Tag Archives: archer

Nov 11 2011

Artemis Shoot

So it has been awhile since I last posted, sorry for that. Last weekend (5th-6th of November) saw me camping in a field just north of Belper in Derbyshire, helping out at the Artemis Archers shoot.

This was their first NFAS shoot and because of the vandalism that the site has suffered from recently a few of us braved the cold November night and camped out, patrolling the 20 acres of woods until the early hours to make sure no undesirables tried to trash the place. It must be said that is was a little cold that night and I was very grateful for my sleeping bag which kept me warm through the night.

I’ve uploaded a few photos from the day here https://picasaweb.google.com/111701601294639380446/ArtemisShoot?authuser=0&feat=directlink

It proved a great day with over 130 archers attending the shoot enjoying the wide mix of targets and ranges, ranging from over 60 yards to under 10 yards. The club had chosen a mix of target faces including Martin, Delta, JVD and the new ones from Flybow (DFSV faces) and some of the new range from Merlin Archery  too. One thing I thought was a great idea was a display at admin with images of all the target faces on, showing the scoring zones. Since many people hadn’t seen them before it gave people the opportunity to have a look and idea of where to aim for.

The photo below shows the longest shot in the wood. Over 60 yards across a small valley to the target (brown bear) which was the one I was helping Marshall at.artemis archers famous long shot

Feedback has been really good following the shoot and I hope to be able to get the chance to shoot the course sometime soon, rather than just marshal it. Bye for now

Aug 16 2011

Shoot Report – Lyme Valley shoot

Waking early on Sunday we headed north to Lyme Valley, just outside stoke. The ground is a wooded valley with quite steep sides and we were both hoping it remained dry as it is very ,very slippery when wet.

As luck would have it the weather held, with only a slight shower early on in the day. As for my shoulder it coped for about half the course but was locking up by the afternoon – resulting in a drop of 100 points from the first half. This was really demoralizing as I’d been feeling really good initially. I managed to score 292 in the first 18 targets but only 194 in the second 18, truly terrible!!

Having said I didn’t shoot well, I’m very proud of Sharon who won first place, with 584 and 4 spots. Her face was a picture when she realized she had won.

The course is always challenging and with over 160 archers it was a busy day for all. The morning proved a bit slow, largely due to numbers and a few targets requiring 3rd arrows. One thing I will say is the we were up and down the sides of the valley. Some really technical shots that you had to judge height etc on By Lunch we had shot 14 targets, which seemed average for most groups.

I’m not a big fan of lunch breaks, much prefer shoot through but not all grounds can accommodate this due to their geography. The advantage Lyme Valley has, is a large field that means there is enough.

In all a good shoot, but has made me wonder about my shoulder and whether I will be able to cope with the flatbow. Chances are I’m going to have to shoot the recurve for the nationals 😦

Lyme Valley website

Aug 1 2011

I went, I shot and kind of conquered

So Sunday saw me venture to Pines Park  http://www.pinesparkarchers.org.uk/ NFAS shoot just outside Nottingham. 40 3D targets and only 11 arrows. The new course is a little long as far as walking round the woods concerned, but has been designed so you walk past catering a couple of times making it a shoot through.

To say I was a little apprehensive as I had 11 arrows, and the day before I had only managed to shoot 10 targets before my shoulder gave out. 3 targets in and I was one arrow down with the pile coming off, a second one also came off after another 10 targets. Think I will have to look at the glue I‘m using.

I managed all 40 targets, though was wondering if I would at the midway point. I had 2 blanks over the day and came in with 580 in total. Not great, but ok I guess, considering the number of pain killers I was taking, I think I would have failed a drugs test 😉

Shoulder was knotting up after about 20 targets, and was aching lots last night and is very stiff today. Not helped by a restless nights sleep.

Sharon did really well scoring 600 and getting 2nd place, despite her thinking she wasn’t shooting well.