Tag Archives: archer

Sep 9 2013

Shoot report – Doverdale September 2013

 

My grandparents raised me when my mam went out to work. They always said if you can’t say something good don’t say anything.

I don’t entirely believe in that as constructive comments can be very helpful.

So here goes. On Sunday we headed about 15 minutes drive down the road to Doverdale shoot ground, a local club who have seen a number of changes in recent months.

We’d shot there previously and been demoralised by their tendency to stretch distances to shots. Stretching is a term I use when the target face or 3d is set further than the norm i.e. if a target is normally set at say 20 yards it might be a challenge at 22 yards but stretched if at 25 yards or more. (under NFAS rules all targets are shot over unmarked distances)

I know a few members of our club had not booked on the shoot because of past experiences, but we thought we would give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sunday was sunny but had a slight chill in the air, fortunately it stayed dry all day. Some 80 archers attended the event which would see a mix of 3d and paper faces. They have a mix deciduous mature woodland with a few dips and avenues.

So on to the course. Well I would say some targets weren’t stretched they were plain ridiculous.

Can think of two out of 36 that were sensible distance.

To give an example of the type of shot we faced. JVD, a paper target face publisher, produces a pheasant target face you often see on shoots. Normally it is set at 15 -18 yards for the first shooting peg, maybe 20 yards at a push. That day it was set at over 30 yards!!

pheasant

We shot (or attempted to) a paper face mallard that could have been a duckling for the distance.

duck

The shoot was immensely depressing to shoot and I must admit to giving up half way round. The only redeeming feature was the company as all of us were fed up.

I have never walked off a shoot but came close at lunchtime as did a number of others. I think many will vote with their feet next time and simply not book for their next shoot.

The day before we did our club shoot, which was a 36 target 3d course. Sharon scored 536 on Saturday and at Doverdale she scored 412, that was the winning score. I shot 670 on Saturday and 500 at the open shoot. Although we were both placed we were immensely demoralised by the shoot. Heaven knows what others thought.

Thanks for reading.

Sep 2 2013

Shoot report – South Cheshire – September 2013

First day of September started with an autumnal chill in the air and definitely a cool breeze. Fortunately the day remained dry and did brighten up with us quickly warming up as we got into the woods.

The last time I shot  South Cheshire  my shoulder was still causing me issues. Then we shot with Bob and Jim from Black Arrow. Sunday saw us start on peg 13 and shooting with the pair again. This proved to make for a great day filled with laughing and dry humour. Thanks guys.

South Cheshire grounds are over an hour and a half drive (subject to motorway being clear) so was an early start to get there for 9:30.

The course was a mix of 3D and paper targets, with some lovely set targets including a great one on a log.

Jim shooting Mountain lion on log

Jim shooting Mountain lion on log

One thing we found annoying was how some targets had trees behind them. There must have been at least 5 targets that directly behind the animal high score area there was a tree. Often the targets were 3d deer so if you over or under shot, your arrow would end up in a tree. I wasn’t the only one to fall foul of this and it did cost me a broken arrow and Sharon a bent one.

Due to the geography of the woodland South Cheshire have to break for lunch. Having said this it was a very free flowing day with no hold ups I think because numbers were low.

Some of the home made targets weren’t always easy to identify with a few being a little sticky; made for messy arrows. The club made good use of ground with great use of dead ground to trick the archers.

South Cheshire has a reputation for home made targets and one was great, so long as you aren’t arachnophobic as Spider shot was impressive.

spider from red peg

spider from red peg

Here is a close up.

spider close up - sadly my second arrow

spider close up – sadly my second arrow

In all it was a good shot made better by the company. We were the only ones from Severn Valley that were there but both came away with first paces. Bob came second in Longbow too.

Thanks for reading.

Aug 28 2013

Shoot report – Windrush

Windrush logo

Windrush logo

Firstly apologies for no photos in this shoot report. My camera was buried under waterproof trousers for most of the weekend. Yes a British bank holiday weekend and at times it was very wet, thankfully not all the time.

We set off on Friday afternoon fighting our way through bank holiday traffic arriving shortly after 5 pm at the campsite (read field). Pitching the tent we fixed something to eat before the rest of the svyf group arrived.

very wet Grasshopper on Saturday morning

very wet Grasshopper on Saturday morning

Windrush club (http://windrushbowmen.org.uk/wordpress/) is just outside Charlbury and were hosting a 2 day shoot over the bank holiday weekend. We hadn’t shot Windrush before and there were a few from svyf who had joined us for the weekend. Numbers at the event were quite low, 80 each day, which we think might be due to a couple of other 2 day shoots on and the Scottish Championships all being that weekend.

Windrush ground is a flat open deciduous woodland with a few areas of scrub and bushes. I think this is their new wood and they have use of part of it all the time and the rest only for the two day event.

The courses were a Mix of 3D and paper faces, 36 targets on each day. With quite a few changes of target faces or 3d targets on the second day. This would make for a very challenging couple of courses. Personally I think a there were a number of targets which were stretched for their size and distance which was a shame as the grounds and setting opportunities were extensive. 2 day shoots are always hard as fatigue sets in possibly compounded by a lack of a decent amount of sleep.

Morning of first day started early with heavy rain and overcast so on went the waterproof jacket and trousers. The second day started with rain but cleared up resulting in a warm sunny day just after lunch.

Windrush worked hard to make it a very sociable Saturday night with a hog roast and live band, who were pretty good playing a mix of blues and rock and roll tracks.

Saturday night band

Saturday Live band

Overall it was an okay weekend, neither of us felt we shot well on what were 2 very challenging courses.

Sharon like myself is struggling with distance judgement. I know I’m looking at targets and thinking okay that’s how far it is and then second guessing myself by thinking this is how far a target of this size should be and shooting it at that distance. Resulting in inevitable falling short as many course layers are stretching the distances targets are placed at. Targets you would expect at 30 yards are being set at 35-40 yards.

One of the hardest shots of weekend was on second day. Target 29 had been a standing 3d black bear facing you at about 48 yards. This worked well as if you misjudged the distance slightly but kept the line you might drop your arrow into the leg. Which i did with my first arrow.However on the second day this had been replaced with a stag at the same distance. The body mass of this target is about 20-22 inches so you lose any chance of dropping into the lower limbs. This takes it from a hard or challenging shot to a very difficult one when you consider you are shooting from behind a mound and having to get under the low canopy. Sharon lost one arrow on this target and I know others did too.

Our thanks to all at Windrush for all the work for the weekend. Great sociable Saturday, loved the band and amazed it stayed fairly dry.

Thanks for reading.