Tag Archives: archer

Jul 22 2013

Shoot Report – Thornbury July 2013

Before we start

Before we start

This was our first visit to Thornbury which is just over an hours drive from home. Their ground is a mix of deciduous woodland and rhododendron with the course being made up of 34 mixed targets (3D, 2D and paper faces), yes 34 not 36 or 40, as the wood is quite small. Having said that they make very good use of the grounds, and have constructed a number of tree stands or shooting platforms.
Britain has been enjoying somewhat of a heatwave over recent weeks and we wondered if we’d suffer in the heat so had packed lots of water but we found the woodland very cool and not as humid as our home ground of svyf.
Sharon in summer shoot mode

Sharon in summer shoot mode. Look warm weather, with Sharon not in waterproofs

This was no doubt helped by the organisers deciding to drain their pond due to the number of  insects and mosquitoes. Good call in many ways as the pond is right next to administration and catering and think we would have been eaten alive.
This was the first time we had shot in nearly 3 weeks (Hanson being the last time) and it showed, we were both very rusty. In fact I had hardly touched my bow other than to run a couple of coaching sessions the week before. Add to this, that part way round we discovered that Sharons’ arrow rest had broken, we weren’t doing well.
Thornbury was a small shoot by NFAS standard with just over 60 people, which made for a very relaxed and enjoyable day. With only 3-4 on a peg and no forced lunch break time as it was a shoot through, it meant the day flowed well with no hold ups. Our shooting group was made up of Sharon, myself and Pug from Druids club.
We had a great day, with warm but not hot weather and really good company on a challenging and enjoyable course.

Unlike other shoots Thornbury use a public car park at a local leisure centre with a short walk to the wood. This is worth mentioning as the walk is down a main road so please be careful if you attend one of their shoots as drivers by might get a little worried seeing people carrying bows or large knives down the road.

Shot settings were well thought out and there were some truly amazing settings. They really had put in a lot of work.
3D deer

3D deer shot, with you in a hollow shooting along ground

The grizzly bear 3D target looked tiny from on top of shooting stand, but was a reasonable distance just set to challenge.

3D Grizzly bear in the distance

3D Grizzly bear in the distance

In the UK we have foxes in both rural and urban settings, one target was of a fox 3D set to look as though it was rummaging in an overturned dustbin.
3D fox

3D fox at the dustbin

Another was a 3d boar where they had mocked up a pig pen round it with straw on floor.  Top marks guys.
I can not think of any target that was stretched for the distance with some very good use of dead ground.

Though one target was a real challenge which was a toy rubber bat suspended on an elastic line dangling in front of a painted moon. You would shoot it from about 8-9 yards. The only problem was if the breeze caught it, it would spin.

Spinning bat

Spinning bat

Catering was good, basic by some clubs standards but not over priced and filling. Organisation was good too with a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere.  I think something that helped was they cap shooting numbers at 80ish so they can leave a few empty pegs between groups. This cuts down queuing and hold ups making for a free flowing days shooting.
The grounds are a short walk down a public road from a public car park, so consider this when leaving the car park.

So how did we do? Okay, but not great.  Sharons rest breaking cost her first place and at least  40 points but she still managed 2nd. As for me, well no blanks but too many 2nd and 3rd arrows so only came away with a second place.
As always thanks for reading.

Jul 4 2013

Shoot report – Hanson June 2013

Hanson at the start of the day

Hanson at the start of the day

Been a while since we have managed to make a Hanson shoot. (There is a past shoot report here) It used to be one of our nearer shoots, but since moving its now just under an hour and a half drive on a good day. This is a shame as Hanson have a good reputation for putting on a good course and excellent catering. They are also a friendly bunch of people too.

I think they have suffered recently with some archers not booking on their shoots due to parking and access issues. In response to this the club had done a lot of work to improve access to the car park. When I say a lot, I do mean a lot. They have laid 100 tonnes of hard core and gravel to make a road from the entrance to the wood to the car park.
Hanson road

Hanson road and entrance to car park

This has greatly improved access. Drivers were able to get in and out without problems.  Well done guys.

The Shoot

As for the shoot itself, it was a 40 target course with a 50/50 split of 3d and paper faces. We (Sharon and I) started on peg 15 with Andrew, Mike and Cassey all from Black Sheep club. I was the only wooded arrow shooter in the group,  the others being all bare bow archers, which made me feel a little outnumbered.
Weather was good, with sunny spells and warm but not too hot, which makes a change as it often rained at Hanson shoots.

Sharon at Hanson

Sharon at Hanson and not in waterproof clothing

The club had done a lot of work on setting up new and interesting shots, through trees and a great one where they have put a paper face spider target and draped false cobwebs round it to make appear in a cave. Wish I had chance to take a picture of it.

Another was a long standing bear, between the trees. This is a photo a friend took and posted on Facebook. This was a real challenging shot that resulted in a few arrows finding their way into the branches.

Hanson 3d Bear

Hanson 3d Bear

Overall it was a really good day, though the afternoon was slow, I think due to the number of archers present (there were 5 to a peg so 200).We kept catching the group up in front not their fault as at the longer shots people were taking 2 or 3 arrows.

The mistake we made was not taking an early lunch as we passed catering, the thing was when we got to catering the first time we had shoot  only 5 targets so weren’t feeling hungry. The problem was we would have to shoot 20 more targets before returning which meant we were hungry, tired and in need of a break.

The important thing was there was still apple pie when we finally got to have lunch at 3:00. Hanson do great food and I always try to get some apple pie.

Overall I think it was a really good shoot, everyone appeared to enjoy themselves despite some of the delays. I can only think of one target that might be thought of as being stretched which was a paper faced Wildebeest.

So how did we do?

Sharon came away with 680 a great score that got her first place. I thought I was shooting okay,  but not great having missed a few first arrows so  was surprised to hear Sharon say she had been chasing my score all day!  I came away with 700 matching my personal best. This won me first place. Maybe  my shoulder is finally settling down.

Post Shoot

The only problem with the day was at some point before I put on bug repellent I was bitten on the back of the hand  by a horsefly. This resulted in an allergic reaction and a very swollen hand, I managed to get my wedding ring off before it got too swollen. Thankfully I’m on the mend now.

horsefly bite

horsefly bite = very swollen hand

Moral of the story is remember to put on insect repellent.

As always, thanks for reading.

Jun 29 2013

Another walk in the woods.

image

Well I returned to the woods today to practice and wondered if the chicks were still there.
Not a great picture but the chicks are still alive and close to fledging.
Thanks for reading.