Tag Archives: archer

Jun 26 2013

Shoot report – Long Eaton Summer Solstice

Well it was billed as the LEFA Summer Solstice Shoot,note the summer part, it didn’t feel like summer. Windy with some very heavy showers it felt very autumnal as we arrived.

This weather made the shoot very challenging to say the least as the ground became very slippery under foot with myself and fellow archer John both falling. Fortunately neither of us sustained any real damage other than a a few thorns, though at one stage we wondered whether John had strained his hand.
For the day we were joined by father and son double act John and Ben Straw. Not sure what they are feeding Ben but I’m sure he’s grown again.

Ben and John Straw

Ben and John Straw

The course was a full 40 target 3d one with mixed sizes of targets and distances, with the normal break for lunch for an hour. LEFA had over 200 archers attend and devour the food off the lunch menu. Fortunately the heaviest showers weren’t during the lunch break or I think we might have been even wetter. I know a few people retired at lunch, due to weather I think.
As I said the poor weather made the ground slippery but also had the effect of lowering the tree canopy making some of the longer targets very difficult for lower poundage bows or for longbows that have a long cast. It also meant arrows would catch the canopy and skip off into the undergrowth. Resulting in time lost  searching for arrows, John lost 3 this way.
LEFA have come under criticism for the shoot being too hard and not up to their usual standard. I think this is a little unfair. The shoot was challenging with some targets being further than normal but not all and I have been to other shoots that have been far worse.
The weather played a major part in the problems on the day and I’ve tried to summarise the issues here.

  1. Rain made people wet and wet archers get cold and grumpy.  Kids get tired, feather fetchings become useless or at least less effective.  The can’t do much about weather, believe me I think there are many that would love to be able to.
  2. Rain brought tree canopy down making challenging shots, very difficult.  So maybe an inspection on the morning to prune trees would have helped but on the day organisers will be trying to sort parking, booking people in, etc etc
  3. Paths became slippery  due to the rain which slowed movement. Short of laying new paths etc not much can be done. Maybe a few steps or ropes hand rails might have helped but they had tried to cut in steps they just got worn away.

Despite all these problems it was still a good shoot, just not one of their best. So thanks to all the guys at LEFA. Dead ground was used on a number of shots and so was the undergrowth to hide distances.  Though I think shorter archers suffered as the bracken seems to have shot up.
Sharon had an off day, we all have them and when it happens there is little you can do. But it was one of those days for a number of archers and it saw her  not shooting as well as she can. Ben too was having an off day though he has swapped arrows recently, new bow limbs and has not been practicing due to school commitments.
Though I think Sharon had the shot of the day on the goat with a great 24. Well done.

3D goat at LEFA

3D goat at LEFA

One thing LEFA did do is angle some of the 3d targets and this made it harder to judge size and distances. It also resulted in a few glance offs.
The afternoon was slow not due to catching the group in front, more to do with taking our time to navigate the slippery paths, fortunately the weather improved (rain stopped) which is why there are no photos of the morning. My camera was buried under waterproofs.

Sharon in her summer shooting clothing

Sharon in her summer shooting clothing

Will we return ?

I know some people may have been put off returning to LEFA but we will, just not next time as we will be course laying for our shoot. Oh, how did we get on?

Almost forgot. Despite Sharon not shooting well she won gold with 518, Ben won in his class too, John retired as I think weather and his hand was giving him grief. I also won in my class with 618. Not too bad considering I didn’t get any 24s all day. It was only the second time Sharon and I have both placed 1st at a shoot.

LEFA trophy

LEFA trophy

As always thanks for reading.

Jun 22 2013

Walk in the woods – never know what you might find

One of the reasons I enjoy field archery as a hobby is the opportunity to be out and about. We have the opportunity to see natural sights that are often hidden or missed.

Bird nest

Bird nest

Saturday whilst walking from one target to another and dodging the heavy “summer” showers,  I spotted a blue tit flying to a hollow in a tree.

Watching I realised it was a nest hole filled with young chicks. With care I took this quick picture and then watched from a distance to make sure I hadn’t scared the parents away. Here’s hoping they don’t get drowned in the wet weather we are having or found by a hungry squirrel.

Will keep an eye out for it next week. Thanks for reading

Jun 12 2013

Shoot report – Hawk Archers June 2013

hawk archers

Hawk archers

It had been a while since I had shot at an archery club ground that was comprised of such a lovely wood or such testing terrain.

The Hawk Archers wood is situated in the welsh hills and is a lovely mixed broad leaf woodland. That is when you find it, as finding the grounds is the first challenge because it is tucked away down narrow country lanes and then over a mile down a farm track. Once there the views are wonderful.

This was the third day in a row I’d shot and though the shoulder is recovering I think I was asking a bit much especially with the number of second or third arrows I was having to take.

Due to the nature of the geography I think navigating the course would be very difficult in bad (read wet) weather  or even for parking as I can imagine the field being a bit of a quagmire. Having said that we were lucky as it had been dry for several days before and on the day. In fact the previous week had seen warm sunny days but the welsh hills that morning were a little chilly initially.
This was a small shoot compared with many other NFAS outings with only 50 competitors of mixed classes from homemade bows to the latest compounds.
Like many other courses this was to be a 36 mix 3d and paper with a couple of predator prey and nominate shots.

First Target - wolf in distance

First Target – 3D wolf in  the distance

We started on peg 31 – a long uphill wolf and yes it was as long as it looked.  The group was Sharon, myself and Dylan who we had shot with previously (about 5 years ago), though he was now shooting bare bow.

First Target - some how I managed to hit it with first arrow

First Target – some how I managed to hit it with first arrow

To say the course was challenging would be an understatement! We had been warned that the course would be difficult and targets might be stretched, but had gone with an open mind (and lots of arrows)
Sharon shooting at Hawk Archers

Sharon shooting at Hawk Archers

The course layers made very good use of the terrain with very few flat shots and lots of use of dead ground. When you combine the distance of the shots, with the geography or elevation of shots and size of the targets I personally think it was too hard. I felt a number of shots were stretched 5-10 yards further than needed.

3D mountian lion on log - yes I blanked this one too

3D mountain lion on a log

Reducing the distance by a little to the targets I think would have made a significant difference. and you would still have had a challenging shot. In all I blanked 3 targets and had way too many 2 or 3 arrows scoring just over 500.

Would I go back?  I loved the woods and the club is very friendly.The only thing that puts me off is the difficulty of the course.

Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a challenging shoot and like the occasional long shot, but good archers win from the red peg, average archers hit sometimes from the red normally from white and the blue is the last chance for an adult to hit. So when the difference in the distance between pegs is only a few feet on a 35-40 yards shot its not very forgiving. Also white pegs are junior pegs as are blue so making them long is not fair on youngsters who have lighter poundage bows.

Sorry this has turned into a bit of a moan and dig at Hawk club, in fairness Hawk aren’t the only club that does this. I’ve seen this issue of stretching targets at a few clubs.

Maybe next time if I go, I’ll have a better idea of what to expect and what the course is likely to be like. The sad thing is that I know some people will have been put off returning because of their experiences which is a real shame as it was a lovely wood and it was a very relaxing shoot partly due to the low numbers and fantastic scenery. I know quite a few people were first time visitors to the wood as it was being talked about in the car park and over the pre shoot bacon butties. I do wonder how many might not return?

As always thanks for reading.