were really nicely set, well placed and at sensible distances, which gave archers confidence. The paper faces in general weren’t too bad, but I think it would be far to say that some were stretched. In stretched I mean target face being too small for the distance, this was especially the case for the smaller faces. an example of such was our starting one the rabbit. By having them in two halves it could make people feel despondent if they shot the papers first.

Sharon on our second target

Sharon on our second target

Having said this the course was still fun to shoot. The course layers making extensive use of framed shots between trees.
Another framed shot

Another framed shot

Really liked the setting of the capercaillie in the trees, looked very natural. It was lovely to wander round a wood and to hear only the sound of other archers in the distance.

Shot through the tree

Shot through the tree at capercaillie

It was also lovely to see so many primroses in flower covering the ground throughout the woods. Could have been called a Primrose shoot.
Minefield of primroses

Minefield of primroses

 Another great shot was the flying duck, shown below.
The duck shot

The duck shot

Sharon did really well getting a pro kill 24 point shot, the only problem was when you hit it, the target would spin round.
The 3D duck with Sharon and my arrow in

The 3D duck with Sharon and my arrow in

Our group included Steve and Rae both shooting barebow, with Gerald joining us to walk round with Rae and his dog Two-Bob.
Sharon chatting to Steve

Sharon chatting to Steve

It was a very sociable and relaxed day overall and it was nice to hear positive comments form archers who had attended our shoot the week before.

Rae Shooting at 3D

Rae Shooting at 3D

The day flowed well with no hold ups, maybe because of the lower numbers or simply because it was a good course, along with good catering especially the selection of home made cakes.
Sharon won ladies hunting tackle and I somehow managed a first in American Flatbow.
Think it will be a shoot we will return to, though not sure when their next shoot is.
Thanks for reading